“Weekend Content for New Financial Planners” is a collection of articles, podcasts, videos, etc. that I’ve been consuming regarding breaking into financial planning, industry trends, career development, and more.
Timothy Financial Counsel founder Mark Berg on the “Blue Ocean” opportunity that the hourly compensation model offers as well as its many misconceptions [Podcast]:
“So, first of all, starting a business is hard period, whether you’re doing it hourly or assets under management. As you know from the statistics, there’s a high percentage of businesses that fail after the first five years. So, this was a bit of an unknown. But I did compare to starting a CPA practice, starting a law firm practice, and there were many in our community that I knew that had done that and done so successfully on an hourly basis.
I actually found, personally, that because of the flexibility of the hourly model, it actually afforded a quicker startup, because whether they were more middle income or more mass affluent or high net worth, the hourly was an attractive and a different model. So, we found success very quickly within the first—well, we were profitable in year one and year two I hired my first colleague. And we had a great—relative to my assumptions for the first three years—we hit the year-two goal in year one and we blew away our year-three goal in year two. So, it was a lot better than we anticipated.”
Hourly Financial Planning Is ‘A Vast Blue Ocean’ [Christine Benz & Jeffrey Ptak, The Long View]
ICYMI: Define Financial founder Taylor Schulte and WealthVoice founder Emily Binder on a number of marketing topics including the advantages of voice marketing, the ROI of niching, and more [Podcast]:
Schulte: “So, in doing that, we’ve grown more in the last 2 years than in the first 12 years of my entire career. So, that exercise was extremely powerful. But a big part of it was: ‘Who do we do our best work for?’ And getting as clear as possible as to who that person is, where they live, what their pain points are, the type of content they consume, and how to reach them. Answering all of these questions as specifically as possible really helped us in terms of our marketing and our branding and growing the firm.”
How To Differentiate Your Practice Through Digital Marketing [Catherine Williams, Managing Your Practice]
Six underutilized ways to exhibit “social proof” on your website [Article]:
“Social proof is a great way to build trust among your web visitors and demonstrate that you have the financial knowledge, experience, and support to successfully help your clients.
…
Financial advisors often face strict restrictions when creating compliance-friendly website content. But as a professional in the finance industry, it’s important to demonstrate your experience and support your reputation. Implementing social proof into your website is a valuable way to reaffirm that you can help your clients succeed and increase conversions on your website.”
How To Use Social Proof On Your Website [Mikel Bruce, Advisor Perspectives]
Financial Staples founder Chloé Moore on the benefits and myths of operating a virtual financial planning firm [Article]:
“As more and more advisors consider the benefits of a remote practice, some have asked me if it’s difficult to build a rapport with clients I haven’t met in person. I’ve never had that feeling, especially with the use of video conferencing. I’ve experienced many emotional moments with clients, and the fact that we were viewing each other on a screen versus in person made no difference. The tools we use today provide the same opportunities to see a client’s facial expressions and view their body language as though we were in a room together.”
Considerations For Creating A Virtual Financial Planning Practice [Chloé Moore, eMoneyAdvisor.com]
The case for prioritizing your “Life Ethic” [Article]:
“I’ve come to believe that the Ice Cream store (and Europeans, generally speaking) had mastered a different ethic: Life Ethic.
Life Ethic takes the Deferred Life Plan and flips it on its head.
Instead of waiting until retirement to travel, you take more time off today.
Instead of eating on the go, you leisurely enjoy meals with loved ones…”
A Sinister Side To Work Ethic [Khe Hy, RadReads.com]
Which was your favorite takeaway? Comment below!
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