Advice Line: Your Niche Is Clear — So Why Aren’t The Right Clients Finding You? (Neil Chacko)

Summary

Advisor Marketing Made Simple: Episode Summary

Episode Title: Advice Line: Your Niche Is Clear — So Why Aren’t The Right Clients Finding You? (Neil Chacko)
Release Date: May 28, 2025
Hosts: Taylor Schulte and Kendra Wright
Guest: Neil Choco, Arc Alliance Financial

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1. Introduction and Guest Background

In this insightful episode of Advisor Marketing Made Simple, hosts Taylor Schulte and Kendra Wright welcome Neil Choco from Arc Alliance Financial. With 23 years of experience, Neil and his business partner have been operating their firm in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, for four years. Their firm currently manages $66 million in Assets Under Management (AUM) and has reached a revenue milestone of $440,000. Neil shares his ambition to scale the business to $1 million in revenue and expand to three advisors within the next five years.

Neil Choco [00:38]:
"The firm is Arc Alliance Financial. We have actually a couple of locations but just the suburbs of Houston, Texas."

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2. Defining the Niche and Current Clientele

Neil discusses the evolution of his client base. Initially, the firm catered to a broad audience, primarily due to the combined books of business from him and his partner, who brought in clients from their previous roles as employee advisors. Now profitable, Neil is keen on focusing on a specific niche: Christian retirees and pre-retirees who wish to manage their finances according to biblical principles. This focus led him to become a certified Kingdom Advisor in 2022.

Neil Choco [00:50]:
"Personally myself I felt God kind of calling me to focus on Christians and helping them to, you know, kind of manage their finances and steward their resources using biblical principles."

Currently, about half of Neil’s clientele fits this niche, encompassing around 36 investment management clients and eight financial planning-only clients, all primarily based in Texas.

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3. Current Marketing Strategies and Challenges

Neil outlines his existing marketing efforts, which largely rely on client referrals and directories such as Fee-Only Network, NAPFA, and CKA Directory. Additionally, he speaks at local churches, a practice that began two years ago. However, these strategies haven’t yielded the desired growth, prompting Neil to seek more effective methods to reach his target audience.

Neil Choco [05:03]:
"The new clients right now primarily has been just client referrals. And then I did, because I have a CFP, my partner does not. So I've been on some of the directories like Fee-Only Network, NAPA, CKA Directory."

Despite these efforts, Neil has only garnered a modest response from church seminars, receiving around six or seven responses from four seminars.

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4. Analysis of Website Messaging

Kendra and Taylor examine the alignment between Neil's website messaging and his targeted niche. They observe that while the homepage header "Navigating Retirement Together" indicates a focus on retirees, it lacks specificity regarding his Christian niche. The hosts suggest refining the website to clearly target Christian pre-retirees by incorporating niche-specific language and addressing their unique pain points.

Kendra [09:06]:
"What smells your name out there... nothing really screams I work with people just like you."

To bridge this gap, Kendra proposes adjusting the website header to something more explicit, such as:

"Retirement planning that puts your faith first."
Subheader:
"We help Christians nearing or entering retirement build thoughtful withdrawal strategies, minimize unnecessary taxes, and align every dollar with what matters most—your faith, your family, and your legacy."

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5. Enhancing the Marketing Funnel with Speaking Engagements

Taylor emphasizes the importance of consistency between Neil’s speaking engagements and his website messaging. He suggests that presentations should directly reflect the niche-focused messaging to create a seamless journey for potential clients.

Taylor [10:34]:
"If you're out there speaking to the right, you're getting in front of the right people... you'd love to come here and at least read like a case study or two about how you've helped somebody just like me."

This alignment ensures that attendees who resonate with Neil’s message during seminars find relevant and compelling information on his website, encouraging them to take further action.

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6. Lead Capture and Conversion Strategies

Neil currently uses postcards during seminars offering free books as a lead magnet, but the response rate has been low. Taylor and Kendra explore alternative strategies to enhance lead capture and conversion:

• Free Book Giveaways: Offering books relevant to the seminar topic to capture contact information.

  Taylor [17:08]:
  "People love free books. So free books is a great way to get people to take action."

• Evaluation Sheets with Calls to Action: Incorporating evaluation sheets that include options for a free tax analysis or retirement consultation.

  Kendra [19:51]:
  "Would you like a free analysis of your taxes? They can put their info in there."

• Customized Landing Pages or Separate Websites: Creating a dedicated website or landing page tailored to the Christian retiree niche to provide a more personalized experience.

  Taylor [12:34]:
  "Imagine a financial advisor had that front and center on their website... it’s going to feel pretty good to them."

