The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast

In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast”, a podcast from the Horizon Advisor Network, hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau talk about the opportunities that advisors may have given the current market conditions. They go through the list of five down-market opportunities for advisors to improve their practices now.   Episode Highlights 01:10 – Chad says there are opportunities around every corner. If you're new or may have been around for a while or maybe at the end of your practice, there are always opportunities in every situation. 03:00 - The idea of being first to reach out to your clients, when things get ugly, instead of having them call you, a lot of clients appreciate that, regardless of if it's good or bad news. 05:00 – We need to start and see how far we've come in and change that perspective to the client of like that this will pass and this creates opportunities, says Chad. 06:55 – Bill states that their second point or opportunity in a downturn market would be to introduce alternative ideas and offerings to their practice. 09:10 - We've had several advisors in the network itself who historically did a lot of the portfolio construction and management more like a Fund Manager. 11:10 – Bill mentions you also need to be cognizant about what else is happening out there with the advisors that are not being proactive. 13:15 – Chad states that they do a really good job of communicating with their clients, and with all the different groups of people they want to tell their stories. 15:20 – Bill tells Chad to talk about the number five opportunity which is ‘Increasing Your Knowledge Base’. 17:30 – This is a good time for reflection, and a good time to take action. Downturns are never fun for anybody but certainly some opportunities. Difficult times always bring opportunities; you just have to look for them, says Chad.   Three Key Points Chad thinks that proving your worth and galvanizing your relationship with your clients is one of the things that we always do as advisors. We know our worth, and we believe in ourselves but in an up-market when things are going well it's not so hard to kind of prove your worth. It's whenever the market takes a turn that becomes a little difficult and it is where you pay your dues in a sense of having the opportunity to show your clients while you're here showing them your expertise and your knowledge in the market. Such things paint a good picture for you as the advisor. They all independently came up with one thing that was consistent with each one of their speeches and it was that if you're not doing financial planning yet then probably this is the perfect time to do it. However, in markets like this that are a little difficult, if it's been more transaction airy in its nature, bringing the financial planning aspect into it kind of sets them apart from a lot of other advisors who are maybe not bringing that into their practice and it helps them along as well to whenever they're talking about returns and market conditions. The fourth opportunity for the advisors could be Acquisition and Book Management. So there could be an opportunity to hear that this is not a good opportunity. That this is one of the best times you can probably do that because again, advisors who are maybe kind of at the sun setting of their career, difficult times like this are some of the best times to start reaching out because compliance is getting a little bit more difficult. If you're looking for those opportunities, especially in markets like we have right now, you may find that you're going to have a lot more opportunities and success while finding someone that may be willing to have a good conversation with you about secession. Being introspective at this time is also a good time to do that too.     Tweetable Quotes “I'm one of the board members of the Financial Planners Association of Louisiana and I was a panel speaker a few weeks ago.” – Chad Soileau “No. 1 is to prove your worth and galvanize your relationships with your clients.” – Bill Bush “Clients are always looking for kind of your tone, it's kind of what the young child with a parent.” – Chad Soileau “They're looking for confidence, they're looking for reassurance, they're looking at what is their path?” - Chad Soileau “I think that Risk Mitigation is one of, if you go back to our Horizons Process, we have the financial major which is one of the Seven Pillars of that.” – Bill Bush “We're looking to help people and a lot of people are looking for answers right now, and we can facilitate that.” – Chad Soileau “Now we do podcasts here, but there are blogs, there are newsletters, emails, videos, and all types of those.” – Bill Bush “So, what better time to start doing this now, and start kind of looking at what can I change for next year?” - Chad Soileau     Resources Mentioned The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] Horizon Advisor Network Website  Horizon Advisor LinkedIn Bill Bush Podcast Editing   Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820

