Guest: Bill Cates, a Hall of Fame speaker, author, and referral coach. Bill's latest book is The Language of Referrals: The Words & Scripts Financial Professionals Use to Gain More Ideal Clients.

In a Nutshell: When it comes to creating and sustaining organic growth, clicks and "likes" are important. But turning your existing clients into superfans who generate a steady stream of referrals creates strong, person-to-person connections that digital marketing never will.

On today's show, "The Original Referral Coach" Bill Cates offers actionable specifics on how to set the stage for referrals, how to ask and position for referrals, how to follow up on referrals, and more importantly, how to create the mindset that attracts referrals on a consistent basis. If you're serious about growing your client base, grab a pen and paper and block off an hour or two -- you're going to want to listen to this episode more than once.

Guest: Alex Miele, CFP®, a Managing Director and Partner with Hierax Wealth Partners. Alex’s fifteen years of service in the wealth management industry has focused on advocating for her clients throughout every permutation of their financial lives. Alex prides herself in finding solutions for her clients’ seemingly unsolvable problems, while providing a patient presence throughout each client’s unique journey.

In a Nutshell: Mitch Anthony and I started ROL Advisor because we believe the future of our industry lies in not only improving clients' return on investment, but also in improving their Return on Life. To help folks get more from their money than just more money, advisors need to expand their ideas about what kinds of services we can offer and improve the "soft skills" that can form generational relationships.

On today's show, I'm sharing a conversation about providing world-class, human-to-human service that I had with top advisor Alex Miele during an ROL Advisor Learning Hour session. Alex breaks down what "concierge" service is, how she charges for it, and how her team delivers value that too many advisors don't.

Guest: Mario Nardone, CFA, Founding Partner of East Bay Investment Solutions, which offers outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) solutions for planning and relationship-focused financial advisors.

In a Nutshell: The human side of financial planning is, increasingly, where financial planners are delivering the most value to clients. Building those relationships and helping people achieve their life goals can also be incredibly rewarding. But even an expert "people person" still has to deliver on the numbers side as well. Outsourcing your investment management can be one way for advisors to spend more of their time doing what they do best while also ensuring optimal outcomes for clients.

On today's show, Mario Nardone explains what an OCIO is and how they work with advisory firms to enhance their investment offering while freeing up the advisors time for other high-value pursuits.

Guest: Benjamin Brandt, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Founder/President of Capital City Wealth Management, a Bismarck, ND fee-only financial planning company. Benjamin is also the host of the Retirement Starts Today Radio podcast and co-host of The Least Boring Tax Podcast.

In a Nutshell: Many advisors think about tech and marketing in terms of "more": more reach, more productivity, more clients, more AUM. But lately I've been asking myself and my coaching clients: Isn't part of the promise of our all-digital, AI-driven future supposed to be "less" time grinding away at the office and "more" time living your life?

That depends on what kind of service you want to deliver, what size firm you want, and how you want to spend your time. Some RIA CEOs are going to pump productivity gains right back into the business and keep trying to "add a zero." Others, like my guest today, are going to be very intentional about maintaining both high-touch service for a specific niche of clients and healthy work-life balance for themselves and their team members.

On today's show, Benjamin Brandt and I discuss his podcast marketing funnel, his unique approach to accepting and onboarding new clients, and how he's leveraging technology to optimize the efficiency of his firm.

Guest: Matt Reiner, a CFA® Charterholder, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ , and partner at Capital Investment Advisors, a $4.3B RIA in Atlanta, Georgia. Additionally, Matt is the managing partner of Wela Strategies, an RIA that deals with the investment needs of the mass affluent.

In a Nutshell: Nobody likes to fail, nobody likes to admit they failed, and nobody likes to publicly discuss their failure.

That’s why I have huge respect for Matt Reiner.

In early 2020, Matt made his first appearance on Between Now and Success to talk about Benjamin, his AI startup. Benjamin supplemented a traditional tech stack with workflow automation that took care of menial tasks so that advisors and support staff would have more time to work directly with clients.

Today, that company is dead. And, on today's show, Matt is back to talk about what happened.

Matt is candid and real in this conversation, and his perspective on his entrepreneurial journey is something that I think you’ll relate to. We also discuss the broader implications of technology and AI in financial advising and a question I've been asking for a couple years now: Is technology actually increasing advisor productivity by a significant amount?

Guest: Mark Hurley, founder of Fiduciary Network and now CEO of Digital Privacy & Protection LLC, a cybersecurity company.

