Breakaway Brokers

I’m making a bold claim: Data should be the top driver of your marketing strategy.

Here are examples of seven specific areas to focus on to turn clients into promoters.

President Joe Biden’s push for the first major federal tax increase since 1993 now rests on the shoulders of Richard Neal.

Instead of focusing so much time on promoting your own content, focus on improving audience engagement.

Advisors are lacking when it comes to using the internet to spy on people. Start conducting reconnaissance, and then use these three techniques.

To see growth in your clientele as an advisor, here is my list of email marketing trends.

The entrepreneurial culture and meritocracy of the wealth management is what makes this profession unique. But have you ever wondered what we could learn from other industries?

Traditional succession plans have two main downfalls.

While no advisor wants to take on an unprofitable client, setting a rigid, initial barrier based on minimum account size may not achieve that goal.

Do you understand the depth of information in your client roster and the hidden intelligence, even treasures, that live there?

I've come to realize that my highest value is freedom – I want the ability to do what I want to do, when I want to do it.

We have had multiple conversations with our advisors about asking for more referrals. But our clients are older – in their 70s.

I have taken a consistent position on the “value” issue: Don’t explain your value or justify your fee unless you are expressly asked.

Our research has determined several factors that influence how often content converts a prospect to a client.

want to explore referrals from a new angle – from the mind of the referrer – to shed light on the psychology to inform your approach.

A wealth tax “crosses the line and is unnecessary,” according to Ray Dalio.

It’s your responsibility to make it easy for people to refer you.

Do I let this go? Do I confront him? What if he makes it seem like I was the one who was guilty of the misunderstanding?

Much has been written about the need to justify your value. Once you buy into this premise, there’s no end to the advice about how to do so. But it’s a terrible idea.

Fear of rejection ranks high, but there’s more than one way to get referrals.

This is the fifth (and last) part in a series about my late partner, Emery Kertesz.

Let’s talk through how you can leverage the power of LinkedIn to attract more qualified leads by focusing on the six most common mistakes I see advisors making.

I have paid close attention to the lack of simplicity in the lives of my advisor clients and those around me for more than two decades.

This is the fourth part in a series about my late partner, Emery Kertesz. I’ve summarized his management principles. They have broad applicability

The advisory profession is set up to encourage selfishness and greed. For that to change, compensation must change. These thoughts are radical, so take a seat before you read.

How do you stop being busy and constantly multitasking? Imagine if you could gain back 40% of your productivity!

Ask someone a question in which the respondent has a vested interest in how it is answered, and you know what the answer is before asking it. I see this when I am talking to advisors about the RIA model.

How do we keep our teams motivated to keep looking and growing?

For more than 20 years, Emery Kertesz guided our audio equipment company through every minefield imaginable. Part of his success was based on his raw intelligence, military training, passion and curiosity.

In 40 years, I’ve never seen as many signs of change in the planning/advisory profession as I see right now.

Imagine never having to do your least favorite chore!

Slow or stale growth always boils down to the same three reasons…

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what it takes to be a great coach, so let me lay out the essential elements.

I will share with you some principles that guided Emery’s management of our businesses. You may find them applicable to yours.

I used the “Big Picture” client education software to examine the impact of rebalancing frequency on historical SWRs and other retirement outcomes. The results argue against the notion to rebalance often.

Joel Bruckenstein of T3 and I just released the 2021 T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey, which includes user ratings and market share statistics (and year-on-year changes to both) for more than 400 different software products and services in 32 different categories.

Do you control your email, or does it control you?

The Asset-Map process and its toolset is a force for robust conversations that provides the basis for your advice.

This is the first of a five-part series on my partner, Emery Kertesz. He died on January 29, 2021, at age 64.

I want to share a math formula I often discuss with advisors. This is for anyone considering transitioning their practice to the RIA model or is already working through those steps but is struggling to reach the finish line.

Perfectionism sounds great but it can be the gateway to disaster.

The assumption that will kill your conversion rate is this:

Should you include Clubhouse in your online marketing strategy for 2021? Here’s my breakdown.

How does retargeting work? And what advantages does it bring to advisors?

Kvetching. That's a technical term that describes what my financial advisor coaching clients do when I walk them through creating their “ideal week.”

Getting more referrals is one thing and getting better referrals is indeed a completely different issue.

A woman to whom I was referred because she is facing a nasty divorce turns out to be a close acquaintance of mine.

There are many studies that provide aspiring leaders with sound guidance on how to manage your firm, and how to create a happy, collegial and productive environment.

I’m sick of the impoverished language that advisors use when trying to market themselves to business owners. Try these one-liners instead.

A founder-driven growth model isn’t sustainable or efficient.

When it comes to investments, economic growth, and entrepreneurship, women remain structurally excluded from high-level participation compared to men.

We can learn a lot from Oprah Winfrey’s bombshell interview of Harry and Meghan.

With the new SEC ad rule at the Federal Register, the 60-day waiting period is in effect. Advisory firms who take the time to plan will successfully leverage reviews to grow their firm.

To use Asset-Map for business development, your first step is to identify a proponent of Asset-Map so that they use it and experience its effectiveness and value. The question is how to get to that point.

The temptation to offer solutions for those facing a problem is overwhelming. Therein lies the trap for unwary advisors.

Very few of my financial advisor clients are less overwhelmed than pre-COVID.

In my 1,000+ interviews with financial advisors over the past 15 years, frustration with a lack of COI referrals is one of the most common refrains I hear.

Everything you’ve been taught about elevator pitches is wrong. I’m here to show you a much simpler way.

I was recently introduced to an impressive tool that organizes and simplifies the planning process, and shows clients how to meet their financial goals.

Those of us in the coaching business may be doing some harm, notwithstanding our good intentions.

It takes courage and humility to realize you’ve erred and to issue an apology. Don’t waste it by doing it in a way that negates your intent and may exacerbate the problem.

The key to getting referrals from a board is treating those influential people as genuine centers of influence.

How do you tell someone you work with they need to have better on-camera etiquette?

A solution for the challenge of moving wirehouse clients with active securities-based loans.