In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast”, a podcast from the Horizon Advisor Network, hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau talk about the retirement plans and 401(k) plans for advisors. They discuss various company retirement plans, where most of which are 401(k) plans.   Episode Highlights 02:35 – Bill mentions that they have about 75 company retirement plans. Most of those are 401(k) plans, a few simple IRAs, and a 457 plan. 04:35 – They probably spend any given week 50 to 60 to 70% of their time inside that retirement plan space, says Chad. 06:32 – Bill shares some of the good things about getting into this sector. It does bring some value to those existing relationships where they can offer something that they have some knowledge and specialization in helping them. 08:24 - People have to get very competitive to attract new employees, unemployment being so low and the need for workers being so high that a lot of folks are looking at how do we attract, states Bill. 10:40 – Bill says, when we run into opportunities, oftentimes, it is a case of where a plan has an advisor and they're not present and they are not servicing the plan. 12:00 – Chad says, it's the opportunity to bring in a more diversified clientele, or to bring in a diversified revenue stream. 14:29 – Bill highlights that it is the time for commitment, especially if we build that practice and it becomes a real division where we have like 75 plans. 16:18 - We've got to know where those parameters are on Plan size and building pricing accordingly, says Bill. 18:40 – Chad states that there are those considerations that one needs to look at and it's one of those things with an advisor that they have to look at their business and say that the ROI on this is going to be what they want it to be. 20:15 – Bill mentions that in a start-up plan, there are no assets. One is starting from ground zero, and so in those instances, they will charge a project fee. 22:00 - Just have those conversations with companies that already have a plan and maybe are being under-serviced. 24:14 - One of the things they do have on the horizon website is a webinar they did for business owners. It's about starting a 401 K plan. 26:00 – Bill mentions that they do have a system here and it's important when they show this to potential clients, it's called the 401k Confidence System.   Three Key Points Bill shares some of the other things one should consider if they're going into this to become a plan advisor - the time commitment and the willingness to say, “I'm going to do this and do this means education to the plans”. It means helping that plan sponsor fulfill their fiduciary duty which means quarterly monitoring of the funds, making sure that the funds are up to speed compared to their peers, and following the investment policy statement. Bill mentions it is a lot to think through in terms of how are we going to service, how are we going to bring value, and whether we are appropriately pricing things to be competitive. Bill shares there are other breaks to have automatic enrollment, those were enacted and boosted as a result of the securities act. There's other legislation being drawn up now that will even make it more beneficial for business owners to do that. So, it is getting a lot of attention on the national level, and for those types of things and just having that conversation is a great thing.   Tweetable Quotes “I came out of the healthcare industry and got licensed and part of my indoctrination with the horizon was to help Andy on the 401(k) side.” – Bill Bush “A lot of times in a company retirement plan, that employee the only advisor that they'll ever know, will be the 401(k)advisor.” – Bill Bush “Healthcare makes up about 30 35% of the plans we have.” - Bill Bush “Regardless of what your industry is, there's typically going to be a lot of opportunities.” - Chad Soileau “Other ways of attracting and retaining employees, especially key employees is Hey, have you guys considered a non-qualified plan?” - Bill Bush “Really all parties involved in them need to be up on the latest regulations and all that to make sure there are no surprises.” – Bill Bush “If you want these plans to be sticky, you do need to reprice them.” - Bill Bush “When we have initial conversations with plan sponsors about us servicing the plan, and that can mean a lot of things.” – Bill Bush “You start with one or two small plans and then that in itself usually gives you the opportunity for other plans.” - Chad Soileau “That annual fee can be a part of the of what you get the tax break on it.” - Bill Bush “Set yourself apart. Try to find ways that make your story unique.” - Bill Bush     Resources Mentioned The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] Horizon Advisor Network Website  Horizon Advisor LinkedIn Bill Bush Podcast Editing   Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820

