The Afternoon Advisor

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 other firm will touch, and going fully virtual when everyone else was opening offices. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on the data, the hiring, and the mindset behind it all.You'll learn:The KPI framework that makes spending $650K/month on ads not just possible — but profitableWhy Aaron extended his prospect meeting process to four meetings instead of cutting it downThe performance pledge — what it is, how it passed compliance, and why it closes dealsHow Google reviews, client testimonial videos, and PR work together to lower your cost per booked meetingWhy going fully virtual was the unlock for national scale — and why multi-location expansion can't competeThe hiring philosophy that changed everything: buy your time back or don't make the hire_ _🔗 Learn more about MDRN Capital → https://mdrncapital.com/🔗 Connect with Aaron → https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-cirksena/

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 in Miami, Sahil breaks down how they're layering content and digital marketing on top of a referral-driven firm, why radical honesty about who you serve is becoming the most powerful marketing tool, and how the best firms are approaching the shift from SEO to AEO.What You'll Learn- How to introduce new marketing to a firm that's already working — the mindset shift that lets traditional firms stay nimble without abandoning what got them here- The 70/30/5 rule for trying new things — why most tactics won't work, and why that's completely fine- Why radical honesty is the new competitive advantage — being blunt about who you're for (and who you're not) as a marketing strategy- The perfect solution vs. the perfect answer — how AI is raising the bar for how specifically advisors need to speak to their ideal client- Why video should be anti-AI — and how raw, authentic content builds the trust that polished production can't- The formula most advisors have backwards — why SEO and AEO are the result of doing everything else right, not a strategy on their own- The Exxon employee playbook — how one advisor built an entire referral network by creating hyper-specific content for a single employer's workforce- Why prospects who watch two to three videos before booking are already 50-60% sold — and what that means for how you think about contentGuestSahil Gupta - Growth and marketing lead at Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a $600M RIA specializing in financial planning for tech employees. Based in California, serving clients nationwide.🔗 Learn more about Twin Peaks → https://twinpwa.com/🔗 Connect with Sahil → https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahilgupta20/

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 the three problems holding most advisory firms back, why your website is your most overlooked growth asset, and what the full organic growth funnel looks like when it's actually built end to end.You'll learn:- The three glaring problems killing most firms' growth — and why the silver bullet mindset is the biggest one- Why your website is a billboard when it should be a growth engine — and how to fix it- How to show up in both traditional search and AI-driven discovery (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude)- When to hire a human vs. deploy a system — Mike's framework for building a firm from zero- Why advisors shouldn't be vibe coding — and what they should be doing instead- Where agentic AI is headed for advisor growth in the next few months_ _🔗 Learn more about WealthReach →  wealthreach.ai🔗 Connect with Mike → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbarrasso/GuestMike Barrasso — Co-founder and CEO of WealthReach. Previously grew his family's RIA from $150M to $400M from the business development seat. Background in software sales, where he managed growth teams before bringing that same system-building approach to the financial advisory industry.

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 every client advocate needs, and the simple framework that turns your existing book of business into a referral engine - without a single awkward sales conversation.You'll learn:Why 81% of clients are referring the wrong way... and the one conversation that fixes it immediatelyThe five characteristics every client needs to become an effective advocate (and why missing even one kills the referral)Why telling clients you're "crazy busy" is quietly destroying your referral rateThe 80% knowledge gap - why clients can only name a fraction of your services and what that costs youWhy your newest clients are your most powerful referral source... and why most advisors wait years too longHow referrals and content marketing work together to create a flywheel that runs itself--Connect with Dan! -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-allison-ogrev/#personalfinance #financialadvisor #RIA #organicgrowth #financialmarketing

