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Claire Akin:
Hi and thanks for joining me to supercharge your LinkedIn profile. I’m Claire Akin with Indigo Marketing Agency and today I’m going to teach you everything you need to know to make your profile stand out from the crowd and to make it the best that it can be.
But first I want to tell you about the LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors. So today you’re going to take the exclusive webinar on how to supercharge your profile, but I want you to know that there’s more resources where that came from. The LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors is an exclusive online self-study course that teaches you everything top advisors know about using LinkedIn to generate new business. So most financial advisors know that LinkedIn is a powerful place to find and qualify prospects, but most of you don’t understand exactly what to do to qualify and start the conversation with prospects that you actually want to do business with.
So I’ve taken everything that I know, everything in the LinkedIn book for financial advisors and my experience working with hundreds of top independent advisors to create an online self-study course that teaches you what you need to know to optimize your profile, grow your network, search for qualified prospects, engage prospects, and start setting appointments. And there’s a special bonus on how to use LinkedIn ads to promote your firm. So the course features dozens of real life examples from top independent advisors and tons of supporting resources. So checklists, examples, worksheets, everything you know to get started. So it’s designed to be completed in one hour per day or less. And it will change the way you grow your business forever. So I’m going to offer a special discount on the course. It’s normally 248 but there’ll be a special coupon at the end of this webinar. So stay tuned.
I’m Claire Akin. Just to give you a little bit about my background, I run Indigo Marketing Agency. I actually used to be a financial advisor. I worked with my dad who’s been an advisor for 37 years with LPL Financial. And I kind of grew up in the business and I understand, some of the tactics that worked from a marketing standpoint in the past just don’t work anymore because of the way that internet and technology have kind of changed the way that we do business. We really need to adapt our marketing.
And so that can be very frustrating for advisors who used to be successful with their marketing in the past, but now times have changed and it’s time for them to update and grow. And so it’s my goal to help advisors like you to take advantage of new technologies and new marketing strategies so that they can continue to reach the people that they can help the most. And so I know the work that you do is really important and that you really help your clients. So I want to help you reach as many qualified potential clients as possible. So let’s get started.
Today we’re going to talk about supercharging your LinkedIn profile. So the goals of supercharging your profile are because LinkedIn gives preferential treatment to complete profiles. So we want to sure that you fill out all the sections of your profile and make it really robust because that way you’ll come up higher in search results and it will suggest you to the people that you may know so that they’ll connect with you. So complete profiles come up higher in search results. It keeps people on your profile longer because there’s more to do, there’s more sections to browse, there’s more content. And so it gets people to get to know you better and then they can learn more about you. And we can invite them to take the next step with you of how they would learn more about working with you.
And so we want you to become a profile All-Star. So on LinkedIn there’s this little profile strength icon when you go into edit your profile and it’ll show you if you’re a beginner, a novice, an advancer, an All-Stars. So we want to get you to the All-Star level. It’s not too difficult to do. There’s just some steps you need to take to make sure that you’re an All-Star. So it’s easy to reach 70 but it’s a lot harder to get to 100%, and so there’s some tricks that I’m going to walk you through today on how to get to the 100% mark.
The only way to achieve a perfect score is to fill out all of the sections. And so we’ll definitely want to do that. And then, obviously having a higher score means that LinkedIn will put your profile out there a little bit more and list you higher in the search results, which is what we want. And we just want you to look like you have a completely professional, robust profile that’s complete. And so it’s something that you have to do once and then it lasts for the rest of your career. So it’s worth investing some time on the upfront to do it. So I’m going to go through this section pretty quickly because I want you to spend the bulk of your time actually doing the work on your own profile. It’s a little bit tedious, but once you get it done, you’ll never have to do it again.
So the first thing we want to do is fill out every section. So these are all of the sections that count towards the All-Star status. So we’ll go through each one and there’s a downloadable checklist with the course resources for this section. So you can go through and mark off all of these sections as you add information to them. We’ll just want to make sure you fill out all of them and then your profile will be complete.
