Meet Bo Hanson, a monetary advisor who’s used a mixture of expertise and partnering – with a giant serving to of entrepreneurial drive – to create a six-fold enhance in his enterprise since 2017.
What makes this story much more compelling is that Bo and his associate, Brian Preston, managed this development throughout – and in-spite of – the Covid-19 pandemic.
Should you’re a small enterprise proprietor – and even in case you’re not a monetary advisor – you ought to be tremendous all for Bo Hanson’s story. There was no main infusion of capital or remodeling occasions that made it occur. Bo has been in a position to develop his present enterprise with a mixture of successful methods.
So, who’s Bo Hanson, and the way did he obtain such unbelievable development in a extremely aggressive discipline – even throughout a worldwide pandemic?
Introducing Bo Hanson
Bo Hanson is a associate in within the Franklin, Tennessee-based monetary advisory agency, Abound Wealth. A 2008 College of Georgia graduate, he and his spouse Jenna and their two daughters reside in close by Thompsons Station.
The College of Georgia is a key a part of Bo’s journey in life. That’s when he was first launched to the monetary advisory discipline. On his web site, Bo tells the story of how he started working as a monetary advisor earlier than he even hit the authorized ingesting age.
“I’ve a late birthday (August), and my dad and mom began me in kindergarten younger,” Bo recollects. “Once I obtained to school, I had a number of credit because of Joint Enrollment and Superior Placement courses. Due to that, after I first began working at a monetary planning agency, I used to be solely 20 years previous. Sufficiently old to assist folks make sound monetary selections (to an extent), however not sufficiently old for an grownup beverage.”
Bo labored for Preston & Cleveland Wealth Administration, working for his future enterprise associate, Brian Preston. He’s continued working for and with Brian since his commencement from UGA.
Bo and Brian developed a media enterprise referred to as The Money Guy Show, which grew to offer the agency a nationwide presence. The present was meant to function an academic platform, nevertheless it introduced purchasers from everywhere in the nation.
With the success of the present, Bo and Brian rebranded their monetary planning enterprise and have become Abound Wealth.
The mixture of a monetary advisory agency and a media presence proved to be a successful mixture. And that’s when enterprise actually began to take off.
Right now, Abound Wealth has grown to 19 workers, and assists purchasers with retirement planning, training planning, property and legacy planning, tax planning, and extra.
What Pandemic? This Agency has Grown by 600% in Lower than 5 Years
When Bo and Brian began Abound Wealth in 2017, the agency had about $115 million in Property Underneath Administration (AUM). Lower than 5 years later, AUM has grown to just about $750 million. That works out to be an annualized development fee of about 46% in lower than 5 years.
That development didn’t come about by chance. Along with particular methods – which I’ll cowl in a bit – Bo and Brian make use of enterprise philosophies which may finest be termed disarming.
First, the agency is a fee-only, fiduciary advisory. “In our opinion, it’s the least conflicted means for monetary advisors to receives a commission since we receives a commission immediately from purchasers and never from promoting merchandise,” explains Bo. “It’s typically troublesome for fee-based or commission-based advisors to offer recommendation most useful to purchasers once they stand to make more cash from giving recommendation which may not be as useful – or might even be dangerous.”
By no means Oversell Your self
Second, Bo and Brian keep away from overselling their service. From a advertising and marketing perspective, they emphasize offering loads of free recommendation. However they’re equally circumspect about selling monetary advisories as an across-the-board suggestion for everybody.
“Having a monetary advisor is a good suggestion, however we don’t assume that everybody ought to rent one,” Bo emphasizes. “We imagine with the entire free info out there on-line (like from The Cash Man Present), hiring a monetary advisor may not make sense for somebody who’s simply beginning out or only some years into constructing wealth.”
Bo and Brian aren’t the one monetary advisors who see that advertising and marketing within the 21st Century requires a softer method.
