David Edwards, founder and president of New York-based Heron Financial Group, has big ambitions for the company. The 53-year-old wants the firm to have $1 billion in assets under management by the time he retires in 12 years.

That would increase the assets Heron administers by more than five-fold, considering Heron had $160 million in AUM at the end of October. Growing that much might seem like a tall order, but Heron has been growing by leaps and bounds since making a strong commitment to marketing through social media when the comapny expanded four years ago, Edwards said.
     
For 17 years, Edwards had a solo practice as a financial advisor. But in 2010, with his children grown, Edwards decided to expand. That year he added an employee and began exploring the possibilities of marketing through social media. Now there are six people in the company, including Edwards. And the success that social media has brought has exceeded Edwards' expectations.

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