So let’s talk about the first section, the experience section. And so this is you only actually have to list one position as your experience section to fill that out because, of course, some people only have one job throughout their whole career. And so if you have worked at your position for say 20 years like this advisor has, you may only want to list one position on your experience section. But if you have other relevant positions, say you started at Dean Whittier in 1980, you may want to add that or if you used to work at a bank or a larger Merrill Lynch or something like that, you may want to add those sections to your experience section just because it gives you a little bit more credibility. We want to tell this story of your career in this section. So the positions are linked on LinkedIn by date. And so your most recent position will come up first and then it’ll tell the story of your career in chronological order. So just go ahead and list all of the positions that you’ve had, that you’re comfortable listing.
And so you’ll enter the company name and you’ll link to the company page. So if it’s a larger company that has a LinkedIn company page, which is most all publicly traded companies and all large companies will have a LinkedIn company page. And when you connect with it, as you’re listing your experience, that will make their logo show up next to your title and the dates that you worked at the company. And so that’s a nice touch. So always try to enter the company name and link to the company page if you can. Enter your job title and the dates. And then, if you held a bunch of different job titles at the company, just enter your most recent one and the dates that you worked there.
And then, you want to enter your achievements, not just your duties. That’s kind of best practice for writing a resume or writing about your job experience is to describe the things that you accomplished, not just the duties that you held. So if you served a hundred clients and helped them plan for retirement, you want to put that instead of worked as financial analyst or something more boring. So concrete achievements are always important to add. Ideally, you want to list three to five bullet points per position, but for your most recent position, the current position at your firm now, you really want to list a lot more information. And so this is a great example of explaining what they do, how they help, the questions that you can help your clients and prospects answer and then giving some more information on how they can get in touch with you.
So this on the left is a perfect example of a current experience section. And then for all of your past jobs you can just put three to five bullet points of what you did when you were there. And then this is the place that I want you to add your disclosures. If your broker dealer doesn’t require them in your summary section, we want to put them here. And the reason is that your summary section is limited by 2000 characters. So we don’t want to use up some of those characters with your disclosures. We want to just move them into your experience section where you have a lot more space. So here at the bottom you can see on the left the disclosures that are required.
So the next section to fill out is your education section. And this is really easy. It just will take you a couple of minutes. Search for the college or the educational institution and link to that company page. And so you can see the College for Financial Planning and University of Wisconsin on the left there. And so you just want to link to those pages so their logo will show up and then put your degree and the dates that you went there. You can put the different fields of study and you can even put your high school. And so it’s best practice to at least add your college degree and your graduate degree if you have one.
If you have a college degree, you don’t need to list your high school education. But if you still work in the same location as where you went to high school, I would go ahead and list it. If you grew up in San Diego and you went to high school here and you still do business here, people are interested in which high school you went to. And so why not list it? If you didn’t go to college, go ahead and list your high school education and any other designations that you have. And so that’s a great way to kind of fill out your education. If maybe you’re not exactly excited about not having a college degree, you can put your CFP or your other designations here.
And then the next step is to add your courses. So you can actually add the individual courses that you took in college and specific continuing education courses. So this is a great way to fill out your experience and your credentials. So this is actually from my profile. I went to the Rady School of Management at UCSD. Normally I wouldn’t list too many of these courses except that I took Modern Portfolio Theory from Dr. Harry Markowitz who obviously won the Nobel Prize for Modern Portfolio Theory. So I like to list that on my profile and I have a couple of pictures with Harry Markowitz that I’m very proud of.
And so, if there’s any courses that you really loved or that you were really interested in, go ahead and list them here. It just gives people an idea of what you studied during your education. And then I went to undergraduate at UC Davis and I loved all of my tax incentive classes, were always really interested or interesting to me. And so I listed that as one of the fields of study that I was particularly passionate about at UC Davis. And so go ahead and list the different courses you took and once in awhile it brings up a conversation.
Then the next section that’s really important for advisors is your certification section. And so there’s research that shows that prospects really do care about certifications of financial advisors. Unfortunately, there’s so much alphabet soup that goes on in our industry that the average consumer doesn’t understand the difference between a CFP, an AIF, a CFA, a CRPS. All of these different designations are confusing to them. So they do want to see that you have some letters behind your name, but they don’t necessarily distinguish between which certification you have. And so I would definitely add your certifications here. If you don’t already add them behind your name on your profile, I would add at least one. It gets a little redundant when you add MBA, CFP, AIF. Pick the one that you’re most proud of and use that behind your name. And then list the rest of the certifications here. And so you can link to the American College of Financial Services or wherever you got your specific certification and that will show up their logo. And then you can put in the dates and the specific certification that you achieved.