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 think, and the mindset shift that doesn't just grow your firm — it improves your marriage, your health, and the rest of your life.You'll learn:The "feedback marketing" methodology that unlocks referrals you're already owed — before you spend a dollar on adsHow to build an RIA from zero: content, a bifurcated sales and service team, and off-site intent dataWhy your website needs an SEO and AEO strategy — and what most firms are getting wrongThe tech audit cadence that keeps you from playing business instead of building itHow David went from anti-AI to 50-60 client meetings a week — tripling his capacity in two years_ _🔗 Learn more about WealthReach → https://www.wealthreach.ai/🔗 Learn more about Model FA → https://www.modelfa.com/🔗 Connect with David Decelle→ https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddecelle/

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. In this episode, Liam shares what that data is revealing — about how advisors win and lose clients, why the best advisors make the worst coaches, and what the advisory profession is really going to look like in ten years.What You'll LearnWhat $80 million is actually for — Jump's mission is shifting from saving time to optimizing the time they've already saved. Here's what that looks like in practice.The conversion rate opportunity most firms are ignoring — Moving your prospect-to-client close rate from 30% to 40% is just as powerful as generating five to ten more leads per month.What advisors are really doing with their saved time — 90% say they're using it for organic growth. Here's the breakdown.The coaching misconception that's holding firms back — The best advisors think they know why they're good. The data says they're usually wrong — and it's costing their trainees.Three things that increased prospect conversion by 15% — A real enterprise case study from a top-20 RIA with eight outbound sales reps and a thousand calls analyzed.What "idiolect" means and why it matters for AI personalization — The unique linguistic fingerprint every advisor leaves on language, and why most AI tools are failing to capture it.How conversational data predicts client behavior — From medical diagnoses to macroeconomic events, here's how firms are using meeting signals to get ahead of client uncertainty.The Altruist moment and what it revealed — When those four broker-dealer stocks dropped 6% in a day, what did it actually tell us about the future of advice?The Vanguard Advisor Alpha study — The one thing advisors do that actually generates alpha. Spoiler: it's not the financial plan.Why financial coaches are the industry's new talent pipeline — And what it means for the CFP curriculum if behavioral coaching becomes the primary skill.GuestLiam Hanlon — Head of Insights at Jump, which recently raised $80 million and serves 28,000 advisors. Liam leads Jump's research practice, working with PhDs and behavioral scientists to turn advisor-client conversations into actionable intelligence for firms ranging from independent RIAs to some of the largest financial institutions in the country.Resources Mentioned🔗 Learn more about Jump →  https://jump.ai/🔗 Connect with Liam → https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-hanlon-52aa60119/

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 everything, why the biggest firms are finally all-in, and what advisors need to understand about AEO before their competitors do.What You'll LearnWhere testimonials actually stand — FINRA, the SEC, and the states that are still catching upWhy most advisors still aren't collecting reviews — and why the hesitation has shifted from compliance to something more personalThe rules around collecting testimonials — what you can and can't do, and why the paper trail matters more than you thinkHow testimonials feed AEO — and why LLMs are quietly becoming the most important research tool your prospects useWhat "durable growth" actually looks like — the strategy the fastest-growing RIAs are building right nowThe Amazon analogy that explains everything — why reviews have become the default heuristic for high-stakes decisionsTrust badges are back — why CFP® designations and awards are suddenly more valuable in an AI-driven search worldWhat's next for FMG Testimonials — Andrew's vision for getting client feedback into every corner of the advisor marketing ecosystemGuestAndrew Johnson — Founder of Testimonial IQ, now Director of Product at FMG as FMG Testimonials. Previously founded Dataline, a lead gen platform for financial advisors. He's worked with some of the largest and fastest-growing RIAs in the country.Resources MentionedConnect with Andrew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-b-johnson/Check out FMG Testimonials: https://fmgsuite.com/features/testimonials/

