Between Now and Success

Due to advances in technology and the rise of centralized systems that limit privacy, the very nature of how we think about money and the government’s role in it is evolving. The clearest manifestation of this is the rise of cryptocurrencies, of which bitcoin is the most prominent. In today's conversation, we go back 5,000 years to explore the beginning of money and then trace how the way we think about money and how we distribute money has evolved over time. Along the way, we touch on gold, central banking, Modern Monetary Theory and yes, bitcoin. It’s a wild ride! My objective in this episode is to give you some historical context that has led to the development of bitcoin and how it is being used today so you can speak more confidently to your clients when they ask about it. My guest to discuss all this is Michael Casey. Michael is a true pathfinder. He spent over three decades in journalism including 18 years with Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. He's been in business and academia, and he has a real grasp on the big technological, geopolitical, economic, and social trends that impact businesses, communities and individuals. Currently, he’s the chief content officer at CoinDesk. In addition, he's the author of five highly acclaimed books including: "The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything" "The Social Organism: A Radical Understanding of Social Media to Transform Your Business and Life" "The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and the Blockchain Are Challenging the Global Economic Order"

In a Nutshell: To stand out from all the fake news and clickbait cluttering your audience's inboxes, you have to produce content that's authentic, entertaining, interesting, and above all, human. Guest: Brooke Southall, the founder of RIABiz. Back in 2009, Brooke built his online-only news publication on traditional journalistic values like using multiple sources and editorial analysis. Brooke and his team captured the rise of new models for providing client-first financial advice against the backdrop of Wall Street's decline during the Great Recession. Today, RIABiz is one of the go-to sources for deep, sophisticated analysis of the most important issues affecting the RIA business. My Key Takeaways: To create engaging, authentic content: Don't be boring. Before you even start writing, ask yourself, "Is this an article I would click on or swipe past?" Slow down. Brooke believes that the race to be first has really hurt online journalism. Working important news into your regular communication rhythm will result in better content than a rushed newsletter. Keep your eyes open. Brooke says the key to writing good articles isn't great writing ability, it's curiosity about the world and other people. Also Learn: Why hiking with his dogs is an integral part of Brooke's writing  process. How to use other people's stories as a jumping-off point for your next blog or newsletter. What separates a compelling headline from pure clickbait. Why Brooke believes showing weakness is more important to good writing than demonstrating success.

Building one advisory firm with billions in AUM is hard enough. Joe Duran has done it twice, most recently selling United Capital to Goldman Sachs and becoming Head of Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management.  We had an insightful conversation about how he did it and what he sees for the future of financial advisors and for the advice they deliver.

In March 2020, Covid-19 lockdowns were starting, businesses were scrambling, and the markets were in a state of shock. Despite all that, Creative Planning, Inc. had one of its best months ever. According to President and CEO Peter Mallouk, his firm brought in $500 million in net new assets. Instead of panicking and trying to get their money out of the markets, Peter says many of his clients were giving him more money to manage – and sending more referrals as well. The seeds that Peter’s firm planted many years ago led to his clients turning to the firm during a moment of unprecedented uncertainty. While great marketing will get you noticed, it’s the total client experience package that will get and keep clients as Peter’s firm has amply demonstrated. Some advisors lament the chaos caused by Covid-19, but others realize there’s a tremendous opportunity to go on offense and see this as a time to reach out to people who need you now more than ever. Covid-19 is teaching investors that there’s a big difference between auto depositing into a robo account and working with a professional who is sensitive to your unique life needs. And, increasingly, people are willing to pay for that difference, if you can deliver it. On a recent virtual event, Peter and I talked about how advisors at any level can develop the kind of five-star experience that underscores your value to existing clients, drives referrals, and protects your business from fee compression.

9 months of job interviews. 27 “No’s” from top advisory firms. 33,000 cold calls. That’s all it took for Erin Scannell to open up his independent office and land his first client back in 1999. Few people would have powered through that long, but as Erin Scannell explains on today’s podcast, he learned some hard lessons in perseverance and resilience growing up that continue to motivate him to this day. Erin is the founder and CEO of Heritage Wealth Advisors in the Seattle area, where he directs 50 team members, 18 advisors, and about $2 billion in assets under management. Erin is also a regular on Barron’s list of the top advisors and an inspiration to anyone who thinks the next hurdle in your business’ growth is insurmountable – even if that hurdle is a global pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced financial advisors to shift the way you market your services. In person marketing and networking is severely restricted for the near future and if you want to succeed in this new world, you have to adapt to the new virtual reality. Even before the pandemic, our industry was already making a shift towards digital marketing combined with digital events. Things like pay-per-click advertising, newsletters, podcasts, video, and virtual events like webinars, panels, and summits have been gaining steam for years. But now, the pandemic has accelerated that trend to light speed. The most successful firms have jumped all over the virtual marketing trend and are crushing those firms who haven’t. To help you succeed in virtual marketing, I hosted a virtual panel with two experts. Bill Keen is the founder and CEO of Keen Wealth Advisors, which is an RIA in the greater Kansas City area with half a billion dollars in assets under management. Lisa Salvi is Vice President, Business Consulting and Field Experience at Charles Schwab, where she oversees the advisor consulting group and produces the industry’s gold standard annual benchmarking report.

