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All major corporations and non-profits have a board of directors and no matter what size your practice, so should you. Whether you are just starting out as a new advisor or are an "old hand," growing and managing an advisory practice is a challenge. Leveraging the experience of other successful professionals through an advisory board is a great way to help grow your business. An advisory board gives you access to fresh perspectives and creates an accountability structu

Previously we discussed how only a small percentage of financial advisors have a retirement plan. So it isn’t surprising that most advisors also do not have a succession plan. What’s the difference between the two plans and why is it important?A retirement plan is a personal financial plan with the goal of how to accumulate the assets needed to stop working. A succession plan is a business-focused plan concentrating on two things: how the business can be best prepare

It's that time of year when many people look back on the past year and wish they had been more organized and had gotten more done. It seems that we are all busy, but there is a difference between being busy and actually getting things done. So how can you get organized so that you are both effective and efficient?I have investigated and used at a lot of time management and calendar systems over the years, but they never seemed to work for me until I read Getting Things Don

We all know that staying in touch with existing clients and reaching out to new potential clients is important. Yet in my experience most advisors have no systematic plan for doing so. Ours is an event driven business. Most people seek out an advisor when change happens in their lives. They get a new job, lose a job or start a new business. They have a new child or a child is getting set to go off to college. When a life event does occur, how does someone select an advisor?

Look up the title of this post and you will find that it means the cobbler spends so much time looking after his customers’ needs that he has no time for his children’s. I talk with a lot of advisors and I know something similar can happen in our own practices. If you are good in this business it is usually because you like helping people. You give them great service and take care of their needs.

When was the last time you actually received a handwritten note or letter? What was the experience when you opened the envelope? Were you curious, interested, and engaged? And after you read the note did you feel appreciated or acknowledged? Did you appreciate the time someone spent to make sure you felt special? Handwritten notes are wonderful things.Handwritten notes not only make the recipient feel good (which is important), but more importantly something happens to you when

I have been fortunate to work with a lot of advisors over the past 25 years, and I have been able to identify some of the behaviors that separate the great ones from the not so great. One practice which is so often overlooked is presentation practice and role play.To use a theater analogy, how many actors without practice would simply walk out on the stage to give a presentation, probably a really bad one?

Sharks and dolphins look fairly similar, but oh are they different. The dolphin is a social animal and they are most often found in the company of others. They are intelligent and hunt using highly coordinated efforts that produce great results. On the other hand, the shark is usually a solitary animal, and constantly on the move. They are opportunistic hunters and are usually on the hunt for their next meal.Of course both dolphins and sharks have been film stars.

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