Valerie Adelman grew her financial service businesses in a unique way. She studied psychology, and had a background in life insurance and tax services when she decided to make the leap to financial planning.
Starting her own business in her 30’s wasn’t easy. She had to constantly strive to find new clients, and to grow her education and her value-add to set herself apart from the competition. Two ways that Valerie was able to grow in the financial planning profession was through strategic business planning and networking.
Valerie is an avid reader and researcher, and immersed herself in the world of financial planning as she continued to hustle for new clients. Hungry for knowledge and for credentials, she decided to pursue the CFP exam, and joined FPA to start growing her network of like-minded financial planning professionals. Since earning her CFP® credentials, Valerie has also earned the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™ credential, as well.
Valerie Adelman is a career changer at heart. In this episode, she guides fellow career changers through how to navigate the switch to financial planning. She walks us through her experience with prospecting, networking, growing two different financial service businesses, and how to leverage your past experiences to succeed in the financial planning profession.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to start networking
- The best way to make connections in financial planning
- What a strategic business plan is
- How to create a strategic business plan
- How to network with groups who you actually enjoy connecting with
- The importance of a study group
- How FPA can facilitate networking
- How to determine which networking groups are right for you
- Options for growing and selling a business
- How to find your “home” within the financial planning profession
- How to track marketing and prospecting results