“I’ve discovered that in making an attempt to focus on millennial purchasers, it is vital to focus at first on offering worth and constructing a relationship primarily based on belief,” advises Kenny Senour, monetary advisor at Millennial Wealth Management. “Folks of their 20s, 30s and 40s will not be engaged or within the ‘arduous promote’ method. In actual fact, it is the simplest method to lose a youthful shopper. So, I’ve tried to focus extra on constructing the connection and whether or not I would actually be one of the best planner for a specific millennial shopper.”
For smaller traders, Bo Hanson even warns that monetary advisor charges generally is a disadvantage.
“In these early years, when the nest egg is small and rising shortly, an advisory charge generally is a actual hindrance to constructing wealth,” says Bo. “It may not present as a lot worth.”
That’s a shocking admission from a person whose enterprise is promoting monetary recommendation. Nevertheless it makes extra sense while you perceive the fundamental idea they promote…
The Abundance Cycle
This can be a idea that resonates all through the agency and can be a repeating theme of their advertising and marketing efforts.
The Abundance Cycle is on the coronary heart of the drive to offer away free info.
“We frequently get requested why we give away a lot nice monetary info without cost,” Bo explains. “Whereas the plain reply is that we wish to unfold the information of sound monetary administration and assist folks take management of their funds, we’ve discovered that the ‘Abundance Cycle’ has been a extremely enjoyable aspect impact of that course of. We encourage our viewers to Be taught, Apply, and Develop.”
Bo explains the three-step means of Be taught, Apply, and Develop as follows:
1. Be taught how one can make nice monetary selections.
2. Apply what you be taught to your monetary life.
3. Develop by combining studying and utility to permit your circumstances to develop and enhance.
“The Abundance Cycle is once they attain the purpose that they’ve had a lot financial success that they really feel like they want a co-pilot to assist them navigate the remainder of the journey,” explains Bo. “We ask that, once they attain that time, to recollect the workforce that loaded them up with info all alongside the way in which, and we ask for them to offer us (Abound Wealth) an opportunity to be that co-pilot.”
Easy, however disarming. And profitable.
Bo recommends hiring an advisor as soon as your portfolio reaches a “important mass”. He cites $500,000 as a typical threshold when hiring an advisor turns into fascinating. “Managing a 6- or 7-figure portfolio can really feel like a full-time job, and a fee-only financial advisor can present a lot worth.”
What in regards to the particular methods Bo and Brian have used to develop their enterprise?
There are two primarily, The Cash Man Present podcast and The Cash Man Present YouTube channel.
The Cash Man Present Podcast
That is the place Bo and Brian first started to make use of the Web to develop their enterprise. They’ve been in a position to make use of the present to achieve a whole lot of hundreds of individuals each month, giving them an enormous aggressive benefit.
Brian Preston first began the podcast in 2006. On the time, podcasting was comparatively new and unproven, and Brian had no concept if it supplied any enterprise potential. However as an educator at coronary heart, and descending from an extended line of academics, educating others about finance was a pure outlet.
However the podcast did one thing else to extend enterprise, one thing that was very sudden.
Brian was annoyed that when somebody reached out for monetary recommendation, they couldn’t get any except they met the agency’s minimal asset requirement. The one different possibility was to attach with a shark within the trade who solely desires to promote them merchandise. However The Cash Man Present enabled him to get nice info out to the lots. That created an enormous marketplace for potential future purchasers.
Bo’s first reference to Brian was as an intern whereas he was nonetheless in faculty. That internship held the potential to grow to be a full-time rent – the primary, since Brian operated as a sole proprietorship as much as that time.
By 2010, Bo got here on air because the cohost of The Cash Man Present and issues started to take off.
“After a number of years, we did acknowledge how hungry our viewers was for not solely nice free monetary info, but in addition for sound monetary administration and steering,” Bo recollects. “As soon as we noticed that, we started getting extra intentional about telling our viewers what we did for our “day jobs”, after which it appeared just like the flood gates opened.”
