The Afternoon Advisor

Nate Hoskin, CFP®, AWMA
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Marketing

We break down how certain financial advisors grow so fast it looks like cheating by dissecting the systems behind their momentum. Hosted by Nate Hoskin, a financial planner and digital marketing nerd, the show analyzes real-world marketing and business systems to expose the hard work behind the illusion.

  1. Sep 23

    We Read the Kitces Marketing Study (So You Don't Have To) w/ Nick Meyer | The Afternoon Advisor E14

    The 2026 Kitces Marketing Survey just dropped, and we read all 123 pages so you don't have to. In this episode, Nate reads Nick some of the wildest stats from the study — live, unfiltered reactions included. We cover: Why advisors rate their own marketing a 4.5/10 (and why that hasn't changed) The average advisor uses 4-5 marketing tactics — is that too many, or not enough? Marketing costs firms just 7% of revenue... which is way too low 98% of advisor social media use is on LinkedIn, but it has one of the lowest success rates Video has the highest success rate of any content tactic (59% landed a client vs. 26% for newsletters) Practice size doesn't matter — small, authentic firms beat big "corporate" ones Long-form vs. short-form video: a near-negligible performance gap The number that broke us: video's client acquisition cost is $37,170 — compared to $830 for referrals Revenue Acquisition Cost (RAC): high-growth firms spend $1.36 to earn $1 in revenue from video; everyone else spends $5.47 Social media is the worst-performing tactic in the entire study — 82% of advisors got zero clients from it in 12 months TikTok has the highest success rate of any platform (67%), and less than 3% of advisors are even on it If you're an advisor trying to figure out where your marketing dollars and time actually belong, this one's worth the full watch. 🎙️ Hosted by Nate Hoskin, CFP® and Nick Meyer, creators of Sage — the video marketing platform built for financial advisors. 👉 Subscribe for weekly breakdowns on growth, marketing, and building an advisory firm that scales.

  2. Sep 21

    The Anatomy of a Great YouTube Title, Hook, & Thumbnail w/ Nick Meyer | The Afternoon Advisor E13

    Most financial advisors think the YouTube title is what gets the click. It's not — it's the thumbnail. In this episode, Nate Hoskin and Nick Meyer break down exactly how titles, thumbnails, and hooks work together, and rewrite four real submitted titles live to show what separates a good one from a forgettable one. In this episode, you'll learn: ✅ Why the thumbnail (not the title) opens the curiosity gap — and what the title's real job is ✅ The BVP vs. MVP framework — why your "big video promise" might actually just be a micro-promise ✅ The "DIY trap": why explainer content attracts lurkers instead of future clients ✅ How to reframe technical topics (like long-term care planning) around emotion and stakes, not jargon ✅ Why "inflammatory, not incendiary" is the right way to take a stance in your titles ✅ How to build an "authority line" that actually earns trust — with real examples ✅ The descending hierarchy of what actually matters: video idea to title to thumbnail to hook to body to CTA Whether you're planning your next video or trying to figure out why your last ten didn't get traction, this episode gives you a practical, repeatable framework for titles and hooks that actually convert viewers into clients. 🔗 Learn more about Sage: https://app.sagecontent.ai/signup/ #YouTubeForAdvisors #FinancialAdvisorMarketing #ContentMarketing #VideoMarketing #AdvisorGrowth

  3. Sep 18

    Why People Can't Stop Watching Strangers Talk About Money w/ Nick Meyer | The Afternoon Advisor E12