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 hot seat with 15 questions every advisor wants answered about video marketing.What You'll LearnHow to get started — You don't need fancy gear. Here's the simplest possible first step.Which platform to prioritize — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, X... and why the answer might surprise you.How often to post — The minimum cadence to actually build momentum without burning out.Ideal video length — The 30-to-90-second rule, and when you can (and can't) break it.Edutainment vs. talking head — Which style converts clients, and which one just gets views.Production quality on a budget — The three elements that matter most, and the gear recommendations that won't break the bank.How to repurpose content — One video, every platform. Here's what to change (and what not to).Why clipping podcasts usually backfires — And what to do instead for short-form content.Measuring ROI — How to think about returns on content over months and years, not days.Paid ads done right — Why boosting posts quietly kills your organic reach, and the strategy that delivered a 26X return on ad spend._ _🔗 Learn more about Sage Content → https://sagecontent.ai/home

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 AI-powered litigation, and why the future of financial advice is a 100% "collapse" into human relationships.In this episode, we discuss:The $2.6 Billion Crackdown: Why the SEC is targeting "off-platform" communications and what it means for your WhatsApp and Signal threads.The "Ambulance Chasing" AI: How opposing counsel is using LLMs to scan years of firm data in seconds—and how to stay bulletproof.The 100% AI Vision: Borrowing from an Elon Musk analogy, Chad explains why the difference between 99% and 100% automation is exponential.The Death of Stodgy Software: Why compliance tools shouldn't look like they were built in 1998, and how modern tech enables growth on TikTok and Instagram.The Relationship Collapse: Why your ultimate job isn't spreadsheets—it's being the "human in the room" while AI handles the rest.Key Quote:"The SEC isn't the enemy; they’re the lifeguard. It’s annoying when they whistle at you, but they’re the reason people trust you with their money in the first place." — Chad GordonConnect with Chad Gordon: Website:https://sharparchive.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-gordon/

Episode SummaryMost 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 objections, and create qualified appointments. You’ll also learn what to send, when to send it, how long your sequence should run, and how to use AI without sounding like every other advisor on earth.Key TakeawaysCold email blasts to purchased lists usually fail because prospects don’t know (or trust) you.Great advisor email marketing is permission-based: lead magnet → welcome delivery email → automated nurture sequence.Email is “owned land” (unlike social platforms) and lets you control cadence and reach.A realistic benchmark: ~5 booked calls per 100 subscribers over ~90 days (varies by niche and offer).The 3 highest-performing email themes:Client success storiesPain points that keep your niche up at nightObjection-crushers (especially “I can DIY this”)The “warm window”: the first 10–14 days after opt-in is when people are most likely to book.Long-tail wins: email sequences should run 3 months minimum, ideally 6–12+ months to catch life events.AI is best for ideation and extracting insights - not copy/pasting generic emails (yes, people can tell).Write like a human: aim for a 5th–7th grade reading level (Hemingway app recommended).Notable Moments / Quotes (Paraphrased)“You’re asking someone to trust you with their life savings - cold blasts don’t build trust.”“Social is rented land; email is an asset you control.”“People don’t want to understand finance - they want to feel understood.”“If you wouldn’t do surgery on yourself after watching YouTube, why DIY your financial plan?”Simple Funnel Breakdown (Discussed in the Episode)Lead Magnet (PDF/checklist/template)Email #1: deliver the asset + set expectationsEmail #2: crush a key objectionEmail #3: client success storyContinue cycling success stories / pain points / objections daily for 10–14 daysMove to 1–2 emails per week for 6–12+ monthsAction Checklist to Start (Beginner-Friendly)Create a simple lead magnet your niche actually wants (e.g., “10 Tax Mistakes High Earners Make”).Add a landing page to capture name + email.Promote it in your videos/posts (link in bio, CTA, comment keyword tools).Build a 14-day sequence + longer nurture sequence.Keep writing clear and simple - avoid “financial techno-babble.”Guest Mention / Free ResourcePatrick’s free lead magnet: Email Checklist for Financial Advisors https://bfladvisormarketing.lovable.app/Connect with the GuestPatrick Di Cesare — Founder, BFL Advisor Marketinghttps://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-di-cesare-04666132/