You’re a highly-skilled financial planner, you’ve worked hard to build your practice, and you’re good at what you do, but do you know how to market yourself? How do you find your ideal clients? One of the biggest problems many financial planners have is marketing themselves to the clients they wish to serve. I’ve invited Brad Johnson, a financial advisor coach, on the show today to help us solve the puzzle of how to attract the people that you serve best. Today you’ll learn how you can stand out from the crowd and find your target market.  Outline of This Episode [3:22] This show helps me flush out my thinking [6:30] How important is a personal brand as a financial advisor? [10:35] Why is it so important to be able to differentiate yourself? [18:00] How are you speaking to clients? [22:25] Naming your process will feel weird [25:05] How do we become more human on our websites? [31:11] Be relatable Who is Brad Johnson? Although Brad’s website is BradleyJohnson.com, he actually goes by Brad. Brad is a coach for elite financial planners and the host of the Elite Advisor Blueprint podcast. He consults the top financial advisors on how to build their ideal practice. Since Brad has over 10 years of experience working with financial advisors and improving their practices, I knew he would be an excellent resource for all of you to learn how to market yourself to the clients you wish to serve.  How to market yourself and develop a personal brand as a financial advisor We know that to be relevant among all of the advisors out there we have to find a way to set ourselves apart from the crowd. But how can we do that when we offer the same services as everyone else? This is when it’s time to dig deep. Before you begin to think of branding you need to think about what you really offer your clients. What services or products do you offer to get clients to their end goals? Think about how you can differentiate what you do and trademark that.  Why is it so important to be able to differentiate what you do for clients? When you are just starting out as a new financial advisor, life is like the Hunger Games. You’re just out there trying to survive. You’ll serve anyone and everyone. But after you begin to build up a clientele and hone your skills, then you can really think about the clients that you serve best. It’s important to find a niche so that you can serve clients at a higher level. If you can’t describe to clients how your product will change their lives then you are just a commodity. And the only thing that commodities offer is a good price. Do you really want to be known as the cheapest financial advisor? You can custom build your practice while serving your current clients. Learn how by listening to this episode of the Agile Financial Planner.  How do we become more human on our websites? Gone are the days when business cards ruled. Our websites are the first thing that people look at when trying to find the right financial planner. Did you know that people spend more time on the About Us page of a website? They want to know who you really are. If you want to make an impression then you need to put humanity into your About Us section. This is your opportunity to shine. Connect with your people and be relatable. Tell me about your journey in marketing. Has it been a bumpy ride or smooth sailing?  Resources & People Mentioned Story Brand Scribe (Book in a Box) Dan Sullivan Strategic Coach Tony Robbins Gary Vaynerchuk Connect with Brad Johnson Brad Johnson Elite Planner Blueprint podcast @BradJohnsonAE on Facebook @Brad_Johnson on Twitter Connect With Roger Whitney www.RogerWhitney.com Roger @ wwkwealth.com  Roger on Twitter: @Roger_Whitney