Click here to Receive The First Six Chapters of my new book Curing The Unmet Needs Disease - How To Prosper in Business by Meeting Your Unmet Needs Financial Advisor Edition.

October 10, 2008

Rod Tyler, CFP, RFP, CLU

In recent days we have witnessed some remarkable events in the financial markets. The merger of Merrill Lynch with Bank of America and the disappearance of Lehman Bros. into bankruptcy in one September weekend certainly rate among the most memorable events in financial history. As you might expect, there is no shortage of “experts” predicting doom and gloom or even financial Armageddon. My take on all of this is that I beg to differ. In the short term there will be some adjustments. For example, if you were working for Lehman Bros. and lost your job, then this is not a happy time.

Chances are, however, that if you have a good education and good skills, you will soon be working for one of the surviving financial companies, or even in another industry. For managers of well run businesses, this is an excellent time to acquire inexpensive assets and superb employees. You also have the opportunity to expand market share by acquiring new customers and clients. If your company is providing a service or product that is truly valued and sought after by customers and clients, this is the best of times.

You now have a chance to distinguish yourself by showing just how worthwhile you can be to your customers and clients. This is when great businesses are built.

Most of my clients know that displayed on the walls of our offices are financial memorabilia from times past. There are insurance contracts from the 1920s issued by insurance companies still in existence and still growing today. There is also a collection of cancelled cheques issued by Canadian banks that have since disappeared as they have been merged and acquired by the major Canadian banks of today - the ones we all know and recognize.

The point is that it’s at times like this that some of the greatest businesses are built. Great
businesses take advantage of these types of opportunities to build bigger, better, and more
profitable franchises because they are well managed by prudent leadership that understands exactly what is required to survive, prosper and grow while serving their customers and clients with excellent service and top-notch products.

As I look over our clients’ portfolios, I see many such companies well represented. I am confident that many of these same companies are busy preparing themselves to prosper in the months and years ahead. This will surely translate into an improving bottom line for our client portfolios.

Elsewhere in the newsletter I describe how all of us at Tyler and Associates intend to follow this same process of building a great company by providing you, our clients, with improved service and commitment to your financial future. That is how great businesses are built!

Rod Tyler, CFP, RFP, CLU
Tyler & Associates Financial Services
Regina, SK
www.tylerandassociates.ca

Phil Hauser CFP

Getting emotional about investments can easily lead to poor decisions as investors fall prey to negative thoughts and fears. The chart below helps to illustrate the emotional aspects of investing.

The human brain constantly searches for trends or patterns in things, trying to make sense out of even random events and data. This essential life skill is not very helpful when it comes to investing.

Stock markets tend to follow random walks and therefore have no predictable patterns. The patterns and trends that investors think they see are only in their minds, not the data. Over the short and long term, stock prices are formed by investors reacting to new (often unpredictable) information making it impossible to accurately forecast before the fact.

Many studies have clearly demonstrated that individual investors, on average, tend to purchase shares near market highs and sell shares near market lows. This behavior is the reason why the returns that individual investors receive tend to be less than the aggregate returns reported by the funds.

Phil Hauser CFP
Sterling Mutual Funds Inc.
London, ON
www.philhauser.ca/

Paul Ghezzi, CA

Betting that the world is coming to an end...has not been a very good wager for the past few thousand years or so. Given the massive and co-ordinated moves by central banks, across the globe, to inject financial liquidity into the banking system it is likely that the current financial crisis will end up looking like a good old fashion recession and not much more.

Recessions usually mean about a 30% to 35% drop in the stock market from peak to bottom and normally take about 18 months to work their way through the system. In the stock market, recessions often manifest as two negative years in a row of financial returns with many days of up and down volatility and a great deal of sector rotation.

The best strategy is to choose the right asset allocation, re-balance as the financial market shift the pricing of assets and avoid speculating with your core positions. If you think of yourself as a Pension Fund and always have at least 50% of your holdings in fixed income you will be able to not only ride out any financial storm, but add to your strategic positions along the way.

