William Donner • Livonia, MI
Donner’s Financial Services Inc.
The development of the website for my advisory firm, Donner’s Financial Services, has been a true “family affair.”
A few years ago, I determined that having a personalized and informative website could be an effective marketing tool for introducing our firm to prospective clients. The challenge was developing a strategy for creating a website that was easy to navigate, had the potential to capture people’s interest, and was comprehensive in the content being delivered.
I had many options available to use third-party resources for website development, but I felt that too many websites in the advisory space had the same look.
Fortunately, I had some great resources right in my family who could help me out.
My wife is a manager at an insurance firm and has had experience with design projects. My brother is a professional in the field of communications. My sister also volunteered to help and was able to contribute several excellent ideas.
We decided that there were several elements that would be critical to making the website an effective communications tool:
- A carousel banner at the top of the home page that displays topical messages to potential clients. These messages can change over time as new topics become important in the overall financial and market environment. The banner currently talks about how changing interest-rate, inflation, and money-supply conditions require proactive financial and investment planning.
- Short commentaries that explain why people should consider seeking financial guidance from our firm, such as gaining a better understanding of the role insurance plays in their financial planning and the challenges of longevity for retirement planning.
- A personal story about my background and experience, what I value in working with clients, and my overall philosophy for wealth management.
- A clear mission statement for our firm.
- A concise view of how we address the financial- and investment-planning process.
- The products and services our firm offers. We also provide third-party educational videos that address financial concerns common to many in our target audience.
- A “call to action” and a form to easily request an initial conversation or meeting with our firm. This provides immediate prospecting leads and also helps create a database that can be used in the future for marketing efforts.
We are all proud of the work that went into the development of our advisory firm’s website from ideation to implementation. It is a marketing tool that has great flexibility, being able to adapt and align well with the future business goals of our firm and the needs of our clients and prospects.
Critical elements for an advisory practice website:
- Capture the attention of website visitors with topical messaging.
- A personal biography and clear mission statement for the firm.
- A concise overview of the financial- and investment-planning process.
- A “call to action” prompting prospective clients to request an initial meeting.
Disclosure: Donner’s Financial Services Inc. is a registered investment advisor. The firm only transacts business in states where it is properly registered, or excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Registration as an investment advisor does not indicate that the advisor has attained a particular level of skill or ability. William D. Donner is an investment advisor representative for Donner’s Financial Services Inc. based in Livonia, Michigan.
Photography by Richard Lim
