“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.
One of the most valuable podcast episodes I’ve listened to all year, Bob Seawright shares a number of actionable behavioral finance best practices and covers topics including [Podcast or Video]:
- A review of “Closed versus Open” systems and Inductive versus Deductive reasoning
- The advantage of holding our views probabilistically
- Questions to combat confirmation bias
- How to make fewer decisions and the importance of checklists
- A reminder that money is a means to an end
- And more…
“As an advisor, I think it’s important that if the client recognizes ‘I realize this is going to cost me in some financial and/or another way, but I want to do it for these reasons,’ to recognize that that can be okay. That we don’t have to do the most efficient thing. It’s important in that setting to have a discussion to make sure they’ve really thought about all of the potential consequences. But not to beat them up over not making what you think is the very best decision if they’ve made a good reasonable discussion and understand the consequences.”
Making Behavioral Finance Actionable With Bob Seawright [Peter Lazaroff, The Long Term Investor]
ICYMI: Michael Kitces and Carl Richards discuss the idea of financial advice as an intellectual property business (not “only” a service business): [Podcast or Video]:
- First, for internal purposes, to standardize processes and provide optionality to scale (similar to providing a standardized product experience like Starbucks). Eventually, the advisor’s job would be to switch their focus on training associates.
- Second, for external purposes, to market the new standardized process as a proprietary planning method (e.g. creating “The *insert your firm name*’s Planning Way”). Also, as a way for new planners to create additional forms of revenue (on-demand courses and premium podcast subscriptions) and even potentially reach underserved segments (e.g. “Do-It-Yourselfers” within your niche).
[Carl]: “If you were a photographer and I went to your website, and I clicked on ‘Work,’ I would see pictures you’d taken. Right? What’s your work? It’s the impact you’ve made. And if we start thinking of ourselves as like, look, that’s intellectual property: that story I told, I nailed that question, all of those ideas, all the way down to, here’s how I answer email…I think if we just start thinking that way, who cares if it has any outside benefit? Which it will. The internal benefit’s so powerful for sharpening your thinking, the ability to create processes inside the business, that I just think it’s really valuable.
…
‘Oh, it’s hosted on Kajabi? How much does that cost me?’ Nothing. You know, basically nothing. ‘You know what, people love this so much. What if I just…I think people would pay more attention if I charge $97 a month. Gosh, what if I made it specifically for residents because I can’t really serve residents in my traditional model?’ Now I’ve got $97 a month, it’s helping the residents. I do five grand a month in revenue from it. It’s 100% bottom line, zero marginal cost.
That’s the sort of thing we can start thinking in terms of impact that we can make on…I think that might be part of the solution to serving the people that we can’t serve in a traditional model.”
Is Being A Financial Planner A Service Business Or An Intellectual Property Business? [Michael Kitces, Nerd’s Eye View]
If you’ve ever overcommitted or tend to be a people-pleaser, some new research on declining requests and some easy ways to say ‘No’:
Whether you’re interviewing with a firm and answering the “Tell Me About Yourself” question, sharing your background with a prospective client, or appearing as a guest on a podcast, a 7-step process for crafting a better backstory [Article]:
“It’s commonly referred to as a ‘founder story’ and it’s the narrative of how a startup company came to be. The story often helps build deep brand loyalty among the company’s user base.
If you’re building a personal brand or one-person business, creating your own backstory can also be a great way to deepen your connection with your own audience.
When I say ‘creating’ a backstory, I don’t mean, ‘making a story up.’
I simply mean telling your true and authentic backstory in a format that is most likely to resonate with your audience.”
Build A Better Founder Story [Justin Welsh, The Saturday Solopreneur]
TinyFrog Technologies’ Mikel Bruce with 4 conversion page elements to boost leads [Article]:
“Is your website optimized to bring in more leads? Are your web visitors getting enough information to prompt them to schedule a meeting? Or are you missing an opportunity to maximize your leads by not clearly defining your processes and calling visitors to action?
To differentiate yourself and generate more leads, your website should clearly show the relevant experience you have with assisting your ideal client type. It should guide your audience down a clear path toward conversion.”
Use A Conversion Page To Get More Leads [Mikel Bruce, Advisor Perspectives]
Morgan Housel highlights the important role of expectations in our clients’ lives—and our own [Article]:
“Same with expectations – they’re easy to ignore because their value isn’t on a price tag.
But your happiness completely relies on expectations.
Your boss’s impression of your career relies on them.
Consumer confidence relies on them.
What moves the stock market relies on them.
So why do we pay so little attention to them?
We spent so much effort trying to improve our income, skills, and ability to forecast the future – all good stuff worthy of our attention. But on the other side, there’s almost a complete ignorance of expectations, especially managing them with as much effort as we put into changing our circumstances.”
Expectations And Reality [Morgan Housel, Collaborative Fund]
Which was your favorite takeaway? Comment below!
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