See the comments below from Richard Croft, the portfolio manager for our ETF offering. Richard has hit on some key points about the cost of capital - which is really what the global bailout is all about.

Regards,

Paul Ghezzi, CA
DBS Private Client Group Inc.
Markham, ON
www.wealthwithpurpose.ca

September 2008

Frank Allen, CLU, CHFC, CFP

The End of the Beginning

The February 2000 edition of the Wall Street Journal contained an article with the following excerpt: "Retirement is the great financial riddle. Think of the uncertainties. You don't know how long you will live. You don't know what investment returns you will earn. You only have a limited sum of money. And there are no second chances."

This is the end of the beginning, rather than the beginning of the end. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy is the catalyst we've been waiting for. In a nutshell, the U.S. banking system has committed a terrorist act on itself, the effects of which will be felt for years to come.

What's going on? A cleansing process. A game of “musical chairs”.

The music has been playing now for a number of years and everyone has been walking around without the need for a chair. U.S. investment banks, mortgage companies and highly levered hedge funds have enjoyed playing the game. Well the music has stopped and some don’t have chairs: Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill, highly levered hedge funds, etc. Fortunately, the Canadian banks, commodity companies, etc., in general, all have chairs.

Although not pleasant, this cleansing process is absolutely necessary for the future viability of North American (and world) markets. With the failure of Lehman Brothers, the U.S. federal reserve is saying we will no longer use tax payer money to bail out Wall Street. If the U.S. doesn’t deal with this and allow financial companies to fail, then it could find itself in a situation like Japan, in the late 1980?s. Japan never dealt with their financial collapse, didn’t allow companies to fail, and 20 years later the economy still has never really recovered. Japan didn’t allow the process of “musical chairs” to take place.

What can you expect going forward?

Capital will begin to flow to those seated in chairs, however, it isn’t going to be a rocket ride upwards. The classic “V” shaped recovery that we have become accustomed to over the last few years is giving way to a “U” or a “W” shaped recovery that will be longer and more drawn out. Unlike 2001, there won’t be a consumer-led recovery, the consumer is tapped out.

For those well positioned, they must deal with “collateral damage” from the effects of failures. Your portfolio is well positioned, but may suffer from the collateral damage caused by massive de-leveraging or selling of financial securities, commodities and a liquidity crisis. This will pass in time. For the survivors of this, the opportunities will be remarkable.

If you have any questions or require any further information, please contact me.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Sincerely,

Frank C. Allen, CLU, CHFC, CFP
The Frank Allen Financial Group Inc.
Nanaimo, BC
www.frankallenfinancial.com

Thank you for understanding,

Simon

• Choose A Niche
• Find A Problem That Needs Solving
• Create A Solution Through Your Products & Services
• Brand Your Solution
• Receive And Publish Client Testimonials
• Create A Web Site
• Write Articles
• Publish An E-Newsletter
• Publish A Blog
• Create A Speaking Folio
• Create A Show Reel
• Speak To 10,000 People Within The Niche At Association And Corporate Events
• Receive And Publish Speaking Testimonials
• Get Published By A National Publication Within The Niche
• On The Way;
  • Attract Sponsors
  • Create CDs & DVDs
  • Create Relationships With COI’s
  • Exhibit At Tradeshows
  • Master Viral Marketing
  • Strengthen Your Team
  • Upgrade Your Website
  • Write & Publish A Book
• Market, Market & Market Your Products & Services Some More

… And Never, Never, Never Do A Cold Call Ever Again.

As Seth Godin said, “There are no overnight successes and it takes four to six years to be a success on-line and overall”. As Jim Rohn said, “Success is a few simple disciplines practiced every single day”.