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7. Pain Points of the Target Niche

Understanding the specific pain points of Christian pre-retirees is crucial for effective marketing. Kendra highlights insights from Andrew Zoll, another advisor targeting a similar demographic, emphasizing:

• Charitable Giving and Legacy Planning: A strong desire to align financial resources with faith-based causes and legacy intentions.

• Sense of Purpose: Viewing finances as a means to honor God and make a meaningful impact, rather than solely for personal wealth accumulation.

Kendra [21:27]:
"Christians really view their financial resources as a way to honor God and make an impact, not just a vehicle for personal wealth."

By addressing these unique motivations and concerns, Neil can tailor his presentations and content to resonate deeply with his audience.

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8. Recommendations and Next Steps

To achieve his growth objectives, Neil is encouraged to implement the following strategies:

1. Revamp Website Messaging: Update the website header and content to explicitly target Christian pre-retirees, incorporating their specific pain points and values.

2. Develop a Separate Marketing Website: Consider creating a dedicated website (e.g., neilchoco.com) to better serve the niche without altering the main firm’s structure.

3. Enhance Speaking Engagements: Increase the frequency of speaking events and refine calls to action to improve lead capture.

4. Leverage Lead Magnets: Utilize tailored lead magnets such as free books, checklists, or detailed guides that address the niche’s unique needs.

5. Network with Kingdom Advisors: Engage more with the Kingdom Advisors network to learn successful strategies and incorporate best practices.

6. Create Consistent Content: Produce niche-specific blogs and resources that improve SEO and attract the target audience through search engines.

Neil Choco [33:50]:
"The first thing I have to look at is changing the website, getting that clarity around that, changing the header and just doing either...neilchaco.com or doing a landing page specifically for Arc Alliance."

By systematically addressing these areas, Neil can build a more effective and predictable marketing funnel, ultimately attracting the right clients to his specialized financial advisory services.

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Conclusion

This episode provides a comprehensive exploration of how financial advisors like Neil Choco can refine their marketing strategies to effectively reach and serve a well-defined niche. By aligning website messaging, enhancing lead capture mechanisms, and deeply understanding the target audience’s motivations, advisors can overcome common marketing challenges and achieve sustained business growth.

For more detailed strategies on building marketing funnels and targeting specific niches, listeners are encouraged to explore additional episodes and resources provided by Taylor and Kendra.

Transcript

[Kendra]

Hey, it's Kendra and Taylor and we're here to make Advisor Marketing simple. Today's guest is Neil from Arc Alliance Financial. He has 23 years of experience and his firm with two advisors has been serving clients for four years. Their current revenue is $440,000 with 66 million in AUM and they want to grow to a million dollars in revenue with 3 advisors and the next 5 years. Welcome to Advisor Marketing Made Simple. Today we're having a conversation with Neil. Neal, could you give us really quickly your name, firm and your location?

[Neil Choco]

Sure. Neil Choco. The firm is Arc Alliance Financial. We have actually a couple of locations but just the suburbs of Houston, Texas.

[Kendra]

Awesome. What's that big question you want to dive into today?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, so we're, I guess the main question is that we're kind of at the point where we are profitable. So we are, you know, four years into to running the business. So you know, initially we were just starting off, just kind of taking almost anybody and you know, we did have, myself, my business partner had prior, prior job as an employee advisor. So we had some clients that did follow us. So you know, now we're at the point where we are profitable and we are looking to maybe begin focusing on a niche. Personally myself, I felt God kind of calling me to focus on Christians and helping them to, you know, kind of manage their finances and steward their resources using biblical principles. So to that end I went and got certified as a kingdom Advisor back in 2022. I also do work or enjoy working with retirees and pre retirees and that's, you know, most of who I worked with in my previous roles as an employee advisor. So you know, enjoy helping them with tax planning, bucket strategy for investments and just overall like estate planning and legacy planning, those types of. So kind of wanted to combine those two together and helping Christian retirees and pre retirees, those that are just a few years away from retiring. So I guess the big question I had is I am looking to serve that niche. Just looking at what are some marketing strategies that I could use or employ to be able to get in front of those folks. There have been things I've been doing like with directories and all but hasn't really resulted in a whole lot. So just curious to know, you know, is it too narrow of a niche or if and if not, what are some strategies that I can employ to, to kind of get the word out there.

[Kendra]

Thanks for those details. Quick question before we dive into some details around that ideal client. I know when you sent in your Application for the show. You mentioned that you're two advisors with two different books of business. And I really want to understand some of the business structure and how that impacts marketing decisions. So do you guys share marketing expenses and decisions currently? You know, what have you historically done in that regard?

