ZebraSmash has deliberately shied away from practice management episodes, with the thought that there are plenty of other good podcasts that specialize in that area. But we made an exception on this episode, and we're glad we did. Chad Smith of Financial Symmetry in Raleigh, NC, joins us to talk about the successful multi-pronged marketing approach his firm has taken, and we've got a lot of great takeaways.

Chad and the folks at Financial Symmetry worked with a local marketing firm that didn't specialize in financial advisors, and came away with an approach targeting five categories:

• The Financial Symmetry website: the firm's face to the world. Check out their site to see a "Contact Us" section on every page.
• Advertising: not traditional commercials, but things like pay-per-click ads and Facebook ads that drive people to their website
• Developing a firm-wide podcast, starting first by just reading blog posts the firm's advisors were already publishing
• Leveraging current clients: do they belong to communities where the firm's message can resonate?
• Public relations: direct pitches to media, community involvement and guest blogging on other outlets

Chad talks about how the firm measures how well its marketing initiatives are working by using both Google Analytics and a website called SEM Rush. This nugget was worth the price of the podcast by itself.

Chad also mentions the upcoming FinCon Advisor Track conference, marketed as the first event dedicated to helping advisors grown their firms through social media, blogging, videos and podcast content. We'll be sure to ask Chad back on the show to give a recap.