Podcast Summary: Advisor Marketing Made Simple – Advice Line: How To Streamline Marketing Funnels For Multiple Business Lines (With Adam Cmejla)

Release Date: October 15, 2025
Hosts: Taylor Schulte & Kendra Wright
Guest: Adam Cmejla, Integrated Planning and Wealth Management

Overview

This episode dives into the real-life marketing dilemmas of financial advisor Adam Cmejla, whose team is serving optometric private practice owners and who is eyeing expansion with a new business line for aspiring optometric owners. Adam seeks expert guidance from Taylor and Kendra on how to streamline and systematize marketing funnels across multiple business lines, with practical, step-by-step troubleshooting of his funnel, branding, and marketing activities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Adam’s Current Situation and Avatars ([00:23]–[04:52])

• Established Niche: Adam has honed his brand among optometric private practice owners ($1M+ in top-line revenue), focusing on cash flow, tax reduction, and prudent investing.
• Emerging Avatar: Recently developed services for aspiring owners who wish to buy optometry practices, answering key acquisition questions: What’s it worth? What’s a fair price? How much will I earn?
• Hub-and-Spoke Model: Adam explains the vision for a "hub" (established owners) and "spokes" (aspiring owners/new services), aiming for cross-pollination between audiences.

Notable Quote

“I was trying to think of a way can we provide value to the marketplace that is looking for it and essentially kind of get paid to prospect in an indirect way, but again still add value to a very specific pain point that they have."
— Adam ([03:05])

2. Assessing the Service Models & Market Segmentation ([04:53]–[08:51])

• Market Size: Approximately 40,000 ODs in the US, but the specific addressable market (qualified for Adam’s offerings) is unclear.
• Service Model Similarities: Despite age and stage differences, both avatars require similar professional financial planning, with some personal nuances.
• Intentional Business Expansion: New service lines are business-driven and designed to complement—not dilute—the core offering.

Notable Quote

“My only regret is that I wish I would have niched down sooner... The narrower you take your niche, the easier everything in this business becomes.”
— Adam ([14:42])

3. Proven Marketing Activities and Funnel Anatomy ([08:51]–[12:54])

• Three Key Marketing Pillars:
  • Writing: Long-term column at a major industry publication.
  • Speaking: Visibility at conferences and optometry schools.
  • Digital Communities: Deep involvement in a large Facebook group (“ODs on Finance”).
  • Podcasting: Host of ‘2020 Money’, blending optometric and financial expertise.
• Strategy: Adam targets organizational “golden geese” (where the audience already exists) versus chasing individual “golden eggs” (each new client).
• Podcast as Lead Driver: Podcast remains the #1 source of leads, with built-in tracking.

Notable Quote

“Empirically, the podcast is still the number one driver of new clients to the firm.”
— Adam ([12:54])

4. Growth Motivation & Underlying Challenges ([14:02]–[18:40])

• Adam’s Drive: Contentment equals growth; wants to help the profession and enable smooth practice transitions.
• Scaling Worry: Concern about plateauing reach with current activities—many ODs possibly haven’t encountered his brand yet.
• Platform Limitations: Adam doesn’t control most community platforms. Attendance at events and reading metrics are limited, and his reach may be capped.

5. Facebook Ads and Multi-Funnel Complexity ([18:40]–[24:53])

• Top of Funnel Tactics: Considering Facebook ads as a scalable awareness tool, but unsure if it’s the right fit or how to structure ad campaigns.
• Branching Funnels: Recognizes that targeting established vs. aspiring owners requires distinct CTAs and nurture sequences.
• Brand Evolution Considerations: Floating the idea of “Optimized OD” as a macro brand/hub, with separate journeys for each audience segment.

Notable Exchange

“There’s multiple different funnels that I’ve envisioned us creating and I can hear the gears in your brains twitching already, like, dude, why are you doing too much? Just pick one.”
— Adam ([21:57])

6. Structural Risks & Tactical Feedback ([25:30]–[27:28])

• Parallel Business Risks: Kendra warns Adam about dissipating energy and slowing main practice growth by adding too many projects at once.
• Landing Page Critique: Adam’s landing pages are not currently optimized for paid ads—lead magnets and page structure require improvement.

7. Refocusing the Approach: Funnel Streamlining ([28:22]–[33:41])

• Funnel Analysis: Kendra encourages mapping every top-of-funnel activity to middle-funnel conversions (primarily email list), then nurturing leads efficiently.
• Podcast & Speaking: Urges clear, benefit-driven CTAs tied to content.