In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice”, a podcast from the Horizon Advisor Network that explores tips, strategies, and perspectives for building, maintaining, and growing confidence in your practice as a financial advisor. In this episode, hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau discuss the topic ‘How to Elevate Your Practice Marketing via Podcasting’. They will dive into some best practices, some barriers, and ways advisors should be doing podcasts for expanding their marketing efforts.                                                               Episode Highlights 01:20 - Chad thinks a lot of advisors are starting to look at podcasting as a marketing tool with a lot more interest in how we start. 03:00 - One of the barriers Bill thinks is that a lot of people might consider how to get started. The other thing is that even if you decide to jump in and don't just stick your toe in the water, the cost of the equipment, the grand scheme of things is pretty minimal. 05:00 - You can go as expansive as you want or you can keep it as simple as you want but obviously spending a few dollars on it, mentions Chad. 07:30 - The world is constantly changing, especially in the digital world. So to keep up and participate in that and to be a part of that is certainly welcome, says Bill. 09:00 – Bill says that they have some good headphones that everybody can listen to, and hear what everybody's saying. So you hear things live and then beyond that, you have the ability to do a podcast with a remote guest. 11:05 - It's all about networking - if you can feature a guest on your podcast, and then share the link with them, they will further share it in their network and in their social media posts, that just exposes more people to you. 13:00 – The next thing Bill talks about is the process or post-production work. So, after recording the conversation you'll want to make sure your audio levels are good and the show notes are in order. 14:20 – There is a lot of post-production work like checking audio levels, editing audio, and writing show noes before finally uploading the podcasts on sites. Bill says that they are associated with a company called com that takes care of all these post-production tasks for them. 16:00 – There is little time involved in compliance and once the compliance is done, then they can post the podcast. 18:15 - There is a cost to have someone else do post-production work and a lot of times it's worthwhile. Beyond that, what episodes are done on the platforms, sharing the content via networking or social media, is what matters. 20:20 - If you're doing something fairly, and timely, there could be a little lag on the production or compliance end, but not a lot, says Bill.   Three Key Points A podcast can be posted on a website, it can be shared on social media, and people can experience that 24 hours a day. It's not an appointment of television or whatever that multiplies your message because literally hundreds and thousands of people can hear that message if it's appropriately distributed. So to multiply yourself and your message if you have a good message, to have that kind of open fire and have that power is a good thing. Pre-pandemic, they were using ‘Skype’, and ‘FaceTime’. Also, there were some technical things they have to go through to make sure mics, inputs, and sounds were correct. But during the pandemic, there was a meteoric rise of a platform called ‘Zoom’. They did podcasts using ‘Zoom’ and if you record those, zoom actually records the video and it also records the audio split out already so that you can go back and download it so you can have a remote guest anywhere. We have three podcasts that are up and running now pretty regularly. One of those is ‘Inside the Plan with the 401k Brothers’, hosted by brothers Andy and Bill Bush, there chiefly their audience is 401 K participants because they have a big book 401k business and so that's a lot of educational pieces and that's mostly Andy and Bill Bush just talking so that podcast is without a guest. Then there is another podcast called – ‘The Runway Decade’, which is centered around this book that's coming out later in the summer of the year. Every episode will have guests that are chiefly in their 50s the book is focusing on people under 50. So think about that in terms of guests or no guests.   Tweetable Quotes “I think it's become a lot easier to start and to do events or podcasting or video and that's because we're kind of carrying around these miniature production studios in our pockets.”- Bill Bush “The first thing I would start with is the equipment which is going to be the easiest part of this unit.” - Chad Soileau “The other thing is to show your expertise or your acumen/knowledge, so you're able to display that and talk legitimately about that.” - Bill Bush “The idea that it gives you so many avenues to share, or to communicate, like for us, we'll send it out to the network.” - Chad Soileau “So we have independent channels for each person talking.” – Bill Bush “Don't just think in terms of who's right in my back door, but who are some folks that would be interesting to listen to and bring them in.” - Bill Bush “I would say just be open-minded because the remote thing I've found at times has been great.” - Bill Bush “We have a company that we are engaged with is Barevalue, and com is the website.” – Bill Bush “It's kind of cool the way that they price this out now using the Barevalue platform that we're on. The cost you pay for that is based on how long the episode is.” – Bill Bush “There are services called Podcast Host Hosting Services, the one we use as Libsyn and we've used them for five or six years now.” – Bill Bush “I know one of the podcasts I listened to, there's a service called the Podcast Factory, and it’s kind of like a podcast in a box.” - Chad Soileau “For me, the actual shooting, recording, and all these pieces are not that difficult.” - Chad Soileau   Resources Mentioned The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] Horizon Advisor Network Website Horizon Advisor LinkedIn Bill Bush Podcast Editing Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820

