Advisor Marketing Made Simple

Episode: Advice Line: How To Refine Your Niche When Marketing Isn't Working (Justin Green)
Release Date: March 26, 2025
Hosts: Taylor Schulte and Kendra Wright
Guest: Justin Green, Founder of Assist Financial Planning

Introduction

In this episode of Advisor Marketing Made Simple, hosts Taylor Schulte and Kendra Wright welcome Justin Green from Assist Financial Planning. Justin, who operates his firm solo on a part-time basis, shares his journey of serving clients over the past three and a half years. With current revenues of $35,000, Justin aims to scale his business to $250,000 within the next five years. The discussion centers around identifying effective niches, refining messaging, and optimizing marketing strategies to attract the right clients.

Justin's Background and Current Challenges

Justin begins by introducing himself and his firm. Initially targeting millennials, he swiftly pivoted to focus on online health and fitness coaches, inspired by a peer who worked with tattoo artists. Despite early successes, Justin faced challenges in attracting clients who could afford his services, leading him to broaden his niche to include various online coaches such as business, marketing, and sales coaches. This shift resulted in a mixed client base of online business owners and high-earning young professionals.

Justin [00:56]: "I was getting online coaches to find me, but maybe not the best fit as a client."

However, Justin found that while high-earning professionals could pay, he didn't enjoy working with them as much as he did with online business owners. This dichotomy led to confusion about whom he was passionate about serving versus who constituted a better fit for his business.

Identifying the Ideal Client

Kendra prompts Justin to delve deeper into the differences between his preferred clients and those he doesn't enjoy working with. Justin estimates that only about 25% of his clients are online business owners he truly enjoys collaborating with, while the remaining 50% are high-earning professionals.

Justin [05:34]: "The ones I enjoy definitely are higher revenue... So I'm in this weird spot where I just do not have as much fun talking with them as I do the online business owner."

This reflection highlights the importance of aligning passion with business strategy to ensure long-term satisfaction and success.

Refining the Niche and Messaging

Taylor and Kendra guide Justin through the process of refining his niche. They emphasize the need for clear messaging that resonates with the ideal client’s pain points. Justin acknowledges that his original messaging focused too much on general financial topics like cash flow and budgeting, which attracted clients not fully aligned with his ideal profile.

Kendra [04:09]: "The first starting point... is who are we attracting so that the messaging matches."

Taylor suggests moving beyond industry-specific niches to focus on broader characteristics such as age, revenue, and specific financial challenges.

Taylor [07:54]: "You have to really take note of that, that that's a really important part of your niche here, that you want to focus more on these younger professionals."

Through this discussion, Justin realizes the necessity of targeting online business owners in their 30s and 40s with annual revenues exceeding $250,000, offering them solutions like lowering taxes, maximizing revenue, and reclaiming time.

Optimizing the Website and User Journey

Kendra reviews Justin’s website, noting that while the design is appealing, the messaging is too vague. She recommends a more targeted tagline that clearly states who Justin serves and the specific problems he solves.

Kendra [14:24]: "If you're in your 30s or 40s and you own an online business generating a certain amount of money, we can help you lower taxes, maximize your profits and save more money."

Justin agrees with the suggestion but expresses concern about shifting his podcast’s focus from health and fitness coaches to a broader range of online business owners.

Podcast Strategy and Marketing Channels

The conversation transitions to Justin’s podcast strategy. Initially centered around fitness professionals, the podcast’s focus needs to align with Justin’s refined niche. Taylor advises that the podcast should position Justin as an expert in financial planning for online business owners rather than merely facilitating conversations.

Taylor [32:25]: "We want to showcase your expertise, likely in some shape or form."

Justin shares his past struggles with solo episodes, noting a decline in listenership when he moved away from interview-based content. Taylor suggests leveraging video podcasts to enhance visibility and engagement, recommending that Justin commits to producing full-length video episodes consistently.

Taylor [29:23]: "What would the podcast look like now that we have maybe a better understanding of who we're targeting?"

Kendra adds that focusing on content that addresses the specific problems of his ideal clients will make the podcast a powerful lead generation tool.

Kendra [37:21]: "What problems do the people I love to serve have and what language do they use to describe it?"

Lead Generation and Conversion Tactics

Towards the end of the episode, Justin seeks advice on improving lead generation. Taylor emphasizes the importance of having a clear target audience and a compelling call to action tailored to that audience.

Taylor [41:08]: "If we're not really clear on who our audience is, who our target market is, what those pain points are, then it can be challenging to convert them."

Kendra suggests utilizing Justin’s video skills on platforms like LinkedIn, which may be more suitable for reaching online business owners compared to Instagram, where he previously focused on fitness coaches.

Kendra [42:11]: "Choose one marketing channel and then really build a marketing funnel around that."

Key Takeaways and Action Plan

Justin concludes the episode with realizations about the importance of focused messaging and aligning business activities with his refined niche. He acknowledges the need to prioritize his messaging over short-term marketing wins and commits to honing in on serving online business owners in their 30s and 40s with substantial revenues.

Justin [44:54]: "The big takeaway is just kind of honing in on who exactly it is I want to work with and how I can best serve them."

Kendra and Taylor reinforce the value of clear niche definition and consistent, targeted marketing efforts to achieve sustainable business growth.

Conclusion

This episode offers valuable insights for financial advisors struggling to define their niche and refine their marketing strategies. Justin Green's candid discussion highlights the challenges of balancing passion with business practicality and underscores the necessity of targeted messaging and strategic marketing to attract and retain the right clients. Hosts Taylor Schulte and Kendra Wright provide actionable advice, emphasizing clarity in niche definition, effective use of content platforms, and the importance of aligning messaging with client pain points to drive meaningful business growth.

Notable Quotes:

• Justin [00:56]: "I was getting online coaches to find me, but maybe not the best fit as a client."
• Kendra [04:09]: "The first starting point... is who are we attracting so that the messaging matches."
• Taylor [07:54]: "You have to really take note of that, that that's a really important part of your niche here, that you want to focus more on these younger professionals."
• Kendra [14:24]: "If you're in your 30s or 40s and you own an online business generating a certain amount of money, we can help you lower taxes, maximize your profits and save more money."
• Taylor [29:23]: "What would the podcast look like now that we have maybe a better understanding of who we're targeting?"
• Kendra [37:21]: "What problems do the people I love to serve have and what language do they use to describe it?"
• Taylor [41:08]: "If we're not really clear on who our audience is, who our target market is, what those pain points are, then it can be challenging to convert them."
• Kendra [42:11]: "Choose one marketing channel and then really build a marketing funnel around that."
• Justin [44:54]: "The big takeaway is just kind of honing in on who exactly it is I want to work with and how I can best serve them."

For more insights and resources shared in this episode, listeners are encouraged to check the show notes or reach out to Taylor Schulte and Kendra Wright directly.