THE FINNOVATOR

Naomi Christopher is one of the most gifted marketers in the financial advice industry, and in this episode of The Finnovator I wanted to share the Masterclass she delivered at our live program workshop The Excelerator on digital marketing.
There are many who are good at marketing and many who understand the nuances of the advice proposition but finding those who understand both really, really well is rare, which is why this episode is packed with value for anyone seeking to understand how to market themselves better. Enjoy!
 
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I have a confession to make, which is why this episode of The Finnovator is going to be a little different.
When I started Audere, speaking was a big part of getting the early word out about how the path I was taking in working with advice firms was different. One thing that got attention was my ability to run sessions exploring the apps and other tech that advisers should know about.
Now, after 5+ years working in the space, I've come to realise the truth, that showering people with information about apps alone can in fact be one of the worst things of all, and so I wanted to share what works instead.
 
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Jason and Michael Chew from Orange Wealth are two former clients who started their business a little differently. 
At the start of most firms journey, there usually isn't room for anyone who isn't directly capable of generating revenue. Well, this is where Jason and Michael's plan differed, as from day one Jason's role was to advise, with Michael on board to focus down on process design, staff management and marketing.
In this episode of The Finnovator, we talked about everything from lessons learned from client engagement, systemising, outsourcing, technology, and a whole bunch more.  If you're interested in the progressive financial advice proposition for Gen X, this is a chance to hear from two people who have implemented really, really effectively.
 
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If Charles Badenach is just truly an "ordinary bloke", the way he goes about building his brand certainly isn't.
I've pulled this episode from the archives because the lessons around how to become an authority in your chosen community are more relevant than ever, whether it's a locality, niche or your own slice of the internet.
Charles' practical tips on how he managed to grow his practice, personal brand and ultimately lead to award recognition are well-worth hearing, as is the story behind it all. Enjoy!
 
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When Zuraida Ariffin cleaned up at the 2018 IFA Excellence Awards with not only the Innovator Award but the overall individual Excellence awards, the cheer in the room was the loudest of the night. With good reason. Zuraida's commitment to doing advice very differently is worthy of recognition.  
 
In this episode of The Finnovator, we dive deep into Zuraida's about her unique way of working with clients, an approach she calls "Deep Strategic Planning". What makes this special is the depths to which she goes to ensure that each and every piece of advice is backed by deep exploration into what's going on, what's needed and modelling at length the outcomes of it all.  
 
Along the way, we also talked about staffing, pricing, systems, technology, outsourcing, the kind of clients she works with and how she's risen to the challenge of providing her style of award-winning advice.  
 
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In the mid-2000s, Hans Egger had an idea for improving the way clients engaged with advice. So, he released a presentation and set his business on a path to leveraged income. 
 
His story was so compelling that when I was thinking of the best intro for my book, Finnovation, the Astute story seemed like the logical choice.
 
Since then, the success of Astute Wheel has continued and I felt that reviewing the lessons learnt from the interview with Founders Hans Egger and Michael Topper might be an interesting look back, but what I found is the lessons they shared with me those years ago are just as relevant today as they were then.
 
I hope you enjoy this episode of The Finnovator from the archives and it inspires you to find your own "Astute Idea".
 
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The numbers show that a record number of advice firms transitioned licensees over the last 12 months.
Whether it's due to a desire to be self-licensed, making the choice to switch or being forced to by the close of a dealer group, it can be a stressful, complex and fatiguing experience with many decisions to make. That's why I wanted to share this.
I'm joined by three advisors (Matt Bruce, Geoff Whiddon & James Williamson) who have been through the experience of the last 12 months for all three of those reasons.
In this episode of The Finnovator, we explored:
how to decide whether to stay or go,
assess your options,
prepare to transition,
the pitfalls to watch out for and,
maybe most importantly, how to manage the change personally.
I hope it helps you to make the right decision for yourself, your clients and your practice.
 
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In this episode of The Finnovator I wanted to take a slightly different tack, and share two things that I learnt at the beginning of the year.
The first was a lesson on the importance of being willing to ask questions instead of assuming that you have to work it out, resulting in me fulfilling a long-held ambition of running a workshop at Bridgeclimb Sydney.
The second is about what that experience solidified in the minds of participants about the two key factors that provide the core framework for designing and delivering a client experience that will make your business become a client satisfaction and retention machine.
 
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Pivot Wealth. Fox & Hare. If those names are familiar to you, how about the Wealth Network? For some of you yes, but if not there's a success story that you'll want to hear.
In 2016, Dean Holmes having already built a successful practice in Absolute Wealth set sights on a new challenge.
His plan?
Create a startup incubator for advice firms, taking the expertise and know-how that had helped them succeed, adding the right young advisers into the mix and growing next-gen practices from scratch.
Four years later the "experiment" has succeeded - Pivot was the first, Fox & Hare the second - and primed for more, but what's most interesting about this story is the contrarian approach.
Instead of controlling the brand and marketing like traditional Licensees, Wealth Network focuses on ambitious individuals who can attract clients and build networks, and helps build the operational side. Which is what makes this such an amazing "Intel Inside" story.
In this episode of The Finnovator, we unpacked it all:
the idea,
the iteration,
the wrong turns and what went gloriously right,
and a model that I feel we'll all be hearing a lot more from in the coming years.
 
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Most of us who've worked in the industry will know a bit or two about niching, the idea that gearing your business up to work with a specific market with a specific proposition and putting a whole lot into it is a route to fast growth.
Still, it's something that often gets challenged, and that's why I wanted to share this.
In the businesses I've worked with who target a specialist space, I think Wealthmed are one of those who have really put their head down more than most, and two principals who drive the business, Scott and Carolyn, are really very special people. Entrepreneurial, driven but most of all, really great to work with and full of business acumen and in this episode of The Finnovator, I went deep with them on what the specialist game means.
They've also got a really interesting approach to technology, team, and branding that has really put them on the cusp of not just having a great business but having a really significant footprint in their market.
If you are interested in what niching looks like when you've been doing it well for a number of years, how to take your business from being a firm to a really strong brand and the mistakes to avoid when working in a specialist market, this should be extremely enlightening.
 
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