Podcast: The Best Website Platforms For Financial Advisors in 2019 (Listen Now)

The Best Website Platforms For Financial Advisors in 2019

Financial advisors ask me all the time, “What is the best website platform?” The answer really depends on a few things:

  1. What is your compliance relationship?
  2. Do you want to update your website yourself or have someone else do it for you?
  3. Would you rather pay more up front to get lower monthly costs or pay higher fees each month?

If you are with one of the major broker-dealers that have a compliance integration with FMG Suite, I recommend that option since it makes submitting new content to compliance a breeze.

But if you are an RIA, then you have several other options. WordPress gives you the greatest functionality and the lowest monthly costs, but it’s not very intuitive to use. Twenty Over Ten builds beautiful websites and is easy to use, but it comes with a higher monthly price tag.

To learn everything you ever wanted to know about websites for financial advisors, join us for a conversation with Brandon Brown, Vice President of Product Design & Creative at FMG Suite. We’ll review the best websites for financial advisors and how advisors should choose a website. Brandon and his team have built tens of thousands of websites for financial advisors, and during the show he’ll reveal:

  • What’s new in the website landscape
  • What are the biggest mistakes advisors make on their websites
  • How should advisors choose the best website platform for them?
  • What are the 3 things your website must have today?
  • How to build your site quickly without stressing

Best Websites for Financial Advisors Show Notes:

To learn more about FMG Suite: fmgsuite.com
Is your site mobile-friendly? https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
Is your site secure? https://indigomarketingagency.com/what-is-an-ssl-certificate-and-why-do-you-need-one/

Listen here now, or download and subscribe on iTunes to listen on your commute!


Transcription

Claire Akin

Thank you so much for joining me for today’s episode. Today we’re going to talk about websites for financial advisors, and we have a special guest, Brandon Brown from FMG Suite. He is the Vice President of Product Design and Creative with FMG Suite. If you don’t know, I used to work at FMG Suite and he was my boss. He is just a fantastic person. He taught me a lot about management, about design and about life, and I’m really happy to have him here. Thanks for joining us.

Brandon Brown

 Thank you Claire. It’s good to talk to you again.

Claire Akin

One of the interesting things about Brandon is he has a deep background, not only in website design and creative, but also he probably knows more than anybody in our industry about website design for financial advisors. He headed up designing the C2C tool, which is the big marketing platform for Cetera Advisors. And he has been on the team with FMG Suite for many, many years designing their platform and has built out and supervised the builds of thousands of financial advisors websites.

Brandon Brown

 I think that’s exactly what my Linkedin profile says too. It says many, many years.

Claire Akin

Exactly. I wasn’t ready to do the math yet this morning, but that’s okay. I believe he can speak Spanish as well. He’s an all around fantastic resource for us. Today we just want to walk through some things about websites and tell advisors what they should consider when they’re choosing a site. What are the options available, what do they need to be thinking about? Because we know that most financial advisors are busy running their business, talking to clients, doing financial planning, and web design is not necessarily their expertise. I just want to welcome Brandon and let’s touch base about, what are you most excited about personally this year? What’s going on in your life?

Brandon Brown

Besides the day to day life of my kids, which is exciting, I have this pile of wood in my garage. It’s a bunch of Cherry and a bunch of a Purple Heart wood, which is like this purple wood, and it’s been begging to be turned into a desk for a few months. I’ve let it acclimate to the humidity and climate of my house. I’m turning it into a desk for my wife, and I’ve been really looking forward to diving into building that.

I’ve been kind of hand designing it up to this point. I’ve got note pads and note pads of little sketches. And a huge Pinterest board. As you know Claire, I do a ton of woodworking, so I’ve been kind of putting it on hold for a few months. I’ve been really itching to dive back into a big project and so that desk will be one. It’ll be pretty nice.

Claire Akin

That is so cool. That’s such a neat hobby, and I know you’re probably strapped for time. Brandon has two little girls, like I have two little girls. My husband, right when our first baby was born, bought a 1970 Chevy pickup truck and put it in our garage because he was going to restore it. I don’t think anything has changed on that truck in quite a few years.

Brandon Brown

 That’s a 2020 goal for him.

Claire Akin

Right. What are you really looking forward to and where are the biggest opportunities that you see for financial advisors from a marketing perspective at this time?

Brandon Brown

I know that we’re focusing on websites today, and I definitely think there’s a ton of opportunities for financial advisors this year when it comes to websites. I think there are definitely also some huge opportunities for advisors in the email marketing arena. A lot of advisors haven’t dove into that and it’s a great communication tool and a great way to kind of steadily connect with their folks, and ideally drive traffic back to their website through them. But just to simply communicate.

The other thing that we’ve been talking a lot about around here a lot, is really just making advisors great at holding events. We know a lot of advisors and maybe some of the folks listening are really great at events, but some aren’t and haven’t kind of cracked that nut just yet. That’s something that I think is really important for advisors to focus on. As far as new opportunities, it’s kind of shoring up some of those classics.

Of course if they don’t have an incredible website that reflects on them really well, that’s a major opportunity as well. Just to kind of connect some of those dots, Claire. Some of the stuff that we’re working on over here is expanding the event kits that we provide advisors with. So basically giving them a kit to create, host, and promote an event. A lot of that ties back to using your website as a tool to do that.

Claire Akin

I totally agree. I was on the phone yesterday with an advisor who was interested in doing social media marketing and Facebook ads and webinars. I said, okay, cool. Where’s your website? Let me check out your site. And he says “oh, well, I don’t have a website.” I said “well are you doing any email marketing?” “No.” I said “okay, we need to go back to the basics here. Back to admissions.” Because it’s important to lay the foundation before you get more aggressive and get more advanced.

