Leading Financial Advisor Training, Coach, and Professional Speaker - Simon Reilly » Clear Your Roadblocks

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-29

Simon — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:07:00 +0000

Experiencing the benefits of starting the week after a self created long weekend, investing the day in CE Credits & Yearly Review w/ Tiffany #
Clear Your Roadblocks has received CE Accreditation under the 2010 Advocis / CLU Institute CE Accreditation Guidelines #
Coaching complete for Aug, balance of month = 4 days of planning for 2011 and next Wed – Fri off … Strong out of the gate for September!!! #
Kim Black is doing a beautiful job of updating our web site & the work will be cmpltd by the end of next wk; http://www.leadingadvisor.com/ #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-22

Simon — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:07:00 +0000

Thank you Simon Parsons of Reliable IT Computer Service Inc. for setting up my iPhone Exchange e-mail and WiFi on a Monday morning #
[Clear Your Roadblocks] Re-Branding With the Power of 3 http://aweber.com/b/17Soi #
Up early, AWAKE, day prepped, ready to go with client calls, a group coaching call with Desjardins Victoria & a planning meeting with Laura #
Looking forward to a networking call with Matt Anderson – The Referral Authority http://www.thereferralauthority.com/ #
Matt Anderson of The Referral Authority has inspired to attend NAIFA in Seattle September 11 – 14 http://www.naifa.org/conference/ #
Matt Anderson of The Referral Authority and inspired us to attend NAIFA in Seattle September 11 – 14 http://www.naifa.org/conference/ #

Clear Your Roadblocks – August 2010

Simon — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:00:49 +0000

Re-Branding With the Power of 3

Clear Your Roadblocks | August 2010

Welcome to the August 2010 edition of our Clear Your Roadblocks E-Newsletter.

Throughout 2010 I’ve been getting the sense that it is time do something different, time to make some changes, time to make some improvements, but I’ve not been able to figure it out.

This might have been because I’ve been busy with clients and speaking presentations for Advocis, BFG Financial / Manulife Financial, Canada Life, Desjardins Financial, Great American Advisors / Lincoln
Financial, Macquarie Private Wealth, Sun Life and The Million Dollar Round
Table.

With the completion of a financial advisor speaking schedule that is second to none for the first part of 2010
combined with the completion of nine financial advisor speaker presentations and powerpoints , I’m finally in a place where I have the time to
reflect.

It seems funny to me that I’ve been staring at the Eat · Pray · Love DVD in Starbucks. For months now, every time I’ve been at the till I’m noticing my right hand reaching out to complete a compulsive unconscious purchase of thinking it is the book on DVD only to have my left hand pull me back with the reasoning; “it is not the book on DVD, it is the music from the upcoming movie”. Why would I want the book on DVD anyway? But
every time I found myself in Starbucks there goes that right hand again. Little did I know that this was the first whisper of Re-Branding with The Power of 3.

The brain finds it easy to think in terms of threes.

Three is a symmetrical number that satisfies something deep within our psyches and this might be because we have been imprinted with The Power of 3 with the following patterns, structures and ways since time began;

123
ABC
Body, mind, soul
Mind, heart, soul
Past, present, future
The Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
Three bears, blind mice, fates, graces, little pigs, musketeers, stooges, wise men, wishes
Three connected circles

There are all kinds of patterns and structures using The Power of 3 in speaking and writing;

Beginning,middle, end
Create tension, develop it, release it
First,tell the audience what you’re going to tell them. Second, tell them. Third, tell them what you told them.
Premise,prove it, conclude it
Stages of truth: first a concept is rejected, second it is violently opposed, third it is accepted as self-evident.

The Power of 3 makes your communication soar.

Thank you to the www.urbandictionary.com,www.psychotactics.com and www.squidoo.com/threepower for the ideas for the above mashup on The Power of 3.

The second whisper of Re-Branding with The Power Of 3 came when I saw the new Welcome To Parkville Sign for the first time with the words Live · Work · Play … these three words just resonated with me.

Live · Work · Play just makes so much sense when I think of the experience of living on Vancouver Island in Parksville. Living here is like stepping back in time 30 years. The pace is much slower, nature is at your doorstep, and the people are friendlier like days gone by like our good friends Cheryl Dill and Dave Liddell. Three cheers to Cheryl for a job well done as the Chairperson of The Parksville Sign Committee.

The picture of the new Live · Work · Play really stuck in my mind and I found myself saying the words over and over.

