A basic principle of investing is that you should gradually reduce your exposure to risk as you get older. Generally speaking, a younger investor has a longer time horizon and therefore can absorb more short-term investment risk. An older investor has a shorter time horizon and therefore doesn’t have as much time to absorb short-term investment risk.

Are you a financial services supplier or an architect? Your clients may be viewing you as one or the other. When it comes to building homes (or financial plans) the raw material supplier and the architect both play a significant role in the construction of a home. Neither is necessarily bad or good, better or worse. They have very different roles to play, and they have very different perspectives.

Every home needs a solid foundation. The same holds true for financial plans. When it comes to constructing a new home, one of the first crews on sight is the excavation team. They dig and lay the foundation. The foundation determines the long-term stability of the home to be built on top of it.

Almost any business would benefit from their clients singing their praises in a public place. Imagine if you could create walking billboards for your company, spreading your message when you are not around to do it yourself. They could infiltrate social groups that you may have been cut out from entering.

There's a store in my neighborhood with a big sign above the front entrance that reads "Home Improvement." Many guests enter. Very few buy anything. Almost no one returns after his or her first visit. No one refers anyone else to visit either. You may be thinking yourself, “that store will not be in business very long.”

Many advisors and agents ask their Insurance Marketing Organization (IMO) “What's your favorite product?” I've always been perplexed by this question. What's your favorite product? Really? It's as if financial advisors and insurance agents have been conditioned to ask that question, which would lead me to believe that most IMOs are pitching products and not asking questions.

As a financial professional, taking a team approach is a smart move. It’s much better than the alternative of trying to convince your prospects and clients that you're a jack-of-all-trades. It's just not credible or trustworthy. There is strength in numbers as a financial professional, and filling your roster with other skilled players will win more clients.

When you work with a prospect and guide them towards making a financial decision and take action, you assume a leadership role. For many financial advisors, you make a commitment to lead them to and through retirement. However, many financial professionals have failed to have a scheduled maintenance process in place to review their clients’ plans and adapt them to life and lifestyle changes.

If you have a slim marketing budget, workshops and seminars can seem like they cost more than they're worth. There may be ways to find prospects that cost less cash, but you end up paying more in the long run. The monetary cost of finding prospects isn't the only expense.

Many of the financial advisors and agents we speak with who struggle with prospecting aren't willing, or able, to spend on marketing and prospecting. They think that by avoiding the high cost of prospecting programs they are saving money. Remember, you can spend time, or you can spend money, but you need to spend on marketing and prospecting.