Many financial professionals have social networking accounts set up on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and even Google+. But a minority of these professionals are using their online profiles to do the most important thing you can do in your network: ADD VALUE. 

The goal of content sharing is to add value to your network. It is instructive to note that the value you add to your network need not be limited to the subject matter expertise that you offer as a professional. In other words, guiding people to information that helps them, regardless of the topic, is rewarded with engagement.

1. Everyone has a personal financial life


Most people in your network have a home mortgage, some sort of retirement plan and enjoy learning about ways to make their money go further. Sharing content that helps people in these ways will attract them to you.

Here are some sample themes and shareable posts:

Help people simplify their financial thinking – Three steps to make better financial decisions today
Help people reduce their living expenses – 4 ways to cut unnecessary living expenses
Understanding how to invest during retirement - The difference between investing IN retirement and investing FOR retirement
Don’t rely on using the sale of your home to fund your retirement

2. Financial literacy and education



Everyone has young people in their lives – whether they are children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, etc. We all want our children to acquire financial skills and literacy. The best part it of this topic is that “young” is a relative term.

Here are some sample themes and shareable posts:

Who doesn’t want their kid to learn to be as good an investor as Buffett? – How to teach your kids about money
Financial tips for various stages of life: for example, 12 tips for new grads, 30 financial rules for 30 year olds or 10 biz lessons by age 40

3. Women investors

Long overlooked by financial services firms, women investors are widely recognized to be the future of the industry. As women gain economic clout, they are moving into more dominant financial roles. If you want to attract financially astute women to your practice, you need to share content that speaks to the unique needs and interests of women. Here are some examples:

Show women investors that you are paying attention to how their needs may differ from the traditional male investor: for example, Biggest concerns of affluent women or Women and the investment gap or 7 things boomer women want from advisors.
Share content about the challenges women face in the business world: for example, Only 7 of the Fortune 500 companies have boards that are at least 40% women or Glass ceiling or glass cage.
Talk about evolving gender roles: for example, What do we really want from our men? or How to be a happy working dad.


4. Investor psychology


When it comes to investing, we are often our own worst enemies. Blind to our own motivations and psychological needs, we can make decisions that are irrational and have negative impacts on our long-term goals. Helping people understand their own motivations is a powerful way to attract thoughtful investors.

Here are some quality pieces in this area:

12 things I’ve learned about the psychology of investing
15 biases that make you do dumb things with your money
Saving investors from themselves

5. Happiness and quality of life


Most investors aren’t doing it for the money. They’re doing it because of what they believe the money and accumulated wealth will buy them – happiness, quality of life, choices. Insights into quality of life and what makes us happy is a fabulous way to attract people in the online world. Here are some sample themes in this area:

Life lessons learned by wise people: for example, 7 lessons from 7 years or Byron Wein’s 20 rules of investing and life.
Can money buy happiness? For example, Who says money doesn’t buy happiness? The wealthy do or Top 5 ways money can buy happiness

6. Entertain and amuse


Social media is about being social, engaging and entertaining. Everybody needs to smile now and again, so why not help them? The internet is full of amusing content, but beware: what’s amusing or entertaining is always a matter of taste so you need to be careful not to offend. As always, you'd be well advised to avoid politics and religion.

My recommendation is to stick to the high road and look for intelligent and entertaining content. Here are some examples that I find amusing:

Real men (with real men’s bodies) posing in underwear ad-style photos – Real men in underwear ads.
Playful mocking of modern art, by comparing it with toddler art (in an interactive quiz) – Can you tell the difference between real art and toddler art?
Corporate logos redrawn through the lens of truth – Famous brand logos with honest slogans.
Everyone likes to look back on their youth fondly – When 22 celebrities were young.
Out of the box thinking at it’s finest – 38 test answers that are 100% wrong and totally genius at the same time.

7. Motivational quotations


“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

I frequently quote Simon Sinek’s famous mantra because it speaks to the power of personal brand in business. People care about what motivates you because this connects them to you in a more intimate way. Sharing individual quotations or collections along a theme can be a great way to engage your audience. But be careful not to overdo it.

Here are some great examples that I’ve had success with:

10 quotes all entrepreneurs should memorize
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” ~ Napolean Hill, from 100 inspirational quotes

8. Productivity habits and skills


Another universal topic for working professionals is personal productivity. Anyone gainfully employed is constantly struggling to do more with less, to be more efficient, more effective and less stressed. There is a wealth of online resources dedicated to helping people be better at what they do and helping people find the best of this content aligns your brand with productivity and excellence.

Here are some post I’ve found particularly popular for sharing:

The LAST productivity article you will ever need to read – Top 10 lessons I learned from A Year of Productivity
Public speaking – 5 secrets on public speaking from the best TED presenters
Life hacks – 7 life hacks to maximize your productivity

9. Professional networking


Every business professional needs to network and smart ones focus their time and energy on being as good as they can at it. Helping people to be better networkers is one of the best social networking content strategies out there. Here are some samples:

8 killer opening lines to use at your next networking event
Follow these 6 steps to network like a pro
10 secrets that make networking easy, fun and ridiculously effective

10. Health


Everyone wants to be healthier. So, help them by sharing stuff like this:

5 reasons why walking is better than running
Standing for 3 hours a day on workdays is like running
how to eat healthy on business travel