The third whisper of Re-Branding with The Power of 3 came with watching Cisco’s See It · Live It · Share It TV Commercial with Ellen Page.

These whispers of Re-Branding with The Power of 3 have been going on along with the sense that it is time do something different, time to make some changes, time to make some improvements.

Leading Advisor – Plan · Produce · Profit came to me in an instant and I shared it with my close circle of friends & advisors and everyone loved it.

I was explaining my experience to Kim Black, our web master and IT expert, and I was telling Kim how these three words were really resonating with me. “Isn’t there some rule or law like The Power of 3?” I asked Kim and thinking out loud, “There’s another commercial or sign out there with three words on it that I can’t seem to remember” and Kim said, ”that’s easy, it is the book Eat · Pray · Love that is coming out as a movie with Julia Roberts”. Whooooooooosh and I’m back to Starbucks!

I always run ideas like this by my friend and coach Chris Barrow who has one of the most brilliant business and marketing minds on this planet and Chris offered one more P word … Play represents having a balance in life.

Plan · Produce · Profit · Play

This didn’t flow with The Power of 3.

Being the brilliant Mad Men that Chris is, Chris offered;

Plan · Play · Profit as a new brand and all of our actions will flow from these three words with new products and services coming this Fall.

I hope that you are enjoying your Summer.

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.

Simon Reilly

The Financial Advisor Coach

1 877 248 6019

Please visit www.LeadingAdvisor.com for more Financial Advisor Resources and Training

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-15

Simon — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:07:00 +0000

Bulk of new web copy & architecture changes complete, sent to Kim Black for posting, short listing the various bits & pieces to complete #
Renewed energy and creative web site juices are flowing after an excellent call with our web master and IT expert Kim Black! #
Some advisors convinced themselves that their clients don’t want to talk about money and insurance in the summer #
Other advisors invest the summer in improving their business, we have had the best week in coaching sales all year #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-08

Simon — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 17:07:00 +0000

Buffer Day, e-mail off and working on new web site copy and some architecture changes that are long overdue. #
Feeling like it is Sept in a very good way as I just finished a strategic planning meeting with Laura and we are so on top of our game plan! #
Prep work on new web site copy & architecture changes ahead of schedule … striving to complete by the end of the week. #
I believe in affirmations & action, to this end, list your projects, actions, routines for next week & block out the time. Seize the week! #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-01

Simon — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:07:00 +0000

Settling into an AC flight from Toronto to Vancouver to Empty My Mind #
back in B "22C" C … I'm home until September!! #
“While it might seem like the economy is bouncing along the bottom, many say that this is exactly what a recovery looks like.” – James Cowan #
[Clear Your Roadblocks] Social Media Requires STP http://aweber.com/b/1ht3e #
Experience compliance in a whole new way by changing your focus from the loss of the unmet need of control to the value of customer service. #
PowerPoint presentations finished for Great West Life Congress October 18 and London Life Summit October 22! #
Holiday – leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure #
Just read this from a client’s coaching call prep form “two weeks holidays, lots of Nick Murray books to read” #
Let’s talk about ways to take money out of the tax system and create a financial legacy for yourself and your family. #
Over servicing C & D clients takes up a lot of RAM memory in your brain and takes space away from attracting A clients. #
After working parts of the last 2 weekends, on home stretch to Empty My Mind for the weekend, an empty mind is a healthy mind. bit.ly/9WcXbq #
Complete w/ files, month end, projects – headed into the last figurative month of the financial advisor year – and then SEPTEMBER! #

Survivors vs. Advisors

Simon — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:00:09 +0000

Step 3.

Let’s review the Clear Values Scorecard.

	Financial Survivor	Financial Advisor
1.	I lack focus.	I follow a written 5-year vision and business plan.
2.	I am not making as much money as I would like.	I am fully satisfied with the amount of money I am making.
3.	I have to get myself pumped when I am selling.	I feel naturally excited about my work and I enjoy the selling process.
4.	I feel I am not getting enough referrals.	I am getting many great, qualified referrals.
5.	I feel that I am working too hard, with too many unqualified or C and D clients.	I am getting a lot of new high-quality clients.
6.	I try to serve anyone and everyone.	I have branded my business and I am focused on a niche market.
7.	I do too many favors and I sell too many products.	I am focused on profitable products and services.
8.	I feel completely overwhelmed, doing things I don’t like to do.	I do what I love to do and have a hiring system to delegate everything else.
9.	I have a lot of conflict in my business relationships.	I manage my business relationships extremely well.
10.	I beat myself up when things don’t go right and I have lost my enthusiasm for my business.	I always celebrate my successes and learn from my setbacks. I am achieving my true potential as an advisor.

