From the Editor
There are educational conferences and training programs everywhere you
turn these days. You’re lucky—you find yourself at a truly valuable event
featuring engaging keynote speakers and robust content.
You take reams of notes, excited about the fresh ideas and perspectives you hear about, and you leave the
conference with the expectation that you’ll return home and immediately start implementing everything you
learned. But when you arrive at the office, the real world sets in. Your staff and your clients need you, and your
day-to-day responsibilities monopolize your time. Before you know it, you’re back in the routine, and all those
great ideas you had sit neglected in your notebook or on your iPad. You tell yourself you’ll get to them
someday, but someday never seems to come.
Sound familiar? We’ve all been there, and we know how challenging
it can be to move from an idea of something to a full-fledged action
plan. That’s why we put together this issue of the
Commonwealth
Business Review
. Our 2013 National Conference last November was
one of those events we think was truly valuable. The agenda was
chock-full of content designed to educate, inspire, and challenge
advisors to take their businesses to new heights. Now, with the event
in the rearview mirror, we want to highlight some of the topics you may want to focus on in this new year and
provide some tips to help you ease into implementation, starting with the following three feature articles:
Commonwealth’s Advanced Planning department has noticed that divorce planning is creeping up the list of
hot topics with advisors, closely behind social security benefits planning. At the 2013 National Conference,
advisors Nichole Raftopoulos and Carl Watkins shared some of the successes and challenges they’ve experienced
in building their own divorce practices. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to summarize their insights for
you in “Peer Learning: Developing a Niche with Divorcing Clients” (p. 10).
The JOBS Act directed the SEC to issue rules eliminating the prohibition on the general solicitation and
advertising of private placements that exist under Rule 506 of Regulation D. Final amendments to the rule
were released in July 2013, with an effective date of September 23, 2013. “Advisor Impact: Lifting the Ban on
the General Solicitation of Reg D Offerings” (p. 28) looks at what the amendments entail and how they will
affect advisors moving forward.
When it comes to marketing, many advisors are looking for the “one thing” that will really work and bring clients
en masse to the office door. In reality, everything works . . . and nothing works. There’s no one action that works
in isolation. No, as “Where the Real Magic Happens: Integrating Traditional and New Media Marketing”
(p. 32) explains, it’s when you take a diversified and integrated approach, combining tried-and-true methods
like direct mail with new media methods like social media, that you are more likely to see real results.
Our overriding goal is to ensure that you have the support and guidance you need to help you move your
business forward and fulfill your greatest potential. If you have questions, comments, or ideas for future stories,
I’d love to hear from you. Please e-mail me your thoughts at
Kate Flood is the editor of the CBR. She is available at x9606 or at
Be sure to check out our online
exclusives (highlighted on p. 4)
for additional valuable content
from our subject matter experts.
Moving from Ideas to Action
KATE FLOOD