The Abundance Cycle was a serious a part of that success. Bo even describes it as Abound Wealth’s single biggest aggressive benefit.
“We give away free info by The Cash Man Present, our web site, and social channels,” Bo explains. “Our viewers applies what they be taught to their monetary lives and as they develop, they ultimately come again to the place it began.”
Zero in on a Area of interest
One other piece of recommendation value contemplating from a special monetary advisor: “My finest recommendation is to grow to be an knowledgeable in a single space,” recommends Jodi D’Agostini, advisor at Equitable Advisors. “Over 70% of monetary advisors with massive books of enterprise have a “area of interest” follow. This doesn’t essentially restrict you to that area of interest however turning into the ‘go to’ supply in a single space brings you a bigger viewers and distinguishes you amongst a big pool of rivals.”
The Secret Sauce for Profitable Podcasting
Making a profitable podcast sequence isn’t a case of “in case you construct it, they are going to come”. Although Bo readily admits the course of the present continues to be a work-in-progress, they’ve discovered success with the next methods:
1. Give the viewers what it desires to listen to
The podcast covers the whole lot from trending monetary subjects to bread-and-butter topics like taxes and Roth IRAs, to fundamental monetary classes. “The stimulus and aid invoice content material we made final 12 months in the course of the pandemic did very properly,” Bo studies. “Every time there’s enormous monetary information that impacts lots of people (legislative modifications, financial shifts, and so forth.), we have now a number of of us tune into our present to listen to about it.”
2. Be taught out of your viewers
Content material concepts come from in every single place. Generally they arrive from conditions in Bo’s and Brian’s private or enterprise lives. Different occasions they arrive from e mail ideas from followers or purchasers, trending subjects within the information, or brainstorming classes in content material conferences.
3. Keep an everyday schedule
To construct a loyal following, listeners want predictability. “We do have a set schedule,” studies Bo. “And we’ve discovered that creating and placing content material on the market constantly might be the most important key to sustained development. We’ve new full-length episodes each Friday.”
Taking a Plunge into Uncharted Territory – The Magic of YouTube
Although it looks like a pure outgrowth of the podcast sequence, The Money Guy Show YouTube channel was one thing of a cheerful accident. Bo and Brian had been requested to do a video sequence for over-the road-truckers from Progressive in 2017.
“Progressive needed us to do an eight-part sequence to assist each drivers and owner-operators,” Bo recollects. “Considered one of their necessities was that two of the reveals be executed as video codecs – which we had by no means executed!”
However Bo discovered an area video connection proper in Franklin, Tennessee. It went so properly, all of them agreed they might do it for each present. Experiences Bo: “Since then, we’ve seen huge development on YouTube and have been amazed at how a lot faster our viewers (or new viewers) soak up our content material by the video medium versus strictly the audio podcast medium.”
Bo and Brian had been in a position to convert their podcast expertise right into a profitable channel. The Cash Man YouTube channel at present has 199,000 subscribers simply 4 years after launch.
Accident or not, the YouTube channel does parallel the podcasts.
“Our podcasts and YouTube premieres occur concurrently on Friday mornings,” based on Bo. “A few of the stay streams we do on YouTube and Fb at 10 AM Central on Tuesdays are solely doable on YouTube. However these make it to the podcast stream a number of days later.”
In an extra twist, the Tuesday morning stay streams on Fb are delivered in a devoted question-and-answer session for the stay viewers.
Bo’s Recommendation for a Profitable YouTube Channel
Bo’s recommendation on constructing a profitable YouTube channel, not surprisingly, has a number of transferring components.
1. Very similar to The Cash Man Present podcast, the YouTube channel wasn’t an in a single day success
“We began the channel in 2017,” recounts Bo. “And like in all probability all new YouTube channels, development was gradual at first.”
