Many financial advisors tend to ignore millennial clients because these young people are still accumulating assets and are hardly considered high net-worth individuals. But ignoring this market would be a mistake, says Richard Heft, executive director of Ext. Marketing Inc. in Toronto.

The value of your business can only grow, Heft says, if you start to capture the millennial market. As the millennials age, they’ll account for a larger proportion the work force and have a greater influence on the economy.

Here are four tips for connecting with millennials:

1. Be flexible
As a result of the “gig economy,” which relies heavily on freelance and contract employment, millennials are saying goodbye to traditional nine-to-five careers. This means you will have to make adjustments to keep up with your clients’ busy and flexible work lives.

You may need to meet your clients at coffee shops, either early in the morning or late into the evening, or travel outside of your neighbourhood for meetings, according to Andrew Broadhead, manager of communications at Ext. Marketing.

Flexibility also includes the way you communicate, Heft adds. Like other clients, millennials prefer choice.

“Some clients may want to have phone calls or personal visits,” Heft says. “But as part of that choice, you definitely want to look at more electronic types of communication because [millennials] do spend a lot more time online than past generations.”

For example, you might wish to start confirming appointments by text instead of phone, if you have your client’s permission.

2. Be present on social media
You want to be where your clients are, Broadhead says, and that means using social media. Because millennials spend much of their time online, Heft adds, you should have a social presence, either on Facebook or on LinkedIn. By building an online presence, you create an opportunity to present yourself as an expert, particularly if you share research and original ideas on a blog.

3. Promote your entrepreneurial side
Millennials are more driven than other generations to own their own businesses instead of climbing the traditional corporate ladder.

“The millennials have huge respect for entrepreneurship,” Broadhead says. And this interest provides common ground because most advisors, at heart, are entrepreneurial and thrive on building a business.

Broadhead recommends leveraging your entrepreneurial side through your online brand, from blogging on your website to posting on social media. For example, Broadhead recommends following and retweeting famous entrepreneurs on Twitter, or writing blogs on what it means to be a business owner.

4. Publicize volunteer and charity work
Millennials often make their personal lives public, and that includes causes they care about. Members of previous generations held their charitable cards pretty close, Broadhead says, but millennials like to share their passions with others.

You can carry more influence and strengthen connections with clients if you are vocal about your charity work and volunteer projects.