Perhaps you caught United Capital's CEO Joe Duran on CNBC's Squawk Box or on Dylan Ratigan's shows for MSNBC, or Susan Fulton, an RIA and president of FBB Capital Partners, swapping financial views with CNBC's Rick Santelli. Some advisory firm members are today's media stars. But why aren't more on TV and cable?

Randy Kessler of Kessler and Solomiany Family Law Attorneys, in Atlanta, says many advisors just haven't found a way to break in. Judging by observations made during his own impressive folio of media appearances, ranging from Dr. Phil and Nancy Grace to CNBC, The Today Show and Bloomberg, Kessler has found FAs are sorely underexposed.

He tells his advisor friends how they should be ready for TV appearances: “Have a sound bite ready to go”; memorize them since “there won't be teleprompters for you”; “You'll have to do your own makeup”; and, “Make the producer's life easier” by supplying questions to which you have the answers. Advisors can make their own opportunities by analyzing how their practice experience transfers to hot news topics. When Kate and William's royal wedding captured audiences, this divorce lawyer noted: “Prenuptial agreements aren't legal in England.”
 
“Randy is a marketing genius,” says Rob Tamburri, a tax expert and advisor also based in Atlanta, who was drafted to be the public face of the wealth management firm GV Financial Advisors when he was both its CIO and CFO. “To elevate their name in the southeast market and grow the business, the owners brought in Gregory FCA, a PR firm in Ardmore, Pa.,” says Tamburri.

It was 2006 when real estate was booming. At his interview with the PR team, Tamburri took a contrary view. Drawing from his knowledge of the Florida swampland bubble of the 1920s, he told the PR screeners, “the [Florida] property market didn't recover until the late ’50s and early ’70s.” The next day, Bloomberg's teaser was “Rob Tamburri predicts hard landing in real estate.” Gregory FCA also booked him on several CNBC shows, including Power Lunch, which invited him back.

Self-knowledge is important. “It's very hard to rattle my cage. I'm very flexible and in tune with enough current events to handle any conversation on pretty much any map,” he says. “I also would call the day before with topics, but there was only a 50 percent chance [they] would come up rather than the issues of that day.” He also sensed that being “very opinionated and to the point,” was a plus. He feels, “There was no depth to the commentary. Everyone's overly careful about what they state.” Tamburri now has his own firm, The Balog+Tamburri CPAs in Jacksonville, Fla.

First « 1 2 » Next