Welcome to "More Profit & More Time" that includes your second e-lesson on Simon's Success Strategies - Start 2005 Polished, Planned & Prepared.

In this issue:

Part 1 – Simon’s Success Strategies 2005 - Start 2005 Polished, Planned & Prepared
Part 2 – Advisors Only

Jim Rogers, Rogers Group Financial - Ten Tips to Take You to the Top!

Advisor Forum Communication Tips

Part 3 – Coaching Case Studies

My Web Site / Marketing Plan Journey

Adopt A Village
The Goals of Summer

Part 4 – Reilly's Reflections & Rants

Tell Your Friends

Tell Your Friends Bonus

The Absolute Number One Thing That We All Must Do In Respect To Planning for 2005

Whew!  What a great start to 2005!

The Simon’s Success Strategies TV Spots are underway and “live” @ 7:40 am every Saturday Morning on BCTV News on Global.  As I write this, it is Saturday morning the 15^th and I’ve just finished the 2^nd “live” TV Spot and it went very well.  My hat is off once again to Robin, Terry and Laura for all of their support.  We had a fantastic response to the 1^st “live” TV spot with well over 200 new subscribers to the Simon’s Success Strategies E-Newsletter on the www.sss2005.com web site and new subscribers are streaming in.  We will have the videos posted to our websites sometime soon.  We hired a media relations person this week to capitalize on the value and momentum that we are creating on Global.

With two brand new web sites and e-newsletters, my hands have been full and I am now in the writing groove and it is becoming automatic. We have added a “Tell Your Friends” system to the main page of our web sites and the system is included in this e-newsletter.  We are adding a new resources section to our web site along with a search engine and this will be a lot easier to navigate.  We will be adding a Products & Service section to the web site in the not too distant future.  Last but not least, we are completing the programming of Voice Recognition Software and we will be able to quickly document our coaching sessions.

Our Business Plan for 2005 is finished and we well are underway with our 2005 Marketing Plan for Leading Advisor to introduce ourselves through articles to industry publications and public speaking to Advisor & Business Leader Sales Meetings, Speaking Events and Study Groups.  If you know of any groups that we could be speaking to, please let us know.

Web Site & E-Newsletter Strategy

I had a call from a very good friend, past client and subscriber to the e-newsletter and to summarize;

Pat is one of my very close friends and mentors who has been a catalyst who has held me accountable to publish the web sites and e-newsletters.

To speak to Pat's comments ...  I offer the underpinnings of the e-newsletter to be about the concept of “under promise and over deliver”.  My idea is to give clients far more than they expect with the idea to create an idea that, “if this is what they give away, imagine what it would be like to work with them”!  And … I will be offering the opportunity for all of you to get involved in teleclass/discussion groups and e-coaching in the following weeks.

So read on to Inspire your Vision, Goals, Feelings & Values for 2005 by enhancing;  Goals - Defining your 90 day goals and turning your vision into a set of practical and measurable goals

May all your dreams come true and may 2005 be your best year ever.

Simon Reilly
sreilly@leadingadvisor.com

The third step is Goals - Defining your 90 goals and turning your vision into a set of practical and measurable goals.

To say this another way, focus on the first three months of this year with your goals, narrow the time span to 90 days.  The purpose is to;

• Make your vision more attainable by making it a little more short term
• Enable you to see and feel the rewards in the short term
• Define a few steps that it will take to create it versus getting overwhelmed with the perfect plan
• Focus on the short term
• Take action now

Remember to focus in on the following areas;

Family
Intellectual
Physical
Social
Spiritual
Travel

Business/Career
Financial

Personal Environment; Auto, Clothing, Home, Technology, Toys - if you must.

Try to be balanced in all the areas as opposed to be too focused on any one given area.

Try to follow your gut and your feelings, and set goals in each category based upon what you sense and what feel is right for you now.  This is not about getting an equal number of goals per category.  And in the next 90 days, you may not have a goal for each category – that is OK.

Remember this is a personal experience and I recommend doing this on your own.

Using the attached Goals Setting Worksheet;

What are your goals that you most want to set for yourself in the next 90 days?  Please select those goals that you really want, not ones you should, could, ought to or might want.  Give some serious thought to setting both your personal and business goals and share them with your coach.  When you have set the right goals for yourself, you should feel excited, a little nervous, ready and willing to go for it!

