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.

Guest: Dr. Preston Cherry, AFC®, CFT-I™, CFP®, Ph.D., the Founder and President of Concurrent Financial Planning, a comprehensive financial planning firm serving households and business owners across generations. Dr. Cherry is also Head of the Financial Planning Program and Director of the Charles Schwab Center for Personal Financial Planning at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. On top of that, he's a co-founder and Chief Evangelist at Practice Intel. In a Nutshell: There's a significant disconnect in our industry between what folks say they want from an advisor and what advisors are actually delivering. To close that gap, advisors may need to start quantifying their relationships to clients so that they can track, measure, and manage more than just return on investment. On today's show, Dr. Preston Cherry returns to discuss Practice Intel's "Relationship Quality Index" and how he's helping the next generation of advisors prepare to deliver comprehensive planning.

Guest: Manisha Thakor, MBA, CFA, CFP®, a national thought leader and personal finance expert with more than 25 years of experience working in the worlds of personal finance and investing. She's also the author of a great new book, MoneyZen: The Secret to Finding Your "Enough." In a Nutshell: Society trains us to believe that the answer to all of our problems is More: more stuff, more clicks, more Likes, and, of course, more money. But financial advisors know that the connection between true happiness and money is a lot more complicated than that. Shifting your focus from improving clients' return on investment to improving their Return on Life can help folks find that healthy balance between what they have, what they want, and what's really important. On today's show, Manisha Thakor and I have a wide-ranging conversation about the meaning of money in our life and how it can evolve over time, Manisha's personal journey to "enough," and how to find joy in living simply.

Guest: Louis Barajas, an author, speaker, CFP®, an the CEO and founder of International Private Wealth Advisors, where he serves as a wealth manager for influential Latin celebrities, athletes, executives, and other high-net-worth individuals in the entertainment and sports industries. Louis also serves as the founder and CEO of Business Management Lab, where he provides comprehensive business management services for iconic Latin artists. In a Nutshell: As a financial advisor, you've probably learned that it's very difficult to help someone who isn't ready to accept your help. But advisors also need to work on the skills that will help them meet clients and prospects where they are in life. That emotional intelligence becomes even more important as our industry continues to improve its diversity and broaden the impact that we can have on a wider variety of people. On today's show, Louis Barajas discusses how the desire to make a difference in his own community transformed how he felt about financial services. He also shares experiences that taught him more effective ways to reach people and improve their lives.

Guest: John Furey, Founder and Managing Partner of Advisor Growth Strategies. John also created the Alliance for Registered Investment Advisors, a think tank including seven of the most successful firms that are dedicated to improving the RIA industry through a culture of continuous learning and sharing. In a Nutshell: The large RIA firms and the private equity investors that fund them are creating a new financial advisory landscape: a handful of really big firms and thousands of really small firms. Some of these firms are growing organically, many more are only growing at the rate of market returns. Carving out a place for your firm is going to require a new level of clarity around both strategic planning and how you communicate what makes you unique to your team, clients, and prospects. On today's show, John Furey and I discuss how large firms are impacting the evolution of financial advisory and how individual advisors and RIA CEOs should prepare themselves for the future.

Story is software for the heart.  A great story well told is your greatest tool for influencing behavior. Your listeners can “call up” that story in the future and apply new input specific to the current situation. The story “programs” your listeners to take action based on the emotions the story generates. And this is how a story can continue to influence long after you've told your story. Becoming a masterful storyteller and story receiver will enrich your life, reignite your relationships, and grow your business. In this podcast, Mitch Anthony and I discuss:  The power of masterful storytelling.How to craft your own stories to deepen your client connection.How to elicit stories from your clients.The critical role emotion and empathy play in storytelling.Why putting your client’s LIFE at the center of the planning conversation is critical. This podcast is a rebroadcast of the live July 19 webinar Mitch and I did that more than 1,300 people registered for.  We are following up on this highly successful webinar with 4 hours of storytelling training on September 14. You can learn more about this virtual event and register by visiting  roladvisor.com/stories. See you there!

Guest: Tim Gerend, Executive Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer for Northwestern Mutual. In a Nutshell: You can't turn a tanker around in the Panama Canal. Instead, insurance giant Northwestern Mutual is carving a new lane for itself by adding wealth management to the services its 20,000 advisors, leaders, and team members offer nationwide. With this unique combination of advice, products, services,  and technology, Northwestern believes it can compete on client experience while also attracting the next generation of independent advisors into the fold. On today's show, Tim Gerend and I discuss the five components of Northwestern Mutual's client experience, how the firm recruits and train advisors to hit the ground running, the importance of diversity, and how Tim thinks the financial advisor profession will evolve over the coming years.

Guest: Cheryl Strauss Einhorn. Cheryl is the creator of The AREA Method, an evidence-based decision making system that uniquely controls for and counters cognitive bias to expand knowledge while improving judgment. She developed AREA during her two decades as an award-winning investigative journalist, writing for publications including The New York Times, Foreign Policy Magazine, Barron's, and Harvard Business Review. She's also the author of three books, including Problem Solver: Maximizing Your Strengths to Make Better Decisions. In a Nutshell: Rather than making decisions by gut feel or pure instinct, Cheryl presents a well-researched framework that helps you make better decisions when the stakes are high. On today's show, Cheryl Strauss Einhorn explains the AREA Method and the five "problem solver profiles" that will help you determine your most effective course of action when making big decisions.

Guest: Mark McGrath, CFP®, an advisor with Sweeney Bride Strategic Wealth Advisory in Squamish, British Columbia. In a Nutshell: Back in March, I saw a tweet from Mark that had gone viral. In it, he shared a very personal story about the hidden challenges of retirement that really struck a chord. As I write this, Mark's tweet has racked up 3,034 retweets, 900 quotes, 17.6K likes, 5,401 bookmarks, and an incredible 5.2 million views. We talk about that powerful story and how Mark uses social media to connect to his community and turn clicks into new clients.

Guest: Jason Pereira, Partner & Senior Financial Consultant at Woodgate Financial Inc. in Toronto. Jason is a financial planner, writer, speaker, teacher, and podcast host with 20 years of experience in finance, practice management, and fintech. In a Nutshell: The rise of generative AI like ChatGPT, Bard, Midjourney, and Dall-E is creating a new series of challenges and opportunities for advisors. First-mover advisors, like Jason, are integrating this fast-moving technology into their practices so they can grow more profitably and free up more time for human-to-human interaction that no technology can ever replicate. Listen in as Jason and I discuss how you can take advantage of AI instead of being taken advantage of by AI.