My June 27th conversation with Kate McCaffery, the Practice Management Editor of Advisor.ca was like going through Journalism 2.0 as Kate offered me some extremely valuable tips on creative writing that include …

Don’t be a fake. What I mean is to use original material and make sure you acknowledge the creator of the idea if you do use someone else’s idea but please, no “cut and paste”. Fakery is rampant from those that chose to walk around with a fake Rolex to copying music CDs and movie DVDs. First of all it is stealing and second and more importantly, it is confirming the grand daddy of all unmet needs, the need of worthiness and that “you are not worthy”.

If you have a need of worthiness, you have a limiting belief that “I am not good enough” along with the limiting emotions of anxiety and fear. The unmet need, limiting belief and limiting emotion all combine with the laws of attraction to attract evidence that you are not worthy and you wonder why you attract prospects that waste your time, to sales that fall apart to failing to ask for referrals. You may wonder why, but it gives your ego the fuel to get angry at the evidence that you are attracting which is further compounding the problem.

A provocative question, “How many financial advisors are fakes?” What I mean by this, are most financial advisors fakes because they all sound the same and very few of them are branded and niche market themselves with an original idea? Food for thought for another article.

To keep your writing and marketing fresh, read all kinds of different material from both industry and non-industry related material that could also include poetry to again keep your mind fresh and alive with new ideas and inspiration.

Kate wondered out loud that there may not be any original ideas or material. Of course one can always “Google Up” to find out where the idea originally came from. I think that I heard that Einstein once said that every idea has already been invented and they are floating around out there in the Meme Pool somewhere just waiting for you to tune into. This segues into The Hundred Monkey Theory.

You can learn more about how the mind works and figuring out how my mind works as you try to track through this article through Tony Buzan’s The Mind Map Book, and Mind Genius is a wonderful software to use to facilitate the process of Mind Mapping.

New ideas and material are coming about through what the music industry calls Mash-Ups where one idea + one idea + one idea = a brand new idea.

So my challenges to you are:

• Identify the financial advisors that you respect and ask them for a copy of their recent e-newsletter.
• Read the Financial Advisor E-Newsletter Introduction Articles that are offered by well respected Financial Advisors
• Write your own e-newsletter so that you are providing your existing clients with extreme care. This will provide you with the time to prospect.

You have no doubt heard the expression “separating the men from the boys”.

To put my own financial advisor professional coaching spin on “separating the men from the boys” along with the financial crisis …

The financial crisis will separate the Financial Advisors from the Financial Survivors.

Financial Survivors suffer from the Unmet Needs Disease, causing the negative emotion and the negative belief that they are not achieving their true potential as an advisor.

Financial Advisors have Clear Values, causing the positive feeling and the positive belief they are achieving their true potential as an advisor.

Click here to Receive The First Six Chapters of my new book Curing The Unmet Needs Disease - How To Prosper in Business by Meeting Your Unmet Needs Financial Advisor Edition.

Through this financial crisis, which one are you?

• The financial survivor who blames big government and big business, or the financial advisor who believes in the creativity of human kind?
• The financial survivor who is afraid and living hour by hour and day to day or the financial advisor who has a written vision, business plan and cash flow management plan for the future?
• The financial survivor who is stressed out doing $20 per hour work who fails to invest in an assistant because they do not believe in their business or themselves, or the financial advisor who takes the time to plan, prioritize and delegate all non face to face client activity?
• The financial survivor who resents client phone calls or the financial advisor who adds value to their clients?
• The financial survivor who is completely overwhelmed going from one call to the next e-mail to the next thing, or the financial advisor who uses time blocking to; return calls and e-mails, write their biweekly e-newsletter, and prospect staying in touch with the do-it yourselfer and those that said no in the past?
• The financial survivor who resents a client phone call because the advisor lacks information or the financial advisor who adds value to a client through their biweekly e-newsletter?