Don’t choose the goals you have historically chosen, but never reached, unless you’re in a much better position to reach them now.

Remember the “SMART” Goal setting strategy;

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A - Action-Oriented
R – Realistic
T - Time-focused,

The 90 day goal setting has been the most valuable goal setting tool that my coach has shared with me.

I implemented the 90 days goal setting for the first time last October and I completed more in that 90 days than any 90 days in history.  I literally reinvented myself by defining our niche and niche marketing, we not only published one web site and e-newsletter, we published two, we updated our computer systems for 2005, we created the opportunity for the TV spots on BCTV News on Global and completed a 3 year business and marketing plan.  Best of all our clients are all achieving and exceeding their goals.

One very important message that I want to share with you is that the most important thing about using the 90 day goal setting is to first “get”, develop the habit of just doing it.  Get accustomed to setting 90 day goals the 1^st of every January, April, July and October and this will set you on a consistent path of attracting and creating what you want.

Keep in mind that you may not reach all the goals that you set the first time around.  The key point is that you set them and that you take action steps towards reaching them.

Remember to be kind to yourself and remain flexible.

At the end of 90 days and along the way, remember the best thing to do is to acknowledge yourself in your journal for all of the positive actions and results that you are taking and creating towards your goals.

Part 2 – Advisors Only

In follow up to the Advisor's Forum Conference in Toronto, December 8 & 9, 2004 please find the summary of the presentation from;

* Jim Rogers, Rogers Group Financial - Ten Tips to Take You to the Top!

Jim Rogers is one of Canada’s leading financial advisors and 35 year veteran of the financial services industry. He has a long list of academic, industry, and community service qualifications. Mr. Rogers has been the National Chair of CAIFA (Canadian Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors), as well as the Chair of The Top Of The Table (MDRT). He was the first recipient of Advisor's Edge magazine's Career Achievement Award for outstanding service and leadership in the financial advisory industry in Canada.

Ten Tips to Take You to the Top! will deliver 10 practical practice management ideas that when implemented, will significantly improve an Advisor’s bottom line.

This Issue – Tips 4 – 6. 

#4 - Delegate

Do what you do best and delegate the rest.  Make sure that you consider all of your tasks.

Telephones and computers are a distraction. 

You could go so far as to turn your computer off for must of the day and only turn it on at scheduled times for specific tasks.  As an alternative, open your e-mail software at specific times during the day to read and send messages.  Keep your e-mail software closed for most of the day.  If an e-mail comes to mind that you wish to write during an “off e-mail reading and sending time”, just write the e-mail in your word processor software and send it during the time that you have scheduled for e-mail.  This will allow you to focus and magnify your concentration.

Forward your telephone to voice mail or to an assistant.  Schedule specific times to return phone calls.

Close your office door. Provide your team with an understanding that the door will be open at certain times.

#5 – Specialize 

• Knowing a little bit about a lot is no help to your clients. 
• Build your job specialty around your passion.
• Pick a Niche** Market. 
• Market by Niche, i.e. – specific groups of professionals, retirement, young families etc.
• Niche by Product, i.e. – Critical Illness, Group Insurance, Life Insurance, Money etc.
• Become an expert at it.
• Work to become acknowledged by media and peers to be seen as an expert.
• Surround yourself with alliances and colleagues, who deliver the best in their class
• Specialists are the best paid in ANY profession.

 ** for more on this go to "The 19 Rules of Niche";

#6 - Image & Positioning 

• Create, maintain and reinforce a professional image in your attire, brand, image and overall presentation to include;
  • A consistent image in your office, study, etc.
  • Same color scheme for all print materials; Business Card, Corporate Brochure and Letterhead
  • A Newsletter
  • A Website and keep it current
• Provide your staff with training and skill sets.  Ensure that they are licensed.
• Document and systematize your operational methods
• Create a simple Client Statement that lists and consolidates all products, services and all costs. 
   