Brandon Brown

Totally agree.

Claire Akin

Why are websites so important? We always talk about it. It’s kind of the hub of an advisor’s marketing system. Why are they the most important foundational piece?

Brandon Brown

At the core, I think the most important role that a website plays for an advisor and really kind of any service professional, is people are going to use it to research you. When they Google you, they’re going to find your website, they’re going to visit it. And within a few seconds they’re going to pass some amount of judgment on the quality of your company based on the way that that site looks. The way it communicates, the messages that it’s presenting.

I think a lot of times when an advisor thinks about a website, they’re thinking 10 pages deep in that website. They’re really filling out a website, which can be important. What can get left on the shelf is that first impression. I think that’s the biggest value of a website, is that first impression. It either confirms what somebody thinks about you, or it shifts their mind to think about you a little bit differently. In either case, a good design and a good message that looks modern, and most importantly really professional, wins the day in either of those scenarios.

Claire Akin

Absolutely. It’s the two second test. When you jump on someone’s home page in two seconds, can you tell who they are and what they do? For a lot of advisors out there, you can’t. You know, you go to their website and there’s some kind of abstract language or photography that doesn’t necessarily have any relevancy to what they do. It’s really important to put front and center in that top real estate on your homepage, who do you serve, how do you help them, what do you do? I’m always encouraging advisors to embrace that.

Brandon Brown

That’s what I love about the way that you work with advisors … you have an advantage that I don’t have. Which is your spending day after day with them working onthe front lines of the execution of that stuff. So it’s good to hear what you’re saying there. It confirms a lot of what we at FMG Suite are building as an architecture to make things like that possible. A website building tools to make that possible.

There was always that anxiety of we build these tools. What happens next? I’m glad the people that are working with you are working with you. You can lead a horse to water, but if we’re not drinking it, nothing’s really happening there. Kudos to you on that.

Claire Akin

Thank you. I recommend FMG Suite all the time to the advisors that come to me and ask, who should I work with? There’s only a few big players in the website arena for independent advisors. I would say FMG Suite is probably the leader. One of the huge advantages, if you don’t know, is that FMG Suite has compliance integrations with all of the large independent broker dealers. What this means is that instead of submitting content to compliance and then having to make the changes, then having to upload it to your website, they actually have a dashboard.

You submit your compliance information through your website, and as soon as you make a change to your site, it automatically is sent to compliance. When compliance approves it, then it’s automatically live on your site. It’s such a time saver for us, and it’s so easy for advisors. If you’re with one of the larger broker dealers, I definitely recommend looking into seeing if there’s a compliance integration. Because if there is, there’s no need to look any further from a perspective of where to go with your site. I think FMG is definitely the best option for you.

Brandon Brown

 You know I can’t argue with that.

Claire Akin

What’s new and exciting in the website world? A lot of advisors haven’t been looking into different sites. Maybe they updated their site five years ago and they know it’s time for an update now. What’s changed? What’s different?

Brandon Brown

I’ll speak broadly, just a little bit outside of FMG Suite. One of the things that’s a major trend, and it didn’t use to be the standard, is that websites are easier to edit now. Most, not all, but most website providers inside and outside the industry have made it pretty easy to edit your website. There’s definitely some that are easier than others. For us that’s a major focus.

That’s a big trend for all the advisors out there listening, should be a confidence builder regardless of how you’re getting your website built. It doesn’t mean that it’s not a lot of work, and it is nice to delegate that. Generally speaking, it used to be that websites are really sort of inaccessible to anybody other than a developer. It allows you to jump in and make quick changes and stuff like that.

There’s the big the elephant in the room, and it depends if this is new to you or not, but mobile and tablet friendliness continues to be a major issue. Itt’s pretty much ubiquitous across the industry that any website built is going to be compatible in those spaces. That’s going to be key. For any advisors out there who have a website that’s maybe more than five, or certainly more than 10 years old, it probably is not mobile friendly. A new website, is pretty much guaranteed to have that today.

Claire Akin

There’s a couple of reasons for that. The most obvious reason is that when someone comes to your site from a tablet, we know that more than 50% of traffic comes to advisor sites from mobile devices. We want to provide a good experience for people who are coming to your site to consume information. The other reason is that Google gives preferential treatment to people with mobile responsive sites. So if your site is not mobile responsive, you’re not coming up as high in search results as you could be.

Brandon Brown

Exactly. The other thing is there’s the whole SSL security expectations from websites. This is really driven by companies like Google insisting that websites meet certain security requirements in order to rank well, but also to avoid getting labeled at the top of the browser as a not secure website. That’s something that we swept through all of our websites, I think at this point it is over a year ago, to make sure that they all had SSL certificates. That’s something you’re going to want to watch out for and maybe look at your own website to make sure that it’s marked as secure. Which is a nice little lock up in the address bar in your web browser, next to your website URL.

Claire Akin

If you haven’t done so already, go to your website, check out the upper left corner. If you’re getting a warning that says this site is not secure, you definitely need to make a change. Not only is it actually a low level security risk in that hackers could intercept information on your site if it’s not secure. It’s an incredibly bad credibility indicator, when somebody comes to a financial site and it says it’s not secure. It’s definitely … a quick fix. It’s something easy to update, but you’re definitely going to want to make a change and make your site secure.

Brandon Brown

I’ll add one more thing that’s kind of new, if I could toss in there. I mentioned the event kits and that sort of thing. That’s something that we’re focusing on, building tools on people’s websites to promote just general events and little templates for like a wine and cheese party. A nice landing page for that, or a bourbon tasting party and things like that.