[Neil Choco]

Right. So we've kind of kept it as two separate practices. You know, we do have a joint book of business. We actually bought a practice from a retiring advisor a couple years ago and we've treated that as our joint book of business. So I guess that is also one of the challenges is I'm more focused on a specific niche, you know, whereas he's a little more of a general practitioner. So it is kind of two separate practices that we have in effect.

[Kendra]

Okay, and if you wanted to change the homepage header, how would you navigate that?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, that's something. We actually did come to an agreement of changing it to navigating retirement Together as the header. You know, in the past it was just navigating life together and we kind of decided let's at least kind of narrow the niche down to retirees and pre retirees. So we did narrow it down to Navigating Retirement Together and then purpose driven retirement planning. So I guess, yeah, he's also focused on retirees and pre retirees being that that's who we also worked with. We were working together at our previous firm, so that's how we partner together.

[Kendra]

Okay, that's helpful. So let's dive a little bit more into your ideal client because I've got some questions around this. So right now, of your current clientele, how many of those really fit that, that descriptor of Christian pre retirees who want to manage their money in a biblical related way.

[Neil Choco]

So probably about half.

[Kendra]

Okay, cool.

[Neil Choco]

So out of, I would say like in my book, I have about 36 investment management clients and maybe eight financial planning only clients. So probably about half of those.

[Kendra]

And for that niche, do you only work with clients in Texas?

[Neil Choco]

We're only registered in Texas, so yes. And then of course we have the minimus rule that allows us to work outside of Texas with just a limited number of clients.

[Kendra]

Okay. And then let's talk a little bit about current results. What is currently driving these new clients for the firm?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, the new clients right now primarily has been just client referrals. And then I did, because I have a cfp. My partner does not. So I've been on some of the directories like Fee only Network, napa, CKA Directory. I just recently started with Welltender as Well, so that last year I did get some clients out of those, but I'd say primarily it's been client referrals.

[Kendra]

And I noticed in the few details you gave us when you applied to come on the show, you mentioned that you also occasionally speak at churches. Are you still doing that? If yes, what's the frequency and what kind of presentation topics are you presenting?

[Neil Choco]

Sure. So I do speak at churches that actually just started about two years ago. So far I've only done or worked with four churches, so the frequency has been kind of just whenever it's been available and started with my own church, my in laws, and then a couple of churches from there that it spread to. So it's really just been a couple times a year. And the topics, the most recent one was directed to the widow ministry at the church, so it was more based around topics that would be important, you know, for. For widows, like Social Security, Medicare. You know, these are mainly older widows, so they still kind of fit that, that, you know, retiree niche as well. But a lot of it is based around, like, stewardship.

[Kendra]

Okay. And when we think about how you like to teach and educate people that you may want to serve. Do you enjoy speaking? Do you like writing? Do you like video? Like, what feels most authentic and enjoyable for you?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, I guess with speaking, it's. Yeah, I always struggle initially getting into it, but once I'm actually starting to speak, I enjoy doing that. Writing is probably what I enjoy the most. And I have been adding blogs to our website, just not as frequently as I'd like to, but we did. Myself, my partner made a commitment that we would each do a blog post once a month at least to increase SEO. Possibly.

[Kendra]

Okay, and for those blog posts, are you guys choosing those titles and topics based off of your own research? Do you have someone helping you? Those, like an SEO specialist? How are you choosing those?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, they're just based off of what, you know, whatever comes to mind. You know, primarily because of my focus having been on Christians. It's. Yeah, those past several articles have been primarily around, you know, Christian financial planning.

[Kendra]

Okay, awesome. Taylor, what's coming up for you, Neil?

[Taylor]

Are the needs, goals, wants, I don't know, demands even of a. Of a Christian retiree or pre retiree different than a. Just a general retiree? Like, do they want to invest differently? Do they have different retirement goals? Is there something unique, a unique pain point about that, that demographic that, you know, we want to better understand and kind of work into our marketing?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, that, that was, I guess, an area that I was trying to explore. You know, they're, they're not a whole lot different. There are a few of them, like a handful of the, the retiree clients that I work with that want to have their portfolios match their values. So there is that faith based investing that I do incorporate with them and then there's just more in terms of legacy planning. There's just more generosity that I've seen where it's not as much they're concerned about themselves and their families, but they want to leave money to their church or leave money to other Kingdom causes.

[Taylor]

Okay. Faith based investing. Do you have a faith based investing model portfolio that you offer something that they can say yes to or no? It's not something you apply to every single account. Is that accurate?

[Neil Choco]

Right. It's only if they have that preference. And you know, right now I only have about four clients that do have that preference and they've been smaller accounts. So we haven't really been using separately managed accounts. So we've been, I've been using mainly ETFs with those clients. So inspire some even time mutual funds.

[Taylor]

Okay.