In a Nutshell: There's no "silver bullet" marketing strategy that's going to turn your blogs and tweets into clients. But if you identify a niche and develop a consistent media presence that's appealing and engaging, you can reach your ideal clients where they're more likely to see and hear you. Guest: Wes Moss, the chief investment strategist of Capital Investment Advisors, which is a multibillion-dollar RIA in Atlanta. Wes has been ranked as a top 100 independent advisor by Barron's. He's also the host of Money Matters, which is Atlanta's longest running live call-in radio show on investment and personal finance, a regular contributor to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the author of three books. My Key Takeaway: To build your media presence: Get writing. Wes and I both believe that writing is the key to finding your voice and starting to create stellar content. Re-purpose. Break down a good newsletter into a week's worth of social media posts. Turn audio from your webinar into a podcast. Use the intro from your last blog as a script for a 2-3 minute YouTube video. Automate and delegate. If you can use AI or a team of assistants to handle basic communication tasks you'll have more time to write, record, and get personal with clients. Also Learn: Why the ability to self-publish media gives independent advisors an advantage over larger firms when trying to reach people. What advisors should know about trying to break into radio versus trying to start a podcast. How Wes answers the question, "I'm your client. What is the value that you provide to me?" What Wes' experience as a contestant on "The Apprentice" (back when President Trump was the host) taught him about succeeding in marketing and media.

In a Nutshell: It's human nature to want to be part of a community. Hosting and participating in live events is essential to maintaining a connection with your client and prospect base and to furthering your own personal development -- even during quarantine. Guest: Alison Rooney, Global Managing Director, Wealth Management, Barron's Group. Alison's team oversees the underwriting, membership, and content development for all of Barron's live events, including over 20 conferences geared towards elite practitioners. My Key Takeaway: To create memorable events that will benefit and grow your community: Delegate responsibility. A Barron's-sized event requires a team of pros focused on specific details, but even your next webinar will have many moving parts to coordinate. Diversify your content. The broader your range of perspectives, topics, and speakers, the more likely you are to surprise, engage, and delight your audience. Never run out of coffee. Your attendees are going to remember whom they saw and what they learned, but it's the little hospitality touches that will determine how they feel about your event. For virtual events, "coffee" might be a friendly thank you email or an exclusive offer. Also Learn: How Alison moves from "ideas by committee" to one lone decision maker when designing consistent and cohesive conferences. What the big three reasons are that attendees go to conferences and how to appeal to each. How the content that's most interesting to advisors, clients, and prospects has evolved in recent years. Why Alison always zeroes in on three or four people she wants to meet ahead of any conference she's attending.

In a Nutshell: Growing your business -- especially during a crisis -- depends less on your ability to manage money that it does on your ability to become an important part of your client's story. Guests: Arthur Ambarik CFP® is the CEO of  Perigon Wealth Management, which currently has $1.8 billion in AUM. Rachel Elson has recently transitioned from a career as a personal finance journalist to working as a Financial Planning Associate at Perigon. My Key Takeaway: In order to make you and your services major players in your client's financial narrative: Do what other advisors don't. Find those pain points like helping family members or advising on a potential career change that fall through the cracks of old-fashioned advisory. Be your client's friend. And remember: friends do things for each other because they genuinely want to help, not because they expect something in return. Look outside the box when you're searching for talent. Money managers are a dime a dozen. Caring, curious, motivated people who are excited to learn the ropes are gold. Also Learn: 1. Why Arthur and Rachel replaced traditional discovery summary letters with personalized financial narratives. 2. How your quality of service trumps your asset management when it comes to getting referrals and winning new business. 3. What Arthur has learned about balancing CEO-level responsibilities with client service responsibilities.

Recently I was a guest on the Better Conversations, Better Outcomes podcast presented by BMO Global Asset Management. Host Ben Jones and I discussed my 5-point framework for effective communication with clients during a crisis. I developed this framework based on the mistakes I saw some advisors make back in the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). These advisors got hit with a double whammy of market declines and lost clients as they failed to effectively communicate with their clients as the GFC unfolded.