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Hosted by Financial Advisor Coach, Ray Sclafani, "Building The Billion Dollar Business" is the ultimate podcast for financial advisors seeking to elevate their practice. Each episode features deep dives into actionable advice and exclusive interviews with top professionals in the financial services industry. Tune in to unlock your potential and build a successful, enduring financial advisory practice.
Ray Sclafani (00:00.366)
Welcome to Building the Billion Dollar Business, the podcast where we dive deep into the strategies, insights, and stories behind the world's most successful financial advisors and introduce content and actionable ideas to fuel your growth. Together, we'll unlock the methods, tactics, and mindset shifts that set the top 1 % apart from the rest. I'm Ray Schlaffani, and I'll be your host.
So today's episode is about three very creative ways that financial advisors who are seeking to expand their client roster are having success. We all know developing deeper relationships with existing clients and empowering them to share your value with their networks. Well, that's a compelling way to expand your practice. And we all know referrals are the foundation of most advisor growth strategies. Today's episode, I want to go beyond that. What are the three
very creative, very unique ways that the best in the business are expanding their client roster. In the show notes, I'm gonna put a link to an article I wrote not too long ago that shares nine very specific creative ways for financial advisors to acquire clients. What I did was pick out three of the most creative ways, and we're gonna talk about those in today's episode. Creative strategies can set you apart from the competition.
And it's important to do that now because the traditional marketing approaches we see are falling short, especially among younger generations who prioritize experiences over information. So discover three powerful strategies that are helping growth focused advisors expand their reach and achieve remarkable results. You may find plenty of reasons to dismiss these three tactics as I share them with you, but as you plan for the year ahead,
I'd encourage you to stretch your thinking and explore what's possible. I would also say view compliance as a guide, not a barrier. As an entrepreneur, look around. Some of the most successful advisors are breaking barriers and expanding their reach and sharing their value with the world. So let's dig into these three innovative approaches so that you can stay ahead of the competition and grow your practice in meaningful, sustainable ways. So we know traditional marketing is falling short.
Ray Sclafani (02:21.6)
especially among the younger generation. And so you've got to get more creative to set yourself apart from your competitors. So a few things. First off, I would suggest consider starting a podcast, maybe even a video podcast with a sure microphone, like the one I'm on right here, or a smartphone. You can start a podcast in minutes, but before you start, think about who you want to reach. Most podcasts appeal to a highly focused audience.
Know your target audience and create content specific examples, case studies, and graphics that will appeal to them. Record it on audio and video posted on YouTube, which because Google owns it is going to scour and probably present it to people searching for the topics you cover. Share links to the video and audio portion on your website, in your emails, on your social media, with clients, with partners, with advocates, anybody else, even people you don't think will listen.
You'll be surprised who shows up. Here's a hint. It's okay if it's not perfect. If you've been listening to my podcasts, you know, they stumble every now and then and that's okay. It makes it authentic and real. Your audience is seeking insightful content that speaks to them. Focus on the words first and always. Here's a bonus hint. It's not about big numbers. It's about finding your ideal clients who will watch and listen and recognize the value. Let me give you a silly little example.
There's an advisor client of ours. He's grown his business from 300 million to just over $3 billion in a relatively short few years. How did he do it? He launched a YouTube channel focused very specifically on a niche market. And I can tell you when I watch his videos, I actually have no idea what the guy's talking about because he's speaking so specifically to the niche that he serves.
And he's using very specific acronyms, very specific inside baseball to what the pension is about, what the challenges of that industry is facing. The people that are attracted to that channel already know those issues and they see his firm as experts in helping solve what they know is the big challenge. We've got another client who started a YouTube channel, actually just a couple of young professionals, and they're pouring a bunch of money into
Ray Sclafani (04:46.829)
fun short videos, three minutes, four minutes max, and the target audience they're going after, that younger high income earner, some call the Henrys, are exactly the kind of people that are attracted to their videos. So again, doing a podcast and recording it and using a video cast, if you will, you know, those kinds of techniques and tactics are really unique. Let's move on to the second very creative tactic.
invite clients and prospective clients to an ask me anything session, the AMA, believe it or not, there's an advisory firm that does this the first Tuesday of every month from nine to 11. People are clamoring for information and often their questions seem unique to them when in fact the same thing is making other people wonder and
In today's landscape where you've got all kinds of social and digital media, you've got news organizations that are more commentary organizations than news organizations. It's hard to imagine what you're reading or listening to, whether it's true or not. But a live ask me anything session from an expert is incredibly powerful on the spot by gathering people to be able to ask questions of you.
and learning from each other, well, they appreciate the breadth of your knowledge and the types of issues you typically address. What seems like to you kind of normal and maybe even like rote. I do this all the time. That's important. Yeah. You'd be surprised. Run these live question answer sessions on LinkedIn, maybe even Instagram, Facebook, or even YouTube. Pick a catchy topic to address examples like tax tips for high earners or how to catch up.
for retirement. Have some prepared questions in case people attend, but are reluctant to ask. Usually one or two open the door so that everybody begins asking more questions. You may even want to plant a few client advocates in the session to start the dialogue. You don't even have to record it. Just make it a live session for 90 minutes, 75 minutes, two hours, if you get a lot of questions. And here's a little hint. Attendance will likely skyrocket.
