Lately, I've been meeting with advisors who sound more like big game hunters than financial professionals. They talk about going after elephants! They want to knock down a few big ones!

I think they're hunting without a license. If all you can think about is bagging the trophy client, are you a financial professional or just a poacher? I get mental images of people who go out and hunt and all they do is take the head or a body part for the trophy and leave the rest of the animal to go to waste. Are you letting parts of your clients go to waste because you're too busy trying to get the next trophy?

I'm not saying you shouldn't have a target market. For advisors to be successful, they need to know who they work best with and who they can help the most. The question is are you selecting your target market based on its "net worth" or by how much good you can do it? Are you doing it based on how much value you will add to their life or by how much revenue you will generate?

I think making money is a good thing. I'm all for it. The problem is I think more and more advisors are just looking for huge clients. I once worked with a fellow who started a small pizza place. He was successful, and his business grew. As it grew, he remembered this simple phrase: "If you feed the rich, you eat with the poor. If you feed the poor, you eat with the rich!"

Do you think you can create a better foundation for your business and grow your practice by working with many smaller clients or do you want it all based on a couple of elephants? I think landing a big one is great, but I think it's important that your marketing plan focus on a target with which you can grow over time.

Build long-term relationships. With so many advisors looking for trophy clients, I think an acquire-and-hold mentality may make sense.

For example, Harry Dent has shared with the world that trillions of dollars will be changing hands in the next economic cycle. Much of that money will be passed from family member to family member. So if you are trying to land the very wealthy client of today, it may be money that will pass to new people in the next couple of years. Perhaps you should work on a strategy of developing long-term relationships with people who will be getting a share of those trillions.

I think it makes sense to start earning the trust now of those 30- and 40-somethings who may not be .com rich, but who could be very wealthy through inheritance. They could be working to make ends meet today and have hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars tomorrow.

I think one of the best things you can do as an advisor is look for the people who need the help today and see what the future brings.

Remember, it's not just about money. It's about helping people. Do you think the people who will inherit these fortunes will know what to do with the money? Will they end up like so many lottery winners and have nothing in a few years?

They will need your help. All it takes is patience and building that long-term relationship.

Marty's Thoughts on Marketing:

If I were an advisor, I would look very hard at the smaller-client market. I don't think I would want to compete with the mass-merchandising financial services companies. There are great opportunities in this other market.

It's not always the size of the client that matters; sometimes it's the size of the market.

Martin R. Baird is president of advisormarketing.com., a Web site that offers free marketing information for financial advisors. Baird may be reached at mbaird@advisormarketing.com or visit www.advisormarketing.com for marketing tactics that will help your business grow.

Martin Baird is president of advisormarketing.com., a Web site that offers free marketing information for financial advisors. Baird may be reached at mbaird@advisormarketing.com.

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