Episode Summary:
Ever hosted a client event and wondered if it truly moved the needle for your business? In this episode, we’re joined by Elyse Stoner and Angela York—co-founders of Event Advisors—who share the secret sauce behind turning events like book launches into powerful referral and relationship-building tools.
Unlike traditional advisor events that focus on entertainment, Elyse and Angela dive into the art and science of designing strategic events that align with business goals and client journeys. They reveal how financial advisors can host meaningful book parties that not only celebrate a milestone but also deepen client connections, enhance their personal brand, and spark warm introductions.
Whether you’re planning your first book launch or want to rethink your approach to events altogether, this conversation is packed with actionable insights that can help elevate your next client gathering from "just another party" to a scalable growth lever.
Meet the Guests:
- Elyse Stoner: Veteran of the sports, entertainment, and higher education event world; now specializes in event strategy for advisors.
- Angela York: Former in-house marketing expert for advisory firms; now consults on event marketing and implementation across the financial services industry.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why most advisor events fall flat—and how to fix them
- The core difference between a strategic event and a traditional one
- How to use your book launch as a client journey milestone, not just a party
- What ROM (Return on the Moment) means—and why it's more useful than ROI
- The ideal invite list: who should be there (and who shouldn’t)
- Clever ways to boost attendance and event engagement
- How to use photography to empower clients to refer others post-event
- When and how to include press, prospects, and COIs
Key Takeaways:
- Strategic Planning Starts Early: Begin conceptualizing your book party during the writing phase. Pull themes and quotes from your manuscript to shape the tone of the event.
- Measure ROM, Not ROI: Forget trying to track revenue from a single night—instead, focus on how the event strengthens relationships and supports your client experience stream.
- Curate the Guest List Carefully: Invite your A, B, and even C clients—plus COIs and warm prospects who align with your goals. Make it feel exclusive.
- Infuse Personality & Branding: From pink-themed dress codes to framed book quotes, details matter. Let your personality and book branding show.
- Photographs as Referral Tools: Use event photography for more than just memories—turn photos into custom follow-up cards that help clients introduce you to their networks.
- Personal Invitations = More Yeses: Encourage top clients to bring a guest—not for sales, but to make them more comfortable and increase attendance.
- Events Don't Have to Be Expensive: Community centers, home venues, or office spaces can all work with the right vibe and planning.
Pro Tip:
Want your book party to leave a lasting impression? Plan a heartfelt toast, set up a “step and repeat” for photos, and think beyond the event night—your follow-up is where the real referrals begin.
Resources & Contact Info:
- Visit event-advisors.net for strategy guides, services, and their bi-weekly newsletter "Valuable Views."
- Want support for your next event? Elyse and Angela offer both consulting and full-service event planning tailored to financial advisors
Claim your free audiobook copy at: www.theshortbookformula.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you're like most financial advisors, you know
this feeling.
The event is over, guests havegone home and you're left
staring at a $5,000 billwondering what did I actually
accomplish?
Tonight you hosted another winetasting, holiday party or
educational workshop.
Your clients seem to enjoythemselves, but can you point to
(00:22):
a single new relationship,meaningful referral or deepened
connection?
Or was this just anotherexpensive tradition?
According to our guests, today,the financial services industry
has been doing events backwardsfor decades.
While tech companies use eventsto close million-dollar deals
and luxury brands createexperiences that mint
(00:42):
evangelists, most advisorsfollow the same tired playbook
from 20 years ago.
But what if your next eventcould transform top clients into
active advocates who naturallyintroduce you to their
successful friends?
Elise Stoner and Angela Yorkare here to reveal what
separates a strategic event froman expensive party.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Welcome to the podcast.
I've been looking forward tothis discussion for the last
several weeks.
I know we've been workingtogether with multiple clients
in helping them to prepare fortheir book parties.
We've already got feedback fromone that the event was amazing.
We have another common clientthat's gonna be doing one
tonight and then one next week,and fingers crossed that all
these events are executedflawlessly.
But with that being said,welcome to the podcast.
(01:37):
Great to have you and just toget started, I'd love to have
our listeners have a chance toget to know who you are.
So what's your background story?
How did you get to doing whatyou do today?
And since there's two of you, Iwill ask Elise to start out so
good to see you, as always.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
My background comes from the sports, entertainment
and even higher education eventworld.
None of those worlds do eventswithout reason, without purpose,
without marketing value.
As I grew up in my career, Ithought that's how everybody did
it.
In 2016, I started a businessto help people outside of those
(02:17):
fields be more strategic intheir events, their event
strategy and even the marketingof their events.
And then, during the pandemic,Angela and I met and shared this
idea of event strategy.
Where she came from, thatdidn't exist.
So we've married sort of ourtwo views of the world to be
(02:39):
able to help financial advisorsand folks in the financial
services space really havestrategic events that help drive
business.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Fantastic Angela.
What is your background?
Speaker 4 (02:52):
My background is actually in the advisor,
marketing and event space Prettymuch my entire career.
I spent almost a decadein-house in an advisory firm,
managing their marketing plans,implementing them, executing
their events, developing thoserelationships with COIs,
prospects and clients.
In 2008, I branched off andstarted consulting in that same
(03:16):
area for local advisory firmsand some wholesaler firms doing
exactly that implementing theirmarketing, creating and or
implementing their marketingplans and executing their events
.
And when Elise and I met andshe was talking about strategic
events, it was like nothing inthe financial services industry
for events is strategic.
It was a light bulb, aha momentbeing able to integrate
(03:38):
strategic event planning intothe financial services industry.
It really makes a difference onthe success of the event, the
relationship you build with yourclient and the success of your
firm, the increase in the AUMlong-term.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Help me understand better just that difference
between strategic andnon-strategic.
I'd love to maybe to the extentpossible kind of contrast that
what is in a strategic advisorevent versus what many most
advisors are doing.
What are they getting wrong?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
As Angela talked about.
What we were finding is and weare finding that advisors host
events because of any number ofreasons.
I saw somebody else do it,somebody told me I should do it,
and then they do it andliterally it's on my checklist.
I check it off, I move forward.
(04:25):
A strategic event is not unlikethese pictures that you see
over our shoulders with therocks in the stream.
A strategic event is that rockthe stream is either your
marketing or your clientexperience journey and by having
that rock in the stream you candirect the flow of where that
(04:46):
experience is going to go.
It's a strategy.
It's based on information.
We like to say a good strategicevent is based on your business
goals and has event goals ofits own to be able to determine
success.
How many times have you talkedto people and you go?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
hey, how was your event?
And that's the question, right,I literally was at an event
recently for a client of mine.
It was a book launch party, andI asked that proverbial
question what'd you think, Wasit successful?
And the immediate response andthis was at the same night of
the event, because from myvantage point it was successful,
meaning that there was a roomfilled with his ideal existing
clients, it was a book party,Everyone was having fun, we had
a photographer.
They're taking pictures To meby all markers.
(05:29):
It's like this was a successfulevent.
What he's really saying is that, is this going to drive revenue
?
And there's, I think, a gapwhere there's a you're not going
to drive revenue that night,and so it's hard to measure from
that perspective.
And so what is the proper framefor an advisor to look at that?
Are they measuring?
How should they measure returnon investment?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Or is there a better way to measure the event?
We always say, if you're tryingto measure ROI of an event, you
will always lose.
Our philosophy is measuringwhat we call ROM.
Return on the moment, thatevent.
What are the goals that youhave for that event as it
pertains to the stream?
And that's how you measuresuccess.
(06:11):
Did I have my top clients inthe room?
We talk a lot about what wecall event personality.
We want this to be a fun,celebratory event.
Okay, were people having a goodtime?
Did you feel celebrated?
Did they feel celebrated?
Did you have five fun,interesting activities that
people could do?