The other stuff that’s new in our neck of the woods is the ability to feature things like eBooks and quizzes, which can be really nice lead generation tools. To be able to, with a single click, turn those on people’s websites. That’s something in our neck of the woods of financial advisors that’s new in the industry that’s pretty cool. However, most people don’t have access to it unless they’re an FMG Suite customer.

Claire Akin

That’s awesome. I get questions all the time from advisors, such as, what should I look for when selecting website platform? And I always tell them, it’s important to, first of all, think about your compliance relationship like we talked about. Second of all, make sure that you’re working with somebody who is familiar with our industry. For example, it’s required that advisors have a broker check button on their website. If you went with a local web designer that isn’t familiar with our industry, they may not know that. It’s critically important to work with people that are familiar with the industry. That build sites for advisors, that are experienced doing so. Now walk us through, when advisors are selecting a website, what should they consider today?

Brandon Brown

I think what you touched on, that’s huge. All those things are really important. To elaborate on that, I would encourage people to look at their website and think about it like their home. You’ve purchased a home, and what type of homeowner do you want to be? Do you want to be a homeowner that’s hosting people at your house all the time? Do you want to be the most handsome house on the block? Are you just trying to keep up with the other houses on the block so that you aren’t the black sheep on the street? Are you just looking for a place where when folks stop by it’s accommodating and it’s easy, but it’s nothing more than that to you? These are all different types of homeowners to be. In my book, they’re all okay, they all work.

Claire Akin

That’s a great analogy. I would add, are you somebody that’s going to do all your home repairs? Or are you going to have a gardener and a maid? That’s important to consider. How easy do you need your platform to be to make updates? Who is going to be making those updates?

Brandon Brown

That’s an interesting way to ask the question, and then from there, I think it becomes fairly straightforward in weighing website vendors and that sort of thing. I would actually encourage an advisor to do that mental exercise before talking to somebody, particularly a salesperson who’s going to be very educational but also very focused on the value of their product. To sit and either work with consult with a marketing professional or just do that exercise themselves.

Say, for example, you know what? I actually just want a website where I can promote my events. Or, I want a website where people can research all about me. Or, I want a website that just has my phone number and address, because this is my first website. Once you know that you want that, it’s okay to change your mind down the road. I think it helps you enter a conversation of, is this person that I’m talking to offering something that scratches that itch for me? The type of homeowner that I want to be, or website owner.

That’s the way I would approach it. There’s also the standards of, how high quality is the person you’re partnering with to build your website? Do they have a good reputation? Are other people having a good experience with them, or we kind of out on the wild west, as far as website providers or website builders? I would push people to move towards the middle and rely on the experience of people like yourself or FMG Suite to pull some of this off. Or a similar vendor.

Claire Akin

I love that advice. A few tips that I give advisors as well when I’m talking to them, and I’m trying to guide them in the right direction for their website is, don’t overthink it too much. Perfectionism is the enemy of getting your website launched. You really need to update your site every two to three years. I just updated my site last year and we’re probably going to update it again next year. It’s a living, breathing entity that will never be exactly perfect and it will never be finished.

I wouldn’t spend more than 30 days on a website. Get it to the point that you’re happy with it, then you launch it, and you can always update it later. Because I see so many advisors get stuck on these website design projects that are never going to make them any money. The quality of your website, it needs to meet a certain quality level, but it’s never going to make the sale for you.

The other thing I would say is to recognize that your website is just a place for people to learn about you, and should leave them wanting more. You don’t want a website that’s 75 pages deep where people get overwhelmed or tired or exhausted and never set an appointment. You want it just to pique their interest, and give them an easy way to get in touch with you and start the conversation. Simplifying your site and not overthinking it, I think it’s a good way to go about that.

Brandon Brown

Let me share something with you that’s kind of adjacent to that. We actually just rebuilt our own company website, fmgsuite.com. It really couples when we redesign it and kind of decide what information was going to be on there. I find myself trying to remind folks, hey, everybody that works with our company, at some point talks to a marketing specialist here. We don’t have to over-educate folks. This website is in the business of doing some light education, and really it’s not selling websites or marketing tools, it’s selling conversations with a marketing specialist. I think that that’s true for a financial advisor’s website.

Claire Akin

Next,  I want to switch to a harder question for you, Brandon. One of the concerns I get when I recommend FMG Suite to advisors who I think it would be a good fit for, is they say FMG Suite is one of the leaders right now, they have so many advisors on their platform. I don’t want a site like every other advisor. I don’t want a cookie cutter site. And what I say to them is – and you may have different answers – you want to think about the way that an average consumer experiences your website. You may be going to all the top financial advisor websites and comparing them, but an average consumer, or an average person that needs a financial advisor, is probably not going to visit more than one or two websites of advisors in their area.

Also, because there’s so many different themes with FMG Suite, the chances of another advisor in your area having the exact same website theme as you, is almost nonexistent. So think of it from the consumer’s perspective. If they go to a website that looks credible, trustworthy, looks professional, those are the nails that we need to hit. We don’t need to make your website look different from every other financial advisor on the planet or reinvent the wheel. I just want to get your thoughts on that question or that concern.

Brandon Brown

When we rolled into the industry eight years ago, we obviously had zero websites out there. At this point, we are number one in market share. At the same time, we are also number one in customer satisfaction. This is an independent study from Morningstar. Part of that growing from startup to front runner, has been trying to chase that dragon that you’re describing. Because there is the potential of a real problem there of if we weren’t on the ball about it, we could really set people up to have that experience. Fortunately chasing that dragon from day one has been a big priority for us. We’re ask ourselves, how do we make sure that the advisors have different looking websites, different experiences, so that we never put them in that pickle?