[Neil Choco]

Those types of things. So for the larger accounts, we do, you know, have the ability to use Orion with separately managed accounts and individual securities.

[Taylor]

Okay. Okay. I think the biggest thing that jumps out for me here is, you know, if you're out there speaking to the right, you're getting in front of the right people, you're out there speaking, get your name out there, People are learning who you are. They, they like you, they trust you, they want to learn a little bit more about you. Maybe before booking a free consultation, if they come to your website, nothing really screams I work with people just like you. And I know that's kind of maybe part of your challenge here is, you know, working with my partner and trying to get the, the right wording on the website. I mean, navigating retirement together, is it, it, it tells me that you work with retirees, but there's nothing really about, you know, Christian retirees. And now if I scroll down, I see, you know, you're linking to Kingdom Advisors, but I don't know how many consumers really know what Kingdom Advisors is. You've got the Christian Financial Advisors Network, but at bare minimum, I'd love to see if I, if I'm a Christian retiree that heard you speak at my church and I'm interested in learning more about you, I'd love to come here and at least read like a case study or two about how you've helped somebody just like me, Like, I want to come here. And it screams, neil works with people just like me. This validates what I heard him talk to us about, you know, last week at the church. I'm going to reach out and schedule a free consultation. So going back to one of Kendra's questions, like, how much flexibility do you have here with the website, if any, to start to speak more to these Christian retirees?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, I mean, that's something I'd have to discuss with my business partner. You know, we had thought we were in the process of bringing on a third advisor, and then that person kind of backed out. But, you know, we were thinking of revamping the whole website where, you know, she would have her specialty, I would have mine, and then my, you know, partner would have his. And on the homepage, you know, perhaps having like, little squares underneath detailing each of our specialties so that person can go to that specific person. But it might be something where, you know, if he's not agreeable to. To doing it for the whole website, maybe doing like a separate page for just myself and, you know, just his specialty.

[Taylor]

Are you opposed to. And are you able to just have your own separate website, Neil's Christian retirement planning website?

[Neil Choco]

No, I wouldn't be opposed to it. Are you thinking more just like a sub page to the ARC alliance site or just as a separate branded firm?

[Taylor]

I'm thinking as a separate. Not a separate firm, just a separate website that you're able to customize more to your niche. And I guess where I'm going here is I know you're writing some blog posts that are geared towards Christian retirees. What does the Bible say about work and retirement? What does the Bible say about investing? You've got some content here, but I don't know that Christian retirees are going to Google and searching these keywords and then finding you and like, oh, my gosh, like, I've been looking for somebody just like Neil. And so I think getting in front of them through speaking is probably one of the best avenues. I'm sure there's some others as well. And since you're part of the Kingdom Advisors network, I'm sure you can network with other Kingdom advisors and see what they're having success with. So you definitely have a lot of, like, who not hows out there that you can lean on. But getting in front of them and speaking is probably one of the better strategies. But again, like, you're in front of these great people, you're delivering a great message. People like you, they trust you. You Want them to take action. But then when they come to your website, there just feels like this disconnect. How much better would it be if they went to your website? Is it Chaco or Choco?

[Neil Choco]

Choco.

[Taylor]

If they went to Neil Choco.com after they heard you speak. And it's just like all about people, just like them. And there's, you know, some ebooks for them to download. You know, very clear call to actions. It's very personal. It's got, you know, pictures of you, you know, under your homepage. There's just, you know, ocean in the background. There's no, there's no personal connection at all. And so, you know, speaking. Is this kind of intimate, you know, marketing activity or getting to know people and for them to hear you speak and then go to your website and see a picture of you and see all the content that's catered directly to them? I think start to encourage them to potentially know, reach out and take action with you versus coming to just a generic retirement planning website. So I like this idea of you creating your own separate kind of brand. This would be, you know, an outside business activity. It's not starting your own firm. Just be kind of a separate marketing website that you would use to kind of pair with your speaking engagements. How does something like that feel? Is that something that you would be open to?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, yeah, no, I think so. Yeah. And I was just going to ask as far as, like, compliance goes, but I, you know, if it's done as an outside business activity, then, yeah, that should be fine.

[Taylor]

Yeah, it's fairly straightforward. Now you guys are your own. Ria, is that accurate?

[Neil Choco]

Right, right.

