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Articles & insights

Dan Solin on investing, advisor marketing and turning prospects into clients. Page 11.

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Three Beliefs That Hurt Your Returns

Dan Solin's three common misconceptions that really hurt your returns and jeopardize your retirement.

Beware of “How To Find An Advisor” Advice

Don’t use any advisor who isn’t a “fiduciary.” All registered investment advisors are required by law to be fiduciaries. Brokers are not. Here’s an easy litmus test.

Communication Bloopers

What is the single biggest mistake advisors make when trying to convert a prospect into a client? Here are some examples of communication bloopers that create barriers to sales.

Likeability and the Behaviors that Really Annoy Prospects

Advisors are often disappointed when I tell them what drives a favorable outcome. They want it to be “qualifications” and “expertise.” It isn’t. It’s likeability.

The Breakthrough Exercise to Connect with Prospects

Here's the breakthrough exercise that immediately improved my emotional connection with others. It is something every advisor can adopt.

Don't Be Interesting

Do you believe you should be charming, engaging and, above all, interesting with your prospects and clients? Shift your focus from being the most interesting person to becoming the most interested one.

The Analyst Scam

For most investors, it makes no sense to own individual stocks. Yet, the lure of picking the next big “winner, causes many investors to be easily seduced by the call from their broker. It's an analyst scam.

You’re Not Different (But You Could Be)

I know you want to be “different.” That’s why you may have a tab on your website that says something like, Why We’re Different. I’ve looked at hundreds of those tabs.

A Shocking Fact With Staggering Ramifications

At the end of every year, financial publications report on the consensus of Wall Street “experts”, who predict market returns for the next year. Sali Mehta analyzed the accuracy of these forecasts for a twenty-year period. The shocking fact? They have no value.

No Notes

A fundamental tenet of the Solin Process℠ is the importance of getting to know your prospect. You do that by empowering the prospect to talk, and not by talking about yourself, your firm or your expertise. Taking notes changes the tone of the meeting, in a negative way.

Five Takeaways from Hundreds of Advisors

I recently completed an extensive speaking tour across the U.S., Canada and Australia. I presented to hundreds of advisors and met personally with many of them. Here are five takeaways from those experiences

A Hierarchy of Investments

You’re probably not a very good investor, but don't take my word for it. Here’s my personal list of six investments ranked from worst to best. Where are you on this hierarchy?

The Power of Focusing on Others

I’m struck by the power of our personal agendas and how they overwhelm common sense. Recently, I had a series of experiences reinforcing how difficult it is for us to put our agendas aside and show genuine interest in others.

Headlines that Harm

Don’t confuse luck with skill. If a stock picking “guru” recommends a sufficient number of individual stocks, some of them will be “winners.”

Easy Money

Most fund managers can’t talk about their track record. They don’t have predictive powers. They don’t have the expertise to reliably and consistently pick outperforming stocks. So how do they market their funds? They pretend to have these abilities.

Why Introverts Have an Edge in Converting Prospects

It has been my experience that introverts have an innate advantage converting prospects, as compared to extroverts. I was curious to find out why – and what extroverts can do to overcome their disadvantage.

Common Sense About Market Volatility

When you understand the history of market volatility and market corrections, your reaction should be a collective yawn. Ignore the financial media. Let others panic. Stick with your well-thought-out plan and don’t be swayed by the financial media or the securities industry that supports it.

How to Avoid Costly Mistakes with Your Web Page Design

Take a hard look at your web page. Is the SEO tail wagging the content dog? What are you trying to achieve?

Retirement Can Be a Trap For the Unwary

Retirement boosts the chance of developing clinical depression by as much as 40%. Men, in particular, can lose purpose if their lives were previously defined by their work. These facts paint a disturbing picture of the perils of retirement.

The Secret to Fully Engaging Your Prospect

The brain processes information at around 500 words a minute. You speak at around 100 words a minute. This means that 80% of the capacity of the brain is free to wander when you are talking. Here's the secret to fully engaging your prospect.

A Radical Approach to Learning Empathy

Empathy is the essential skill for building trust with prospects. Yet it is rarely discussed, much less taught. But it can be learned – and I’ve developed an approach that quickly develops empathy for advisors who are willing to embrace a radical process.

Blowing Smoke

Confused investors are easy to exploit. The securities industry does a great job of blowing smoke, so you won’t understand how to invest intelligently and responsibly.

Why You Should Think Like a Blank Piece of Paper

Implementing the Solin Process℠ is counter-intuitive and takes practice. But the impact is immediate and transformational.

Physician Heal Thyself!

Previously, the prevailing view was that conflicts of interest caused advisors to recommend expensive, actively managed funds likely to underperform comparable index funds. What the study found is worse – much worse. Many advisors don't know how to invest.