(06:32):
That would be how you wouldmeasure success.
Not people came.
They ate my food.
Nobody got food poisoning.
They all left.
They all made it home safely.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Those could be goals too, but Not the reason to put
the vent on.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
It's a mindset that is developed while you're
planning the event.
So the example you just gave,paul, it was clear that advisor
didn't have goals because theycouldn't speak to if it was
successful or not From yourvantage point you look at.
What we look at is okay,clients were in the room, food
was good, it was full room,there were conversations.
(07:07):
You had goals in your head.
So that's one of the firstplaces we start is looking at
the business objectives and, inthis case, the book objectives
and long term planning, as wellas the book launch party
objectives, and then that allfunnels into the event logistics
and the clients that we'veworked on with you.
Again, that was our firstquestion and they had that
(07:30):
mindset shift that, okay, I wantto have a fun event and that is
a great goal, and so let'sbuild in a few logistics that
amplify fun.
So at the end of the event,which is in the next week or two
, that's going to be thequestion Did everybody have fun
and was it a success?
Their response should be yes,everybody had fun, the goal was
(07:51):
achieved and, of course, theother goals, but it really along
with several other things thathave to be planned in the event.
That's where you start, andthen you have a benchmark to
measure the success of the event.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Part of that too is the event marketing Big
proponent of having the goalssetting into your logistics.
But if that is also when youknow what your event goals are,
you can communicate those in theevent marketing, in your
invitations, in your save thedate.
We highly recommend again.
The difference between astrategic event and a event is
that there is a marketingcadence, there's a communication
(08:28):
cadence that happens betweenthe time that somebody says yes,
I'm going to come and thatactual event and it's everything
from.
Again, logistics this is whereyou should park, this is what
you should wear.
This is the vibe.
Here's a sample of the playlistGet people primed and excited
and ready.
(08:48):
So when they get there they'reready to hit the ground and have
fun or do the thing that youhave set them up to do.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
There's a good example from one of our mutual
clients that we worked with acouple of weeks ago couple of
weeks ago, and we had this exactconversation with them to
integrate some of the tone, thetheme, the fun, the celebratory
feel that she wanted from theevent and in her confirmation
email.
The book itself has a uniquebranding color.
There was pink on the back ofthe book because that ties into
(09:18):
her branding.
She put in the confirmationemail if you're so inclined,
wear your favorite color of pink.
And they did.
Women and men both showed up inpink and it was a very pink
affair and it just tied it alltogether and that, from the
attendee standpoint, it justmakes it fun and memorable.
Oh my gosh, everybody was inpink.
Oh my gosh, that was cool.
(09:39):
And then there was photos.
So all of that and it was alittle shift, just a little one,
and it just made a big impact.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Just before we started recording, you were
sharing a common, a sharedclient that we have, and you
shared something that would befascinating, which was that he
had I believe it was 44 peopleattend his event and only one
person was a no-show.
I think that's phenomenal Ifyou can achieve that somewhat
consistently when you put anevent, because I think that's
probably one of the biggestfears.
(10:06):
I don't want to go and put allthis time and energy and effort
into something and then, well,they show up or not.
One question is when should youstart planning this?
How far out and let's maybe usea book party for the example
and how do you maximizeattendance?
Because that's probably one ofthe biggest worries that people
have.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
For a typical event, an in-person event we recommend
For book launch.
I actually like to recommend alittle bit longer and almost
think of it while you'redeveloping the book, while it's
in, while it's being published.
And again, you don't have to besending save the dates out six
months in advance, but thoselittle nuances that are in the
book, while you're writing them,that you want to convey to the
(10:46):
readers and your clients, jotthem down.
Certain, saying there's one ofthe launch parties, there were
certain quotes on beingintentional and those quotes
ended up showing up at the partyin frames.
The more time the better.
Eight weeks definitely.
But if for the book launch, youhave that flexibility to start
planning it and formulating someof the details, you can do that
(11:07):
while you're publishing it andwriting it.
Then, once we do the gettingthe venue and starting to send
save the dates, at least eightweeks.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Say, in this example, person has 100 plus 200 clients
per se and it's a book party.
What's the goal?
How would you advise, whatwould you suggest the goal would
be and, of course, the advisorhas their opinion but what would
be the outcome that you wouldwant in terms of how many people
am I inviting?
Am I inviting A-level clients?
Am I inviting A, bs and Cs?
Am I looking to get prospectsto attend?
From your experience, what doyou see as the most successful
(11:35):
when it comes to a book party?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I think for the book launch party.
I don't love prospects therebecause if the goal again is
celebrating this moment of I'vepublished this book, like my
heart, blood, sweat, tears,everything I've gone into this I
want to celebrate it with you,my clients.
It raises that selectivity bar.
(11:58):
If you will, I'll let Angela ina second talk about the ABC
part of it, but I think the ideaof who do you want in that room
and when you're qualifying them, is it people I want to
celebrate with?
Is it people I know who areconnected, so it could be A's
and B's and COIs, so that itagain the idea of they're going
(12:19):
to talk about.
I went to this cool book partyand then we also have some
follow-up tips on how you canhelp those people not only get
the word out but actually getyour book out as an event
follow-up.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
You want to look at the goals and we talked about
that a little while ago.
I agree that you really want tocelebrate this with your
clients and I would open it upto your A's, your B's and your
C's, because your C's very wellcould become B's and A's,
depending on their situationdown the road family,
inheritance, whatever it mightbe.
So don't exclude them.
(12:51):
They're clients and you wantthem to feel loved and part of
the celebration.
I would put an asterisk on theprospects.
If there are prospects that arevery warm and very likely to
turn into clients, thepositioning could be they may
know about the book writing,because if you're doing this
well enough in advance, theremight be a coming soon website
(13:12):
or coming soon on your signature.
So people should know about thebook.
You could personally invitethem because you know that they
are progressing towards becominga client.
Having a book launch party forour clients and we would love
we're celebrating the launch ofthe book and we would love for
you to attend.
That actually could be a verystrong moment in that
relationship.
Just prospects that you reallyhaven't had, those continuous
(13:36):
conversations no, I would not.
That's a whole nother campaignon the book launch and the
discussion.
But for the book launch partyclients, abcs, definitely COIs
that you have those strongrelationships with, because
again your vision could be theCLI has a client.
You've just given them fivebooks and they're handing it out
(13:57):
to their clients, so it becomesa very natural referring tool.
So definitely keep all those inmind.
Of course, every advisor isdifferent, so perhaps it is a
very small, intimate event withonly A clients.
But for to really answer thatquestion, globally A's, b's, c's
, top prospects and CLIs- thisis clarifying for me because
(14:20):
it's.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I guess where I started thinking about this is
that what's the purpose of abook and all the marketing that
extends from it was to get newclients, and so I guess, in my
own thinking, if a person canbring a prospect, that's the
good goal to have, but I guesswhen I'm listening to you talk,
it's actually that's for beingclear about your goals up front
is important, because maybethat's not the goal and I like
how you define that is that itis that I call this the inner
(14:40):
circle soft launch in my bookBookmarking for Financial
Advisors and so this reallyaligns with that, which is you
want to engage those top people,the people that are already
your best clients or advocates,and you want to really use this
as a means to really turn theminto what I describe as active
advocates, and so the messagingI think needs to be as you're
saying, needs to be consistenthey, this is an event for my
clients, or this is an event formy top clients.
(15:01):
Of course, cois can naturallyfit in there, but then I'd like
what you said If it is aprospect, it's not that you
can't say no, you can't attend,but you still want to maintain
that this is an exclusive eventfor my best clients.
So I think that just themessaging is very congruent.
