Richard Emmons

Author Archives: Richard Emmons

Free Publicity Case Study: Volcano Helps Apple’s iPad

Yesterday I wrote about connecting current news events to your products or services using press releases. You read that Congress changes the federal estate tax laws so you write a press release quoting this story and promoting your upcoming estate planning seminar. With a little effort you can get some free coverage in your local paper.

Sometimes you don’t have to do any work at all.

Unless you were cut-off from the world yesterday doing your tax returns, you know a massive volcano erupted in Iceland. You may have read that the massive ash clouds floated east to Europe and caused many air flights to be canceled. Some travelers were stuck in New York City because they couldn’t fly home to Europe.

One of them was the Prime Minister of Norway. Now read this article from the NY Daily News:

Volcanic ash from Iceland strands Norway’s prime minister in NYC airport, so he governs via iPad

All he needs is an iPad and an electrical outlet to run the country.

Norway’s prime minister, Jens Stotlenberg is again grounded in New York as volcanic ash from Iceland’s temperamental volcano continues to close European airspace, but that didn’t stop him from doing the daily business of Norwegian government from his iPad in an airport lounge.

Stoltenberg, who traveled from Oslo to participate in President Obama’s nuclear summit, was stranded along with many thousands of others and will probably be waiting for at least another day before flights can resume, authorities said Friday.

The FAA is working to move some of the many affected flights from the US to international destinations by rerouting them around the huge cloud of ash.

Stoltenberg’s press secretary told CNN that the prime minister has been running his government from Apple’s tablet.

Read the rest of the story

I found this story on www.DrudgeReport.com which had 27,027,155 visits in the past 24 hours. So it was seen by many, many people who never would have looked at the New York Daily News. So this is fabulous publicity for a product many say is an expensive toy.

Who knows maybe the Tea Party activitists will use the iPad as a symbol of limited government…who needs fancy offices when a Prime Minister can run the government from an airport waiting area?

The Drudge Report also linked to this story: School-issued laptops took thousands of secret images… Buried down deep in the story the reporter mentioned that the laptop in question is an Apple MacBook. Thankfully for Apple’s sake, it wasn’t mentioned in the headline.

So look for ways to publicize your products and services by linking them with current news. And you just might land on the Drudge Report!

Getting Free Publicity with Press Releases

Financial advisors, like any other business, have two ways to get noticed in newspapers, radio and television. Paid and unpaid.

The advantages of paid advertisements include you can guarantee you’ll be in the paper on the day you want and your control your message. The big disadvantage of paid advertisements is that they cost money! Another disadvantage of paid advertisements is that the readers, listeners, and viewers all know it’s a commercial or an ad.

How do you get unpaid publicity? By submitting press releases which talk about your company and it’s products and services. Now if you ONLY write about yourself, your company and it’s products and services, the “news” will be boring and no news editor will write about it.

Your press releases can result in news articles in two different cases.

First, your company comes out with something that is truly new. For a financial advisor, perhaps it’s a community seminar on a topic all seniors are interested in. This could be on estate planning or dealing with long-term care expenses. You might get mentioned especially if it’s a slow news day.

I wrote a press release for an advisor who held a grand opening for his new building. I knew the write reporter to get it to and followed up with an invitation to the grand opening. The reporter appeared and brought a camera. I gave him a tour and he met the building owner for an interview. Thankfully no one drowned in river and the stock market didn’t crash. So we got front page coverage including a picture of me and the new building! A couple local TV stations sent a camera crew and reporter so we made it on two TV stations 11 o’clock news. This is coverage that money just can’t buy. Done with press releases and some personal follow-up.

The other way to get publicity is to tie you and your company to a local or national story of interest. When Michael Jackson died, the news coverage mentioned he had a living trust. You could promote your expertise in this area to local reporters. You might get called for a quote. Or you could announce your next living trust seminar and tie it back to the news story.

Of course, press releases have two main disadvantages. The paper may not print anything at all. This happens all the time so your time is largely wasted. You can put a “Press Release” page on your website and post all your press releases. Your press releases will help your rankings on Google and give your readers more information about your company.

Or they include the information and change the story to fit the editor’s desired angle. Or they might make a typographical error.Once, I sent a press release for a marketing seminar I was holding at 7 in the morning. The paper printed my press release word-for-word with one little exception. It showed the time as 7 pm. Guess what? I held the seminar at 7 pm because the paper was the main form of publicity.

When should you submit your press release? For newspapers, try to fax or email it in a week before your event. Television works on a shorter news cycle so 3 days in advance is plenty.

Like so much of marketing, you need to make a consistent, sustained, and purposeful effort with press releases. Set a goal of sending out one press release per month. You’ll find it becomes easier as you do it more often. You’ll get known to news editors and this can result in them calling you. This might result in a new client or two and will help you establish yourself as an expert in your field.

