Jeremiah Desmarais, Keynote Speaker

How to Turn LinkedIn into an Autopilot Lead Generation Machine

In this dynamic session our speaker will show you award-winning, actionable and repeatable lead generation success formulas from his private client portfolio. Whether you’re just getting started with digital marketing or an expert, you’ll get simple ‘here’s how you do it’ advice that has generated over 2M insurance and financial leads.

What we'll cover:

• How to turn LinkedIn into an autopilot lead generation machine
• How to use a little known 'private group' hack for unlimited leads in your area
• The single most important way to get affluent prospects to say 'Yes' 93% of the time to meet with you
• Ways to use our outsourcing technique so you do none of the work but reply with times you're able to meet

Jeremiah Desmarais, Founder,  Agency Growth Academy

Jeremiah helps financial advisors and insurance agents generate leads using digital marketing and has been labeled “One of the greatest marketing minds in the insurance industry”. His teachings have generated over 2M leads and over $300M in commissions for over 100,000 agents in 51 countries.

Ranked as one of the Top 40 Direct Marketers Under 40, he gave the Ted Talk ‘Democratization of Marketing’ to a standing ovation. He’s trained the top producers – agents that make six and seven figures a month -  on marketing, strategy and positioning, from some of the top FMOs, GA’s and carriers in the nation.

Maria Marsala, Presenter

How to Market Smarter: Choose a Niche Full of Clients You Enjoy (and Vice-Versa)

Why should an individual seeking a financial advisor contact YOU? Why should your clients risk their reputation and REFER you? What makes you STAND OUT? If you answered, "Great customer service!" or "Experience!" your voice evaporated in a crowd of thousands. Wouldn't you like to be SOUGHT OUT by prospects instead of constantly chasing them?

If prospects aren't finding YOU, you are missing your niche. In this program, you’ll learn how to differentiate yourself so that you become the OBVIOUS CHOICE for clients. You’ll discover practical strategies for developing a niche that single you out as the "go-to" expert. Enjoy the benefits of HITTING YOUR NICHE.

What We'll Cover

• Common mistakes financial advisors make around niching
• 3 specific steps to help you identify the best niche for you and your firm
• The 4 four niches you don't want to choose (and why)

Maria Marsala, Business Strategist, former Wall Street Trader

Maria Marsala is a business advisor to financial advisors, award-winning coach, speaker, thought leader, and a former retail trader from Wall Street.  Her company, Elevating Your Business, specializes in providing financial advisors with tools and support to reach their 2-year business and personal goals in 12 months (or less).

Maria’s 35 years of business experience include running 3 businesses, managing a few nonprofits, and coaching hundreds of business owners in more than 40 industries.  She helps her clients become more profitable, attract better clients, and have more quality free time.

Maria uses proprietary templates, workbooks, audios, webinars, and S.Y.S.T.E.M.S. – Save, Yourself, Time, Energy, Money and be more successful.  Her clients also grow personally and professionally with the use of the Personal Foundation (Coach U) and the One Page Business Plan®.  Maria offers do-it-yourself CDs and do-it-with-some-help group programs, too.

Maria’s expertise has been featured in national publications such as RIABiz, AdvisorOne, Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Financial Planning, and many more.  She has authored 4 workbooks, including Mastering Your Ideal Client Profile and Networking to Increase Your Net-Worth.  She publishes a complimentary online newsletter, FOCUS! containing practical tips that turn financial practices into financial businesses.

Alessandra Malito, Presenter

How To Gain Street Cred By Engaging With Reporters

Have you ever wondered how some advisors end up quoted in the press and you’re not? In this webinar, we’ll walk you through various ways advisers get quoted in media outlets.  You’ll have a better chance of being quoted in magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, or on social media news sites.

What We’ll Cover:

• Learn what pitches are and who you send them to in order to gain media exposure
• Learn about an online resource reporters use to find new experts to interview
• 5 ways to create relationships with reporters and news outlets (social media and public relations)

Alessandra Malito, Tech Reporter, InvestmentNews

Alessandra Malito is the technology reporter at InvestmentNews. She covers advisor-facing software and hardware, social media, websites and other online services, and emerging technologies such as robo-advisors and data aggregation.

Alessandra started working for professional publications when she was 15 years old at a local community paper. She received her Bachelor’s from SUNY Stony Brook in May 2013 and her Master’s, with a concentration in business journalism, from CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in December 2014.