• Follow The 6 Steps of the Financial Planning Process;

1.   Set goals
2.   Gather info
3.   Analyze and evaluate client info
4.   Provide recommendations / alternatives
5.   Implement plan
6.   Monitor & evaluate

For the next issue we will cover the points of;

    #7 - Be a Professional Advisor
    #8 - Foundation - Trust and Integrity
    #9 - Transparency
    #10 - Always Say Thank You
 

Advisor Forum Communication Tips

Communication Tips

#1
Always Use A Covering Letter
When sending out a marketing mailing like a newsletter, product brochure, or mutual fund profile, always include a covering letter. Research show that the chances your client will read your information greatly increases when a personal letter is included.

#2
Write A Few Versions of Your Cover Letter
Segment your clients by age or income, for example, and modify your cover letter slightly to speak directly to each group.

#3
Include A Client Survey With Your Mailings
Survey your clients periodically to ask them to evaluate the services you and your team provide including any specific communications such as a newsletter, or to find out what else you can be doing for them. This could be just a postage-paid reply card with a couple of client-satisfaction questions or a more detailed full page questionnaire with a postage-paid envelope.

#4
Do Not Send Bulk Messages or Blind CC When Using Email
Clients want to know that you think of them as individuals and will take the time to write them personally.

#5
Get Permission For Email Marketing
If you send a regular communication such as a newsletter by email, make sure you have obtained permission from your clients to do so. If you don’t, you run the risk of being labeled a “spammer” and angering clients.

#6
Direct Clients To Specific Areas of Your Website
If you want your clients to do or look at something specific on your Website, ensure you give them either a URL that goes directly to the page you want them to see or instructions on how to navigate to the correct area of the site.

#7
Avoid “Flagged” Words In Your Client and Prospect Emails
There are many words or characters – such as “free,” “bonus”, or “$$$$$$$$$$$$” – that will trigger spam filters so your email will never even reach its intended recipient. Using professional, straightforward language will help you avoid the spam filters.

#8
Target Your Communications
Your communications will be more effective if you send the right information to the right clients. Segment your clients by relevant factors – such as net worth, age, family status, and financial knowledge – and send them relevant information. A notice about RESPs to young couples or new grandparents will be seen as timely and relevant; that same notice sent to a single person in his 40s without kids will fall on deaf ears, and possibly make that client feel that you aren’t paying attention.

#9
Remember The Details
Clients will feel appreciated if you take the time to remember the details – such as the names of their children, the trip they mentioned they were dreaming of taking or their interests and hobbies, such as sailing, collecting, or horseback riding. Keep track of these in a database and refer to it before meetings or correspondence to refresh your memory.   

#10
Use A Regular Stamp On Important Client Mailings
Your postage meter may be faster, but if you want to get your clients’ attention and increase the likelihood they’ll open your envelope, use an old-fashioned stamp. It will increase your “open rate.” Ask at the post office for commemorative or seasonal stamps to really catch your clients’ interest.

Part 3 – Coaching Case Studies

In this section I will include actual transcripts of coaching situations that I have worked with a client on in the past two weeks.  For the next couple of issues, I'm taking the liberty to give you some insights about my Web Site / Marketing Plan journey.

My Web Site / Marketing Plan Journey

A number of clients, after seeing our web sites and e-newsletters have been asking a lot of questions about how we did it.

I am thinking of providing an outline of how to produce your web site and e-newsletter in future issues.

For now, here are a few thoughts that I have.

Do Not Hire A Writer, Marketing Consultant or Web Site Contractor until you Determine your Niche Market.

   See The 19 Rules of Niche

The reason I say this is because you will likely find it impossible as I did, to build a web site and e-newsletter while trying to offer your products to the masses.  Marketing to the masses in this day and age is an impossible task and so is trying to build a web site and e-newsletter that markets to the masses.

All that you will do by hiring a Writer, Marketing Consultant or Web Site Contractor before you are ready is create one hell of a “make work project”.  Because of the lack of focus, you will either give up or be very unsatisfied with the results of the Writer, Marketing Consultant or Web Site Contractor.

Remember it all starts with you and making a decision about the Niche that you want to serve.

More to follow …

Adopt A Village

Peter Gordon is a very good friend and client, and he spearheaded the Adopt A Village Program.  You may have heard about this on the local and national news after the havoc left by the Tsunami.  They have created a web site and to find out how you can help go to; http://www.humanityvillage.org

The Goals of Summer

So here you are, at the dawn of 2005.  You have written your Vision and broken it down into Goals and you have determined your Income Goals and Expenses for 2005.