I would add to that and thismight be an opportunity to
expand upon that Because Iremember one of the consulting
calls that you guys did with aclient of mine is that in this
(15:24):
case, like I'm going to be goingto another book party and of a
client of mine, I support them.
Obviously, I have to travel toget there.
So it's a question okay, do Iwant to jump on the plane and go
or not?
And as I was thinking aboutthat, part of my own reasoning
was well, I don't want to goalone, right, because if I go
alone I'm going to beuncomfortable.
And then somebody really enjoyit Probably not.
And then say I don't want to go.
But then my brother, who alsoknows this client, I asked him
(15:47):
it's like, would you go with me?
And he's like yeah, I'll go.
So it's like great, Now we'regoing to go, we're going to have
fun, I don't need to worryabout is this worth my time, Am
I going to have fun, et cetera.
Would that be an exception?
Would it be like my bestclients and someone that you
want to bring with you and havefun, not for the purpose of
selling them per se, but just to?
That could almost happenorganically.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
And that's exactly where I was when you were
talking.
I had that aha moment and I letyou continue on and that's
exactly it.
So you have what I hadmentioned before the asterisk of
your prospects, the ones thatyou're that are very warm and
likely to become clients, andyou want to invite them to this
exclusive event.
Then you have the flip side,which is what you just said your
(16:28):
top clients that you know mightbe coming by themselves.
You can personally extend hey,paul, we really would love you
to come, and if there's anybodyyou'd love to bring with you,
they are more than welcome.
So that needs to be verystrategic and very well thought
out and a personal invitation.
It's not on the main invitation.
You know, everybody's welcome,everybody can bring a friend.
(16:49):
Put it up in your HOA bulletinboard, all can come.
It's not like that, it's veryselect, because then that made
you, the client or the COI, feel, okay, I'm going to come, I
want to support them.
And you can do that againindividually when you see they
have an RSVP, when you know thatthey are single, when you just
(17:09):
even want to extend aninvitation.
So let's say about top clientand they have adult children and
maybe you've met them once ortwice before.
Where you want to meet them, itcould be a phone call going
Mary and Joe, I'm really gladyou're attending the book launch
.
Would you like to bring Kathyand her husband?
They are more than welcome.
It will be a really fun eventand we'd love to have you all
celebrate with us.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I really like where this conversation is going and I
think that anyone listeningshould really make notes of this
.
It's your best clients, it'sthe COIs, it's maybe some very
warm prospects that you want toselectively invite, and it's
also making the guest feelcomfortable and more wanting to
come by saying, hey, if there'ssomeone that you want to bring
with you because we're going tohave fun here this isn't a sales
thing, this is to have fun Thenthey're more likely to come.
(17:50):
This leads naturally into, okay, the content of the event, and
let's try to keep it around theframe of the book party, because
it's like part of the decisionis I guess if it's an existing
client, you're not too worriedabout getting sold to.
If I'm going to invite someone,then it's like I don't want
them to get sold to.
So what should the content befor a book party?
Is someone talking?
Are they mingling?
(18:10):
Are they having fun?
What are some of the key thingsthat a book launch party event
should be focused in on?
In terms of the event itself?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
We love the idea again of that event, personality
, of being celebration andwhatever and this is where we
work with our clients, right,it's a pretty big word.
So we dig into what does thatmean, what does that mean to
them, what does that mean totheir clients?
And also intertwining conceptsor design of the book into that
(18:42):
celebration.
It's almost going to have a I'mgoing to send the book out
ahead of time and we're going tobook club it.
It doesn't necessarily need tobe a totally structured at 8.05,
we're doing this and at 8.10,we're doing this.
(19:03):
We do like to have acelebratory moment, a toast, a
heartfelt welcome from theauthor and what it means for you
to have written this book, whatit means to you to have these
people here to celebrate withyou, some sort of thank you
(19:23):
moment.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, and that's a moment.
That's five minutes, 10 minutes.
That's not like a 30 minute, 60minute speech, it's a moment.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Exactly you.
Again, we can help people thinkabout what's in your book and
how do you extrapolate themesinto that one of the other
things, it doesn't need to beexpensive event personality, and
how do you wind all of thattogether?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
When you say expensive, so is that by say,
for example, having it at youroffice versus having it at a
restaurant?
What are your thoughts in termsof venue?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
It's different for everybody.
If it's a small intimate groupthat you want to have and you've
got a really cool atrium spaceat your office, great.
We had a client.
It wasn't a book launch, butshe hosted an event at the
community center in herapartment complex.
So it doesn't have to berestaurant, hotel, it doesn't
have to be office.
(20:13):
There's a lot kind of going onin the middle.
That's where we help peoplereally think through what that
looks like, not only from abudget point of view.
What's the message that you'retrying to convey with this event
that you're hosting?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
I think that's a really important statement.
What's the message you'retrying to convey with the event
and the book itself?
And we like to take a step backand get to know the advisor's
personality as well, because theadvisor's personality fueled
the content of the book and notevery advisor or person has that
very let's have fun, let's becelebratory, and we want it to
(20:48):
be comfortable for the advisor.
And then that will naturallyopen up the ideas for where to
have it, and then cost will fallinto that.
If it does work and you do wantto have it at a restaurant,
maybe it's not full dinner,maybe it's light appetizers.
If you're doing it at the officeor community center or I think
(21:09):
one of them was at a winetasting, maybe then have it
catered or have it a bartender,because you're not spending the
room rental fees or some ofthose extra fees.
And just as a side note for allevents in general the wedding
venues, the hotels, the countryclubs they tend to be on the
higher side because they havethe room fee and the AV fee and
the it's like the airline tiers.
(21:31):
You need to have an extra feeto restroom or breathe.
There are tips in general forevent planning on where you can
plan, keep the cost down, andthen it also depends on are you
doing a small intimate event andthen you can splurge a little
bit?
We also like to.
This is a whole separateconversation.
But if you involve yourwholesalers, they tend to have
(21:53):
marketing support budgets andthat can offset some of your
costs as well.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
So in one of the events that I recently attended,
again, I thought from myperspective.
I thought it was great To mewhat the goals, at least in my
own mind, were, which was 50plus people.
It was at a restaurant.
The whole thing was busy thewhole time for two hours, from
beginning to end.
People were having fun.
There was, people were standing, they were mingling, there was
(22:19):
food being catered, there wasalcohol being served.
We brought in a photographer andfor an hour of the event and
the whole time, the photographeris following around the advisor
taking photos and so you justobserving that as well, you're
like a celebrity and which isit's not just an ego thing, but
it's like it's.
That's how you would ideallywant your best clients and COIs
(22:41):
and prospects to see you as youactually are an important person
.
So it just really captured thatmoment and as I was thinking
about it, I was thinking okay,what would be the next level of
this?
How can you take that conceptand this event and this
opportunity to then extend itout to what might be some other
goals, which, of course, are howdoes this maybe empower my best
clients to bring in moreintroductions and referrals?
(23:04):
Not necessarily at the point ofthe event.
But downstream down the roadand in one of our recent calls
with another client, you hadsome really, I thought, clever
ideas about how to takeadvantage of a photographer in
the event setting and the booksetting.
Could you share I think it wasprobably with Laura who was the
person we were talking to butcan you share some of those
(23:24):
ideas about what are some ofthose really smart, clever ways
to maximize the event when itcomes from whether it's
photography, and then that couldalso lead into what's the
follow-up right Is the event, isit done and we're like go home
with it and hopefully not toomuch of a hangover or what are
the next steps.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
A photographer can really add different levels of
celebration to the event if youplan it ahead of time.
So a couple of examples wouldbe you hire a photographer, you
have what they call a step andrepeat those big banners behind
you and you can put a copy ofthe book and the logo that's the
common one we like and itrepeats on this banner and you
(24:00):
have an area where photos aretaken and to make it exclusive,
we recommended you'd have itroped off almost like a red
carpet feel.
