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Ted Jenkin, founder of oXYGen Financial, Inc., is an entrepreneur, leader, and social media pioneer in the financial services industry. Ted has been quoted in more than 75 publication and newspapers including being a featured columnist for the Wall Street Journal ‘The Experts’, and appearing frequently on CNN’s Headline News Weekend Express. He writes one of the top 15 personal finance blogs in the U.S., www.yoursmartmoneymoves.com, and is one of the top 10 social media financial advisors in the country according to Brightscope.
Takeaway Quote:
“If you don’t differentiate on service or advice or experience, how is your business going to be better?”
Show Timeline:
1:26 Background on oXYGen Financial
The way the team is positioned and their client profile
4:58 The oXYGen experience
Standing out based on their physical locations, breadth of advice, response times
8:03 Managing the expectations
What Ted asks of his team, and the results they see from the strategy
10:36 How, and how much, younger clients refer
Virtual introductions via social media and firm site
13:12 How Ted came to create oXYGen Financial
A different philosophy about Gen X/Y and their money
15:31 The social media strategy
Applying tried and tested marketing techniques to fit the new media model
19:50 The character of oXYGen as a firm, starting from Ted and Kyle
Staying true to their way of being and interacting with clients
22:29 The future of marketing and the client experience
Advice, experience, and focus on smart phone strategies
24:41 Teaching other advisors about online marketing
A tool to help financial professionals learn the nuts and bolts and attract leads
26:26 Important characteristics of the firm website
Focusing on conversion rather than aesthetics
30:58 The next big thing in attracting clients
Ted’s plan for marketing activities based on Gen Z and beyond
32:18 Advice for advisors in mature practices as well as new ones
Looking forward and focusing on experience
34:07 Recommendation for referrals
Using social media to put your true self forward
Links:
Websites: www.oxygenfinancial.net, www.ditchthenametag.com
Blog: www.yoursmartmoneymoves.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TedJenkin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theceoadvisor/
Client referral example
Want more?
Stephen Wershing: www.TheClientDrivenPractice.com/checklistblog
Julie Littlechild: www.absoluteengagement.com/blog
Episode Transcript:
Steve Wershing: Welcome to Becoming Referable, the podcast that shows you how to become the kind of advisor your clients want to tell their friends about. I’m Steve Wershing. On this episode, we’ll be talking with Ted Jenkin, who’s Social Media Ninja and co-CEO of oXYGen Financial. We’ll talk a little bit about Ted’s background running a large network of financial advisors and how he left that to start oXYGen with a partner. We’ll talk about how they created a special niche to attract X/Y gen clients. It got to the point where people were calling them because of the unique experience they had put together. We’ll also talk about how that experience began attracting people outside of that target market and talk a little bit about how that niche can transcend target market. We’ll talk about the role of social media and how being yourself can help attract clients. We’ll talk about how oXYGen’s breadth of financial advice is a core part of their offering and how that helps separate them from other firms as well. There’s a lot of really good advice. Ted has thought really hard about this and come up with a lot of really creative strategies that have worked very well, sometimes through trial and error. I think you’ll really enjoy our conversation. And now, Ted Jenkin. Steve Wershing: Ted Jenkin, welcome to the Becoming Referable podcast. Thanks for joining us today. Ted Jenkin: Well, thanks for having me on today. Steve Wershing: You know, we were really excited to talk with you because oXYGen is a brand that I mention a lot to people as a great example of a niche, a great example of how to do something different. Your tagline is, breathe easier. Can you tell is a little bit about what’s different about your experience, and what’s unique about working with oXYGen? Ted Jenkin: Well, we certainly don’t like to be called financial advisors. oXYGen Financial, the last five letters are XYGen, I wrapped an O to it and this how the name oXYGen actually came to be. And, we tagged our slogan basically, on breathe easier. Our financial advisors are actually called private CFOs, and what we do is really position ourselves so that our clients are the CEO of their family finances and we’re that CFO that’s by their side. Julie Littlechild: Your niche that you work with, obviously, XY Gen is in your tagline. But, is that your exclusive focus? Or, how would you describe your target audience? Ted Jenkin: I would say that’s our target audience but it’s been the most bizarre thing because as gen Xers are aging, what’s interesting is, your mid-age gen Xer is 45 years old. We’re actually getting referred to a lot of 70-year-olds because the kids who carry the strength in the family now are actually telling their parents to get away from the big wirehouses and come with an independent firm like ours. We would have never said that we would deal with a lot of 70-year-olds but we’re getting a lot more of them de facto as the kids are sort of taking over mom and dad’s finances.Read more
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