To this end here are some calls to action;

• Read the following Tips On Marketing and Writing An E-Newsletter
• Identify the financial advisors that you respect and ask them for a copy of their recent e-newsletter.
• Read the Financial Advisor E-Newsletter Introduction Articles that are offered by well respected Financial Advisors

---------------Marketing Funnel-----------------
-----------------Networking---------------------
------------------Speaking----------------------
-------------------Articles----------------------
-------------------Results-----------------------
--------------------Book------------------------
--------------------Sales------------------------

Book - First the fun stuff, our editor has declared that the editing of the book is finished and I am happy to share the front cover! The next step is our book publishing project manager is working on assembling the book for printing. Laura and I met with the printer on Saturday morning to get the ball rolling.

Articles - Here is a picture and a link to our first article that was published by Advisor.ca on September 18th.

Networking - Telephone interview completed on September 19th with Michael Beck for the Referral Expo 2008.

Speaking - Completed one of the absolute best speaking presentations entitled How To Thrive In A Recession for Pro-Seminars in Edmonton on September 17th … click here to read the testimonials.

Results - click here to read our speaking results for Pro-Seminars Las Vegas September 8th and Pro-Seminars Edmonton September 17th

Sales - Sales and prospect results are exceeding the results that we created in September of 2006 and September of 2007 … the marketing funnel is really starting to pay off.

Laura and I are away in Victoria, BC on Saturday, September 20th to meet with the book printer and to celebrate Laura’s mom’s birthday. We will travel to Kelowna, BC on Sunday in advance of attending a financial seminar from Monday - Wednesday, September 22nd - 24th.

Thursday and Friday, September 25th and 26th are coaching days and then I am on a plane on Sunday, September 28th to speak at Pro-Seminars in Kitchener, ON on Monday, September 29th and Pro-Seminars in Winnipeg, MB on Wednesday, October 2nd.

There are still loads of projects on the go;

• Vision - work with our coach to refine our coaching, speaking and writing vision for 2012
• Speaking Marketing - write the plan to go big and go international
• Advisor.ca October Article - editing
• Book - collecting testimonials and final proof for book publishing project manager
• Branding - fine tune
• Curing The Unmet Needs Disease - Entrepreneur & Small Business Edition - delegated to editor
• E-Newsletter September - write and publish
• Flip Video - learn to Vlog
• Speaking Marketing - meet with COI’s on the Kitchener / Winnipeg trip
• Tablet PC - learn how to use it
• Trade Show Booth - upgrade
• Viral Marketing - study
• Planning - clean up my office

Sidebar - I ask my clients to take the time at the end of the week to clear their minds of all the details, to reprioritize, to reschedule and give thanks. My blogging gives you a chance to look over my shoulder to see what I am doing.

As the conclusion of all of these projects comes into being, I am pleased to say that we are truly a financial advisor coaching, speaking and publishing company!!

It is ugly trying to find the bottom of a black hole because you just don’t where the bottom is and all you can see is the darkness while your imagination continues to create monsters by the score.

It is kind of like one of those dreams when you were a kid when you were falling, falling, falling and then just before you hit the ground you woke up.

It is anybodies guess where the bottom is going to be in this latest financial mess but rest assured there will be a bottom.

When you find the bottom then you will say this is it, this is the bottom, now I know where my feet are and where the foundation is because I can see it. Now I can take action and move onward and upward. I can see the light.

The key to staying in the light and out of the darkness is to stay awake and out of the dream of the negative emotions and the negative beliefs that come with it.

Remind yourself of your long term vision and give thanks every day for all the blessings that you have in your life. Remind yourself of all the knowledge, skill and training that you have available to you and remember that same knowledge, skill and training is available to you for the future for this too shall pass. The best way to remind yourself and get into a positive state of mind is by using a journal to write it, see it and even hear it as you talk to yourself while you write.

The light can show up in some of the most unusual places. Laura was reading her latest yoga mag over the weekend and I saw the coolest Ad from Lululemon on the back cover and to read it click Lululemon Yoga Magazine Ad.

I can empathize with financial advisors that they are feeling uncomfortable with their clients looking to them for the answers.

Thinking that your client is looking to you for the answers can be causing you to look even further into the darkness because there are no answers, at least not right now.