So the author is there takingphotos with guests and then we
like to recommend having a listin your head, or even on a
little piece of paper, of yourtop clients or COIs that you
know are going to be there andmake sure you get those shots
(24:23):
and create a shot list for thephotographer ahead of time.
So it's a really good strategicway to integrate a photographer
and then you take those photosand you can repurpose them in,
of course, your follow-up emails.
But you can also do down theroad after the event.
You can create a program wherethe photo of you, the author,
(24:44):
the advisor and the client areon a card and then that message
on the inside of the card isdirected towards a friend of the
client or attendee, and thatwill accompany a copy of the
book.
I had the privilege of meetingthe author or being with the
author at their book launchparty.
This book talks about X, y, z.
I'd love for you to have a copyand read it again a very
(25:06):
non-salesy way to get the bookinto more hands.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
So then, going back to the logistics of a
photographer, let me justunderscore that for a second
because I want to make surethat's fully fleshed out.
You have a shot list you saidof the maybe not everybody, but
at least some of the key peoplethat you want to make sure you
capture a photograph in a veryspecific spot of them and you,
together maybe with the book,but something that is
(25:31):
intentional and the idea thereis that down the road you now
turn that into some sort of cardor some sort of marketing
collateral that's elegant thatyou can then give to that client
and ask, encourage, whateverthe word is them to be able to
then use that as well as yourbook, as a tool to then make
(25:53):
introductions.
And what I love about that froma psychological standpoint.
So I love the psychology ofpersuasion and influence and
marketing and it's the person'sbecoming that much more invested
without realizing it.
Maybe they realize it, but it'snot go share my book with your
top five friends.
No, this is a very elegant wayto bring them naturally into
your world and, I would say,create some intrinsic motivation
(26:15):
on their behalf where theyactually want to do it or, at
the minimum, they feelcomfortable doing it.
Because I use this, I say thisabout writing a book.
It's like nobody wants to besold to and nobody wants to say,
hey, you should go work with myadvisors.
I didn't ask you, I don't, whatdo you want?
But it's a different thing.
We say, hey, my, my advisorjust wrote a book.
It's actually really compelling, you should read it, you should
listen to it.
That's a much different thing,because when you're an author,
(26:38):
you have elevated status, or atleast elevated perceived status,
and so now it's different whenyou're introducing someone who
has that elevated status.
Oh, friends with this person,oh, wow, you're special too.
So there's this transfer ofbeing feeling special, and so
the photography there justreally naturally falls into that
psychology.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Exactly, and a spin on that, because I do love that,
and the fact that it's a goodquality photograph versus hey,
it's selfie time.
But there is some value in thatand one of our favorite things
to do is so.
Where that step and repeat iswhen the author is not hanging
out there for the shot list isencouraging people to take
(27:18):
pictures in front of that, andone of the tips that we love is
to have somebody standing there.
I find anybody a 12 to 15 yearold is usually pretty good, and
what is going to happen isAngela and I walk up to that
step and repeat and maybe aren'tso good at selfies, but there's
this person who's standingthere who says, hey, give me
(27:39):
your camera and I'll take yourpicture for you, and then they
have it on it's on their phoneand you could get into hashtags
if you're so inclined, or justsimply a hey, here we are at
this event.
How fun was this?
It's that subliminal piece, butit's actually a decent picture.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
And we say we have the recommendation of a 12 to 15
year old.
It can certainly be a staffmember as well.
We want every team member tohave a role, but usually they
are doing other roles and ifthere happens to be a family
member of in the team that is 12to 15 or college age, they're
great and they're veryinexpensive or sometimes free,
(28:18):
and so they can, and literallythey're so great on their phones
it's just in their nature.
They can help people take thatphoto and they're usually pretty
good at it and that's a prettylow cost way to get extra photos
.
You can have a poster or signwith hashtags.
You can have a QR code thatthey can upload it into a
collective site where you canaccess them.
(28:39):
There's lots of different waysto utilize those photos.
I know some people might bethinking photographer, that's
expensive, a regularphotographer that's taking
pictures.
There are ways to get aroundthat expense.
Student photographers are great.
Home-based mompreneurs they'regreat.
Again, they're charging the fee, but they're not charging the
wedding fees.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah, I'm going to object, because if you're doing
a book party and you're frettingabout the cost of photographer,
we need to talk Just in thetime that we have.
I've gained from thisconversation.
I've gained clarity, especiallyaround goals, so this has been
just helpful.
I've enjoyed the conversation.
It's been helpful for me.
I can imagine someone listeningto this who's writing their
book and about thinking aboutokay, what do I do with this
(29:20):
book and how do I make a bigsplash.
I believe that thisconversation so far has been
helpful.
One of the things I'd like tosay is that we've created I
would say essentially astrategic relationship where
we're going to be for ourclients that are looking to do
book party launch.
We're going to be encouragingthem to work with you guys to
help make sure that it's asuccess and so just help our
audience understand.
(29:41):
What is it that you do, fromwhether it's a consulting side
to a full boots on the groundtype thing.
What's that range?
What do you typically do?
Because I can imagine a lot ofpeople that we work with.
They have people on their team,they have a marketing director.
They might have someone on theteam that handles events.
How do you add on to that, froma consulting role to how do you
(30:01):
potentially do the full thing?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
So the consulting role is a lot like this
conversation.
We have certain questions thatwe ask when we're on the line.
Again, it doesn't have to allbe in person.
We can obviously do thisvirtually the whole idea of we
know the questions to ask, totake this in a strategic manner.
So we work with people asconsultants.
(30:25):
That's the top level, the firstforemost.
If they have a team, we canconsult with that team in the
logistics space so that theauthor comes for the big
conversations and then we'reworking on logistics and
messaging and all of those sortsof things with the team.
If they don't have a full-timededicated team, we can also help
(30:50):
venue ideas, copywriting, thosepieces of the puzzle.
So there's lots of differentways that we can work with
authors, advisors on makingthose events strategic and a
stepping stone in the clientjourney.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Very cool and, for the record, you also work with
events more broadly.
I know that I know the focus ofour conversation has been
around a book launch, but you dofor someone listening to this
and they have like other eventsin mind.
You do and can work with peoplemore broadly.
Angela, just in the time wehave any final words of wisdom
in terms of book events or bookparties.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
I think if there's one takeaway from this is look
at the book launch as a steppingstone to the relationships with
your clients and your COIs andeven your top-level prospects.
It's not just a check off thebox.
I wrote a book, I had a party,you use it.
As for those that can see ourbackgrounds or rock in that
(31:47):
string that really can helpcontrol your client's journey.
So look at that as reallyopening up the conversations
with your clients, the nextsteps to being a thought leader
and using the book to do that.
So don't just think of it as aone and done.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Question came to my mind and I do give her encourage
people to invite media to theevents, or is that separate for
the book party?
Speaker 4 (32:08):
They can, absolutely.
It really depends, though,going back to the goals of the
advisor.
So you have one shot at a booklaunch party and you've got
goals for that party.
If the goal is to also havereach into the community, it
wouldn't hurt to invite selectpress.
Here it's the Orange CountyBusiness Journal, and again, you
(32:30):
can use that down the road inyour follow-up and in your
marketing.
Be very strategic about it.
You're not going to go invitingthe national news.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Yes, but I think there's other ways to engage.
Whether it's the Orange CountyBusiness Journal or the Wall
Street Journal, Photos or videosfrom your launch party could be
a great tool in trying toengage those media sources.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Just to wrap things up, I hope a listener who's with
us at this point really gotvalue from this.
I do this for a living and I'vebeen on multiple calls with you
guys and I'm still gettingvalue.