[Taylor]

Okay. Yeah. So, I mean, obviously talk to your compliance consultant. I'm sure you work with one about how to navigate that, but, you know, plenty of firms do it. You know, I've got my separate website now. We do use the firm website for some marketing, but I also use my, my, you know, personal brand as well. So it should be fairly straightforward. Now it's going to take a little bit of a lift to go and build this website and, you know, produce the right copy and produce kind of a. A journey for these people. And thinking about this through, if I'm going to get in front of people at my church and I'm going to, you know, speak, what is my call to action? And maybe I should ask you, when you go and speak at the church, is there a call to action at the end of these presentations? Hey, if you like what you heard today, go here to learn more or Download this free thing or is it just purely educational?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, so the first one I did was kind of purely educational. I didn't really think that through that I should have call to action. You know, there was after. After the initial meeting that we did have, like, a social gathering. So I did meet, you know, get a chance to talk to a lot of people. But what I've done in the most recent ones is there is a postcard that I do hand out, and they can kind of choose for a free gift. And usually it's the gift is a book that's related to what I've talked about and if they return the card. So it can be where they want to schedule consultation, they want me to call them, or the other option is add me to your newsletter list for relevant articles. Unfortunately, it hasn't garnered a whole lot in terms of response. So I've only gotten six or seven of those back in the four seminars that I've done.

[Taylor]

Okay. How many people show up to these seminars? About.

[Neil Choco]

On average, about 15 to 20.

[Taylor]

Okay, I've got some ideas. But, Kendra, I know you do a lot of speaking and you've got some good ideas of, like, how do I convert these people that are attending my talk, my seminar? How do I convert them into the next layer of my funnel? How do I get them onto my email list and get them to take action? What are some of your ideas here?

[Kendra]

Yeah, so I think it really kind of depends on what the topic is. A few different things that I've used. One is you can give away, like, your slides if you share data and details that are really helpful, and it would be beneficial to the audience to have that. I just use, like, a simple. Either like a vanity URL, like get the slides from Kendra.com and I just forward it to a landing page. And we call that a vanity URL. We've also used different kinds of lead magnets. I actually, I think the book idea is kind of interesting. Trying to think out, like, out loud what I've done.

[Taylor]

Yeah, I like the book idea a lot, but I think what I would do is. And. Sorry, Neil, did you write this book? What book is this?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah. So it depends on who I'm speaking to. Like, the last one I did with the widows, it was a book called Wise Women Managing Money, written by two widows and talking about how widows can manage their money.

[Taylor]

Okay.

[Neil Choco]

So, yeah, so it really depends on the event and who's going to be in attendance.

[Taylor]

Okay.

[Kendra]

Like, for that, if it was widows, I like to think of, like, From a lean perspective, I like to think about, like, what's something that they could avoid? Like, hey, if you're a widow, here are the top 10 things you need to avoid in the first 12 months after becoming a widow. Like, it's a lead magnet for some kind of download. Or you could also take the, the path of what's the next step from what they learn? Like, how could you make it easier or faster for them to take action on what you speak about? Is it a checklist, you know, is it a. Some kind of accelerating piece of material, like, to go with that, if that makes sense.

[Neil Choco]

Right. Okay.

[Taylor]

So, yeah, so I have two ideas here. One is going in for kind of a quicker close, and the other is kind of moving them further along in my funnel to continue to build that relationship and nurture. So it's kind of to depend on the relationships that you're building, your, you know, how, how you feel about approaching it. So people love free books. So free books is a great way to get people to take action. If you're willing to invest in buying a lot of books at the end of your presentation. If you're delivering this presentation to a group of widows at the end, like, hey, this is one of my favorite books. In fact, I have a hundred of them at my office that I've, I've purchased, and I love giving them away. You know, if you'd like one of these free copies of this book, you know, I'll fill out this form or send an email here or scan this QR code, something to get them to take action, give you their information in which you can then send them a copy of a book. Now, I love giving away books, and I don't even mind giving away other people's books because I am able to then kind of customize my outreach to them. So when I give away a free book, I'll typically hand write a letter to them. I might even write inside the book. We've got these nice little book stickers that we have for the firm that we put inside there, and we'll nicely ship that book to them so we can kind of create an experience out of that. It's just a really nice gift. So it's a good way to get people to take action. They love free books, but you would be moving them further along in your funnel. I wouldn't expect them to get that free book and then call you and want to hire you. You're going to have to then nurture them, whether it's through your email list or continued outreach or inviting them to the next seminar or a webinar. So it's going to take a little bit more time to move them through. Depending on your style and how you feel about this, a lot of speakers will have an evaluation sheet at the end, like, hey, help me help you help me get better. I've got this evaluation sheet I'd love for you to fill out. Maybe I should back up. At the end of the presentation you can have a stronger call to action. It's like, hey, we offer a free retirement analysis for people just like you or a free tax analysis. You know, one of the biggest pain points for people just like you is paying too much taxes in retirement. I offer this free tax analysis to people just like you. If you're interested, I've got this evaluation sheet for you to fill out. Like, please help me help you get better. I want to deliver more value to, to you when I speak. So fill out this evaluation sheet. And then on that evaluation sheet says, you know, would you like a free tax analysis? You can check that box and have them write in their email address there. So I've seen a lot of in person workshop speakers have success with those evaluation sheets that include the call to action because people want to fill those out and provide feedback to you. And then if you're offering something compelling, you know, on your website right now it's just book a free consult. But if it's a free tax analysis, it's certainly more compelling than just I'm going to reach out to this advisor and I'm fearful that he or she might try to sell me something.