In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast”, a podcast from the Horizon Advisor Network, hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau discuss the best practice for advisors including continuity and succession.   Episode Highlights 01:12 – Bill mentions that only about 10% of advisors have written, executable continuity documents in place. 03:50 – Bill asks about the ‘Continuity Agreement’, he enquires what is it, how do you get one in place and what does it cover? 06:10 – There are two pieces with continuity agreements. It can be temporary, and it can be triggered by a short-term disability or it can also be triggered by the owner passing away or death, says Chad. 07:33 – Chad says, the other thing that it does for the protector is typically there's going to be something called a right of first refusal. 10:05 – Buy Sell is a confirmation that yeah, I do want to buy it and you're like, Yeah, I do want to sell it to you. So, we're formally agreeing that we're going to go into this relationship of a future purchase, states Chad. 12:45 –Internal succession is the easiest thing to do because that internal partner is usually very knowledgeable about the book, the clients, and with staff. 14:46 – Bill asks about some of the things that could potentially go wrong when you're looking at continuity and secession. 16:50 – Bill says, it's in everybody's best interest; you find the right partner, whether you're the buyer or the seller, it's ultimately an agreement in a partnership, and that hopefully is successful, so that's key.   Three Key Points The reason why an advisor should even consider the steps when we’re talking about continuity is, that it's the beginning process of you having a plan for your business. The importance is, that it does a lot of protecting, and in that it protects your clients, assets, team, your practice, family and protects the value of your book of business. It can also be your foot in the door to becoming a secession partner, but at the end of the day we own businesses, and that's your book of business. The very first step is having the continuity agreement and that does so many things to do protecting. Chad explains that ‘Continuity agreement’ is typically a shorter-term protection policy in a sense that lets that protector come in, lets that owner step back and take care of themselves. You have that span of time that the protector will come in, manage the book, and do the servicing. The biggest thing with Continuity Succession is, that it's not communicating well about what's expected to happen or to not happen. You should have an understanding of each other's philosophies.     Tweetable Quotes “90% of clients want their advisors to have a plan in place to protect their assets knowing what's going to happen in the event should something go wrong.” – Bill Bush “Continuity agreement can also be your foot in the door to becoming a secession partner.” - Chad Soileau “The great thing about the continuity agreement, you can really make it to whatever you want it to be.” - Chad Soileau “Buy-sell is typically a game you have, an owner and a buyer.” - Chad Soileau “If something happens, I'm not obligated but what I want to write the first refusal.” - Chad Soileau “Revenue is key in valuation. So, you want to protect that as much as you possibly can.” - Chad Soileau “Always making sure that the agreements are up-to-date.” - Chad Soileau “The secession agreement is basically the agreement to buy right now.” - Chad Soileau   Resources Mentioned The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] Horizon Advisor Network Website  Horizon Advisor LinkedIn Bill Bush Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820 Podcast Editing  

In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast”, a podcast from the Horizon Advisor Network, hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau bring us Part 2 of their discussion on “Growth by Acquisition”. They’ll continue the conversation by talking about networking, continuity and succession partnerships, marketing and outreach programs, and looking for the “seeds of discontent”.   01:22 – Bill enquires from Chad that who needs to know the story? 03:05 – Chad suggests considering the support staff that helps you through your broker dealer. He mentions that their growth officers and consultants have been very good for them, because they lean in a lot. 05:35– He highlights to pay attention to some of the people who might be approaching retirement and those things that are going on right now may be within your own circle. 08:25 – Chad says that face-to-face discussion with clients / prospects is worth, it's always better than, an impersonal approach. He also states that as far as for prospecting and making connections is concerned, he leverages it every single week and day, he’s on LinkedIn, looking for opportunities. 10:40 – Chad points out that the avenue of continuity of succession, it doesn't matter the age, but typically somebody's coming-up to the age of retirement somewhere around 65, 70 or 75 years, that's a good one. That's a good conversation starter. 