    There are really only three content formats working on YouTube right now for financial advisors — and once you see them, you'll notice them everywhere. In this episode, Nate Hoskin and Nick break down all three, with real examples pulled straight from the Sage Trends tab. In this episode, you'll learn ✅ "Financial voyeurism" — why people can't stop watching strangers talk about money (and why Dave Ramsey, Caleb Hammer, and Ramit Sethi have built empires on it) ✅ The inspirational/aspirational/educational framework for picking content that converts ✅ How Ben Brandt got 77,000 views in 6 days with a talking head video — and the exact hook formula he used ✅ Why "talking head" is the easiest format to start with, and how to avoid looking like every other advisor on YouTube ✅ The two-person talk show format, and how it builds a loyal, repeat audience over time ✅ Why views and subscribers are vanity metrics past a certain point — and what actually matters for lead generation ✅ Which format fits your personality, your team, and your compliance constraints Whether you're just starting your YouTube channel or trying to figure out why your videos aren't getting traction, this episode gives you a practical framework for choosing (and executing) the right content format for your practice. 🔗 Learn more about Sage: https://app.sagecontent.ai/signup/

  4. Jun 4

    Why Every Financial Advisor Sounds the Same w/ Emily Armstrong | The Afternoon Advisor E11

    Every advisor says the same thing. Here's how to stop. Emily Armstrong is the founder of Wonder Lab Strategy and one of the sharpest brand strategists in financial services. She's spent seven years watching advisors try to differentiate themselves — and failing — because they're starting with the wrong question. In this episode, she walks through her full identity architecture framework and explains why the advisors who win are the ones who start at the one-yard line, not the 50. You'll learn: - Why "great relationships" and "holistic planning" are killing your marketing — and what actually differentiates - The start-with-who framework: how to find your niche at the intersection of passion, expertise, and relational credibility - How to write a pain portrait that stops the scroll in milliseconds - Why your mission statement should be the last thing you write, not the first - The three types of content engagement — and how leading with pain unlocks all three - Real examples of advisors who transformed their copy from forgettable to magnetic _ _ 🔗 Listen to Beyond Referrals with Emily Armstrong → https://www.wonderlabstrategy.com/podcast 🔗 Learn more about Wonder Lab Strategy → wonderlabstrategy.com 🔗 Connect with Emily  → https://www.wonderlabstrategy.com/

  5. May 4

    Spending $650k/Month in Ads & Being a Contrarian w/ Aaron Cirksena | The Afternoon Advisor E10

    This advisor is spending $650,000 a month on paid ads. He knows exactly what he'll make back. Aaron Cirksena is the CEO and founder of MDRN Capital — one of the fastest-growing fully virtual RIAs in the country. His entire strategy is built around doing the opposite of what the industry tells you to do: extending the sales process instead of shortening it, offering a performance pledge no other firm will touch, and going fully virtual when everyone else was opening offices. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on the data, the hiring, and the mindset behind it all. You'll learn: The KPI framework that makes spending $650K/month on ads not just possible — but profitableWhy Aaron extended his prospect meeting process to four meetings instead of cutting it downThe performance pledge — what it is, how it passed compliance, and why it closes dealsHow Google reviews, client testimonial videos, and PR work together to lower your cost per booked meetingWhy going fully virtual was the unlock for national scale — and why multi-location expansion can't competeThe hiring philosophy that changed everything: buy your time back or don't make the hire_ _ 🔗 Learn more about MDRN Capital → https://mdrncapital.com/ 🔗 Connect with Aaron → https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-cirksena/

  6. Apr 20

    Niche Marketing & Organic Growth at Scale w/ Sahil Gupta | The Afternoon Advisor E9

