Stop focusing on customer service. No, that’s not a typo. The reason I say this is because amazing customer service doesn’t necessarily help your bottom line. This is not to say you shouldn’t provide great service, but rather that it has become more of a commodity and is no longer a competitive differentiator. An amazing customer experience . . . well, that’s a whole other story.

My husband is a commercial airline pilot, and it’s easy for him to talk with almost anyone about his job. After all, who doesn’t have a good travel story to share? It’s not quite the same when I tell people that, as the vice president of user experience at Commonwealth, part of my job is to ensure that our products and services are “usable.” They don’t seem all that interested in hearing why usability matters. But it does matter, quite a lot! So, let’s take a look at what usability is, why it's important (using some real-world examples), and some of the ways we improve usability here at Commonwealth.

As you're likely aware, there are numerous benefits of LinkedIn for financial advisors, including finding prospects and sharing content to help establish yourself as a thought leader in the industry. Most advisors I speak with have a "free" LinkedIn account but ask me if an upgrade to a premium account (e.g., Sales Navigator, Business Premium) is worth the investment. My response is that although I find LinkedIn to be an incredibly useful tool—and believe that a premium account can improve marketing efforts—it’s important to understand the benefits you’ll actually get with a premium account before you decide if an upgrade is something that might work for you.

A 2015 survey reveals that 81 percent of financial advisors use social media for business purposes. When I first saw that stat, I thought, “It’s amazing that 81 percent of advisors use social media!” As I thought more about it, though, I started to question what use means.

Writing for the web isn’t especially difficult or challenging. You just need to know how to present your content appropriately so that visitors can easily—and quickly—read, understand, and retain the information.