In a Nutshell: Back in 1999, Mark Hurley dropped a bombshell white paper that predicted the wealth management industry would be consolidated into less than 100 firms, there would be a huge amount of M&A, and the small RIAs would fall by the wayside. The first part of Mark's prediction definitely came true. And as we exit the era of cheap money and roaring markets, the fate of smaller RIAs that aren't growing organically is certainly up in the air. With tailwinds turning into headwinds, the financial services industry is about to get a lot more competitive and, for some smaller firms, potentially less profitable. But there's also a lot of opportunity for growth-minded RIAs to differentiate themselves with a higher quality of service and a more human touch.

On today's show, Mark Hurley discusses his latest whitepaper, Welcome to the Jungle: The Next Phase of the Evolution of the Wealth Management Industry.

For the ninth time, I begin the New year with 3 carefully chosen words meant to remind, motivate, and guide me on my road to making the New Year my best year yet. It’s the My 3 Words exercise.

My 3 words are printed at the top of my Daily Outcomes sheet (my prioritized to-do list) so I see them multiple times a day.

By being thoughtful when I identify my 3 words and reviewing them daily, I have an inescapable reminder of my key focus points for the year. These words help me stay on track, on plan, and on point.

In today’s post, I discuss how well I executed on my 3 words from 2023 and then reveal my 3 words for 2024.

Guest: Connor Sung, CFP®, Director, Financial Planning at eMoney Advisor.

In a Nutshell: It's been about seven months since I asked ChatGPT if I could retire without running out of money. Since then, the intersection of financial psychology and technology continues to advance rapidly -- not just in how advisors use AI, but in how they're improving their people skills and learning to meet clients and prospects where they are to deliver the advice that they need. These advancements on both the tech and human sides of financial advice are improving the client experience and coaching folks towards better financial outcomes.

On today's show, Connor Sung discusses how platforms like eMoney are evolving to support more nuanced and individualized planning conversations and redefining what "success" means for clients.

Guest: James Conole, CFP®, Founder of Root Financial Partners and star of a very successful YouTube channel with over 61,000 subscribers.

In a Nutshell: When prospects watch your YouTube videos, read your newsletters, listen to your podcasts, and click on your website, within seconds they should think, "These guys are reading my mind!" Understanding the information your audience wants is key to making content that appeals to both your ideal client and the complex algorithms that determine who gets shown your content.

On today's show, James Conole explains how he coordinated his YouTube channel, podcast, and website to create a lead-generating machine that in 12 months has attracted nearly 700 prospects with at least $500,000 of investable assets and generated $120 million in new AUM.

Guest: John Wernz, one of the top marketers on the planet. John was the Chief Marketing Officer of Wealth Enhancement Group (WEG) (listen to my podcast with WEG CEO Jeff Dekko) as that company grew rapidly through some sophisticated organic marketing programs. He’s currently Executive-in-Residence at Great Hill Partners, Executive Director and Board Member at Datalign Advisory, and Board Advisor at Testimonial IQ.

In a Nutshell: Before recording this episode, I prompted ChatGPT-4 to “Play the role of a financial advisor marketing expert. Lay out a detailed marketing strategy for a $5 million annual revenue RIA firm that wants to grow 20% per year.”

The results were … pretty good!

But effective marketing requires more than blindly following a GPT-generated plan —  you have to target, personalize, and differentiate your message to reach your intended audience and turn clicks into clients through both marketing AND sales.

On today’s show, John Wernz and I use the GPT-4 marketing plan as a springboard to discuss all aspects of the marketing process and identify actionable ways for you to improve every step of your marketing program.

Guest: Jon Dauphiné, Esq. is the CEO of the Foundation for Financial Planning, the U.S.'s leading 501(c)(3) charity devoted to expanding access to pro bono financial planning for people in need. Dave Mantell, CFP®, CFA is a Managing Partner and wealth advisor at Stabler Wealth Management in Bellevue, WA.

In a Nutshell: In fields like medicine, law, and education, pro bono work is an established part of the professional culture. My guests today are at the forefront of a movement to build an infrastructure for pro bono financial planning so that folks who can't afford to work with an advisor can gain access to the essential services we provide.

On today's show, Jon Dauphiné and Dave Mantell explain how the Foundation for Financial Planning connects advisors to the resources they need to make a huge impact on people's lives and their communities. We also discuss how more advisors and -- hopefully -- conference organizers can get involved in building out this important network.