Which one are you?

The financial survivor who needs a client, or the financial advisor who adds value to a client?
The financial survivor who is looking for motivation, or the financial advisor who works from inspiration?
The financial survivor who is stuck, or the financial advisor who is evolved?
The financial survivor who does, or the financial advisor who delegates?
The financial survivor who works not to lose the client, or the financial advisor who works to serve the client and grow the client’s assets?
The financial survivor who oversells, or the financial advisor who undersells?
The financial survivor who overpromises, or the financial advisor who over-delivers?
The financial survivor who is conflicted, or the financial advisor who is in harmony?
The financial survivor who is emotionally retired, or the financial advisor who is enthusiastic?

Please note that some of the concepts above were developed from the theory of “Irresistible Attraction” by the late Thomas Leonard, founder of Coach U.

This article was originally published in Curing The Unmet Needs Disease © Simon Reilly 2008

Why Is It Important To Get Your Unmet Needs Met?

Simon — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:00:31 +0000

Step 2.

Financial advisors may “want” a vision and business plan but they hamstring themselves with a lack of focus created by the Unmet Need for perfection. Though they come to realize they need a niche and product to build a vision and business plan on, their negative ego sabotages them. The Unmet Need for perfection combined with the negative belief of, “it or they may not be good enough,” combined with the negative emotion of anxiety, keeps them trying one thing after another, finally overwhelming them.

Financial Advisors may “want” referrals but they hamper themselves with procrastination because of their Unmet Need for approval. The majority of financial advisors agree that asking for referrals is the most effective way to build their business, but their negative ego sabotages them here again. The Unmet Need for approval, combines with the negative belief of “I may make a mistake,” combines with the negative emotion of fear, and even though they may struggle through their fear to ask for a referral, their fear-based energy is picked up by the client and the client says, “No.”

The point is, you know what you need to do. You might even be baffled by why you’re not doing it. It’s simple. You have Unmet Needs.

This article was originally published in Curing The Unmet Needs Disease © Simon Reilly 2008

Clear Your Roadblocks – July 2010

Simon — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:00:37 +0000

Social Media Requires STP

Clear Your Roadblocks | July 2010

Welcome to the July 2010 edition of our Clear Your Roadblocks E-Newsletter.

What is all this Social Media chatter that is spouting from the finger tips of marketing consultants everywhere you look?

I am no Social Media expert, but the way these marketing consultants are going on and on you would think that Social Media is a brand new thing and that Social Media didn’t exist before The Big Three of FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

But upon close examination it appears that Social Media is not all that new with FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter launching in 2004, 2003 and 2006 respectively.

Marketing consultants are texting that you just have to be on The Big Three of FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter and all your marketing woes will be solved and one financial advisor coach said that “if the heirs of your clients can’t find you on Google, FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter, you don’t exist in the minds of Generation X, Y and the Millennials”.

But what is Social Media anyway?

According to Wikipedia Social Media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, micro blogging, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking and having said all this, once again I am not an expert on Social Media.

One thing that I know for sure is that one has to have Media for Social Media and the reason I know this is my social media journey started with the launch of www.leadingadvisor.com along with my Clear Your Roadblocks monthly e-newsletter www.leadingadvisor.com/financial-advisor-newsletter/ in December of 2004 and the launch of my daily blog www.leadingadvisor.com/blog/ followed in February of 2005.

My web site has countless pages plus 67 monthly newsletters and 1623 blog posts and counting and I am at this late juncture of producing my July 2010 and I’ve no Media for my July E-Newsletter because I’ve invested so much time in creating PowerPoints for the financial advisor speaking presentations.

Perhaps it was because I failed to plan my Social Media, Research and Writing Time Blocking like I did in advance of producing my June E-Newsletter as this excerpt demonstrates;

Welcome to the June 2010 edition of our Clear Your Roadblocks E-Newsletter.

It is Wednesday, May 26th and I’m on a flight home from Winnipeg via Calgary and Vancouver after speaking at Advocis Westman in Brandon, Manitoba. This was combined with visits to Career Agencies and MGAs in Winnipeg.