13:15– Bill questions that what can we do marketing wise, and kind of that outreach to really push prospecting forward? 15:40 – Chad highlights that the other thing he’s going to probably do next year is start doing like a gift card campaign. 17:50 – Bill asks about the subscription service and asks Chad to elaborate on that. 19:15– Chad explains about the Message Movers service, that's a communication that we come out typically every month or two months. 21:15 – He says there's this term called ‘Seeds of Discontent’, this is one of the first things he learned when he got into this business. 24:00 – Bill thinks that “If you're in a partnership or you're in a silo situation and some other guy dissolves that, then it's like what do I do.” 26:40 – He says that if there's one thing that kind of take away from all this is really the timing portion of this based on the statue game alone, the opportunity is really out there   Three Key Points Bill and Chad dive deep into the topic - ‘Growth through Acquisition’; they give some suggestions that they have and advise to have an open mind because there are a lot of things going on to make things work. They discuss some of the things to consider before even starting getting into that growth by acquisition mode.   Chad says that they have kind of a legacy platform which is called Legacy Builder and it's available to Advisors who are willing to do certain things through the broker dealer so, maybe you need to check with the resources / websites that you have for them. All of these resources have a free membership but the bigger deal with most of these is that your membership will typically give you quicker access. Chad advises to not to be scared of trying new things. According to him, it's in this age, in this day, you have to be inventive and you have to find a new angle to get in touch with those opportunities. The big deal is just to be prepared, be top of mind and to be preferable.   Tweetable Quotes “Also consider the support staff that helps you through, your broker dealers, growth officers and consultants has been very good for us, because we lean in a lot and we leverage a lot of our partners.” - Chad Soileau “There are all these external sources that are out and running into other advisors. We don't even know another opportunity, so obviously, that's important place.” - Bill Bush “Well, boards, like for me, I'm on the FPA board, right.” - Chad Soileau “Only you know, between 25 and 30% of these people have continuity partners.” - Chad Soileau “Because there are a lot of places to where if you're captive, you can only transfer that book to someone already inside of that captive agency.” - Chad Soileau “So, I always kind of say this right as Advisors, your ears get tuned, right?” - Chad Soileau “Acquiring a book takes a lot of work and patience. It is just like prospecting, go into it understanding it's there's no easy button.” - Chad Soileau “And in the meantime, go kiss some frogs.” - Bill Bush   Resources Mentioned The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] Horizon Advisor Network Website  Horizon Advisor LinkedIn Bill Bush Podcast Editing Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820

In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast”, a podcast from the Horizon Advisor Network, hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau discuss on one of the things that is talked about throughout the financial industry and network which is ‘Growth by Acquisition’. In Part 1 of this 2-part topic, Bill asks if you are ready to take on some growth.     Episode Highlights 01:10 - Chad gives an insight about ‘Horizon – The Advisor Network’. He says that they also do consulting services and nationwide they have about 55 producing advisors. They manage about 2.7 billion as a group, under management. 03:10 – He starts with some things to consider before we even get the process started. He states you have to have the will and the want because this is mostly a slow game. 05:06 – Bill asks about the “Capacity Issue”, he enquires that if you a full book, and you're really busy with that, how do you take on the additional capacity? 08:30 – Chad gives his views on why now is a really good time for ‘Growth by Acquisition’. He mentions that roughly only 26 to 27% of advisors have an emergency continuity plan in place for death and disability and only 13% have begun planning for succession in retirement. 11:16: He says that to start with you need to identify what you're looking for, and quickly and eliminate practices or books that are not a good fit. 13:50 – As per Chad, when you can effectively communicate all the things, it starts to take down the barriers of scepticism and what you want to start doing just like with any client is. You want to eliminate as much fear as you possibly can.  16:30 – Chad says that what he always kind of have on his activity list is that he has a particular day in a week that he is going to visit the websites, just to make sure he’s not missing an opportunity. 18:10 – “Have you found a range on how good is the information these type of resources are supplying?” asks Bill.     