The Afternoon Advisor

Every advisor says the same thing. Here's how to stop. Emily Armstrong is the founder of Wonder Lab Strategy and one of the sharpest brand strategists in financial services. She's spent seven years watching advisors try to differentiate themselves — and failing — because they're starting with the wrong question. In this episode, she walks through her full identity architecture frame...

This advisor is spending $650,000 a month on paid ads. He knows exactly what he'll make back. Aaron Cirksena is the CEO and founder of MDRN Capital — one of the fastest-growing fully virtual RIAs in the country. His entire strategy is built around doing the opposite of what the industry tells you to do: extending the sales process instead of shortening it, offering a performance pledge no oth...

What does it look like to grow an RIA from $600M to $1B without losing what made it work in the first place? Sahil Gupta handles organic growth and marketing for Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a 14-person RIA serving tech employees - built over 10 years by two UC Berkeley founders who started by cold-calling Apple and Facebook employees about their RSUs. In this episode, recorded live at Future Proof...

Most financial advisors are looking for a silver bullet. There isn't one... but there are a lot of golden BBs. Mike Barrasso grew his family's RIA from $150M to $400M from the business development seat. Now as co-founder and CEO of WealthReach, he's building the systems that make that kind of growth repeatable for any firm. Recorded live at Future Proof in Miami, this episode covers...

98% of your clients are willing to refer you. So why is your organic growth rate sitting at 1-3%? Dan Allison has spent 22 years studying the behavioral psychology of referrals - and he's coached financial advisors at Vanguard, Dimensional Funds, and some of the largest wealth firms in the world. In this episode, he breaks down exactly why the referral gap exists, the five characteristics eve...

Most financial advisors didn't sign up to be marketers. But the ones who reframe why they're growing... those are the ones who can't be stopped. David DeCelle has helped over 200 multi-billion-dollar RIAs grow organically. In this episode, he shares the step-by-step system he'd use to build an RIA from zero, why the referral gap in most books of business is bigger than advisors...

Jump just raised $80 million. Not because they built a better note taker — but because they're sitting on one of the most valuable data sets in wealth management. Liam Hanlon is the Head of Insights at Jump, where a team of PhDs and behavioral scientists from UPenn and UC Berkeley are analyzing hundreds of thousands of advisor-client conversations to figure out what actually drives success. I...

Every advisor knows their clients love them. So why are so few using testimonials in their marketing? Andrew Johnson is the founder of Testimonial iQ — now FMG Testimonials, following a recent acquisition by FMG — and one of the sharpest minds in advisor marketing and compliance. In this episode, Andrew breaks down the state of testimonials three years after the SEC marketing rule changed everythi...

What does it actually take to grow your advisory firm with short-form video? We went straight to the source. Nick Meyer is the most followed CFP ® professional on social media — 1.8 million followers, over 330 million video views — and the co-founder of Sage Content. He's worked with Fidelity, Discover, Ally Bank, TurboTax, and the Golden State Warriors. In this episode, Nate puts Nick in the...

Is compliance a "boogeyman" keeping you up at night as a financial advisor, or is it the secret to your firm’s reputation? In this episode of The Afternoon Advisor, Nate Hoskin sits down with Chad Gordon, founder of Sharp Archive and an RIA owner who is obsessed with driving "time spent on compliance" down to zero. They dive into the high-stakes world of SEC fines, the rise of...

Episode Summary Most advisors hear “email marketing” and think “blast a cold list.” Patrick Di Cesare argues that’s the fastest way to burn trust in a trust-based industry. In this episode, Nate and Patrick break down a permission-based email funnel that turns attention into booked calls - starting with a lead magnet, followed by a pre-built email sequence designed to build trust, handle objection...