Actionable Advice

“If I drive people from the podcast to the email list, my conversion rate is higher. Then you have your Facebook ads. Again, we still need to be talking to the same person. We’re driving Facebook ads with an offer to a successful optometric practice owner. They’re going into your email list.”
— Kendra ([34:30])

8. Brand & Content Strategy for Multi-Line Firms ([36:45]–[49:35])

• Hub vs. Spoke Brand: Comparing Adam’s vision to Michael Kitces/Buckingham dynamic—one broad, value-driven hub, the other deep, focused RIA services.
• Website/Brand Dilemma: Don’t muddle the established wealth brand with too many diverse offers; create distinct, optimized paths.
• Content Titles Feedback: Kendra points out Adam’s long and diluted podcast titles could be much sharper and more benefit-focused for stronger engagement.

Notable Quote

“What problem does this solve for me? They don’t care who Mike is until they care about how Mike helps them.”
— Kendra ([49:08])

9. Tightening Up Middle-Funnel Activities ([49:35]–[56:17])

• CTA Optimization: Move from generic, catch-all intros to bespoke, episode-specific calls to action for better conversion.
• Rotational CTAs: Maintain a roster of 3-5 strong lead magnets and carefully schedule their promotion on a rotating basis.
• Tech Stack Improvements: Explore SMS/text opt-in as an alternative to URLs for faster lead capture (via ActiveCampaign).

10. Immediate Next Steps & Takeaways ([56:36]–[62:16])

• Action Priorities:
  • Rewrite podcast titles for clarity and benefit.
  • Develop 3-5 compelling, rotating CTAs for podcast/email conversion.
  • Tweak nurturing sequences—use “greatest hits” podcast episodes to keep both email and podcast channels warm.
  • Refine lead magnets and ensure every exposure point directs prospects toward email sign-up.
• Strategic Perspective: Recognize business line separation—different funnels, offers, and perhaps separate technology stacks/teams.

Memorable Quotes

• On Niche Specialization:
  “The narrower you take your niche, the easier everything in this business becomes. From marketing to onboarding, to prospecting, to servicing, to even selling your practice down the road.”
  — Adam ([14:42])

• On Funnel Complexity:
  “At the end of the day, I think you just have this extremely complex spiderweb of funnels.”
  — Taylor ([32:40])

• On Lead Magnet Placement:
  “If I were looking at that [industry publication], and they allow you to have a link out, then I would actually drive to some kind of offer or lead magnet in your bio.”
  — Kendra ([34:30])

• On Brand Hub Creation:
  “It does feel like it’s necessary if you’re going to broaden content to speak to a lot of different people and be able to say go to optimize OD to learn more.”
  — Taylor ([44:35])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Intro & Adam’s Core Question: [00:00]–[01:14]
• Explaining Avatars & OD Transitions Launch: [01:14]–[04:14]
• Market Sizing & Segmentation: [04:46]–[06:20]
• Proven Marketing Pillars: [08:51]–[12:11]
• Driving Forces for Expansion: [14:02]–[18:14]
• Facebook Ads as a Top of Funnel Option: [18:40]–[24:20]
• Multi-Funnel Strategy/Hesitations: [24:53]–[27:28]
• Focusing on Wealth Management Firm Funnel: [27:43]–[36:45]
• Optimizing Top and Middle Funnel (Email/List): [34:08]–[36:45]
• Hub-and-Spoke Brand Structure Debate: [36:45]–[49:08]
• Podcast Content & Title Optimization: [49:08]–[51:16]
• Rotational CTA/Tech Stack Moves: [52:07]–[56:17]
• Immediate Next Steps & Summing Up: [56:36]–[62:20]

Final Takeaways

• Focus and Simplicity Win: Streamline all marketing channels to push ideal prospects onto a single, well-nurtured email list.
• Segment with Purpose: Keep separate business lines clearly divided in brand and funnel orchestration.
• Test and Iterate: Whatever offers, landing pages, or lead-gen tactics are used, continue to test messaging and optimize based on real data.
• Delegate, Don’t DIY Everything: For complex paid strategies, invest in true experts (e.g., media buyers for Facebook ads, funnel consultants).
• Content Drives Conversion: Sharper, more benefit-oriented podcast titles and rotating CTAs can increase lead flow without adding new work.
• Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing: Don’t sacrifice proven, profitable routes (wealth management for owners) for the untested and speculative.

Tone & Atmosphere

The episode balances expert marketing strategy with empathy and wit. Taylor and Kendra challenge Adam with thoughtful questions, share laughter, and inject humor, but ultimately provide actionable advice tailored for sophisticated advisory businesses facing real complexity.

For more information, resources mentioned, and links to guest appearances or to join future Advice Line episodes, check the show notes.