When To Feed Your Seminar Attendees

This short video looks at when you should feed your seminar attendees. Should you hold lunch seminars or dinner seminars? Should you feed them before your presentation? Or “hold them hostage” and feed them after your presentation?

The offer of a free meal attracts folks to your seminars. The delivery of a good meal keeps them happy at the presentation and impacts your goal: getting them to sign up for an first appointment.

For more seminar marketing ideas go to http://www.MyLivingTrustSeminar.com.

Don’t Forget About State Estate & Inheritance Taxes

The federal “death tax” may or may not rise from the dead in 2010. However, Washington State may double its state estate tax to 38% for estates at or above $9 million. Will other states follow this year?

Washington state proposes ‘shocking’ estate tax changes

The Washington state Legislature has proposed a bill that would double the estate taxes for residents.

Currently, there is a $2 million exemption in that state, with a 10% tax that climbs up to 19% at $9 million and above. Under the proposed law, the range would jump to a 20% estate tax for more than $2 million, up to 38% at the $9 million mark.

If the latest proposal is enacted, 2011 could be a costly year for some Washington residents: Assuming that the federal estate tax, which lapsed at the end of 2009, comes back next year with a $1 million exemption at 55% as scheduled, Washington residents could be paying in excess of 75% in estate taxes, experts said.

“This is shocking and disturbing, and has very significant ramifications for the majority of our clients,” said Tom Gores, a partner in Perkins Coie LLP, a law firm with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, Wash. “We are contacting our state representatives to make sure they understand this.”

Already, a number of wealthy clients are discussing leaving the state due to the high estate taxes, and this number will only increase, said Dean Butler, an attorney at Carney Badley Spellman PS. The bill, HB 3184, was proposed Feb. 13 and has not yet been scheduled for a hearing, said Rick Person, a coordinator for the House Finance Services Committee. The legislative session ends March 11.

Small businesses already are planning to lobby against the bill. “Our greatest concern is that this bill is another threat to small businesses at a time when so many of them are still just holding on,” said Jocelyn McCabe, a spokeswoman for the Association of Washington Business, which represents 6,900 state businesses.

Experts predict that given the number of states with growing deficits, Washington won’t be alone in proposing such legislation this year.

For financial advisers, this means that it’s more important than ever to pay attention to what’s going on locally, said Gail Cohen, head of global wealth management at Fiduciary Trust Company International. “Don’t assume that just because there is no federal estate tax, there won’t be any estate tax at all,” she said.

Source: http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100216/FREE/100219915

There are currently 14 states and the District of Columbia which have state estate taxes. You can click here to see a chart of the states and the exemption amounts. Did you know that 7 states have an inheritance tax? Click here for a chart and be glad your state is not listed!

Washington Reforms Health Care And Taxes

Tax Attorney Ed Lyon comments on Sunday’s healthcare reform bill and how it could affect your tax bill and your clients’ tax bills.

Did you hear the reconciliation bill “adds a 3.8% ‘Unearned Income Medicare Contribution’ on investment income – specifically, interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, capital gains, and rents – for taxpayers with Adjusted Gross Income above $200,000 individuals and $250,000 families”? I wonder if AARP signed off on that little detail?

Washington Reforms Health Care And Taxes

Sunday’s night’s health care bill will go down as one of those once-in-a-generation accomplishments. I’m not here to debate the merits of the bill – historians will still be doing that decades from now. But it’s important to point out some important tax changes included in the bill and the companion “reconciliation” bill now before the Senate. (Just how important are they? Well, the Congressional Budget Office says the IRS will need $10 billion and 17,000 new employees to enforce its share of the new rules!)

Here are some of the key tax provisions:

  • Starting immediately, certain small businesses with less than 10 employees will get a 35% credit for the cost of providing employee health benefits.
  • Starting in 2011, employers will have to report the value of health benefits on Form W2.
  • The penalty tax for Health Savings Account distributions not used for health care expenses doubles from 10% to 20%. This will discourage using HSAs for supplemental retirement savings.
  • Starting in 2013, the 7.5% floor for deducting medical and dental expenses climbs to 10% (unless you or your spouse are 65 or older, in which case it remains at 7.5% until 2016).
  • Healthcare flexible spending account contributions are capped at $2,500 per year.
  • Starting in 2014, businesses with more than 50 employees will have to offer heath benefits or pay a penalty of $750/employee.

The reconciliation bill includes one more unwelcome surprise. Currently, the Medicare tax is limited to 2.9% of earned income. The reconciliation bill imposes an additional Medicare tax of 0.9% on earned income above $200,000 (individuals) or $250,000 (families). It also adds a 3.8% “Unearned Income Medicare Contribution” on investment income – specifically, interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, capital gains, and rents – for taxpayers with Adjusted Gross Income above those same thresholds. Those new levies would take effect in 2013.