Remember, just like everyone else, your clients have a basic human need to be heard and if they are trying to contact you, make yourself available and allow your clients to be heard. Better yet, contact your clients and let them know that while you may not have the answers, you are there for them. This strategy will keep you in the light and out of the darkness.

They know that this latest debacle is not your fault.

Whose fault will it be if you don’t make yourself available to allow your clients to be heard?

YOURS!

Use that old objection handling method. Listen to your clients and feedback to your clients what you are hearing from your clients so that they get that you are listening.

Practice non-violent communication by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg;

• when you are hearing bad news about the economy
• you are feeling afraid, nervous and worried
• because you believe that your investment plan isn’t working
• and you would like me to review the principals that we first talked about that your plan is based on

The point is it is about listening and it may not be about doing anything because there may not be a lot that you can do except listen, stay in touch and keep your clients and yourself out of the dark.

On our end, I believe that I delivered one of the best How To Thrive In A Recession Speaking Presentations ever to Pro-Seminars in Edmonton 8am Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 and click How To Thrive In A Recession Results. It is all about staying in touch and filling the marketing funnel.

Testimonials from Pro Seminars - Edmonton, AB - September 17-18, 2008

In talking with my financial advisor clients today and over the course of this year I continue to hear;

• I’ve seen this all before.

• We saw it coming.

• We will just have to ride it out just like 1973-74, 1981, 1992 and 2002.

• This too shall pass.

• It will separate the men from the boys.

• I like this kind of a market because it causes those that still know how to work to get off their butts.

• I’m investing my day in using the 10-3-1 system developed by Al Granum. Make ten calls, talk to three clients and have one positive conversation.

Information is out there to support these beliefs and strategies and I just received an e-broadcast from Advisor.ca featuring an Exclusive: Nick Murray's advice for advisors.

Nick recommends a four activities and the first one is here. “To the opportunistic advisor, I recommend a program of four activities. First, go through your entire account book and prospect every client you have for new money (or just the acceleration of an accumulation program already in place) before the sale ends.”

To read the whole article click; Nick Murray's advice for advisors.

It is all about doing the right stuff and quit the wrong stuff and be a demonstration by example that you are creating your own economy by your actions.

Remember that this too shall pass and it is just a matter of time, in the mean time, stay active and visible to your clients.

On my end, its 5:30pm on Tuesday evening and I am in the Nanaimo airport to catch a flight to Edmonton via Vancouver to speak to an audience of 90 financial advisors on behalf of Pro-Seminars in Edmonton

I’ll invest the day with a client call, meeting with a COI, proof reading my book and catching an evening flight home.

This to shall pass …

Worst Economic Disasters

 6th Worst Stock Market Crash - 1901 - 1903
 3rd Worst Stock Market Crash - 1906 - 1907
 9th Worst Stock Market Crash - 1916 - 1917
 5th Worst Stock Market Crash - 1919 - 1921
 4th Worst Stock Market Crash - 1929
 Worst Stock Market Crash - 1930 - 1932
 2nd Worst Stock Market Crash - 1937 - 1938
 8th Worst Stock Market Crash - 1939 - 1942
 7th Worst Stock Market Crash - 1973 - 1974
 Bunker Hunt - 1980
 US Savings & Loan Crisis - 1980
 Interest Rates 21% - 1981
 Black Monday - 1987
 Recession - 1992
 Barings Bank - 1995
 Bre-X - 1997
 Long Term Capital - 1998
 10th Worst Stock Market Crash - 2000 - 2002 ( 911 & Dot.Com Bust )
 Sub-Prime Mortgages - 2007
 Oil Predicted To Reach $200 Per Barrel - May 2008
 Oil Reaches $147.02 Per Barrel - July 11th
 Oil Per Barrel $106.23 - September 5th Traders targeting oil at below $100
 Canadian Tire Dollar At Par With US Dollar - 2008

The negative ego mind is part of the subconscious mind and the negative ego mind is addicted to being right about what is wrong.

This is why it is so important for financial planners to give thanks at the end of every day to end the day on a high note.