Imagine where you are today interms of your thoughts about
this is the event and this iswhat I'm gonna do, which we'll
say is good, and then let'simagine how much better and
excellent it can be for all theeffort and time that you put
(33:16):
into writing the book,publishing the book and going
forward all the goals that youhave in mind in terms of
leveraging it.
So just, I've found a lot ofvalue in working with you guys
as a sounding board.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
I know I've brought you in for a couple clients.
You said six to eight weeks.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
I brought you in a week or two to go, but you
provided excellent value.
I got feedback from my clients.
They really appreciated and gotvalue from the calls.
The results that we're seeingas these events unfold are
amazing and if you're looking todo a book launch party, I think
it's definitely worth having aconversation with Elise and
Angela just to see how they canhelp you make sure it's not just
a good event, but it's anexcellent event.
Any final words about where thepeople can find you or any
(33:56):
other thoughts that are on yourmind before we wrap up?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
People can find us.
Our website isevent-advisorsnet and you can
find our services.
You can find some articles thatwe've written.
We do a biweekly newslettercalled Valuable Views.
That not only talks about a lotof the things we've talked
(34:19):
about today.
What should your email subjectlook like?
Everything that's related tomaking your event strategic.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
All right, thank you very much.
I've enjoyed the conversation,I've gotten value from it and I
believe that if our audience iswith us at this point, they're
like taking notes and ready toreach out to you guys.
Bye for now.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
Thank you.
Thank you, Paul.
If you're like most financial advisors, you know
this feeling.
The event is over, guests havegone home and you're left
staring at a $5,000 billwondering what did I actually
accomplish?
Tonight you hosted another winetasting, holiday party or
educational workshop.
Your clients seem to enjoythemselves, but can you point to
(00:22):
a single new relationship,meaningful referral or deepened
connection?
Or was this just anotherexpensive tradition?
According to our guests, today,the financial services industry
has been doing events backwardsfor decades.
While tech companies use eventsto close million-dollar deals
and luxury brands createexperiences that mint
(00:42):
evangelists, most advisorsfollow the same tired playbook
from 20 years ago.
But what if your next eventcould transform top clients into
active advocates who naturallyintroduce you to their
successful friends?
Elise Stoner and Angela Yorkare here to reveal what
separates a strategic event froman expensive party.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Welcome to the podcast.
I've been looking forward tothis discussion for the last
several weeks.
I know we've been workingtogether with multiple clients
in helping them to prepare fortheir book parties.
We've already got feedback fromone that the event was amazing.
We have another common clientthat's gonna be doing one
tonight and then one next week,and fingers crossed that all
these events are executedflawlessly.
But with that being said,welcome to the podcast.
(01:37):
Great to have you and just toget started, I'd love to have
our listeners have a chance toget to know who you are.
So what's your background story?
How did you get to doing whatyou do today?
And since there's two of you, Iwill ask Elise to start out so
good to see you, as always.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
My background comes from the sports, entertainment
and even higher education eventworld.
None of those worlds do eventswithout reason, without purpose,
without marketing value.
As I grew up in my career, Ithought that's how everybody did
it.
In 2016, I started a businessto help people outside of those
(02:17):
fields be more strategic intheir events, their event
strategy and even the marketingof their events.
And then, during the pandemic,Angela and I met and shared this
idea of event strategy.
Where she came from, thatdidn't exist.
So we've married sort of ourtwo views of the world to be
(02:39):
able to help financial advisorsand folks in the financial
services space really havestrategic events that help drive
business.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Fantastic Angela.
What is your background?
Speaker 4 (02:52):
My background is actually in the advisor,
marketing and event space Prettymuch my entire career.
I spent almost a decadein-house in an advisory firm,
managing their marketing plans,implementing them, executing
their events, developing thoserelationships with COIs,
prospects and clients.
In 2008, I branched off andstarted consulting in that same
(03:16):
area for local advisory firmsand some wholesaler firms doing
exactly that implementing theirmarketing, creating and or
implementing their marketingplans and executing their events
.
And when Elise and I met andshe was talking about strategic
events, it was like nothing inthe financial services industry
for events is strategic.
It was a light bulb, aha momentbeing able to integrate
(03:38):
strategic event planning intothe financial services industry.
It really makes a difference onthe success of the event, the
relationship you build with yourclient and the success of your
firm, the increase in the AUMlong-term.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Help me understand better just that difference
between strategic andnon-strategic.
I'd love to maybe to the extentpossible kind of contrast that
what is in a strategic advisorevent versus what many most
advisors are doing.
What are they getting wrong?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
As Angela talked about.
What we were finding is and weare finding that advisors host
events because of any number ofreasons.
I saw somebody else do it,somebody told me I should do it,
and then they do it andliterally it's on my checklist.
I check it off, I move forward.
(04:25):
A strategic event is not unlikethese pictures that you see
over our shoulders with therocks in the stream.
A strategic event is that rockthe stream is either your
marketing or your clientexperience journey and by having
that rock in the stream you candirect the flow of where that
(04:46):
experience is going to go.
It's a strategy.
It's based on information.
We like to say a good strategicevent is based on your business
goals and has event goals ofits own to be able to determine
success.
How many times have you talkedto people and you go?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
hey, how was your event?
And that's the question, right,I literally was at an event
recently for a client of mine.
It was a book launch party, andI asked that proverbial
question what'd you think, Wasit successful?
And the immediate response andthis was at the same night of
the event, because from myvantage point it was successful,
meaning that there was a roomfilled with his ideal existing
clients, it was a book party,Everyone was having fun, we had
a photographer.
They're taking pictures To meby all markers.
(05:29):
It's like this was a successfulevent.
What he's really saying is that, is this going to drive revenue
?
And there's, I think, a gapwhere there's a you're not going
to drive revenue that night,and so it's hard to measure from
that perspective.
And so what is the proper framefor an advisor to look at that?
Are they measuring?
How should they measure returnon investment?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Or is there a better way to measure the event?
We always say, if you're tryingto measure ROI of an event, you
will always lose.
Our philosophy is measuringwhat we call ROM.
Return on the moment, thatevent.
What are the goals that youhave for that event as it
pertains to the stream?
And that's how you measuresuccess.
(06:11):
Did I have my top clients inthe room?
We talk a lot about what wecall event personality.
We want this to be a fun,celebratory event.
Okay, were people having a goodtime?
Did you feel celebrated?
Did they feel celebrated?
Did you have five fun,interesting activities that
people could do?
(06:32):
That would be how you wouldmeasure success.
Not people came.
They ate my food.
Nobody got food poisoning.
They all left.
They all made it home safely.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Those could be goals too, but Not the reason to put
the vent on.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
It's a mindset that is developed while you're
planning the event.
So the example you just gave,paul, it was clear that advisor
didn't have goals because theycouldn't speak to if it was
successful or not From yourvantage point you look at.
What we look at is okay,clients were in the room, food
was good, it was full room,there were conversations.
(07:07):
You had goals in your head.
So that's one of the firstplaces we start is looking at
the business objectives and, inthis case, the book objectives
and long term planning, as wellas the book launch party
objectives, and then that allfunnels into the event logistics
and the clients that we'veworked on with you.
Again, that was our firstquestion and they had that
(07:30):
mindset shift that, okay, I wantto have a fun event and that is
a great goal, and so let'sbuild in a few logistics that
amplify fun.
So at the end of the event,which is in the next week or two
, that's going to be thequestion Did everybody have fun
and was it a success?
Their response should be yes,everybody had fun, the goal was
(07:51):
achieved and, of course, theother goals, but it really along
with several other things thathave to be planned in the event.
That's where you start, andthen you have a benchmark to
measure the success of the event.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Part of that too is the event marketing Big
proponent of having the goalssetting into your logistics.
