🐟 Fishy Behavior

In Provo, Utah, if you strolled up to an ATM for a withdrawal, you may have encountered a fish.

A 17-year-old was caught taping about a dozen fish to ATMs between August and October. The teen also taped three fish to a cop car.

Catching the prankster wasn't that hard. The teen uploaded photos of the fish tapings to an Instagram account with the name "fish_bandit84."

The account's tagline? "Live, laugh, love, and tape fish to ATMs." That's one heck of a motto.

–Team Advisorist

In Today’s Issue 👇️ 

• 5 ways to discuss fees with prospects

• Why direct mail is a solid strategy

• How to use your iPhone to help you focus

💸 Let's Talk Fees

Prospects and clients dislike paying fees as much as we dislike having discussions about them, but it's all in how you deliver the message. 🗣️

Need some new, creative ways to soften the blow and maybe even build some trust? Here are five ways to ease the burden of the fees talk.

1. No such thing as a free lunch: If your prospects compare your fee-based products to a no-load investment from the other guy, remind them that no-load doesn't mean no one's getting paid. No-load just means the advisor isn't getting a cut. Whip out the prospectus and get into the fine print if you need a visual aid.

2. Sales tax similarities: Using a sales tax analogy in conversations about fees or commissions could help clear things up. When stocks are bought and sold, the person who does the heavy lifting on a client's behalf needs to get paid. When you buy certain items at the store, they cost more than the sticker price because of the added tax.

3. Dollars make sense: While the wrap fees commonly found in fee-based accounts and managed money are priced transparently, it's usually expressed in percentages. Dollars are much easier to understand. Take some extra time to draw up a hypothetical investment using dollar amounts instead to make it clearer for your prospect. 

4. More for less: In most cases, mutual funds are priced on a sliding scale through the use of breakpoints. If your client's investment crosses a certain threshold, fees go down, meaning they get more bang for their buck. Make sure to look into other breaks on fees that may come with using more than one product a firm offers. 

5. Off the table: If you lay out a potential strategy and suite of products and a prospect says they want to pay less, ask them what they'd like to remove. This strategy shows you're receptive to their request, but it also shows that the only way to lower pricing is to take something away. Most people will want the whole package.

Headline Roundup

🏠 Affecting Your Clients

• Education Department’s FAFSA Fix Will Free Up $1.8B More in Aid [CNBC]

• Half of Americans say Personal Finances Have Gotten Worse Since 2020 [BR]

• A Lot of Parents Help Support Adult Children as Old as 34 [CNN]

📈 Markets & Economy 

• US To Sell $79B In Reopened 3-Month Bills [MW]

• Tesla Shares Drop 10% After Company Warns of Slowdown [CNBC]

• US Economy Grows at 3.3% Annual Pace in Q4 [Y!]

💼 Industry Roundup 

• Survey: 1 in 5 Americans Who Plan to Pass Down Debt are Uninsured [INN]

• Fidelity and BlackRock Dominate the Bitcoin-ETF Flow Race [AH]

• Study: 90% of Advisors Say They'd Ditch a Firm With Subpar Tech [TA]

📬 Direct Mail Isn't Dead

In a world of constant emails and viral social media posts, everything starts to blur together after a while. 

Although we get most of our information online, direct mail is still a strong marketing strategy. In fact, it's a great break from the digital norm. ✉️

Here are some stats on how well direct mail works:

• According to one analysis, direct mail campaigns involving 2,500 mailers resulted in a 30% response rate. That’s a super-high engagement rate, equivalent to 750 respondents.

• In an email marketing benchmarks report, open and click-through rates were 23.53% and 3.86% respectively. That's significantly lower than the 30% direct mail response rate.

Ready to start up your own strategy? Here's how:

1. Pick your poison: The most common types of direct mail are postcards, letters and catalogs. Postcards are the cheapest, and oversized postcards can make a memorable statement. Branded products are also effective, but much more expensive to mail.

2. Build your list: Make a list of your current client base and prospects. You can capture their contact info through having them sign up for your email list or by filling out a form on your website.

3. Create a message: Come up with a message tailored specifically for those on your list. Build buyer personas for your target customers and keep them in mind as you're writing. Lean on ChatGPT for help with customized copy. 

4. Print and send: Partner with a print shop that can deliver quality materials for the best price. Always grab a quote before you print so there are no surprises. Apply the appropriate postage and send away. 

5. Follow up: The key to any successful marketing campaign is in the follow up. It may take a few rounds of direct mail to start seeing the fruits of your labor. Make note of any trends and play around with things like timing, type of mail sent, and audience.

🗓️ Upcoming Industry Event Calendar

Feb 7-8: Retirement Plan Advisor Summit - Southeast 2024

Feb 11-13: Exchange: An ETF Experience

Feb 15: FPA DFW Conference

 🤖 Tech Tip

Did you know your iPhone can double as a white noise machine? 

With a few clicks, you can set it up to play soothing sounds to lull you to sleep or help you focus on the task at hand!

How to turn it on:

• Go to Settings

• Tap Accessibility

• Select Audio/Visual

• Search for Background Sounds and toggle the switch.

✌️Good Vibes

Every day, no matter the weather, 100-year-old WWII vet Lance Corporal Harold Jones walks around his garden.

Over the years, he's racked up hundreds of miles and his walks raise money for charity. He started walking during COVID and was inspired by the late ‘Captain Tom’, who took up a similar mission.

Since he started, Jones has walked a total of 661 miles, or 41,550 laps around his garden. 

That's roughly the distance between his home in Birmingham, England to the German border!

Jones originally aimed to raise £1,000. In just under four years, he's raised over £43,000. 😁🌟

Sharing looks good on you.

When you copy that link at the bottom and share it with a few financial planning colleagues, you look like the smartest advisor in the room by keeping them informed.

Plus, you earn rewards. Sweet.