We do not get the feedback of I saw so-and-so’s website, or a customer of mine saw my website and they saw another, and then they knew that I was using a website provider. That’s just not something that really happens because of the exposure that you’re talking about. As much as we are the number one in market share, as true as that is, there are so many financial advisors out there. I would love to say that we were so successful that we could really create that problem.

There are so many types of advisors…the captive advisors out there at wirehouses and the independents out there, it’s a huge market. So it really just doesn’t happen in practice. We chase that with new designs, and have people on staff whose job is to make iterations every time they build a new website with that in mind.

Claire Akin

Just to give the advisors out there some idea of the customization that takes place, is first of all, you choose one of these different themes. There’s dozens of different themes that you could choose from. From there, we’re going to customize the site to your logo and your colors, then we’re going to choose photography for you. Then we’re going to choose to put your niche front and center. There’s almost no chance that a consumer could recognize your site as similar to another advisor site, once it’s polished and it’s finished and it’s customized for you.

If that’s a concern of yours, I recommend just taking a look at some of the sample sites out there on fmgsuite.com. I love all of the new themes that you guys have come out with. If you are an FMG Suite customer who has built their site years ago, I recommend taking a look at some of the newer themes. Because they make it really easy to upgrade, and to just kind of update the look and feel of your site. What are some of the biggest mistakes you’re seeing advisors making when it comes to their websites?

Brandon Brown

I love the point that you brought up earlier about aiming for perfection. I understand. We work with so many advisors who are coming in saying “it’s time to rebuild my website.” This is a big moment, so they want to get everything right. They want to rewrite every single page deep in the website, because I think in their mind they’re thinking, I’m not going to come back to this. I want to get this done, and then I want to come back in three years and revisit this. They may end up spending something like 60 days instead of your recommendation of 30.

They’re just stringing it along. The point that I brought up earlier about websites being easy to edit, and people like yourself or our service team members are available to help them iterate on the site a little bit at a time. Just getting a new website and a new home page out there, is only 25% of the work, but it’s 80% of the value.

If I could be heard in one aspect on this podcast, it would be that … don’t think you have to do it all at once. There’s a lot of wisdom in getting something out there and then iterating on it.

Claire Akin

I think that’s great advice. I would love to see if there’s data and maybe I’ll dig it up for a blog post on my own of what percentage of traffic goes to each page on an advisor site? Because I would think, as you said, the kind of the principle of 80% of your traffic is going to come to your homepage. Maybe a little bit of traffic is going to go to the page that describes you or your team, and then maybe there’s some straggler traffic on some of the other pages. That’s really probably where you should focus your effort and your time, is on the top most visited pages.

Brandon Brown

Agreed.

Claire Akin

Absolutely. Thanks so much for being a part of the podcast, Brandon. It was great to speak with you. I hope the advisors listening got a lot of value, and if you have any questions, you can contact FMG Suite. You can reach out with the show notes below. Good luck with building your desk. I think that’s going to be a great project. I can’t wait to see pictures.

Brandon Brown

Thank you very much, Claire.

Claire Akin

If you’d like any resources from today’s episode or from other episodes, go to indigomarketingagency.com/remember. It’s hard to forget that address. indigomarketingagency.com/remember.

How can we help you with your marketing?

We help top advisors with a true specialty to create custom marketing plans. Our most popular services include our Independent Websites for Independent Advisors, our Search Engine Optimization service, and our Monthly Marketing Package, but we can also help answer your questions and work with you on project-based marketing campaigns.

About Claire

Claire Akin runs Indigo Marketing Agency, a full-service marketing firm serving financial advisors. It’s her mission to help independent financial advisors help more people through their incredibly important work. Claire is a former Investment Advisor Representative who holds her MBA in Marketing from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego as well as a BA in Economics from UC Davis.


 

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Joshua Yanson

Web Developer
Negros Occidental, Philippines

Joshua spends his days developing client websites, implementing automations, and troubleshooting website issues. He enjoys the challenge of working with websites while simultaneously learning new tips and tricks to optimize them for maximum efficiency.

Originally from Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, Philippines, Joshua holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, and in his free time enjoys playing computer games and watching anime and movies.

Indgio Team Member Dan Corcoran

Dan Corcoran

Account Manager
Madison, Wisconsin

Dan Corcoran enjoys being on the front lines of financial advisor marketing, working directly with advisors to help them build a strong marketing plan to get their firm’s message out. Working remotely can be a challenge as talking to others, brainstorming, and sharing experiences recharges him; he maximizes touchpoints to connect with others to make every day at Indigo rewarding.

Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He enjoys drone photography and videography (he owns his own drone business, Forward Focus Photography), sports broadcasting (he was a hockey broadcaster for four years prior to COVID), spending time with family, camping/hiking, running, swimming, and road biking.

Originally from Sun Prairie, WI, Dan has three siblings, and prior to joining Indigo’s team, he worked for an RIA in Madison for two years.

Hugo Fernandez CEO of Indigo Marketing

Hugo Fernandez

CEO
Whispering Pines, North Carolina

Leading the Indigo team with heart, Hugo Fernandez is passionate about helping our financial advisors attract a flood of their A+ clients with sustainable marketing campaigns. He enjoys running companies that are wildly successful and wearing a black t-shirt every day of his life. When his two favorite things come together, you have an average day at Indigo.

Hugo Fernandez is also CEO of Indigo’s partner company, Just Digital, and author of The Client Acquisition Blueprint. He has personally helped hundreds of entrepreneurs grow their business through his proven blueprint for creating an EPIC marketing strategy and online presence.