Bill and Chad dive deep into the topic - ‘Growth through Acquisition’; they give some suggestions that they have and advise to have an open mind because there are a lot of things going on to make things work. They discuss some of the things to consider before even starting getting into that growth by acquisition mode. Chad says that they have kind of a legacy platform which is called Legacy Builder and it's available to Advisors who are willing to do certain things through the broker dealer so, maybe you need to check with the resources / websites that you have for them. All of these resources have a free membership but the bigger deal with most of these is that your membership will typically give you quicker access. Chad advises to not to be scared of trying new things. According to him, it's in this age, in this day, you have to be inventive and you have to find a new angle to get in touch with those opportunities. The big deal is just to be prepared, be top of mind and to be preferable.   Tweetable Quotes “So, we have folks that are plugged into us all across the country” - Bill Bush “There’s an element of time, how much time are you willing to dedicate to this? You can say time, but I mean, really, it's like activity for prospecting. You have to dedicate so much time every week, every month, every quarter every year.” - Chad Soileau “But let's talk about why now, you know, is really a good time for this.” - Bill Bush “So, I think what you got to do first is really identify, what am I looking for? Right? That's kind of your starting point.” - Chad Soileau “You have to create a plan to connect and develop an activity plan.” - Chad Soileau “Let's get into some of the prospecting ideas and how do you really go out there and find opportunities?” - Bill Bush “Sometimes I make a little bit of edits if there's something peculiar, or that stands out in their message.” - Chad Soileau Resources Mentioned The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] Horizon Advisor Network Website  Horizon Advisor LinkedIn Bill Bush Podcast Editing Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820

In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast”, a podcast from the Horizon Advisor Network, hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau talk about some of the things that you can focus on during the vacations / summertime that will help you get to the next level and keep you moving forward.   Episode Highlights 01: - Bill says that there's been a lot of travel happening lately as things are opening up and so a lot of clients & prospects are heading out of town. 03:27: - As per Chad, you can't allow yourself to use the summer slowdown as an excuse to lose focus and to kind of abandon activity. 05:15: - Chad defines what he means by staying active. 07:27: - Bill thinks that lately they are observing reopening of events being held and that can lead to opportunities to get in front of crowd now which wasn't available maybe a year ago when everything was locked down. 09:42: - Bill states that he has used this time to do some of the self-learning. 11:44: - Bill points out that it's also a good time to start planning for some of the activities as the end of third quarter is approaching. 13:00: - According to Chad, this is a perfect time to explore a few different things, because you have more time right now and this may not be for everyone. 14:44: - They both talk about quarterly goals as it could be pretty busy during last couple of weeks.   Three Key Points As per Bill and Chad, one thing they practice at Horizon is that they have weekly advisor meetings and they constantly track all these activities without taking a week off. Bill mentions that they have an event coming-up with a Broker Dealer, where he will be on stage and would be talking about some of the activities they do to grow their marketing efforts. Chad suggests doing some social networking activities during these vacations like trying a blog, doing some newsletters, sending emails to your clients, doing some beta test, etc. as it’s the perfect time to do so.   Tweetable Quotes “You know there's summertime, where people are typically taking vacations, yeah.” - Chad Soileau “A lot going on at that time, a lot of distractions and activities outside of the norm, yeah it is for everyone right.” – Bill Bush “I would tell you, you know, right now, throughout the year people are very busy for the majority of the year, let's call it, right.” - Chad Soileau “We do track in our meetings, we call them stages.” - Bill Bush “This is kind of a good time to, if you haven't been creative and done a newsletter or blog” - Bill Bush “It's a perfect time to start looking at those things.” - Chad Soileau   Resources Mentioned The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] Horizon Advisor Network Website Horizon Advisor LinkedIn Bill Bush Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820