And then organizations is the next section. And so this is not volunteer organizations, this is business organizations, things like the Rotary Club, Toastmaster’s, Community civic organizations. Skip the volunteer info here because we’re going to put your volunteer and fill in the volunteering section. So a lot of questions that I get about organizations is what about religion and politics? What if you’re really active in a political organization or what if you spend a lot of time at your church, will that turn off people? And I really recommend as long as you’re comfortable listing religious and political organizations, because if you think about most of your clients and prospects that you meet through those endeavors are going to be really excited that you’re involved. And it typically tends not to turn off people.
If you’re not comfortable and you know that some of your clients are really politically different than other groups of your clients and you want to stay out of it, of course, stay out of it. But if you’re comfortable, I have a lot of advisors who get a lot of new business because they embrace faith-based financial planning or they really embrace their involvement in their church or their involvement in a political organization. So I say go for it if it’s an aspect of your personality that you spend a lot of time on and you’re proud of and that you want to share with people.
So the next section is the volunteer section. And so everything, every organization that you volunteer with, you’re going to want to list here. Don’t worry if you’re not active, you can add dates. And so, if you’ve volunteered a few years ago, but you’ve gotten so busy that you’re not currently volunteering, still list it in this section because it’s just a great addition on your profile. And so you can put in basically your role as a volunteer, the organization, and the years or the dates that you volunteered and then the cause. So this advisor works with children and so you can also put in a little bit of information about the specific organization. So he teaches youth archery for children and it’s free for the children. And so that’s kind of a cool thing to put on your profile and people can get to know you and your interests a little better that way.
And then at the end of the volunteer section, you can also add in the causes that you’re interested in. I’m really into animal rescue. I’ve rescued a couple of horses and many, many dogs. And so I’m interested in animal welfare and usually animal people kind of stick together. So I put that on my profile. But if there’s anything that you’re passionate about, add it to the causes that you care about. And it’s just another nice way for people to connect with you.
Of course, you want to add your languages. This may seem like a no-brainer and a lot of people I see leave this blank because we figure everybody speaks English, but you want to actually add English because people can search for a financial advisor and you have to put in a language that they speak. And so if you don’t add any languages it can hurt your search results. So definitely put it in any languages that you speak. Don’t skip this section. Make sure to fill it out. If you only speak English, go ahead and put it here.
Publications, so what this means is any publications that you’ve actually published. So books, research reports, things like that, you’re going to want to list here. So this is from my profile, the LinkedIn Guide for Financial Advisors, which is available on Amazon and I have the publication date there and then some information about the publication. So a lot of advisors I know have written or coauthored books on financial planning or retirement planning. Here, in the publication section is where you want to put those, especially if you’ve done any research or published any reports. You’ll just want to add as many as you can here.
And then last but not least, we want to add your interests and your personal info. And so here you can see this person’s interested in investing, cycling, skiing, scuba diving, and these are all links so people can click on those and see other people who are interested in the same thing. And during their search they can actually search for a financial advisor who’s interested in cycling. And so it’s great to list as many interests as you have because they can help people during the search and it just gives a little color to your profile. Also, you can add your personal details if you’re comfortable. I recommend just adding your birthday and your marital status if you’re comfortable. It’s not necessary, but a lot of people kind of like to learn more about you there.
And then this section is kind of interesting, so you may not know that there is a section about people you follow. And so these are influencers on LinkedIn who have a certain amount of people reading their content and following them. These are the people that I follow. So Richard Branson, Tony Robbins, people like this where you can follow them and that way you’ll see their updates in your newsfeed. And more importantly, it shows up on your profile who you follow. So follow some key influencers from our industry. Maybe some financial planning people, investment people just because this section shows up on your profile and you want to have some of the people that you follow so that people can understand what you’re interested in and where you get your news. And so this is the following section. So to find people to follow, you can just search in the search bar. I recommend starting with maybe your favorite economist. And then from there it will suggest other people who are related to that person that you can follow.