[Neil Choco]

Right. Okay.

[Kendra]

One thing that also I really love that I love the approach of the evaluation. And then on there, you know, hey, would you like a free analysis of, you know, your taxes? They can put their info in there. That's great. One thing too that's coming up is we had a conversation with another advisor named Andrew Zoll. He targeted this similar demographic. He targeted Christian business owners. And I think if you're really going after this Christian pre retiree market, one thing that's coming up for me is like maybe a little bit of a deeper understanding of their, like their true pain points. Because when we spoke with Andrew, he was able to tell us that some of their biggest pain points are one charitable giving, which you slightly touched on there, which I really like. So it's really important for them to give to causes they care about. Also passing wealth onto their kids from a legacy standpoint, inheritance and legacy for kids and that and a Religious context is really important rather than just planning for retirement. And the other one he mentioned was like sense of purpose. So Christians really view their financial resources as a way to honor God and make an impact, not just a vehicle for personal wealth. They are less interested in just like retiring to permanent leisure. So I think there's a little bit of like deeper understanding maybe in that niche or just listening for some of those pain points and then you know, those will flow down through to your presentation. Because to me, like widows doesn't particularly speak to Christian pre retirees. They could be, but widows have a very different pain point. So that was kind of something that came up for me on the, the pain point element that I didn't see quite the connect there on the presentation title. Does that make sense?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, yeah, no, it does.

[Kendra]

Okay. And then the other thing I'm thinking about, and this kind of goes back to where Taylor really, really started, which is when we are looking at tailoring your website messaging to be more specific to this Christian pre retirees. I'm going to read your current header just so the listeners can hear it and I'm going to write, I'm going to read another one that I wrote for you based off of some of these pain points. Okay. So your, your current website header. Just listen to this and like feel how it hits you. Your current website header says navigating retirement together. Purpose driven retirement planning and values based investing. Okay. Now this is version two retirement planning that puts your faith first. Your subheader would then sound something like this. We help Christians nearing or entering retirement build thoughtful withdrawal strategies, minimize unnecessary taxes, and align every dollar with what matters most, your faith, your family and your legacy. Can you feel how it sounds different and it clearly calls out who we're trying to help?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, no, for sure.

[Kendra]

Christian, you know, pre retirees, we want to call that out, the problems that we want to solve. And it has a little bit of like a feeling, like an emotional tone to it. For this I went more like kind of conservative and warm, but it sounds a little bit different. Right. So that's when we think about, you know, making those adjustments on the website. That's what writing a effective niche driven headline could sound like. And then I think we take that all the way down into your presentation titles. So not that widows, you can't help widows, but I think you can go wider because there are so many beautiful things about planning for this segment of the market that really matter to them that are very unique.

[Neil Choco]

Right. Okay, that's good.

[Taylor]

Round of applause. That was great.

[Kendra]

It's funny because my stepdad is this demographic, so I really see this come up. And my significant other's parents are the same and they really care about these pain points. And it really does change how they think about using their wealth and using their money and passing it down to their family and also just supporting the causes they care about. So, you know, there's a lot of opportunity in targeting this demographic, especially because you're passionate about it. We want to make sure that we are leading with those pain points. And Taylor and I often talk about, you know, what are those pain points that are keeping them up at night that they're willing and eager to pay you to solve? Those are your profitable pain points, and that's what you want to put in your subheader. You might change that copy a little bit. I literally wrote this before the call so it would change a little bit. But that gives you an idea of what niched specific copy that focuses on pain points looks and sounds like.

[Neil Choco]

That's really good.

