Cold calling just wasn't Ann Zuraw's thing – even though her peers told the Greensboro, N.C.-based financial advisor that it was the only way to grow the individual advisory practice she founded in 2005.
While struggling with ways to grow her client base, and even whether her career choice was the proper one, Zuraw happened to attend a blogging conference with a friend. "I sat there listening and I thought 'I could do this,'" she recalls.
That's how www.womenmoneyanddivorce.com got going.
Zuraw found her blog, aimed at women going through divorce, to be a great way to express herself, share her knowledge with a demographic she cared about, that she felt was underserved, while avoiding the awkwardness of cold calling.
Her readership grew quickly, she says, and so too did her client base, with readers of the site liking the information they were getting there, wanting more. Many became clients of Zuraw's firm, Zuraw Financial Advisors, she says, and then referred their friends, sisters, mothers and even grandmothers.
Over time, she renamed the blog www.ChicksChatandChange.com, and broadened its scope to cover all issues she considers pertinent to women and financial planning, including information about different asset classes and investing. She has recently added a Spanish section as well. "I've evolved online and with the times," Zuraw says.