If you are in sales you likely break your Income Goals into four quarters and you go forth unto the world.  Your first quarter results are fantastic and you carry this forward into the second quarter and you are on a roll.  And then it happens, if you are in Vancouver, BC Canada the blue skies of summer are upon you and the thoughts of Noah appearing with an ark at any minute, due to months of rain and cloud cover, finally disappear. 

And there goes your momentum and your third quarter goals.  You not only sell less because it seems that a lot of peoples’ minds are just not on business as usual, you loose the momentum that a day to day routine gives you.

And then September roles around, you realize that your third quarter income goals are off due to the summer and now you are going to get motivated to make up the difference.  But alas, September is not so great either because it takes you until October to get back into the groove.  You find yourself having to work extra hard to make up for the third quarter and instead of easily making your fourth quarter and exceeding your yearly goal, you are struggling in the fourth quarter. 

You may have even set yourself up for failure for the next year because all you can think about is not making your goal.

Sound familiar?

This is what I recommend.

Go ahead and break your income goal into four quarters.

Then take your third quarter and divide it in two.  One half of your original third quarter goal will now be your goal.

Then divide the other half of the third quarter goal into three or thirds.

Then add each of one of the thirds from one half of the third quarter into your first, second and fourth quarter goals.

Congratulations you have created a new habit and gotten out of having to get into adrenaline to meet your fourth quarter and yearly goals.

Part 4 – Reilly's Reflections & Rants

Tell Your Friends

Thank you for taking the time to subscribe.  Many of you have passed on our Web Site and E-Newsletter offer to your friends and we offer you our thanks.

To make it easy for all of you to pass on the Leading Advisor Web Site and More Profit & More Time E-Newsletter to your friends, we have added a Tell Your Friends Link to our Web Site.

Click here if you want to Tell Your Friends, about More Profit & More Time.

Tell Your Friends Bonus

As a Bonus for Telling Your Friends, we will give you "The Top 16 Reasons To Journal".  For those of you that told your friends about our past issues please email Laura at lreilly@leadingadvisor.com and she will e-mail you "The Top 16 Reasons To Journal".

The Absolute Number One Thing That We All Must Do In Respect To Planning for 2005.

With the dawn of 2005 and with writing and speaking about Goal Setting continuously over the past 60 days through two web sites, e-newsletters, TV Spots, coaching sessions and coaching planning sessions … Goal Setting has surely been at the top of my mind.

A recent conversation with a client brought to mind the absolute number one thing that we all must do in respect to planning for 2005.

This revelation came to me in a round-a-bout way.

My client mentioned that they go to psychics from time to time and that this years’ experience was a little different for them.  It was different in that they came to realize that the psychic’s message to them was based upon the mood that they were in.  Simply put, if you are in a negative mood then this is what the psychic will pick-up and that is what your message will be based upon.  The same thing would hold true if you are in a positive mood, then this is what the psychic will pick-up and that is what your message will be based upon.

This also brought forward a question or perhaps a belief that I have.

What if the psychic is in a bad mood?  What if both of you are in a bad mood?

So would it not just make more sense to focus in on the mood that you want to create, and focus in on what kind of a future that you want to create, instead of surrendering and opening yourself up to the moods of others?

I’ll get to how this relates to Goal Setting for 2005 in a moment.

Later that day I glanced over the business section of the newspaper and low and behold I ran across the following article that contained the following;

Psychics, economists give their predictions for 2005
Deirdre McMurdy
CanWest News Service
January 6, 2005

Frank Keller of The Art of Tarot in Calgary says that the prevailing uneasiness has had a mixed impact on his 11-year-old business as a tarot card reader.

"On the one hand people are very anxious to get a sense of what lies ahead for them," he notes. "But on the other, things have been so bad that in many cases they just do not want to know. When there's so much confusion and anger, it is harder to focus on the spiritual, to get a clear reading."

For the complete article go to;  Predictions for 2005

So with this in mind, the very first thing to do before writing your Vision and Goals for 2005 is;

Ask yourself what did you accomplish in all areas of your life in 2004 and what feelings and values come to heart and mind?

You can use the following worksheets for ideas;

Vision Worksheet | here
Values Worksheet | here
Feelings Worksheet | here