    What does it look like to grow an RIA from $600M to $1B without losing what made it work in the first place? Sahil Gupta handles organic growth and marketing for Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a 14-person RIA serving tech employees - built over 10 years by two UC Berkeley founders who started by cold-calling Apple and Facebook employees about their RSUs. In this episode, recorded live at Future Proof in Miami, Sahil breaks down how they're layering content and digital marketing on top of a referral-driven firm, why radical honesty about who you serve is becoming the most powerful marketing tool, and how the best firms are approaching the shift from SEO to AEO. What You'll Learn - How to introduce new marketing to a firm that's already working — the mindset shift that lets traditional firms stay nimble without abandoning what got them here - The 70/30/5 rule for trying new things — why most tactics won't work, and why that's completely fine - Why radical honesty is the new competitive advantage — being blunt about who you're for (and who you're not) as a marketing strategy - The perfect solution vs. the perfect answer — how AI is raising the bar for how specifically advisors need to speak to their ideal client - Why video should be anti-AI — and how raw, authentic content builds the trust that polished production can't - The formula most advisors have backwards — why SEO and AEO are the result of doing everything else right, not a strategy on their own - The Exxon employee playbook — how one advisor built an entire referral network by creating hyper-specific content for a single employer's workforce - Why prospects who watch two to three videos before booking are already 50-60% sold — and what that means for how you think about content Guest Sahil Gupta - Growth and marketing lead at Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a $600M RIA specializing in financial planning for tech employees. Based in California, serving clients nationwide. 🔗 Learn more about Twin Peaks → https://twinpwa.com/ 🔗 Connect with Sahil → https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahilgupta20/

  7. Apr 13

    Building the Full Growth System w/ Mike Barrasso | The Afternoon Advisor E8

    Most financial advisors are looking for a silver bullet. There isn't one... but there are a lot of golden BBs. Mike Barrasso grew his family's RIA from $150M to $400M from the business development seat. Now as co-founder and CEO of WealthReach, he's building the systems that make that kind of growth repeatable for any firm. Recorded live at Future Proof in Miami, this episode covers the three problems holding most advisory firms back, why your website is your most overlooked growth asset, and what the full organic growth funnel looks like when it's actually built end to end. You'll learn: - The three glaring problems killing most firms' growth — and why the silver bullet mindset is the biggest one - Why your website is a billboard when it should be a growth engine — and how to fix it - How to show up in both traditional search and AI-driven discovery (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) - When to hire a human vs. deploy a system — Mike's framework for building a firm from zero - Why advisors shouldn't be vibe coding — and what they should be doing instead - Where agentic AI is headed for advisor growth in the next few months _ _ 🔗 Learn more about WealthReach →  wealthreach.ai 🔗 Connect with Mike → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbarrasso/ Guest Mike Barrasso — Co-founder and CEO of WealthReach. Previously grew his family's RIA from $150M to $400M from the business development seat. Background in software sales, where he managed growth teams before bringing that same system-building approach to the financial advisory industry.

  8. Apr 6

    The Psychology of Referrals w/ Dan Allison | The Afternoon Advisor E7

    98% of your clients are willing to refer you. So why is your organic growth rate sitting at 1-3%? Dan Allison has spent 22 years studying the behavioral psychology of referrals - and he's coached financial advisors at Vanguard, Dimensional Funds, and some of the largest wealth firms in the world. In this episode, he breaks down exactly why the referral gap exists, the five characteristics every client advocate needs, and the simple framework that turns your existing book of business into a referral engine - without a single awkward sales conversation. You'll learn: Why 81% of clients are referring the wrong way... and the one conversation that fixes it immediately The five characteristics every client needs to become an effective advocate (and why missing even one kills the referral) Why telling clients you're "crazy busy" is quietly destroying your referral rate The 80% knowledge gap - why clients can only name a fraction of your services and what that costs you Why your newest clients are your most powerful referral source... and why most advisors wait years too long How referrals and content marketing work together to create a flywheel that runs itself -- Connect with Dan! -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-allison-ogrev/ #personalfinance #financialadvisor #RIA #organicgrowth #financialmarketing

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About

We break down how certain financial advisors grow so fast it looks like cheating by dissecting the systems behind their momentum. Hosted by Nate Hoskin, a financial planner and digital marketing nerd, the show analyzes real-world marketing and business systems to expose the hard work behind the illusion.

Information

  • Creator
    Nate Hoskin, CFP®, AWMA
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Afternoon Advisor
  • Show Website
    The Afternoon Advisor

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