Kelli McLeod Director of Client Services

Kelli McLeod

Director of Client Services
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Kelli McLeod plays an integral role at Indigo while overseeing the Account Services Team, providing customer service, getting financial advisors onboarded and in serving as their primary point of contact during that process. Her team looks to her for her leadership and decision-making abilities For Kelli, the most rewarding part of this role is working with clients one-on-one to ensure they’re happy and that their needs are met.

Kelli has a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations from Pacific Lutheran University. More recently, she’s done extensive work in the corporate housing and property management industries.

Kelli currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband, Ian, who is an officer in the U.S. Army, and their two sons, Zachary and Cameron. When she’s not working, you can find her running or hiking, attending group fitness classes, and cooking. Kelli’s also an avid book club enthusiast, so be sure to reach out to her if you’re looking for a new read.

Sara Dressler

Director of Operations

DuPont, Washington

Sara Dressler manages all systems and operating processes while overseeing several departments. Sara is responsible for supervising many activities within Indigo and identifying areas of improvement to better meet company goals. She functions as the bridge connecting management to every department.

Sara has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in communications from Pacific Lutheran University. She leverages this degree, along with her years of experience as a virtual assistant, to keep our company running like a well-oiled machine. Sara is happiest when spending time with her family. Her three young boys and life as a military spouse keep her busy, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world. She lives an active lifestyle and loves working out, getting outside, and watching sports with her family (whether it’s on TV, at her kids’ games, or in the backyard).

Indigo Marketing Team Member Elizabeth Reider Director of Marketing

Elizabeth Reider

Director of Marketing
Clearwater, Florida

Elizabeth Reider is a woman of many talents. She spent 10 years as a Chief Marketing Officer for a top-level independent financial advisor, and since her entry into financial services, she has networked and become friends with many advisors. Elizabeth admires their empathy, knowledge, and passion for their work, and has seen how independent advisors are more than professionals providing investment and planning advice; they are trusted confidants, life coaches, and guides. Over time, they become a part of their clients’ extended family—and she loves coming alongside that. (Check out this video to hear directly from Elizabeth about why she loves working with financial advisors.)

As Director of Marketing, Elizabeth helps get the word out about how partnering with Indigo can take an advisor’s marketing to the next level and beyond to grow their business and increase their productivity.

Elizabeth earned her bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business. She also holds a life, health, and variable annuity license, which gives her a special understanding of the many products and services advisors offer. Originally from Clearwater, FL, Elizabeth loves to travel and has visited 12 countries, including extended visits to eSwatini, Africa, to visit family and assist with humanitarian relief programs. She has seen firsthand how independent financial advisors are providing advice to their clients that outpours into the lives of their own families, staff, community, and sometimes across the globe. When she’s not working, Elizabeth enjoys attending orchestral and theater productions with her husband, David, and taking their son, Julian, to art museums, as well as family evenings in the backyard playing baseball with her son and shih-tzu poodle, Wrigley. She is also an active participant in overseas humanitarian work—using her skills to make a difference in the lives of others.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Katie Cress

Katie Cress

Digital Marketing Consultant, Sales & Client Strategist
Cincinnati, Ohio

It’s Katie Cress’s mission to help financial advisors reach their ideal prospects through custom digital marketing. On any given day, you can find Katie meeting with new financial advisors to learn more about their marketing goals, who they love working with, and why they’re passionate about helping others. Her favorite part of her job is meeting new advisors every day and continuing to learn how each firm and individual advisor is different, and using her marketing and small business background to help them craft a game plan that empowers them to grow their business and enhance their services. Often described by loved ones as a “helper” and “caretaker,” Katie is passionate about advocating for her advisors’ needs and supporting her coworkers to help them succeed.

Katie holds an MBA from Xavier University and a BA in Economics from Ohio University. A Midwest girl for life, she lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband, Brandon (who’s also a marketing guru), and their three kids, Charli, Lucy, and Teddy. She and her husband also own Clean Eatz Cafe, where they use their collective marketing prowess and love of food to create a welcoming space for employees and hungry customers alike. Katie is passionate about and for small business owners, being raised by her father who was an entrepreneur, being one herself with her husband, and working with them every day at Indigo. She loves the spirit, creativity, and drive of entrepreneurs. When Katie’s not working or helping run the family business, she enjoys working out with her husband at Orange Theory, loving on her three kids, and cooking delicious food.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Lori Koepke

Lori Koepke

Account Manager
Boise, Idaho

Lori Koepke plays a major role as a liaison between Indigo Marketing Agency and its wonderful clients. She works directly with our advisor clients on their marketing strategies, marketing calendars, article creation, editing processes, compliance approvals, deployment of their content, and more. Lori enjoys helping strategize and be a support to her clients, and loves the camaraderie among the Indigo team members.

Before joining the Indigo team, Lori was a schoolteacher for 10 years. She has a Master of Education and Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Concordia University in Portland, OR. She was born and raised in Vancouver, B.C., and lived in Vancouver, WA, for 25 years before moving to Boise, Idaho, where she currently resides with her husband, Jeremy, and four wonderful kids, Sophie, Tanner, Jonas, and Violet. In her free time, you can find Lori reading, watching football, and driving her kids to all their activities.

Watch this video to hear why Lori loves working with Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Heidi Wilson

Heidi Wilson

Account Manager

Alexandria, Virginia

Heidi Wilson thrives on helping advisors create an online voice and streamline their marketing efforts. With her mother being a retired financial advisor and her brother-in-law currently a CFP® professional, she’s passionate about taking the marketing pressure off of advisors so they are able to focus on their clients. She loves when advisors tell her something we did for them helped; it can be as simple as taking something off their very busy plate or helping them land a new client with one of the articles we wrote. With broad-based consumer and B2B marketing experience, Heidi is constantly thinking outside the box and brings a fresh perspective to the Indigo team.