Ray Sclafani (07:09.75)
If you hold the workshop at a business looking for new customers or people eager to get a visit, such as a brewery, a winery, a coffee shop, restaurant, we actually have a, an advisor who does this exact session and they are in their town, part of the ribbon cutting community. When a new business opens, they've held these sessions at donut shops, coffee shops as they open and their live sessions and they're fun. They help the business out. They also help.
clients and prospective clients. And you build a little community out of this. I've watched this advisor soar in bringing on new clients and just being able to sit down with somebody over a cup of coffee and have an honest conversation about some of the questions. It's actually a fun and unique way, very creative to drive engagement. Okay. Third, this may sound totally off the wall, but how about write a book? Authors are treated like experts.
I remember the first time Wiley published my first book, You've Been Framed, How to Reframe Your Wealth Management Business and Renew Client Relationships. That was over a decade ago. And I wrote the book with an intent to bring premium content of value to any advisor seeking to really grow. And back 10 years ago, I saw the wealth business really transforming where it wasn't about investment management or even financial planning. Those were table stakes. The best advisors even a decade ago,
we're expanding their reach to clients. And what I've learned over the last decade is that writing a book can present all of this information, not only to a group of clients and prospective clients, but then they share that with their network. You get opportunities to speak to groups, you get interviewed on podcasts and other media. You'd be surprised the reach that a book really makes. And with the explosion of Amazon and other self publishing platforms and services,
Writing a very targeted book for your ideal client is not as complicated or expensive as it used to be or as you even imagine. Focus a book on what your audience would want to read. And the way you do that is look at your client roster. Where do you make the biggest impact? Who are those ideal clients? Write a book about how you've helped them, how you would help other people like them, how you came to understand the problem, what your solutions are.
Ray Sclafani (09:30.52)
provide some case studies of how you've helped others do the same thing. Maybe even invite your ideal clients to offer some input about their experiences in working with you. And you'll be surprised. Maybe this is the year that you memorialize your value and expand your reach. Now I wrote my book myself. I'm a writer. I enjoy writing. I've gotten better at it over time. I'm still learning each and every day, but I've noticed quite a number of advisors partner with
like a ghostwriter or partner with somebody who can take their thoughts and put them on paper. And then you can edit those. You can even use some of the new AI tools. There's a device I use a great deal called plod, P-L-A-U-D. It's a little electronic device. I travel everywhere with it. When I'm in the car rides home, you know, I write a little article. Hey, what did I learn from clients today? What value can I add?
that would be helpful to the audience that I'm trying to reach. How can I make a difference for others? And I'll just record a seven, eight, 10 minute session. And I happen to present a lot at conferences and I enjoy presenting. so that flow of ideas just sort of emanates when I'm presenting and speaking out loud. That's how I wrote my book. I then take that little plot device.
and I load it up and it transcribes everything and puts an outline together for me. And it's my words, it's original, my thinking, and then I can translate that. Now I've got it in a Word document and I can start doing some good editing. So that's a simple way that you begin writing a book. Start by picking out 10 topics that relate to how you've helped others and spend a little time writing about each of those. A professional can really help you with the process if you're not comfortable.
And here's a little hint. Advisors who are successful authors have shared with me that their clients are far more willing to share their friends information with them when they offer to send a signed copy of their book. That's a great way to generate new business. Now with each of our episodes, we provide a few coaching questions. Today, there are three. Who on your team is responsible for developing your creative marketing strategy to find new clients? Number two,
Ray Sclafani (11:50.786)
What systems do you have in place to quantify the success of these efforts? And number three, how will you leverage your team's creative strategies to expand your business this year? So these are three creative ways. I know they may sound a little crazy starting a podcast, an AMA session, Ask Me Anything, or writing a book, but today's episode is really geared to help you think about how to stretch your mind and try some new things different this year.
beyond the simple referral. Well, thanks for tuning in. And that's a wrap. Until next time, this is Ray Sglafani. Keep building, growing and striving for greatness. Together, we'll redefine what's possible in the world of wealth management. Be sure to check back for our latest episode and article.