[Taylor]

And Neil, you might say a version of that when you speak. You might have something like that on your slides and the topics you're talking about might resonate with the people in the seats, but it takes people seven to 10 times to hear something for it to really land. So they might hear you speak and hear you say something they know they. They like there's something there that they like. And then they go to your website and there's just like total disconnect and then they kind of fall off the train a little bit. So we want to be really consistent in our messaging and really think through this journey that this user is going to take. Now, I'm not going to discount. There are probably going to be people that hear you speak and immediately come up to you and say, neil, I'd love to learn more about working with you. And that's fantastic. It's just not very predictable, right? Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't. And you've got some great growth goals here. So we're just thinking about how can we improve the funnel here so that people hear you speak. They love it. You offer them this free book. They're really jazzed to receive this book now. They're on their email list. You're sending them awesome information that speaks directly to them. And then you offer this, you know, free analysis, free consultation, you know, for people just like them. I also think you're in a really good position because there's a lot, not a lot, but there's a healthy Number of advisors that specialize in the same niche. You've got the Kingdom Advisor network. I know they host conferences. I don't know if you attend their conferences or not. But like what are other Kingdom advisors doing that they're having success with? And can you learn a little bit more about what they're doing? Maybe they have found SEO optimized keywords and they're attracting people through their blog. Maybe they're doing something a little bit different when they're speaking to their church. But you know, there's a lot of great resources out there. You can learn from the success that they're having and be inspired and kind of make it your own.

[Neil Choco]

Right? Yeah, that's something I probably need to do more of, is networking with them. I haven't been to any of the conferences. I do attend a study group that one of them hosts, but they focus specifically on business, you know, Christian business owners and they've been doing podcasts where they're host a Christian business owner to talk about generous giving.

[Taylor]

Yeah. And by the way, I just clicked on their website. You could probably, you know, be. I just want to use but like be inspired by some of the language they're using on their website. And you go to their website says work with someone who shares your Christian values. You know, imagine a financial advisor had that front and center on their website. Why choose CKA Committed to integrate biblical wisdom into financial counsel. Committed to ethical practice, committed to biblical stewardship. Like if a Christian retiree came to your website and it said some version of this, it's going to feel pretty good to them.

[Neil Choco]

Right? Right. Okay.

[Kendra]

And I think about too like you want to go back to like the presentations. It's like could you create some kind of presentation around how do you use your money in a way that aligns with your faith? Like that would. That might be interesting to your church and the people that are in the church versus like maybe widows. Right. And then long term, if you know, speaking is the medium that you want to use to reach Christian pre retirees, eventually, you know, maybe you write your own book and you give that away for free. And then I've seen that work very successfully for driving email signups. Now there's a whole different conversation about having a, you know, a book is a big list. We had another conversation recently with I think it was Daniel Alger, which is going to be coming out of the podcast. We talk about how to use a book to drive leads for your niche. But you know, with speaking being the route that you want to Take. I think there are some good angles to do that with being in your church and your community. And then later if you need to plug more in, you might be able to do podcasts where you give away a book. You know, it's still speaking, still the same funnel still goes in your email list. There's a couple different routes there. But I think the big levers that are really important for you to pull right now is how do we build, you know, a website, whether that's a separate one or maybe just a simple landing page that speaks to that niche and then how do we get in front of them with a nice presentation, you know, because really all marketing is is traffic and conversion. So traffic is the presentation and the conversion is a website. So we're just putting these couple of pieces together. Does that make sense?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, it does.

[Taylor]

Neil. What I know we've thrown a lot at you here. What additional questions do you have, if any for us?

[Neil Choco]

No, I mean, nothing specific. The website is definitely something I probably need to do is get in that specific website rather than the general website that we have now. Is there anything that you've seen from other advisors that may be focused in this area? As far as like I've done church directories and they haven't really yielded much, so I don't know if there's any specific marketing that they might be doing other than speaking that has yielded like additional top of the funnel leads.

[Taylor]

Yeah, I mean, it's not my niche, so I haven't spent really much time exploring and identifying advisors having success here. Just the one thing, like I think these directories are great and look like, you know, as a financial advisor myself, like, you know, we're in FPA's directory and NAPA and Wealth Tender and you know, our stuff is out there. I think that's great. That's just low hanging fruit. Might as well have our name in that directory. But the challenge with those directories or even advertising sometimes is we don't really have control over it. Right. Sometimes people reach out and sometimes they don't. I've been in this directory for a year and I've only had one lead from it. And so just thinking more about how can I create a funnel that I have control over and if it is speaking, you know, we have control over when we speak, how often we speak, who we're speaking to, the content we're delivering, the call to action during that presentation and it starts to become much more systematic and predictable. It doesn't have to be speaking. Maybe you hate Speaking. And you'd rather hide behind a microphone and do a podcast for Christian pre retirees? You could certainly do that. I'm sure there's a viable strategy on YouTube as well. Um, I'm sure there's viable strategy. Writing through blogging and SEO or writing a physical book. You can't do all these things. Which is why in the very beginning, Kendra asked, like, what do you prefer? And I did hear a little hesitation from you around speaking. You're like, yeah, I think I like it. You know, when I. When I, you know, first sign up, I'm a little nervous or, you know, I don't love the idea. But then when I'm actually speaking, I love it and I'm energized by it. So you have to decide whether you want to go all in or not. But I do think it's a viable strategy. I know I don't know enough about Dave Ramsey and their approach, but I know that's part of it is kind of speaking to. To churches and delivering, you know, a lot of the. The messaging that comes from the Ramsey network.