He studies having some movies do very well, accelerating the expansion of the channel. “Our ‘Internet Value by Age’ and ‘Common 401(okay) Steadiness By Age’ annual movies are extremely popular. Just some months in the past, our ‘Monetary Advisors React to Cash Recommendation on TikTok’ had a little bit of a viral second, however I might nonetheless say that high quality, constant content material has been the important thing to our development.”
2. YouTube converts guests to purchasers sooner than the podcast
Bo and Brian discovered YouTube to be a superb method to not solely construct their enterprise, however to transform listeners/viewers into purchasers extra shortly. “What’s unbelievable is that it used to take a podcast listener a number of years to achieve out about doubtlessly turning into a shopper,” says Bo. “With YouTube, we’ve seen that shrink all the way down to a matter of months and even weeks.”
3. YouTube generates further income
Bo doesn’t provide income info on the YouTube channel, however he does say it’s supplied sufficient further revenue to develop the content material workforce and put out new tasks.
A kind of new tasks is Abound Wealth’s Financial Order of Operations. It’s a 9-step course of to assist folks resolve precisely what they need to do with their subsequent greenback. The companions make the course out there at a price of $249.
“Lots of people – we name them Monetary Mutants – are nice at saving,” Bo cautions. “However they second-guess whether or not they’re making the precise selections or doing issues in the precise order. Our Monetary Order of Operations serves as an instruction guide for how one can command your Military of Greenback Payments as successfully and effectively as doable.”
That’s the form of program you possibly can create and promote when you’ve got a big variety of subscribers on YouTube.
4. Content material, content material, content material!
That is the primary rule of the Web, and one I personally am very conversant in after years of making money on the web. Whether or not it’s a weblog, a podcast, or a YouTube channel, your success will solely be as nice as your content material.
Warns Bo: “Content material ought to be your first precedence – is what it’s a must to say helpful to others? Consistency ought to be your second – are you prepared to scream into the void lengthy sufficient for folks to seek out you?”
“As soon as I spotted a few of our wealthiest purchasers tended to disagree how they handle and plan their funds, I partnered with an incredible marriage household therapist to create a podcast and YouTube channel referred to as The Millionaire Marriage,” provides Taylor J. Kovar, CFP and CEO at Kovar Wealth Administration. “By combining the medical data of a therapist with my background as a CFP, we’ve been in a position to assist {couples} discover the wealth of their marriage (pun meant) and the byproduct of that has been a development in each of our practices.”
5. You’ll want to advertise your YouTube movies
Bo and Brian promote their YouTube content material on their social media channels, like Fb, Instagram, and Twitter. Additionally they use their web site, and to their e mail listing. “Outdoors of that…” Bo advises, “the YouTube algorithm grabs and promotes your content material to folks which might be already on YouTube.”
How The Cash Man Present Podcast and YouTube Channel have Remodeled Abound Wealth
Bo estimates that about 95% of Abound Wealth’s new purchasers now come from the podcast and YouTube channel. Although this methodology of promoting isn’t for everybody, he does imagine it could possibly assist a number of small companies.
However he cautions, “Don’t attempt to recreate The Cash Man Present. Discover out what you’re enthusiastic about and discover a method to get others to take pleasure in being part of your journey to discover and share that zeal. That’s the way you construct a real tribe and group.”
Certainly, advertising and marketing a enterprise is altering quickly within the 21st century. Warns Ray Prospero, Accomplice Advisor at AdvicePeriod, LLC: “Once I began within the monetary providers trade over a decade in the past, the way in which most advisors constructed their enterprise was by cold-calling, which we newly-minted advisors used to affectionately discuss with as ‘smiling and dialing’. However constructing a enterprise on cold-calling is nearly not possible at the moment. I’ve tailored and now use social media to assist construct my enterprise. The first social media instrument I take advantage of is LinkedIn, the place I take advantage of LinkedIn’s Gross sales Navigator.”
Should you can create the precise mix of content material and media, your small business simply may take off. Bo Hanson, Brian Preston and Abound Wealth are an ideal instance of how that may occur.