Monthly Archives: August 2018

Episode 101- Your Nifty Virtual Assistant with Michelle Wong



It can be difficult to find the right people to support you as an adivsor. Creating a team that understands you and balances you skillsets often feels as though you’re asking a lot, especially if you’re limiting yourself to individuals who can come to your brick and mortar. Today Matt is sitting down with female entrepreneur and FPQP Michelle Wong to discuss her latest business and your solution to finding the perfect support system for your advisory firm.

Michelle is the founder and CEO of Nifty Advisor Support which offers a comprehensive virtual assistant program specifically tailored for RIAs. Nifty can assist your business with client service and operations, marketing and communication, and paraplanning. Michelle explores her process and methodolgy to providing RIA’s with the best service possible, at a minimal cost.

If you’re curious about how to improve your business without the hassel of creating a salaried position tune in with Michelle and Matt to explore the opportunities of Nifty Advisor Support.

LINKS: Nifty Advisor Support | Michelle Wong LinkedIn


Our 100th Episode with Michael Kitces



Have you ever wanted the opportunity to pick the brain of a financial rockstar?

To celebrate our hundredth podcast, Matt was fortunate enough to sit down with the one and only Michael Kitces and do just that.

Many of you will recognize Michael’s name from his blog, Nerd’s Eye View, but he is also a partner and director at Wealth Management for Pinnacle Advisory Group and the co-founder of the XY Planning Network and New Planner Recruiting. If you haven’t found him through these avenues, you may have had the opportunity to hear Michael at one of his many speaking gigs (he rocks between 50-70 a year). With eight designations/degrees (yes, you read that correctly), Michael is one of our industry’s leading experts on everything from marketing to markets.

Michael discusses his initial foray into the blog scene, and how he’s grown in popularity and numbers through persistent writing and by creating high-quality content. Boasting over 200,000 unique viewers to his blog every month, Michael understands how to go from humble beginnings to superstardom.

Listen in today and discover what steps you can take to realizing your marketing dreams.

LINKS: Michael Kitces LinkedIn | Kitces.com


Episode 99- Holiday Touch Point Tips with Luke Acree



You may not realize this… but the holidays are right around the corner. And now for many of us are first instinct is to be overwhelmed. With the holidays come so many other important obligations. But here at Top Advisor Marketing Podcast, we’ve been thinking ahead and we want to ensure our listeners are able to enjoy the holidays. Because really, it is a time to have fun and celebrate. But it’s also an important to for creating and delivering high quality pieces of communication.

Joining us today to discuss how to make your holiday schedule a little lighter is returning guest Luke Acree, President of ReminderMedia. Luke and Matt explore options for advisors that can be used during the holidays to ensure you’re keeping up your touch count, but also providing high quality content to your audience. Taking the time to investigate your plan and strategy today will make for an easier December.

Listen in today to learn how you can stroke one item off your Holiday-to-do-list in August!

LINKS: Reminder Media Podcast | Luke Acree


Episode 98 – Pleasing the Algorithm with Jessica Jackson



This year has brought a lot of changes to our social media timelines. One of the key platforms that has experienced a dramatic shift is the tried and true Facebook. With everything that’s happened when it comes to newsfeeds and ad features, are you curious if you’re making the Facebook algorithm work for you?

Joining Matt today is one of Top Advisor’s in house Social Media Specialists and Copy Writer Jessica Jackson. Matt and Jessica dive into how you can please the algorithm by controlling the few key areas you can to ensure maximum reach. Jessica also shares some strategies to optimize your organic posts to receive maximum reach and discusses ways to engage your audience to further leverage your post.

LINKS: Jessica Jackson Linkedin


Episode 97 – Marketing Secrets with Kristen Judd



On Top Advisor Marketing Podcast we are always looking for people who are doing something from a marketing perspective that is unique and different. We aim to provide our audience with a variety of techniques and strategies that can execute in their own offices to see their marketing transform into sales. Today’s guest brings experience and her own unique twist to creating sustainable and successful marketing. Joining us is Kristen Judd of Money Secrets and Five Rings Financial.

Kristen has successfully used pretty much every medium you can to market her business. From an attractive (and useful) website, to Facebook Pages/Groups, and a consistently active LinkedIn Campaign, Kirsten utilizes many of the tools every advisor has access to with an incredible success rate. Kristen offers her own insight into her use of Videos (both live and recorded) along with one of her key event campaigns, Wine, Women, and Wealth. Kristen has taken her marketing to a place where not only has she developed a successful business, but she’s also creating spaces to help women better understand their finances and their goals.

If you want to take your marketing and client experience to the next level, be sure to tune in the Kristen and Matt today!

LINKS: KRISTEN JUDD


Episode 96 – Next Level Niche with Marci Bair



If you haven’t noticed, we love to talk about your niche on Top Advisor Marketing Podcast. Having a real and focused niche enables advisors to make a larger impact in their area of interest, and grow their business exceptionally well. In today’s episode we are diving back into niche financial planning with Marci Bair, President of Bair Financial Planning, and soon to be published author of the Social Responsibility Tool Kit.