The complete bill is 1,018 pages, so it’s going to take some time to analyze. But we’ll be paying close attention as details become available. In the meantime, call us with any questions!

Remember that the Reconciliation Bill still needs to pass the Senate. Democrat Senator Ben Nelson announced he will vote “No” because of the Medicare tax on unearned income. Let’s wait and see what happens. To learn more about Ed Lyon’s tax coaching solution go to www.taxcoachsoftware.com.

Should Financial Advisors Use Facebook and Twitter?

Wow. I just read that Facebook.com just surpassed Google.com for traffic. Amazingly, 7.07% of all US web traffic goes to Facebook.com which is a bit more than the 7.03% which goes to Google’s home page.

Facebook becomes bigger hit than Google

By Chris Nuttall and David Gelles in San Francisco

Published: March 16 2010 13:15 | Last updated: March 17 2010 00:10

Social networking website Facebook has capped a year of phenomenal growth by overtaking Google’s popularity among US internet users, with industry data showing it has scored more visits on its home page than the search engine.

In a sign that the web is becoming more sociable than searchable, research firm Hitwise said that the two sites accounted for 14 per cent of all US internet visits last week. Facebook’s home page recorded 7.07 per cent of traffic and Google’s 7.03 per cent.

It is the first time that Facebook.com has enjoyed a weekly lead over Google.com. The lead may be slim, but it has become inevitable as Facebook’s popularity has grown rapidly from just over 2 per cent of visits a year ago. Heather Dougherty of Hitwise said that Facebook had “reached an important milestone” with the weekly figures.

Facebook’s membership has more than doubled in the past year, passing the 200m mark last April and 400m in February.

“The true value of Facebook and social networks is just becoming clear to marketers,” said Augie Ray, analyst at Forrester Research.

Read the rest of the article

The ABC’s of Social Networking

You may be like me a couple years ago when I asked my 15-year old daughter to help me set up a Facebook account. What did it mean to “write on someone’s wall”? I had no idea.

I set up a Facebook page mainly to keep up on my daughters’ social activities. And soon old high school classmates would find me and we’d exchange some mail. The idea was to keep up with your “Friends” by reading what they’re up to and leaving status updates on what you’re up to. I could update my Facebook page now with something like “I am explaining what Facebook is all about to a bunch of financial advisors” but that would be a bit lame. I recommend you ask your own son or daughter so I won’t try to do it here.

Ditto for Twitter. Twitter is “micro-blogging” because you’re limited to 140 characters per entry. Not words and not letters so you need to be really concise. This paragraph is 203 characters by the way.

LinkedIn.com is like Facebook for business owners and professionals. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn charges a monthly fee to get full functionality.

Should Advisors Care?

Yes and no. You need to stay in touch with your clients and “social networking” sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn will be used by more and more of your clients. Over time, your prospective clients will find you on these sites and check  you out. And your clients will want to keep in touch with you and what’s going on.

Yet don’t think you need to spend a lot of time here. You’re probably busy enough as it is. Plus your compliance department might give you a big thumbs down. So should you do anything?

Yes. I strongly recommend that you grab your profile names NOW so you’ll have them later.

Think back to that modern marketing miracle: the 800 number. Customers could call companies without making a long distance phone call or calling collect. Whole advertising campaigns promoted vanity 800 numbers like 1-800-FLOWERS. Imagine snagging 1-800-PLANNER back in 1964 when AT&T created the idea…it would have cost you a fortune if you could have gotten it. Not to mention you were 6 years old at the time.

Thankfully you can reserve your profile names now and use them more later. Here are my profile pages:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/richardemmons
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richardemmons
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/richardemmons
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/richardemmons

I use Facebook the most out of these 4. Yet I just checked and discovered 28 people wished me “Happy Birthday!” a couple weeks ago. And I never commented back. I guess I had too much face time with family and friends to make time for Facebook. Oh well.

You’ll notice that I automatically “tweet” my posts on this site to Twitter. Occasionally I’ll toss in a quote or a status update.

I do a little bit with LinkedIn and am open to suggestions on how to use it. I joined several LinkedIn Groups related to estate planning and senior advisor marketing so I get some good articles. And a lot of fluff updates in my in-box.

I threw in MySpace as an example of reserving it and not using it. MySpace was passed up a long time ago by Facebook and will probably never recover. You never know and it cost me nothing to set up and nothing to maintain.

My recommendation is to click through and sign up for these services now. Get the best profile name you can get. If your name is taken, you can add “cfp” to your profile, put in an under_score or a period between your first and last names.

Future articles will explain how to use these profiles to help grow your business. For now just stake your claim and get your name!

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