And then the very last section that I want you to fill out is advice for contacting you. And this is actually in the interests and personal information section. And here’s a little trick. Even though your contact information is listed in the contact info section of your profile, this is a great way that’s listed farther down your profile for people to get in touch with you. So add a little blurb that says, “Tom only takes on new clients he believes he can help and enjoys meeting new people to understand their unique goals and challenges. To get a second opinion on your financial plan or to meet to discuss how XYZ Capital Management team may be able to help your family, call our office.” And see, you can put your email address, your website here, basically encouraging people that you’re taking on new clients and that they can get in touch with their questions.
So the next step, once you’ve filled out all the sections of your profile is to get a custom URL. So what this is, is instead of going to your profile at linkedin.com/123456 it’s your own customized link. And so it’ll be linkedin.com/claireakin. And so it’s free. It’s just another one of those polishes on your profile that make people understand that you’re a LinkedIn pro. And so you can see mine is linkedin.com/claireakin and I’ll show you how to get your custom URL here.
So first go to your profile and next to view profile right underneath, there’s a little gear button next to your current URL. So just click on that gear button and it will take you to the next section, which is underneath where you can edit your public profile URL. And so it says, “Enhance your personal brand by creating a custom URL for your LinkedIn public profile.” So you click the little pencil icon that’s right next to your URL and then you can put in your name or your firm’s name. If you have a very common name, it may already be taken, so you may need to be creative, but try your name or your firm’s name or John Smith CFP and claim your custom URL. And then that’s where your profile will currently reside. So you can share that link and it’s easier to share a link with your name in it than a link that has a bunch of letters and numbers. So, that’s kind of the goal there.
So next I want you to add multimedia content to your summary. And so this is so cool. It just came out a couple of years ago, but it’s such a nice way to make your summary more interesting. And so you can add videos, slideshows, documents, your websites, brochures, white papers, infographics. You can add all of this right to your summary so people can read your 2000 character summary and then watch a video or download your white paper or look at a report. And so everything that you have compliance approved on your website that’s an asset, I want you to add to your summary here. And it’s just important to keep in mind this doesn’t count against the character count of your summary. So of course, you have to stay within 2000 characters.
But then on top of that, you can add all of this information so someone can read your story and then watch a video about you. So it’s a great way to make your summary much more interesting. And so the way to do that is, when you go to edit your profile, there’s a little button on your summary that looks like a plus sign and you can enter your video, upload your file presentation, anything like that. Just make sure it’s compliance approved.
And then the last step here is just to reorder your profile. So a lot of people don’t know, but your profile is basically set up to default. Have your summary first and things like your education kind of lower at the bottom, but you can change the order of all of the sections within your profile. Since, what I really care about when people come to my profile is I want them to read my book, I put my publication as the very top thing. And so if you’ve written a book, you may want to do that as well. So this blue button right next to add a publication, the up and down arrow, that’s how you reorder all of the individual sections of your profile. So for an average advisor, I would recommend having your summary, then your education, then your certifications, then your experience and then your volunteer, et cetera. But if there’s any of these sections that you’re really proud of, your volunteering or you’re really proud of your certifications, you can move those up to the top of your profile.
And then finally, the most important thing is to adjust your privacy settings. And so this is LinkedIn. It is not the Witness Protection Program. So many advisors try to keep their profiles hidden. That’s not what you want to do. This is public advertisement to let everybody out there in the professional world understand who you are, who you serve, and how you can help. So go ahead and make your public profile visible to everybody and make all of the sections visible to everybody. And so with the exception of recommendations and endorsements, don’t make those public. We’ll talk about that more in the compliance section, but make your public profile visible to everybody. And then click save on your privacy settings.
And then be sure to update your profile regularly. So anytime you get a new logo, a new photo, a new job, you publish a new book or publication, you earn a certification, you get a promotion or a new set of credentials, make sure you update your profile because you want to keep it as fresh, up-to-date and current as possible.
Now as promised, I want to give you a special discount code for the LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors. So today you learned a lot about supercharging your LinkedIn profile, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors teaches you everything you need to know to actually use LinkedIn to get new clients and to be a little bit more aggressive in your prospecting tactics on LinkedIn and even using LinkedIn ads to fill your sales funnel every single month so that you have new leads and new clients coming in each month as a result of your efforts. So the course is normally $248, but today only you’ll get 20% off for lifetime access at $198 using the code Indigo. And so you can click on the link below and check out LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors, enroll today. Let’s talk about what the course covers.