In today’s episode of “The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast” hosts Bill Bush and Chad Soileau talk about growth, particularly through client acquisition, and shares some great tips to grow the business through Networking, Marketing, Prospecting and Communicating.   Episode Highlights 02.03 - Chad Soileau says that we all have to remember that this is a game and it is only won in the field.  03.55 – As per Chad Soileau, if we really want to go forward and want to reinvent ourselves, we need to ask what we would like our business to be. 05.21 – According to him, we need a presentation process and we have to be consistent with it and that is going to clearly outline to whoever it is that we're speaking; whether it's a client, referral sources COI or whatever. 06.25 – Chad Soileau highlights that our content wealth experience is kind of pitch book that we put in front of a client to show them our process, and the value that we bring.  08.02 – He discusses that just like client’s plan, we have to look back and see what was and then what do we want this thing to evolve into. 10.26 – As per him, there should be a plan for, Marketing (what is going to be our outreach & who we are going to contact) &, Prospecting (communicate to our existing clients or affiliates within the network but also to kind of communicate to people who are outside). 12.32 – He points out that we always have to think, where we want to be in next 6 months. 13.58 - In his opinion you have to show gratitude. It’s a differentiator and says a lot about who you are as a person and who your firm is. 15.57- He uses LinkedIn to grow network and to communicate, to know what he has been going on and what should he do as an individual. 18.00 – Chand Soileau states that we should keep track of who we are talking to, when was the last time we talked to them, when did we give them a referral, did they send us a referral, all these things help you to stay on track with your communications.  19.17 –Chand expresses that you can help people in accomplishing their goals and that’s what it is about.   Three Key Points Messaging becomes really important especially if we're speaking with referral sources.  Stories plays a big role. It keeps the client at the center of attention inside of this and it ultimately put the client at ease, give them clarity and make them confident. We have to take as many different mediums as we can, to speak and really communicate as much as possible.    Tweetable Quotes ” You know, it's, as our CEO Peter says, you know, He always says, if it is to be it's up to me yeah correctly now in his case that's self-responsibility.” - Chad Soileau “I think the big thing is identifying who you're going to see, obviously we've talked about this several times before but it is, it's not just a scattershot thing to identify with specifics of who you're targeting.” – Bill Bush “Not all roads are straight, but it's a little bit straighter, so to speak.” - Chad Soileau “I've talked a lot about this about making the client the hero of the story.” – Bill Bush “I have to make sure that not only am I servicing my clients, and doing presentations for existing clients, things along those lines. But again, I have to have time allocated towards finding the next client.” - Chad Soileau “I've always said is just once you try to once, it means you've tried to watch, don't expect immediate results that it does take going back to the drawing board several times, especially if you've tried something new you know it might take some tweaking along the way.” – Bill Bush   Resources Mentioned The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] Horizon Advisor Network Website  Horizon Advisor LinkedIn Bill Bush Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820  

During this episode of The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast, Bill Bush and Chad Soileau speak with Jaci Russo of brandRUSSO and Brand State U about branding strategies, different ways to engage branding professionals in support of your business, and more.   Episode Highlights:   1:12 - Jaci Russo is a brand strategist with over 25 years of experience and is co-founder of brandRUSSO. 2:15 - The key first step is to define what you mean by brand before you start talking about it. 2:25 - Brand does not mean your logo; that’s the brand identity. The brand is the emotional connection between a person and a company, product, or service. 3:50 - Branding isn’t just demographics, but psychographics including how people feel and behave. 4:48 - brandRUSSO has just released a book called He Said, She Said: Branding, about their trademark strategy called Razor Branding. 5:05 - Razor Branding is made up of 4 core elements, and the first is focus. Who are you talking to? 5:30 - Next is promise: Why should they listen to you? What do you have to offer them that other advisors don’t? 5:50 - Next is connection: What are you going to say, and where are you going to say it? 6:18 - Last is harmony: If you’ve done the first three steps, this should take care of itself because you’ll know who you’re talking to, what you’re going to say to them, and how and where to say it. 7:44 - Jaci will be leading a 5-day challenge starting on March 15 about content creation for social media. 8:10 - Jaci loves creating mind maps as a starting point to create your social media content. 8:20 - Write down everything that is a challenge for your target audience whether or not you have a solution for it, and then you’ll have generated content ideas that are about your audience and not yourself. 9:10 - The new marketing strategy is to make your target audience the hero in the story instead of making yourself the hero in the story who will save your target audience. 