With over 25 years of experinece working with female executives, LBGTQ+ communities, and progressive businesses, Marci understands just how crucial a niche is to a sustainable and profitable business. But how can you take this one step further? Matt and Marci dive into how you can undergo assessments and certifications to provide proof that you are operating and unique and one of a kind financial planning service. With a background in sustainable and socially responsible investing, Marci offers her unique input on the various ways you can undergo ESI/SRI certifications to ensure you’re business is not just planning, but operating in a financially sustainable fasion.

If you’re interested in learning how you can take your ESI/SRI business to the next level, or just want to know more about developing a strong niche market, listen in with Marci and Matt today!

LINKS: Marci Bair | Sustainable & Socially Responsible Investing 101 | Socially Responsible Investing Brochure


Episode 95 – The Sales Side of Business with Wes Schaeffer



A major component of what we teach on Top Advisor Marketing is that marketing isn’t sales. And sales isn’t marketing. In order to best showcase this for our audience we’ve brought on an incredible new guest who’s breadth and understanding of sales is sure to leave you feeling educated and fired up about catching that next sale. Today Matt welcomes TedX speaker, author, and owner of the Sales Whisper, Wes Schaeffer.

Wes broke out on his own in the world of finance in 2009. Since then he has developed a sales teaching system that is designed to ensure advisors are able to make those big sales with integrity (and without the hard close and profanity). Wes and Matt dive into some of his sought after techniques to improve your sales strategy and system. Included in this episode is a FREE copy of Wes’ sales agenda. This product is the same one he uses every time he enters into a room with a prospect.

Never forget, the only way to grow your business is to grow your sales! Close 2018 with a strong final push and listen in with Wes today!

LINKS: The Sales Whisperer | Wes SchaefferMeet Wes |FREE Sales Agenda


Episode 94 – Empowering Women in Finance with Katie Burke and Bridget Grimes



Did you know that fewer than one in four CFP® professionals are women and it’s been that way for at least a decade? Financial planning can be a great place for women to work, grown and thrive. So, why is it not attracting more women?  Its an industry about building relationships, problem solving, having control over your work and problem solving. All characterstics of a great field that should be appealing to both men and women.

Yet the continued male dominance has created a disparity in interest. Fortunately, on today’s espiode of Top Advisor Marketing Matt welcomes Bridget Grimes and Katie Burke, co-founders of Equita Financial Network, and two females in finance seeking to correct for that difference.

Bridget and Katie designed Equita to provide the support women aren’t getting from the male led firms that dominate the industry. Equita provides a variety of support systems to women financial planners including networking, scholarship opportunities, peer to peer mentoring, and professional development. It also has a fee structure system designed to reward women as they grow their firms. All of these strategies have been thoughtfully implements to help women become increasingly successful in the financial field.

In addition to running the Equita Financial Network, Bridget is a newly minted author of Corner Office Choices, and both Bridget and Katie manage their own financial planning firms.

To learn more about how Katie and Bridget are changing the way women work in finance, be sure to listen in today or check our Bridget’s new book, linked below.

LINKS: CORNER OFFICE CHOICES | Click here to listen to an exercpt of the book on iTunes | METHOD FINANCIAL PLANNING | WEALTH CHOICE


Episode 93 – Diversity and Inclusion in Finance with Robyn Pollack



When you look around the room at financial conference, it’s probably come to your attention that there just isn’t much diversity in the crow around you. You may not even need to be at a conference to notice the lack of diversity in the financial sector, you may be able to tell simply from looking at your office.

If this sounds like you, first off you’re not alone. And second, there are professional who can help you, such as this week’s guest, Robyn Pollack.

Robyn is the president and founder of Trellis Consulting. As a business strategist with an expertise in diversity and inclusion, Robyn increases financial return by teaching organizations to leverage their D&I Initiatives more effectively.Through years of experience working with businesses as a restructuring attorney, Robyn understands first-hand that business goals, objectives and strategies can only truly be achieved in a culture that is grounded in cultivating and valuing all stakeholders equally.

Learn more today on how you can ensure you’re promoting inclusion and diversity in your work place!

LINKS:  MINDSET | ROBYN POLLACK


Episode 92 – Creating Space for Serving Women with Barbara Provost



Do you feel as though your firm might be missing something? Or more specifically, someone? For decades now, many of us in the financial service industry have ignored 51% of the population, AKA the women. Matt is joined today by Barbara Provost of Purse Strings, LLC and Provost Consulting to discuss how you can change this and what opportunities there are for advisors to best serve women.

Barbara is an expert on women. With a doctorate in education she has spent the past 25 years building financial education products. Her experience and background create an ideal space to assist women in growing in their relationship with money, along with connecting with to properly vetted professionals.

If you’re interested in how you can create a more female accesible practice to help women manage their wealth (who, by the way, are  about 20 trillion dollars), Barbara has incredible thought leadership and insight to offer. Listen in today!

LINKS: www.pursestrings.co |  www.bprovost.com | Barbara Provost