Heidi holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Florida State University and hails from Tampa, Florida. Her husband, Chris, is in the U.S. Army, and as they are constantly moving, they take every opportunity to explore the new areas where they’re living. Some of their favorite places they’ve called home include Hawaii and New Orleans. Heidi is thankful for the opportunity to work remotely with Indigo, which allows her to take her job with her, no matter where the Army moves her family next.

Watch this video to hear why Heidi loves working with Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Jillian Segrue

Jillian Segrue

Account Manager
Columbus, Georgia

Jillian Segrue acts as a liaison between clients and the Indigo team, using her 12 years of customer service experience in fields such as healthcare, financial services, and risk management to help hone their message and deploy it effectively and efficiently. Jillian enjoys building unique relationships with each of her clients as she uniquely helps them reach their ideal target audience.

Jillian has a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration and a minor in business administration from SUNY Brockport. Originally from Rochester, NY, she currently lives in Columbus, GA, with her husband, Tim (an Army captain), daughter, Macie, son, Henry, and two cats. As a military spouse, Jillian appreciates the flexibility Indigo provides—allowing her to juggle motherhood and excelling in her career—and its unmatched positive, supportive, and uplifting company culture. In her free time, Jillian loves to read, shop, and go running outdoors (just not in the Georgia heat!).

Indigo Marketing Team Member Amanda Laskey

Amanda Laskey

Account Manager
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Amanda Laskey works with clients one-on-one to develop and implement marketing strategies that help spread the word about who they are and how they help. In her role, Amanda strives to deliver outstanding customer service to our clients. She is tech-savvy, an independent problem-solver, extremely organized, an excellent communicator, and thrives on helping others. She appreciates the ability to work remotely in a collaborative team environment while supporting her family.

Amanda holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education and a Master of Arts in Inclusive Education from Seton Hill University and has over 10 years of experience in secondary classroom teaching and over 3 years as an Executive Assistant. A proud Army spouse, Amanda resides in Pittsburgh, PA, with her husband, Brandon, their two sons, Jackson and Harrison, and their sheepadoodle, Waylon, and goldendoodle, Cash. Outside of work, Amanda enjoys spending time with her family, relaxing at the beach, traveling to new places, dessert, and all things Disney.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Beverly Anderson

Beverly Anderson

Account Manager
Portland, Oregon

Beverly Anderson is the go-to contact point for advisors to create a targeted and cohesive marketing strategy that is unique to their specific goals. She loves seeing her clients experience positive results from their marketing efforts, and as a world traveler, she appreciates the ability to work remotely and connect with clients from any country.

Beverly holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Oregon State University. In addition to traveling, she enjoys making music as a singer/songwriter and anything outdoors (she’s an avid snowboarder and rock climber). She and her partner have a rescue pup, Toro, a former street dog in Cabo, Mexico, before they adopted him. Beverly has three older sisters, with whom she is very close, and they all, along with her mother, live in the Portland area. Although she spent the first half of her childhood in Fountain Hills, Arizona, Beverly considers Portland to be home.

Watch this video to hear why Beverly loves working with Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Kasey Yhap

Kasey Yhap

Account Manager
Ellicott City, MD

Kasey Yhap’s commitment to her clients is the driving force behind her work. Her diverse educational background (a bachelor’s and master’s degree in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in communications from Syracuse University) has equipped her with the unique skill set required for success. Kasey’s strong communication skills and creative mindset, combined with her passion for helping her clients, make her a valuable asset to the team.

In her free time, Kasey stays active and maintains a healthy lifestyle through yoga, CrossFit, and spending time outdoors. These hobbies complement her professional life by allowing her to recharge and bring new ideas to her work at Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Lisa Gaines

Lisa Gaines

Content Deployment Manager
Fort Hood, Texas

Lisa Gaines spends her work days uploading blog posts to our clients’ websites and LinkedIn profiles, drafting emails, and making adjustments to content as advisors request. Lisa has learned a lot as a long-time member of the Indigo family and has enjoyed seeing the processes evolve to become more streamlined and efficient over time. And she loves working with the amazing Indigo team! 

Lisa is a proud alum of Texas A&M University, where she received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. As a military child, Lisa feels as though she grew up everywhere; however, she claims central Texas as home where most of her family is originally from. She currently lives in Fort Hood, Texas, with her husband, Korey (an active-duty Army officer), and two kids, Madelyne and Jameson. As a military family, Lisa moves quite a bit—often to areas where the job market is small. She loves that Indigo provides her with a steady job she can take with her wherever she goes. When she’s not working, Lisa enjoys dabbling in interior design, binging a good Netflix series, and spending time with friends and family.

Read more about why Lisa loves working with Indigo.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Anne Wheeler

Anne Wheeler

Marketing Assistant
Cincinnati, Ohio

Anne Wheeler is responsible for a variety of administrative tasks as well as updating social media pages for clients. Anne enjoys the creative side of her position and the ability to collaborate with the team to help advisors get started with Indigo.

Anne holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Tennessee. Outside of work, she enjoys walking, baking, spending time with her husband, Rick (a structural engineer), and two sons, Thomas and Turner. Anne loves being a full-time mom, and appreciates that Indigo gives her the opportunity to work part-time while still caring for her boys.

Melanie Valdez

Account Manager
Vancouver, Washington

With her marketing expertise, Melanie Valdez leaves no stone unturned when helping clients hone their marketing strategy. She loves interacting with clients and brainstorming new ideas to enhance their marketing results. No two days are ever the same, and that’s the way Melanie likes it!

Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Western Washington University as well as an MBA from Western Governors University. When she’s not rocking her role at Indigo, she enjoys cooking (trying out new recipes every week), painting, and discovering new restaurants with friends. She and her husband, Dat, love to travel and go on walks with their dog, Brutus, a pomeranian-chihuahua whose personality is definitely not proportionate to his small size!

Indigo Marketing Team Member Jennifer Farrior

Jennifer Farrior

Lead Writer & Proofreader
Louisville, Kentucky

Jennifer Farrior is Indigo’s go-to for all things proofreading and editing. Her attention to detail is unmatched, and she takes pride in making sure every article is clean and concise before it heads out to our financial advisors. She says, “Even a single typo can affect an advisor’s credibility, and we strive for perfection when it comes to how they’re presented online.” As Lead Writer, Jennifer trains and manages the team of writers, and also writes and collaborates with team members to create Indigo’s blog posts and promotional material.

Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA. In addition to her role at Indigo, she runs her own copy editing and proofreading business, She Proofreads LLC. Jennifer hails from San Diego, California, but now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her three kids, Joshua, Julia, and Joel, and goldendoodle, Dexter. She loves working at Indigo because it provides her with the income, flexibility, and the community she needs as a stay-at-home mom. Outside of work, you can find her spending time with her kids, friends, boyfriend, or working on a puzzle while watching Netflix.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Sarah Robichaud

Sarah Robichaud

Social Media Manager
Rochester Hills, Michigan

Sarah Robichaud uses her love of spreadsheets to create engaging content calendars for our clients’ social media pages. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Salisbury University and a master’s degree in marriage and family counseling from Liberty University. In addition to her role at Indigo, Sarah volunteers as a virtual administrator for Army Wife Network, a nonprofit organization that aims to empower and educate military spouses through blogs, podcasts, and various other resources.

Born and raised in Maryland, Sarah currently lives in Rochester Hills, Michigan, with her husband, Andrew, two children, Emily and Logan, and two fur babies, Penny and Chewbacca. As a military spouse and mother, Sarah loves working for Indigo because of the flexibility it affords her, allowing her to continue to build her career while frequently relocating around the globe and working on her own schedule to accommodate a busy lifestyle. Sarah also loves Indigo’s supportive team atmosphere. Outside of work and volunteering, you can find Sarah enjoying time outdoors with her family, typically running, camping, or traveling. An avid traveler, she’s visited 16 countries and is always planning her family’s next great adventure.

Peter Wardenaar

Peter Wardenaar

SEO Specialist & IT Lead
Cali, Colombia

As a natural problem-solver, Peter Wardenaar uses his skills to help financial advisors find new ways to grow their site traffic and attract more clients they love. Peter enjoys the dynamic nature of his role; the challenges are never the same as every situation is unique and requires a different approach. But don’t let Peter’s technical prowess fool you—he also has quite the creative side! Before joining the Indigo team, he worked as a first-grade teacher and university English professor in Cali, Colombia.

Peter has bachelor’s degrees in education and in music from Portland Bible College and a master’s degree in music production and technology from Berklee College of Music. In his spare time, he loves writing and recording music, graphic design, engaging with people, and studying leadership and theology. Peter is also one of the most well-traveled people you’ll ever meet! He was born and raised in the Netherlands but lived in the Pacific Northwest for over 12 years. Today, he resides in Cali, Colombia, with his wife, Gloria Isabel, and their three kids, Emanuel, Paloma, and Violet.

Indigo Marketing Team Member Kourtney Kearney

Kourtney Kearney

Tech Support
Antelope, California

Kourtney Kearney is a data-driven woman with a knack for coding. On any typical day, you can find her building web pages, troubleshooting bugs in code, and setting up automations to make life easier for our clients. Thanks to her technical background, Kourtney has a vast understanding of the inner workings of websites and the data associated with them. She’s always on the lookout for new technology that will help us improve our workflows so we can focus on what we do best—helping financial advisors grow their business. Kourtney enjoys the variation of tasks and loves the challenge of taking an existing website and making it better without completely rebuilding it.

Kourtney is originally from Newark, CA (Bay Area), but currently resides in Antelope, a suburb of Sacramento, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Curatorial Studies. Outside of work, Kourtney spends her free time reading, playing volleyball, baking with her two sons, and hanging out with family.

Indigo Marketing Agency Adrian Bachini

Adrian Bachini

Web Developer & Tech Support
Manila, Philippines

Adrian Bachini works on tasks requiring technical knowledge and other various administrative tasks. A software developer by day, prior to joining Indigo, Adrian had very little knowledge on how nontechnical positions operate. His position at Indigo allows him to both learn and experience a variety of platforms and gain more knowledge about how to maximize marketing initiatives.

Adrian holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a specialization in software technology from De La Salle University Manila. Adrian considers himself somewhat of a workaholic, with a full-time day job in addition to working with Indigo. When he’s not working, he enjoys watching documentaries, action movies, and anime, and also loves cycling on muddy downhill trails or cross-country rides, playing video games, and simply resting when he can. He is also a licensed commercial pilot and flies in his free time; he obviously also enjoys traveling. Adrian lives with his family and more than a few pets (11 dogs, 6 cats, a few birds, and fish)—he has more pets than humans in his home!

