Ep #67: Alan & Kitces Unhinged: The Best Questions and Conversations from #XYPN16

September 28, 2016

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Michael and Alan are back for another Unhinged episode after wrapping up #XYPN16 in San Diego. We had a blast at the conference and loved the opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time talking with members of the XYPN community.

This mailbag episode covers the major questions received as well as highlights from the conference.

In what will come as no surprise to members of the community and long-time listeners, we open the conversation with questions on defining your niche. The benefit of defining a niche was a constant theme at #XYPN16.

A significant number of attendees are taking advantage of niche marketing and experiencing greater momentum than those who do not. Defining a marketing plan, setting your rates, and determining the right clients to target becomes easier for firms with a defined niche.

We also dive into how to determine and set pricing, and why valuing your services from the get-go is a better long term plan. And if you're not sure of your value? We provide a simple strategy to attract new clients without setting yourself up for a lasting pricing model headaches.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly for the sake of transparency, we took a hard look at what happens then things don't work out for advisors who launch their own RIAs. We discuss failure rates within the XYPN community and talk about what failure actually means.

We share our top three reasons why fee-only firms on a monthly retainer model don't blossom into successful practices. The answer just might surprise you.

Listen to the Full Interview:

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What You'll Learn from This Episode:

Highlights from #XYPN16 in San Diego.
Why firms who define a specific niche have an easier time developing a marketing plan.
How to approach raising prices with existing customers.
How to attract customers initially with discounted fees vs guaranteed fees.
A strategy for finding your value and pricing your services.
The failure rate of advisors starting their own RIAs.
Why firms fail and how to avoid the pitfalls.