Episode summary
The Power of Video in Financial Marketing with Taylor Schulte
Model Fa Podcast
· · 40 min · Hosts: David DeCelle · Guests: Taylor Schulte
Summary
Taylor Schulte described an unplanned path into financial advising, starting at Morgan Stanley in 2007 and eventually leaving to launch Define Financial in 2014 so he could build the business his own way. He said the early years gave him valuable sales training and relational grit, even as compliance constraints frustrated him and pushed him toward independence.
He argued that focus came only after a period of experimentation and distraction. The turning point was defining a specific client niche, transitioning out clients who no longer fit, and then building a simple funnel around one top-of-funnel activity, one middle-of-funnel activity, and a clear sales process. For him, the Stay Wealthy Retirement Show became the core middle-of-funnel channel, but he said conversion only improved once he clearly told listeners he was a financial adviser with capacity for new clients.
Schulte also explained why he added YouTube without pulling in his existing audience. He wants YouTube to find a cold audience organically, while the podcast serves a warm audience that already trusts him. He emphasized that video is a separate funnel, takes time to compound, and should be judged on long-term trajectory rather than immediate client conversions.
Key takeaways
- Schulte said his Morgan Stanley years taught him sales, persistence, and how to work with compliance constraints before he built Define Financial.
- He moved to a narrower niche by transitioning out non-fit clients and focusing on higher-net-worth retirees with tax problems in retirement.
- He said the podcast works as a warm middle-of-funnel asset, but it only started converting when he made his advisory status and capacity explicit.
- Schulte treats YouTube as a separate cold-audience funnel and expects it to take years, not months, to generate consistent client flow.
- He warned advisers not to expect immediate clients from podcasting or YouTube; he said those channels are for authority and trust first.
Notable quotes
“I stumbled my way into this industry. I didn't really know what a financial adviser was”
“I started to think about marketing in terms of a really simple marketing funnel to have just like one single top off ofunnel marketing activity, one single middle- of the funnel marketing activity, and a great sales process”
“I went through a process of transitioning clients out of the firm who were no longer a fit”
“YouTube is completely a cold audience. This video could get 200,000 views. It could get a million views, but these million people have no idea who I am”
How the episode opens
What's up, Model FAS? David Del here, CEO of Model FA and your host of the Model FA podcast. And we are joined here today by someone that you most likely have already heard of, uh, Taylor Shelty.
Um, and as you know, he's a CFP. Uh he is the founder of Define Financial which is a fee onlyly retirement planning firm headquartered in beautiful San Diego, California uh with over 300 million in assets under management and he's also the co-founder of uh the AGC which is a private online community uh with over 180 advisor members co-host of uh Kits Summits and also the host of the Stay Wealthy Retirement Show which is an Apple top 100 business podcast. With that said, Taylor, long time coming.
Welcome to the show.
David, thanks for having me. Thanks for the kind introduction.
Well, let's uh let's dive right in. So, um I've I've come to know you uh frankly uh through your content. Um, and uh, you've become uh, at least in my eyes, but I think in other people's eyes as well, uh, well known uh, in the industry uh, as uh, someone that that holds a good amount of influence.
Um, and we'll talk about content a little bit later on. Uh, but you didn't step foot in the industry to start and automatically have influence. Uh, you had to sort of prove yourself first.
Um, so I'm curious, how did you get into the industry? uh and kind of walk us through a journey uh from then until now.
Yeah, I'll give you the the cliff notes. You let me know if you want to dive in deeper. Like a lot of the the young folks I talk to today, I stumbled my way into this industry.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- financial marketing video
- content creation
- podcasting and youtube strategy
- client acquisition funnel
- audience engagement metrics
Companies and tickers mentioned
- MS
- Morgan Stanley
- Define Financial
- WealthTender
Watch the episode
Watch “The Power of Video in Financial Marketing with Taylor Schulte” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Model Fa Podcast, this episode and its artwork belong to David DeCelle. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