Claire Akin

Claire Akin

Founder
San Diego, California
Claire Akin founded Indigo Marketing Agency with the mission to help financial advisors leverage marketing to grow their businesses. As a former Investment Advisor Representative and proud daughter of an independent advisor, she’s seen first-hand the value advisors bring to their clients and community. Claire transferred ownership of Indigo Marketing Agency to Hugo Fernandez in 2022 to spend more time with her family.
Indigo Marketing Team Member Adriana

Adriana Escalante

Website Project Manager
San Antonio, Texas

Adriana Escalante thrives on creating an online representation that looks and feels true to our financial advisor clients as she builds their websites to best represent them and their businesses. Her experience working on travel and tourism websites motivates her to make sure every site she works on is exciting and engaging to web visitors. A graduate of University of Texas in Austin, Adriana double-majored in International Relations and a Liberal Arts program called Plan II. She also received a certification for front-end development from a coding academy in Austin, which has equipped her to serve as a great liaison between developers and clients.

After living in Austin, TX, for most of her adult life, Adriana now resides in San Antonio, TX (a city with a ton of history and many things to do), with her partner, Russell, and their dog, Abbey. She also has a brother and sister with whom she’s very close and tries to see a few times a year. Most of Adriana’s hobbies revolve around nature. She grew up spending lots of time on a sailboat or at a beach, and her family has a small cabin in Creede, CO, where she spends half the year hiking, camping, skiing, or snowshoeing (depending on the season). When she’s in Texas, she tries to get out most weekends to kayak. A Texas Master Naturalist, Adriana loves learning about all the plants, birds, and animals in her home state. She also dabbles in making stained-glass suncatchers!

Kaitlin Thornal

Marketing Assistant
Fort Moore, Georgia

Kaitlin Thornal helps clients onboard as they begin their marketing journey with Indigo, and she loves meeting new people and learning new things. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication/Public Relations, International Studies, and a minor in French from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University.

Kaitlin was born at Fort Lewis, Washington, but she moved around a lot growing up, spending the most time in North Carolina. She now resides in Fort Moore, Georgia, with her husband, Mason, and their four children, Caroline, Mason, Jack, and Bo. Kaitlin’s favorite place to live has been Europe (Italy, Ireland, and Belgium) and she would go back in a heartbeat! In her spare time, she enjoys long-distance running, reading, and spending time in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Samantha Triglia

Marketing Assistant
Queens, New York

In her integral role, Samantha Triglia schedules social media posts, deploys email campaigns, and updates Google Business Profile pages for clients’ new blog posts. She also assists with lead generation/tracking and other administrative tasks. Helping out wherever she’s needed, Samantha appreciates the opportunities she has to learn and grow in her position. She says, “I love being a part of the team, especially when content deployment involves many moving parts and collaboration to get done and ready to go.”

A former teacher for 14 years, Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Childhood Education from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. She also holds a Master of Arts in Middle School Earth Science Education from CUNY Brooklyn College and a Master of Science in Educational Administration and Leadership from the University of Scranton. (Yes, TWO master’s degrees!) While in college, Samantha was the assistant to the Chief Compliance Officer of a brokerage firm on Madison Avenue in New York City for high-net-worth individuals and families, so she’s quite familiar with the types of clients Indigo serves.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Samantha currently lives in Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York (the place the Ramones song is about!), with her husband, Matt (a Navy veteran and currently a New York City Firefighter), and their three sons, Matthew, Thomas, and James. Outside of work, Samantha enjoys spending time with her family riding bikes on their neighborhood boardwalk and going to the beach. They love to travel, including yearly family trips to Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Universal Studios in Florida (they’re big Harry Potter fans!). Samantha also stays active exercising and playing on a women’s softball team and a co-ed beach volleyball team with her husband.

Amanda Bicknese

Marketing Assistant
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Amanda wears a few hats at Indigo, bringing value to the team by creating custom social media posts for advisors, assisting with the onboarding process of new team members, and tackling behind-the-scenes team tasks. She loves to collaborate with our amazing clients and supportive team members.

Born and raised in Fort Myers, Florida, Amanda holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Central Florida and a master’s degree in education from North Carolina State University. She worked as an educator for about a decade before pivoting to a career in writing and marketing. A Space Force military spouse (former army), Amanda and her husband, Michael, are currently located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with their two children, Mikayla and William, and two fur babies (a cat and a dog). When she’s not reading or writing fiction in her spare time, Amanda enjoys hanging out with family, hiking, trying new foods, and traveling.

Adam Spera

Account Manager
Astoria, New York

A marketer at heart, Adam finds satisfaction when consulting, strategizing, and implementing strategies to improve his clients’ business. He specializes in organic and paid social campaigns, as well as email and SEO optimization.

Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Central Florida and a Juris Doctor degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Raised in Boca Raton, Florida, by his mom (an event planner) and dad (a private boat charter captain), Adam currently lives in Astoria, New York, with his wife, Olivia, who works in pet care. When he’s not cooking up killer marketing strategies, he enjoys role-playing games, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and reading non-fiction and philosophy books.

Hugo Fernandez CEO of Indigo Marketing

Hugo Fernandez

CEO
Los Angeles, California

Hugo Fernandez acquired ownership of Indigo Marketing Agency from founder Claire Akin in 2022. Leading the Indigo team with heart, Hugo is passionate about helping our financial advisors attract a flood of their A+ clients with sustainable marketing campaigns. He enjoys running companies that are wildly successful and wearing a black t-shirt every day of his life. When his two favorite things come together, you have an average day at Indigo.

Hugo Fernandez is also CEO of Indigo’s partner company, Just Digital, and author of The Client Acquisition Blueprint. He has personally helped hundreds of entrepreneurs grow their businesses through his proven blueprint for creating an EPIC marketing strategy and online presence.

To get in touch with Hugo, email him or connect with him on LinkedIn.