[Neil Choco]

Right, right. Yeah. That's just the introvert of me.

[Taylor]

I. I hear you. I mean, it's not. Probably not a strategy that. That I would pursue, but if you enjoy it, you're energized by it, and you're having success with it, then lean into it. But if you're trying it and you don't love it and you, you know, are dreading going to the church the next day to deliver your presentation, you know, pay attention to that. For sure. It has to be authentic to you. You have to be really inspired and energized by doing these things.

[Kendra]

I can also relate because I'm a hardcore introvert. Like, if you can't find me at the parties, I'm probably in the bathroom hiding. And what I'll say too, is that with speaking, you know, I feel very similar to you, but right now you've done four. So maybe as you build a system and a process for doing these presentations and you get more comfortable, that could be something, you know, worth testing. But I really want to mirror what Taylor said is like, let's find the medium that works for you. I think speaking can be a great avenue, but there's a lot of different ways to build this business in a way that you love. So we've shared a lot with you. Today I'm going to give you a quick kind of rundown of how we rebuilt your funnel, what this could look like if you do take the speaking route. And if for some reason you change this route, that's okay. We have a whole episode on marketing funnels so you can get a deeper dive into this and how you would rebuild this with a different, you know, medium. But right now with the rebuilt funnel, it looks like this. Your top of funnel is speaking to local churches in your community. The middle of funnel, which is what do we want them to do once they're at this presentation is either something like maybe a free book download. We also talked about speaker evaluation sheets as well. And then your bottom of funnel is just getting those people onto your email list and inviting them to a call over time with you. Now, there's a handful of different action items we gave you kind of in random order. The first decision you kind of need to make here too is the website clarity piece. Will you do a solo site or maybe a landing page on your current site and start to refine your header so it speaks to that ideal Christian pre retiree. Build the presentations based off Christian messaging and making sure you have a good offer that converts on those presentations. If you try the book, it's not working that well. You can test other things out. But the key thing about those presentations, if we're going to use that for your top of funnel strategy, the way we help people become aware of you once they go to that, we have to earn a way to earn their trust over time. So we've got to convert them to an email list or something like that. And then the last thing is study this niche, become obsessed with this niche and look at some of these other advisors and pay attention to the language they use on their websites and even in their YouTube videos and their, their podcasts. Like, listen to how they talk about what is unique about serving Christians and how they manage their money. And then this should give you a clearer route to being a great choice for someone in this niche when they think of someone who's going to manage their money in a way that aligns with their faith. So we've thrown a lot here at you based off of the conversation we've had today. What do you think you might do differently or what are the few big takeaways that you had?

[Neil Choco]

Yeah, I think the first thing I have to look at is changing the website, getting that clarity around that, changing the header and just doing either, like Taylor said, a complete website just under my name, neiltracco.com or doing a landing page specifically for Mark alliance, that I have to talk to my business partner about that. And then beyond that, just I'd have to do more speaking events. So that's something that I, you know, do need to, to get more in front of. And then I think I do enjoy speaking. It's just the leading up to the speaking, even when I'm asked to do it, I enjoy, you know, it does give me joy to be able to do it. It's just the day of that usually is the, is the issue. And then, you know, once I start it, it goes great from there. But yeah, just developing a plan of action to be able to get, you know, folks into that top of the funnel, you know, whether it is an ebook or just, you know, giving out a book. So yeah, so yeah, I guess just sitting down and figuring out specifically, you know, what it is I want to do at those, at the speaking events. Awesome.

[Kendra]

And if you want a little bit more of a resource on this niche specifically and our listeners, check out the episode we did with Andrew Zoll, finding your perfect client before building your funnel. I think that's going to give you some really good insights and how we took the same niche from a different angle. We were talking about Facebook ads there, but really the approach is very similar. Top of funnel is just how do people find out you exist there? You're just earning their attention. The middle of funnel is we're earning their trust. How do we over time communicate with them and show our expertise? And the bottom of the funnel is how do we earn assets? How do we invite them to a call to show how we can make it a massive transformation in their finances? So regardless of which route you take, the approach is going to be very similar. And I'd pay a lot of attention to how you feel as you start taking these speaking engagements more seriously and you really start to turn them into a marketing funnel that is predictable and sustainable for finding Christian retirees who need help with their money. So thank you so much for joining us today. It's been an amazing conversation and we'll see you next week. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. To get the resources shared or sign up to join us as a guest on one of our advice line episodes, check out the links in the show notes. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.