But if that is also when youknow what your event goals are,
you can communicate those in theevent marketing, in your
invitations, in your save thedate.
We highly recommend again.
The difference between astrategic event and a event is
that there is a marketingcadence, there's a communication
(08:28):
cadence that happens betweenthe time that somebody says yes,
I'm going to come and thatactual event and it's everything
from.
Again, logistics this is whereyou should park, this is what
you should wear.
This is the vibe.
Here's a sample of the playlistGet people primed and excited
and ready.
(08:48):
So when they get there they'reready to hit the ground and have
fun or do the thing that youhave set them up to do.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
There's a good example from one of our mutual
clients that we worked with acouple of weeks ago couple of
weeks ago, and we had this exactconversation with them to
integrate some of the tone, thetheme, the fun, the celebratory
feel that she wanted from theevent and in her confirmation
email.
The book itself has a uniquebranding color.
There was pink on the back ofthe book because that ties into
(09:18):
her branding.
She put in the confirmationemail if you're so inclined,
wear your favorite color of pink.
And they did.
Women and men both showed up inpink and it was a very pink
affair and it just tied it alltogether and that, from the
attendee standpoint, it justmakes it fun and memorable.
Oh my gosh, everybody was inpink.
Oh my gosh, that was cool.
(09:39):
And then there was photos.
So all of that and it was alittle shift, just a little one,
and it just made a big impact.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Just before we started recording, you were
sharing a common, a sharedclient that we have, and you
shared something that would befascinating, which was that he
had I believe it was 44 peopleattend his event and only one
person was a no-show.
I think that's phenomenal Ifyou can achieve that somewhat
consistently when you put anevent, because I think that's
probably one of the biggestfears.
(10:06):
I don't want to go and put allthis time and energy and effort
into something and then, well,they show up or not.
One question is when should youstart planning this?
How far out and let's maybe usea book party for the example
and how do you maximizeattendance?
Because that's probably one ofthe biggest worries that people
have.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
For a typical event, an in-person event we recommend
For book launch.
I actually like to recommend alittle bit longer and almost
think of it while you'redeveloping the book, while it's
in, while it's being published.
And again, you don't have to besending save the dates out six
months in advance, but thoselittle nuances that are in the
book, while you're writing them,that you want to convey to the
(10:46):
readers and your clients, jotthem down.
Certain, saying there's one ofthe launch parties, there were
certain quotes on beingintentional and those quotes
ended up showing up at the partyin frames.
The more time the better.
Eight weeks definitely.
But if for the book launch, youhave that flexibility to start
planning it and formulating someof the details, you can do that
(11:07):
while you're publishing it andwriting it.
Then, once we do the gettingthe venue and starting to send
save the dates, at least eightweeks.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Say, in this example, person has 100 plus 200 clients
per se and it's a book party.
What's the goal?
How would you advise, whatwould you suggest the goal would
be and, of course, the advisorhas their opinion but what would
be the outcome that you wouldwant in terms of how many people
am I inviting?
Am I inviting A-level clients?
Am I inviting A, bs and Cs?
Am I looking to get prospectsto attend?
From your experience, what doyou see as the most successful
(11:35):
when it comes to a book party?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I think for the book launch party.
I don't love prospects therebecause if the goal again is
celebrating this moment of I'vepublished this book, like my
heart, blood, sweat, tears,everything I've gone into this I
want to celebrate it with you,my clients.
It raises that selectivity bar.
(11:58):
If you will, I'll let Angela ina second talk about the ABC
part of it, but I think the ideaof who do you want in that room
and when you're qualifying them, is it people I want to
celebrate with?
Is it people I know who areconnected, so it could be A's
and B's and COIs, so that itagain the idea of they're going
(12:19):
to talk about.
I went to this cool book partyand then we also have some
follow-up tips on how you canhelp those people not only get
the word out but actually getyour book out as an event
follow-up.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
You want to look at the goals and we talked about
that a little while ago.
I agree that you really want tocelebrate this with your
clients and I would open it upto your A's, your B's and your
C's, because your C's very wellcould become B's and A's,
depending on their situationdown the road family,
inheritance, whatever it mightbe.
So don't exclude them.
(12:51):
They're clients and you wantthem to feel loved and part of
the celebration.
I would put an asterisk on theprospects.
If there are prospects that arevery warm and very likely to
turn into clients, thepositioning could be they may
know about the book writing,because if you're doing this
well enough in advance, theremight be a coming soon website
(13:12):
or coming soon on your signature.
So people should know about thebook.
You could personally invitethem because you know that they
are progressing towards becominga client.
Having a book launch party forour clients and we would love
we're celebrating the launch ofthe book and we would love for
you to attend.
That actually could be a verystrong moment in that
relationship.
Just prospects that you reallyhaven't had, those continuous
(13:36):
conversations no, I would not.
That's a whole nother campaignon the book launch and the
discussion.
But for the book launch partyclients, abcs, definitely COIs
that you have those strongrelationships with, because
again your vision could be theCLI has a client.
You've just given them fivebooks and they're handing it out
(13:57):
to their clients, so it becomesa very natural referring tool.
So definitely keep all those inmind.
Of course, every advisor isdifferent, so perhaps it is a
very small, intimate event withonly A clients.
But for to really answer thatquestion, globally A's, b's, c's
, top prospects and CLIs- thisis clarifying for me because
(14:20):
it's.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I guess where I started thinking about this is
that what's the purpose of abook and all the marketing that
extends from it was to get newclients, and so I guess, in my
own thinking, if a person canbring a prospect, that's the
good goal to have, but I guesswhen I'm listening to you talk,
it's actually that's for beingclear about your goals up front
is important, because maybethat's not the goal and I like
how you define that is that itis that I call this the inner
(14:40):
circle soft launch in my bookBookmarking for Financial
Advisors and so this reallyaligns with that, which is you
want to engage those top people,the people that are already
your best clients or advocates,and you want to really use this
as a means to really turn theminto what I describe as active
advocates, and so the messagingI think needs to be as you're
saying, needs to be consistenthey, this is an event for my
clients, or this is an event formy top clients.
(15:01):
Of course, cois can naturallyfit in there, but then I'd like
what you said If it is aprospect, it's not that you
can't say no, you can't attend,but you still want to maintain
that this is an exclusive eventfor my best clients.
So I think that just themessaging is very congruent.
I would add to that and thismight be an opportunity to
expand upon that Because Iremember one of the consulting
calls that you guys did with aclient of mine is that in this
(15:24):
case, like I'm going to be goingto another book party and of a
client of mine, I support them.
Obviously, I have to travel toget there.
So it's a question okay, do Iwant to jump on the plane and go
or not?
And as I was thinking aboutthat, part of my own reasoning
was well, I don't want to goalone, right, because if I go
alone I'm going to beuncomfortable.
And then somebody really enjoyit Probably not.
And then say I don't want to go.
But then my brother, who alsoknows this client, I asked him
(15:47):
it's like, would you go with me?
And he's like yeah, I'll go.
So it's like great, Now we'regoing to go, we're going to have
fun, I don't need to worryabout is this worth my time, Am
I going to have fun, et cetera.
Would that be an exception?
Would it be like my bestclients and someone that you
want to bring with you and havefun, not for the purpose of
selling them per se, but just to?
That could almost happenorganically.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
And that's exactly where I was when you were
talking.
I had that aha moment and I letyou continue on and that's
exactly it.
So you have what I hadmentioned before the asterisk of
your prospects, the ones thatyou're that are very warm and
likely to become clients, andyou want to invite them to this
exclusive event.
Then you have the flip side,which is what you just said your
(16:28):
top clients that you know mightbe coming by themselves.
You can personally extend hey,paul, we really would love you
to come, and if there's anybodyyou'd love to bring with you,
they are more than welcome.
