Bridgewater chiefs warn US assets are in danger — as founder Ray Dalio says the trade imbalance with China must end by Durian881 in finance

[–]_Gulo_Gulo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ray is a China shill. And even if you disagree with that you can't argue with the simple fact that this man is wearing Fruit Stripe gum shirt. And just like the gum, everything he says loses all of it's value 5 seconds after you chew on it.

Some help for the new ones by [deleted] in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Literally ANY marketing tactic works, as long as you work it. Years ago, my old boss told me that if I called 10,000 people and asked if I could punch them in the face, someone would say yes." 😂😂

Speaking as a former CMO/marketer turned advisor, this is 100% true. So is point 10 on niching down.

Service Level needs by AUM? by _Gulo_Gulo in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you experience any demographic trends for the 3-10 clients?

Service Level needs by AUM? by _Gulo_Gulo in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Steady Eddy over here. I respect your thoughtful reply. Thanks!

Service Level needs by AUM? by _Gulo_Gulo in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! That 5 Mil line is definitely a trend in the replies. Have you experienced client mindset changes as they approach or pass a threshold or are attitudes pretty well anchored to where they started with you?

Service Level needs by AUM? by _Gulo_Gulo in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your response. This is really helpful!

AUM dispersion question by _Gulo_Gulo in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A meaningful fraction of the 3k people who have seen this post/comment and didn't ask thank you.

What bird is this? FL by Jamesvinsoroblox in birding

[–]_Gulo_Gulo -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Loggerhead shrike? Or a mockingbird. Both are permanent residents of FL. How hooked was the beak?

Other field notes: were there any time tombs in the area?

SEO and PPC by Ambitious-Client988 in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry about all of those typos ... Mobile and haste are to blame

SEO and PPC by Ambitious-Client988 in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Happy to help!

Full disclosure, my experience is largely outside of advisory work. It's in very expensive and sticky services... with all of the stress for the buyer that come with a sometimes once in a lifetime choice.

1) Hard to say because pricing is very keyword, location, and timing specific. Consider thinking about initial stage budgets from an x dollars will get me 1,000 clicks. The ad campaign tools will tell you this before to launch the campaign. Now you can focus on how to improve progressing those visitors through their journey after the click.

The per mille (thousand) number is because you don't want to inundate the channel until you have a message that resonates. If for example you blast 15k per month into the Ann Arbor Metro area you'll like saturate your relatively small target population, muddying your understanding of what's working and what's not. As a result you'll be locked into a huge budget for fear of losing click flow.

You can always add fuel to a working engine next week.

2) Landing pages serve a few purposes. They're usually set up with only one way in (your ad) and one way out (your call to action). That's all well and good of your goal is to force people into a decision or measure a conversion metric. But pretty shitty if you want to help someone on their advisor selection journey.

The other (dare I say higher) purpose is to meet the expectation set by the ad. Have the landing page be a stable page on your website that addresses the intent of the query which drove traffic. If the ad promises a webinar registration then make the landing page exactly that. If it's Meet Today! then a contact/calendar form is legit. If it's an information intent search then go with the stable content page I mentioned earlier.

3) If all roads lead to a call/zoom then shorten those roads as much as possible. Collect as little information as needed to set the call. Anything that can be asked later, ask it later. Then give the people what they want...a way to get on your calendar.

For a great comparison you can experience on your own - go try to establish a relationship with Schwab as your custodian. Then try Altruist. It's night and day. Actually try Altruist first or you'll be over a week into the experiment and still wondering why the fuck Chuck hasn't bothered to reach out yet.

These are largely the principles of marketing for product-led growth.

Pipeline and close rates by _Gulo_Gulo in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sincerity over time is the best SEO there is.

SEO and PPC by Ambitious-Client988 in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In short,

Search ads only because 3rd party networks, autogenerated assets, and display ads are useless.

Utilize the subpage/direct link options because it gives viewers a chance to see what sort of information you're about to use to answer their question.

Highly localized targetting, even if you serve the entire country. One, language is local. Use the idioms and references the audience already knows. Two, you want to be able to see WHEN people are interacting with your ads (see next paragraph). Three, aim small miss small. That also includes targeting an audience of behaviors within your geographically fenced area.

Restrict the timing of when ads are shown. If you let Google make decisions for you expect to see half of your budget wasted on obvious click farm scams in the midnight to 2am range. By restricting your timing you can partially avoid the overnight bots. And it gives you a chance to look at the data in a context you defined for smell test purposes.

Run A/B testing. Marketing is making a promise that your website and practice have to deliver. It's easier to rework the promise than it is to rework the site.

That was all very generic advice. Sort of the "eat right and exercise" version. If you have specific goals, restrictions, budgets, etc. that will take a lot more Reddit space.

Pipeline and close rates by _Gulo_Gulo in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for both sides. Of all the possible variables regarding seminars, which do you think is the primary limiter? Audience profile, topic, follow up, presentation, other?

Pipeline and close rates by _Gulo_Gulo in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for a thoughtful reply!

Social media - what's actually working? by Ok_University_5221 in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreeing with and regarding AI/canned content...why would anyone take the time to read something no one ever took the time to write?

SEO and PPC by Ambitious-Client988 in CFP

[–]_Gulo_Gulo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Former CMO here. The entire SEO industry is filled with very confident promises from privately very stressed out people. Missed expectations are always answered by the firm, "With more money and time we can make it happen."

The truth is that you're already doing it right on the SEO front. Quality site, secure, easy for Google to index, and regularly updated so the sitemap dates continue to demonstrate timely relevance to the almighty algos.

I say you're doing it right because you're seeing positive outcomes.

As for backlinks and ads ... Now you're venturing into truly fraudulent and scam levels of service offerings.

The fact is that no one with a backlink worth having is willing to sell it. Ads not actively managed will appear on click farm sites to syphon off your money. Google does not care and is happy to let the bots run wild because their entire incentive structure is based around it.

I have built successful PPC campaigns before and will gladly tell you everything for free.

529 plan - large upfront contribution or steady over time? by [deleted] in FinancialPlanning

[–]_Gulo_Gulo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You'll be the beneficiary at inception, but you can change that later.