So first of all, we start with what is LinkedIn and why you need it. So we start with the very basic for advisors who may not have ever used LinkedIn before and are completely unfamiliar with what LinkedIn is and why they even need it. And along with the online self-study course videos, there’s also tons of downloadable resources, PDFs, worksheets, checklists so that you can follow along and make all the necessary changes to your profile and follow along with the steps so that you can actually successfully prospect on LinkedIn.
After that, we’ll talk about getting familiar with LinkedIn and so we’ll go through all of the most important parts of your dashboard, LinkedIn groups, LinkedIn messages, how you can use the search features. And so that’s really helpful if you’re not really familiar with LinkedIn to get you up to speed.
Then we’ll talk about how to get started on your LinkedIn profile. So how to write a great headline with examples from top advisors, how to write a compelling LinkedIn summary and we’ll actually give you summary text templates that you can download and edit to write your own LinkedIn summary.
Then we’ll talk about how to get a great headshot and background image and I actually give away free bonus background images so that you don’t have to create your own.
And then we’re going to talk about compliance. Of course, compliance is really important and I want to make sure that you have everything that you need for compliance to make sure that your profile and the practices that you’re using on LinkedIn are compliant.
Then we’ll talk about connecting with your network. So I’ll give you step-by-step instructions for how to double your network, how to upload your contacts and your email addresses from your CRM system or any other email system that you have so that you connect with everybody that you know on LinkedIn. This is important because that way people will see your updates on LinkedIn, and more importantly you can see who they know on LinkedIn and who you may want to be introduced to.
Then we’ll get into really where the rubber meets the road. So prospecting on LinkedIn, how top advisors actually use LinkedIn to identify who they want to meet and start a conversation. So we’ll talk about following up with new connection requests and we’ll give you some sample messages for how to reach out to new connections, people that you don’t already know but that you would like to know. We’ll talk about reaching out to referral partners. So making sure that every real estate agent, CPA, estate planning attorney in your location knows exactly who you are and how you help your clients so that when they meet somebody who needs your help, it’s a no-brainer and you’re top of mind for them to refer you business. And then we’ll offer a worksheet for identifying your ideal prospects. And that’s really important if you haven’t completed the process before to make sure that you know exactly who you’re trying to target.
And then we’ll talk about creating your own specific LinkedIn marketing campaign. So in this section I’ll show you examples of how advisors create a LinkedIn marketing campaign, use content as bait, share it with qualified prospects, start the conversation and actually set appointments using LinkedIn. So this is a really powerful section. And we’ll give you a bonus resource to create your own LinkedIn ad, so you can actually use LinkedIn to target people who work for a specific employer or people in a certain profession in your area to make sure that they’re aware of you and to add them to your LinkedIn marketing funnel.
And so, like I said, it’s normally $248, today only, you’ll save 20%. So you can get started now with the code Indigo. And let’s talk about some frequently asked questions in case you have questions. So the course is designed to be completed in five days at one hour per day. Or if you only want to study for 30 minutes a day, it’ll take you 10 days to complete. Either way, at the end of one or two weeks, you’ll know everything that you need to know to get new clients on LinkedIn and it really will change your business forever. You’ll have access to the course for your lifetime. So you don’t have to worry about losing access to the course. You’ll have unlimited access across any and all devices you own. You can download and print any of the course resources at any time.
If you’re not happy for whatever reason, you can refund the course within 30 days with no questions asked. And what if you’re not tech savvy? So a lot of the advisors that I meet aren’t really tech savvy, but the course is designed for the most technology-challenged financial advisor. That’s where we start at the beginning, at the very basics. So even if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile and you’re not sure how to use LinkedIn, we’ll teach you everything you know to get started. And of course we’ll cover everything important about compliance. Compliance is really important, so we want to make sure that your profile and your practices are up to date.
So enroll today, go to indigomarketingagency.com, use code Indigo to get started now on the LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors. Thanks so much for watching and have a great rest of your day.
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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.
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 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 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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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!
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.