9:46 - Jaci recently launched another company called Brand State U to help people who can’t afford an agency to still get low-cost professional branding support. 13:00 - Every few years, Jaci had to change the industry focus of her business, so she’s used to curveballs like COVID has thrown us. 13:26 - Despite being based in Lafayette, LA and not a major city, Jaci and her husband have had clients from all over the country and world from day one; about 80% of their revenue is from outside Louisiana. 16:19 - If someone is hoping to engage a brand strategist, they should first look within at how much they’re willing to change so they know what level of assistance they need. 19:12 - In building a team, for brandRUSSO, it started with the benefits package and extends to Jaci’s firm belief in work-life balance as more than just lip service. 19:54 - They have a robust virtual internship program that they hire at least one full time employee out of each year. 20:25 - Jaci also invests about $5,000 per employee per year in professional development. 22:05 - Brand State U takes everything clients have asked Jaci and turns it into an online course. 23:07 - They have live classrooms twice a month to get your questions answered along the way. 23:19 - Brand State U has a membership for $49/month, which is much less than clients would pay to work with Jaci one on one.   3 Key Points: Your logo is not your branding; it is only one small part of your branding, which is really about the emotional connection formed between a person and your business. Today’s winning brand strategy is about letting your audience know that you understand them and the challenges they face. There are a lot of resources online for you to get better at branding for a low cost, so whether you engage a professional strategist one-on-one has to do with how much time and effort you’re willing to make versus how much you’re willing to spend.   Tweetable Quotes: “It’s not about how you see yourself, it’s about letting your audience know that you understand them and what they’re going through." –Jaci Russo "There’s not one way to get 100 clients, but there are probably 100 ways to get at least one client." –Bill Bush "I think that every entrepreneur has to have a little bit of bravery and a little bit of stupidity, and the ratio balance changes over the years." –Jaci Russo "If you have the resources, the money, to hire an expert, you do that, because you’re gonna end up getting a better deal in the end. If you have time, not money, then you learn how to do it yourself." –Jaci Russo   Resources Mentioned: Horizon Advisor Network The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] [email protected] Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820 brandRUSSO website He Said, She Said: Branding book Jaci Russo: Website, Twitter Brand State U website

During this episode of The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast, Bill Bush and Chad Soileau share how to think about your business’ branding in terms of the five senses.   Episode Highlights:   1:20 - Bill and Chad are centering their podcast theme around branding for the first quarter of 2021. 2:21 - Even if you’re not doing it consciously, you are always building your brand. 2:30 - Find the “who,” or the other people who are experts around branding to help you. 4:00 - Think about your branding in terms of the five senses. 4:40 - Sight is the most obvious—beyond your logo, what does your office look like and what is the first impression it will give a client? 6:52 - Social media counts towards sight as well—what is the quality of your video content and graphic design, your font and color consistency, etc. 9:45 - For touch/feel, what are the materials you use? This can mean brochures, photos, promotional materials, etc. 10:38 - In another sense of feel, what’s the culture of how you do business? 11:05 - You want your office to be pleasant to all the senses when a client walks in, and that includes smell. Even for one-on-one meetings, do you smell good? 12:05 - Smell includes food, like gifts you receive or send around the holidays. 12:54 - Smell ties into taste, and you remember different companies because of what they send to you, be it food or candles. 13:45 - For sound, who is answering the phones? What does your hold music sound like? 16:24 - Bill recently did a module about story branding, and thinking about the story that you’re telling your clients. 17:22 - You’re always trying to build and improve and change when you have to change.   3 Key Points: Everything you do, whether conscious or not, builds your brand. Thinking about your branding in terms of the five senses will help you go deeper than just your logo or website. Think about your brand as the story you are telling your clients.   Tweetable Quotes: “It’s more than just the logo, more than just the website. It’s those deep things of paying attention to, can this affect my brand? Is it building my brand in the way I want it to or not?” –Chad Soileau “What story are you telling out there, but also defining the audience that you’re helping and what problems are you helping them solve?” –Bill Bush   Resources Mentioned: Horizon Advisor Network The Confident Advisor Practice Podcast [email protected] [email protected] Call the Horizon Financial Group: (225) 612-3820