So that needs to be verystrategic and very well thought
out and a personal invitation.
It's not on the main invitation.
You know, everybody's welcome,everybody can bring a friend.
(16:49):
Put it up in your HOA bulletinboard, all can come.
It's not like that, it's veryselect, because then that made
you, the client or the COI, feel, okay, I'm going to come, I
want to support them.
And you can do that againindividually when you see they
have an RSVP, when you know thatthey are single, when you just
(17:09):
even want to extend aninvitation.
So let's say about top clientand they have adult children and
maybe you've met them once ortwice before.
Where you want to meet them, itcould be a phone call going
Mary and Joe, I'm really gladyou're attending the book launch
.
Would you like to bring Kathyand her husband?
They are more than welcome.
It will be a really fun eventand we'd love to have you all
celebrate with us.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I really like where this conversation is going and I
think that anyone listeningshould really make notes of this
.
It's your best clients, it'sthe COIs, it's maybe some very
warm prospects that you want toselectively invite, and it's
also making the guest feelcomfortable and more wanting to
come by saying, hey, if there'ssomeone that you want to bring
with you because we're going tohave fun here this isn't a sales
thing, this is to have fun Thenthey're more likely to come.
(17:50):
This leads naturally into, okay, the content of the event, and
let's try to keep it around theframe of the book party, because
it's like part of the decisionis I guess if it's an existing
client, you're not too worriedabout getting sold to.
If I'm going to invite someone,then it's like I don't want
them to get sold to.
So what should the content befor a book party?
Is someone talking?
Are they mingling?
(18:10):
Are they having fun?
What are some of the key thingsthat a book launch party event
should be focused in on?
In terms of the event itself?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
We love the idea again of that event, personality
, of being celebration andwhatever and this is where we
work with our clients, right,it's a pretty big word.
So we dig into what does thatmean, what does that mean to
them, what does that mean totheir clients?
And also intertwining conceptsor design of the book into that
(18:42):
celebration.
It's almost going to have a I'mgoing to send the book out
ahead of time and we're going tobook club it.
It doesn't necessarily need tobe a totally structured at 8.05,
we're doing this and at 8.10,we're doing this.
(19:03):
We do like to have acelebratory moment, a toast, a
heartfelt welcome from theauthor and what it means for you
to have written this book, whatit means to you to have these
people here to celebrate withyou, some sort of thank you
(19:23):
moment.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, and that's a moment.
That's five minutes, 10 minutes.
That's not like a 30 minute, 60minute speech, it's a moment.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Exactly you.
Again, we can help people thinkabout what's in your book and
how do you extrapolate themesinto that one of the other
things, it doesn't need to beexpensive event personality, and
how do you wind all of thattogether?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
When you say expensive, so is that by say,
for example, having it at youroffice versus having it at a
restaurant?
What are your thoughts in termsof venue?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
It's different for everybody.
If it's a small intimate groupthat you want to have and you've
got a really cool atrium spaceat your office, great.
We had a client.
It wasn't a book launch, butshe hosted an event at the
community center in herapartment complex.
So it doesn't have to berestaurant, hotel, it doesn't
have to be office.
(20:13):
There's a lot kind of going onin the middle.
That's where we help peoplereally think through what that
looks like, not only from abudget point of view.
What's the message that you'retrying to convey with this event
that you're hosting?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
I think that's a really important statement.
What's the message you'retrying to convey with the event
and the book itself?
And we like to take a step backand get to know the advisor's
personality as well, because theadvisor's personality fueled
the content of the book and notevery advisor or person has that
very let's have fun, let's becelebratory, and we want it to
(20:48):
be comfortable for the advisor.
And then that will naturallyopen up the ideas for where to
have it, and then cost will fallinto that.
If it does work and you do wantto have it at a restaurant,
maybe it's not full dinner,maybe it's light appetizers.
If you're doing it at the officeor community center or I think
(21:09):
one of them was at a winetasting, maybe then have it
catered or have it a bartender,because you're not spending the
room rental fees or some ofthose extra fees.
And just as a side note for allevents in general the wedding
venues, the hotels, the countryclubs they tend to be on the
higher side because they havethe room fee and the AV fee and
the it's like the airline tiers.
(21:31):
You need to have an extra feeto restroom or breathe.
There are tips in general forevent planning on where you can
plan, keep the cost down, andthen it also depends on are you
doing a small intimate event andthen you can splurge a little
bit?
We also like to.
This is a whole separateconversation.
But if you involve yourwholesalers, they tend to have
(21:53):
marketing support budgets andthat can offset some of your
costs as well.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
So in one of the events that I recently attended,
again, I thought from myperspective.
I thought it was great To mewhat the goals, at least in my
own mind, were, which was 50plus people.
It was at a restaurant.
The whole thing was busy thewhole time for two hours, from
beginning to end.
People were having fun.
There was, people were standing, they were mingling, there was
(22:19):
food being catered, there wasalcohol being served.
We brought in a photographer andfor an hour of the event and
the whole time, the photographeris following around the advisor
taking photos and so you justobserving that as well, you're
like a celebrity and which isit's not just an ego thing, but
it's like it's.
That's how you would ideallywant your best clients and COIs
(22:41):
and prospects to see you as youactually are an important person
.
So it just really captured thatmoment and as I was thinking
about it, I was thinking okay,what would be the next level of
this?
How can you take that conceptand this event and this
opportunity to then extend itout to what might be some other
goals, which, of course, are howdoes this maybe empower my best
clients to bring in moreintroductions and referrals?
(23:04):
Not necessarily at the point ofthe event.
But downstream down the roadand in one of our recent calls
with another client, you hadsome really, I thought, clever
ideas about how to takeadvantage of a photographer in
the event setting and the booksetting.
Could you share I think it wasprobably with Laura who was the
person we were talking to butcan you share some of those
(23:24):
ideas about what are some ofthose really smart, clever ways
to maximize the event when itcomes from whether it's
photography, and then that couldalso lead into what's the
follow-up right Is the event, isit done and we're like go home
with it and hopefully not toomuch of a hangover or what are
the next steps.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
A photographer can really add different levels of
celebration to the event if youplan it ahead of time.
So a couple of examples wouldbe you hire a photographer, you
have what they call a step andrepeat those big banners behind
you and you can put a copy ofthe book and the logo that's the
common one we like and itrepeats on this banner and you
(24:00):
have an area where photos aretaken and to make it exclusive,
we recommended you'd have itroped off almost like a red
carpet feel.
So the author is there takingphotos with guests and then we
like to recommend having a listin your head, or even on a
little piece of paper, of yourtop clients or COIs that you
know are going to be there andmake sure you get those shots
(24:23):
and create a shot list for thephotographer ahead of time.
So it's a really good strategicway to integrate a photographer
and then you take those photosand you can repurpose them in,
of course, your follow-up emails.
But you can also do down theroad after the event.
You can create a program wherethe photo of you, the author,
(24:44):
the advisor and the client areon a card and then that message
on the inside of the card isdirected towards a friend of the
client or attendee, and thatwill accompany a copy of the
book.
I had the privilege of meetingthe author or being with the
author at their book launchparty.
This book talks about X, y, z.
I'd love for you to have a copyand read it again a very
(25:06):
non-salesy way to get the bookinto more hands.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
So then, going back to the logistics of a
photographer, let me justunderscore that for a second
because I want to make surethat's fully fleshed out.
You have a shot list you saidof the maybe not everybody, but
at least some of the key peoplethat you want to make sure you
capture a photograph in a veryspecific spot of them and you,
together maybe with the book,but something that is
(25:31):
intentional and the idea thereis that down the road you now
turn that into some sort of cardor some sort of marketing
collateral that's elegant thatyou can then give to that client
and ask, encourage, whateverthe word is them to be able to
then use that as well as yourbook, as a tool to then make
(25:53):
introductions.