I’m writing the June E-Newsletter now to get a head start because I will be traveling from June 11th to June 24th starting with a Vancouver rehearsal in advance of speaking at the MDRT on June 15th. Speaking at the MDRT is like winning the Stanley Cup, The World Series or being on the cover of The Rolling Stone, depending how you look at it.

It is hard to believe that was 8 weeks ago and where has the time gone?

The time has gone into speaking as the following speaking schedule demonstrates and I’m sat here on Wednesday afternoon writing this at The Hilton Niagara Falls in advance of speaking at the BFG Financial Conference on Thursday, July 22, 2010.

June 13th-17th	MDRT Annual Meeting	Vancouver, BC
June 17th	Great American Advisors	Lake Tahoe, Nevada
June 18th	Great American Advisors	Lake Tahoe, Nevada
June 21st	Sun Life Sales Congress	Toronto, ON
June 22nd	Sun Life Sales Congress	Winnipeg, MB
July 16th	Desjardins Financial	Victoria, BC
July 20th	Sun Life Financial	Richmond Hill, ON
July 22nd	BFG Financial (Ontario) Inc.	Niagara Falls, ON

So is it “Social Media Requires STP ( See The People )” or “STP ( See The People ) Requires Social Media”?

What I mean by this question is; Would we have attracted this list of incredible financial advisor speaking opportunities ( See The People ) had it not been for my investment in Social Media that started back in December of 2004?

Then there is another question; Could we have just sat back and relied on my web site, e-newsletter and blog to develop relationships within the financial advisor and investment advisor niche that I serve to attract the list of incredible financial advisor speaking opportunities?

Then another question comes to mind; Can we just sit back now that we are reaching a Tipping Point and rely on my web site, e-newsletter and blog to maintain relationships within the financial advisor and investment advisor niche that I serve?

The answer is we must continue to combine Social Media and See The People.

Laura and I met with our friend Robert Gignac, speaker and author of Rich Is A State Of Mind for dinner in Toronto on Tuesday, July 20th. In the absence of my own Media, I asked Bob if he had any great articles that I could share with my readers and Bob has offered the following to give you some perspective about your business through the eyes of your clients.

Selecting A Financial Coach
How Bad Do You Want It
The Clock Is Ticking

Thank you Robert Gignac, enjoy the read and thank you for the opportunity to be of service.

Simon Reilly
The Financial Advisor Coach
1 877 248 6019

Selecting A Financial Coach

Among successful business owners, there is a belief that people should be able to handle their own personal finances, make their own decisions, and implement them by themselves. Do I really need a financial coach?

When it comes to personal finance, why wouldn’t we call a coach? Someone who understands your problems and issues, has seen it before, and can recommend a course of action. All the best athletes on the planet have coaches. Why?

Click here to read Robert Gignac’s article.

Return to the Top | Table of Contents

How Bad Do You Want It

As someone who spends a great deal of time speaking to financial professionals and their clients about the concepts of personal finance and how to create a successful financial future, I’m often asked what the secret for personal financial success is. They are often disappointed when I tell them there is no big secret, no magic pill, and no quick fix that will bring them financial success. Trust me, if I had it, I would be bottling it and selling it as fast as I could.

Lacking the quick fix, I do have a snippet that I have been using lately in presentations and workshops that I borrowed from country music’s Tim McGraw that I think sums it up nicely….

To continue reading, click here.

Return to the Top | Table of Contents

Clock is Ticking

I was having dinner in a Chinese restaurant this week and when I cracked open my fortune cookie after the meal it read:

“Have you prepared for your worry free retirement with more money than you’ll need?”

Ok, it didn’t actually say that, it said something more like:

“May you live in interesting times!”

When it comes to personal finance there is no doubt that we are living in interesting times. Mortgage subprime, global credit crisis, recession, whispered words about potential depression, and you cannot possibly pick up a daily newspaper without the headlines screaming the words…..

To read more….

Return to the Top | Table of Contents

Please visit www.LeadingAdvisor.com for more Financial Advisor Resources and Training

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-25

Simon — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:07:00 +0000

All OK after 4am wake up for Nanaimo flight to Vancouver … Aircraft refueling is happening at VYR #
Breakfast @ YVR WhiteSpot … Laura & I in awe at what it takes to put coaching, speaking and writing & life on the road #
Traveling from Toronto to Niagara Falls to speak @ BFG Financial after spkng for Sun Life & mtngs with Simon Jackson Insurance & Empire Life #