The summer before graduation from grad school she was an intern at InvestmentNews. Her byline has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times Lens blog, NBCNews.com and Newsday.com. She’s currently taking continuing education classes for a Certificate in Finance and Accounting. When she’s not writing up stories or thinking about technology, she enjoy cooking, crafting and running. There is never a coffee cup too far away.

Sandy Schussel, Presenter

How to Make Getting Great Referrals Easy

Even the most experienced advisors will admit that asking for and getting great referrals is one of their biggest challenges.  Either they won’t ask, or they ask only once in awhile, or they ask and find they get poor results.  Focusing on 10 distinct tips, this presentation will address ways to make referral conversations easier and results significantly better.

What We’ll Cover:

• A better way to think about referrals
• More comfortable ways to get into the referral discussion
• How to significantly increase the likelihood of receiving great referrals

Sandy Schussel, Master Coach, Sandy Schussel LLC

For the past 15 years, Sandy Schussel has been coaching successful financial and insurance professionals whose business growth has slowed or is out of control.

Sandy was a successful but unhappy attorney who nearly lost his life to cancer and decided to change careers.  After transitioning into the financial/insurance field, Sandy eventually became the National Sales Training Director for First Investors (now Foresters Financial).  He spent hundreds of hours in the field with advisors at all levels and studied what works for the most successful ones.

While maintaining an Outside Business Activity as a sales and leadership coach for other professionals and developing top quality sales training for his company, Sandy observed that—like his outside clients—many of the advisors who became stuck and frustrated didn’t need more training.  They needed to get past their fears and limiting beliefs to take action on what they already knew how to do.  So, he instituted a program to coach more successful advisors inside the company.  Four years ago, he began coaching advisors, planners, and other producers independently.

Along the way, Sandy published two highly-acclaimed books, The High Diving Board, about overcoming fear, and Become a Client Magnet, about attracting and keeping clients.  Both are available on his website and on Amazon.

Maria Marsala, Presenter

How to Use Strategic Business Alliances as a Marketing Strategy 

More information will be added here.

What We'll Cover

• Common

Maria Marsala, Business Strategist, former Wall Street Trader

Maria Marsala is a business advisor to financial advisors, award-winning coach, speaker, thought leader, and a former retail trader from Wall Street.  Her company, Elevating Your Business, specializes in providing financial advisors with tools and support to reach their 2-year business and personal goals in 12 months (or less).

Maria’s 35 years of business experience include running 3 businesses, managing a few nonprofits, and coaching hundreds of business owners in more than 40 industries.  She helps her clients become more profitable, attract better clients, and have more quality free time.

Maria uses proprietary templates, workbooks, audios, webinars, and S.Y.S.T.E.M.S. – Save, Yourself, Time, Energy, Money and be more successful.  Her clients also grow personally and professionally with the use of the Personal Foundation (Coach U) and the One Page Business Plan®.  Maria offers do-it-yourself CDs and do-it-with-some-help group programs, too.

Maria’s expertise has been featured in national publications such as RIABiz, AdvisorOne, Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Financial Planning, and many more.  She has authored 4 workbooks, including Mastering Your Ideal Client Profile and Networking to Increase Your Net-Worth.  She publishes a complimentary online newsletter, FOCUS! containing practical tips that turn financial practices into financial businesses.

Maria Marsala, Presenter

How to Use Strategic Business Alliances as a Marketing Strategy 

More information will be added here.

What We'll Cover

• Common

Maria Marsala, Business Strategist, former Wall Street Trader

Maria Marsala is a business advisor to financial advisors, award-winning coach, speaker, thought leader, and a former retail trader from Wall Street.  Her company, Elevating Your Business, specializes in providing financial advisors with tools and support to reach their 2-year business and personal goals in 12 months (or less).

Maria’s 35 years of business experience include running 3 businesses, managing a few nonprofits, and coaching hundreds of business owners in more than 40 industries.  She helps her clients become more profitable, attract better clients, and have more quality free time.

Maria uses proprietary templates, workbooks, audios, webinars, and S.Y.S.T.E.M.S. – Save, Yourself, Time, Energy, Money and be more successful.  Her clients also grow personally and professionally with the use of the Personal Foundation (Coach U) and the One Page Business Plan®.  Maria offers do-it-yourself CDs and do-it-with-some-help group programs, too.

Maria’s expertise has been featured in national publications such as RIABiz, AdvisorOne, Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Financial Planning, and many more.  She has authored 4 workbooks, including Mastering Your Ideal Client Profile and Networking to Increase Your Net-Worth.  She publishes a complimentary online newsletter, FOCUS! containing practical tips that turn financial practices into financial businesses.