And what I love about that froma psychological standpoint.
So I love the psychology ofpersuasion and influence and
marketing and it's the person'sbecoming that much more invested
without realizing it.
Maybe they realize it, but it'snot go share my book with your
top five friends.
No, this is a very elegant wayto bring them naturally into
your world and, I would say,create some intrinsic motivation
(26:15):
on their behalf where theyactually want to do it or, at
the minimum, they feelcomfortable doing it.
Because I use this, I say thisabout writing a book.
It's like nobody wants to besold to and nobody wants to say,
hey, you should go work with myadvisors.
I didn't ask you, I don't, whatdo you want?
But it's a different thing.
We say, hey, my, my advisorjust wrote a book.
It's actually really compelling, you should read it, you should
listen to it.
That's a much different thing,because when you're an author,
(26:38):
you have elevated status, or atleast elevated perceived status,
and so now it's different whenyou're introducing someone who
has that elevated status.
Oh, friends with this person,oh, wow, you're special too.
So there's this transfer ofbeing feeling special, and so
the photography there justreally naturally falls into that
psychology.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Exactly, and a spin on that, because I do love that,
and the fact that it's a goodquality photograph versus hey,
it's selfie time.
But there is some value in thatand one of our favorite things
to do is so.
Where that step and repeat iswhen the author is not hanging
out there for the shot list isencouraging people to take
(27:18):
pictures in front of that, andone of the tips that we love is
to have somebody standing there.
I find anybody a 12 to 15 yearold is usually pretty good, and
what is going to happen isAngela and I walk up to that
step and repeat and maybe aren'tso good at selfies, but there's
this person who's standingthere who says, hey, give me
(27:39):
your camera and I'll take yourpicture for you, and then they
have it on it's on their phoneand you could get into hashtags
if you're so inclined, or justsimply a hey, here we are at
this event.
How fun was this?
It's that subliminal piece, butit's actually a decent picture.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
And we say we have the recommendation of a 12 to 15
year old.
It can certainly be a staffmember as well.
We want every team member tohave a role, but usually they
are doing other roles and ifthere happens to be a family
member of in the team that is 12to 15 or college age, they're
great and they're veryinexpensive or sometimes free,
(28:18):
and so they can, and literallythey're so great on their phones
it's just in their nature.
They can help people take thatphoto and they're usually pretty
good at it and that's a prettylow cost way to get extra photos
.
You can have a poster or signwith hashtags.
You can have a QR code thatthey can upload it into a
collective site where you canaccess them.
(28:39):
There's lots of different waysto utilize those photos.
I know some people might bethinking photographer, that's
expensive, a regularphotographer that's taking
pictures.
There are ways to get aroundthat expense.
Student photographers are great.
Home-based mompreneurs they'regreat.
Again, they're charging the fee, but they're not charging the
wedding fees.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah, I'm going to object, because if you're doing
a book party and you're frettingabout the cost of photographer,
we need to talk Just in thetime that we have.
I've gained from thisconversation.
I've gained clarity, especiallyaround goals, so this has been
just helpful.
I've enjoyed the conversation.
It's been helpful for me.
I can imagine someone listeningto this who's writing their
book and about thinking aboutokay, what do I do with this
(29:20):
book and how do I make a bigsplash.
I believe that thisconversation so far has been
helpful.
One of the things I'd like tosay is that we've created I
would say essentially astrategic relationship where
we're going to be for ourclients that are looking to do
book party launch.
We're going to be encouragingthem to work with you guys to
help make sure that it's asuccess and so just help our
audience understand.
(29:41):
What is it that you do, fromwhether it's a consulting side
to a full boots on the groundtype thing.
What's that range?
What do you typically do?
Because I can imagine a lot ofpeople that we work with.
They have people on their team,they have a marketing director.
They might have someone on theteam that handles events.
How do you add on to that, froma consulting role to how do you
(30:01):
potentially do the full thing?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
So the consulting role is a lot like this
conversation.
We have certain questions thatwe ask when we're on the line.
Again, it doesn't have to allbe in person.
We can obviously do thisvirtually the whole idea of we
know the questions to ask, totake this in a strategic manner.
So we work with people asconsultants.
(30:25):
That's the top level, the firstforemost.
If they have a team, we canconsult with that team in the
logistics space so that theauthor comes for the big
conversations and then we'reworking on logistics and
messaging and all of those sortsof things with the team.
If they don't have a full-timededicated team, we can also help
(30:50):
venue ideas, copywriting, thosepieces of the puzzle.
So there's lots of differentways that we can work with
authors, advisors on makingthose events strategic and a
stepping stone in the clientjourney.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Very cool and, for the record, you also work with
events more broadly.
I know that I know the focus ofour conversation has been
around a book launch, but you dofor someone listening to this
and they have like other eventsin mind.
You do and can work with peoplemore broadly.
Angela, just in the time wehave any final words of wisdom
in terms of book events or bookparties.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
I think if there's one takeaway from this is look
at the book launch as a steppingstone to the relationships with
your clients and your COIs andeven your top-level prospects.
It's not just a check off thebox.
I wrote a book, I had a party,you use it.
As for those that can see ourbackgrounds or rock in that
(31:47):
string that really can helpcontrol your client's journey.
So look at that as reallyopening up the conversations
with your clients, the nextsteps to being a thought leader
and using the book to do that.
So don't just think of it as aone and done.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Question came to my mind and I do give her encourage
people to invite media to theevents, or is that separate for
the book party?
Speaker 4 (32:08):
They can, absolutely.
It really depends, though,going back to the goals of the
advisor.
So you have one shot at a booklaunch party and you've got
goals for that party.
If the goal is to also havereach into the community, it
wouldn't hurt to invite selectpress.
Here it's the Orange CountyBusiness Journal, and again, you
(32:30):
can use that down the road inyour follow-up and in your
marketing.
Be very strategic about it.
You're not going to go invitingthe national news.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Yes, but I think there's other ways to engage.
Whether it's the Orange CountyBusiness Journal or the Wall
Street Journal, Photos or videosfrom your launch party could be
a great tool in trying toengage those media sources.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Just to wrap things up, I hope a listener who's with
us at this point really gotvalue from this.
I do this for a living and I'vebeen on multiple calls with you
guys and I'm still gettingvalue.
Imagine where you are today interms of your thoughts about
this is the event and this iswhat I'm gonna do, which we'll
say is good, and then let'simagine how much better and
excellent it can be for all theeffort and time that you put
(33:16):
into writing the book,publishing the book and going
forward all the goals that youhave in mind in terms of
leveraging it.
So just, I've found a lot ofvalue in working with you guys
as a sounding board.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
I know I've brought you in for a couple clients.
You said six to eight weeks.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
I brought you in a week or two to go, but you
provided excellent value.
I got feedback from my clients.
They really appreciated and gotvalue from the calls.
The results that we're seeingas these events unfold are
amazing and if you're looking todo a book launch party, I think
it's definitely worth having aconversation with Elise and
Angela just to see how they canhelp you make sure it's not just
a good event, but it's anexcellent event.
Any final words about where thepeople can find you or any
(33:56):
other thoughts that are on yourmind before we wrap up?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
People can find us.
Our website isevent-advisorsnet and you can
find our services.
You can find some articles thatwe've written.
We do a biweekly newslettercalled Valuable Views.
That not only talks about a lotof the things we've talked
(34:19):
about today.
What should your email subjectlook like?
Everything that's related tomaking your event strategic.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
All right, thank you very much.
I've enjoyed the conversation,I've gotten value from it and I
believe that if our audience iswith us at this point, they're
like taking notes and ready toreach out to you guys.
Bye for now.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
Thank you.
Thank you, Paul.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com