Jack's Journal (8/29)

^{Weekly Trivia}

Source: Sprout Social, TikTok & Instagram

^{Marketplaces are kinda brutal}

I don’t think people recognize that we run two businesses simultaneously. At least that’s what it feels like when you operate a marketplace like ours.

So we got supply & demand…meaning we run one business for the supply side and another biz for the demand. For us that means attracting awesome financial advisors (supply) and those who want one (demand).

Simple, right? F*ck no.

We’re just going to focus on the demand side today, so “stay tuned till next week” to discuss the financial advisor & supply side.

Marketplace Demand

Many people don’t realize this, but Habits LLC was created on my birthday years ago. I began helping so many people find an advisor, I sorta felt compelled to get compensated for it.

But back in those days it was just word of mouth.

I blinked and had helped hundreds. It was a clunky and awkward process. Back in those days the business ran off of google sheets, email introductions, venmo’s & Chase quickpay’s.

The referrals were great, but inconsistent and uncertain.

So… I turned to social media.

Go-To-Market Strategy

Fast forward today, and I average about 2,000,000+ views per month across Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and this blog.

Insane. It literally blows my mind.

Think about it, what’s the average size of an NFL stadium? Maybe 70,000 seats? Now picture an entire stadium with all eyes on you. And just remember, that audience only represents <4% of the total eyes on you (per month).

But let me be clear that we did not start here…

It Was So Cringe

I joined TikTok in August ‘23.

And it was as awful as you might think. I’d spend 2hrs putting a video together that would get 670 views or even worse, I’d put together a video and be so nervous I wouldn’t even post it.

I mean it’s embarrassing sh*t. The world does not reward people for trying or experimenting. And in front of your friends & family!?

But people do value authenticity…

So I started to share stories about the JPM days. And they took off. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of views, dozens of DMs, and so I just rode the momentum.

@jack_boudreau_

Replying to @Justin just a good ole conference room breakdown #wallstreet #banking #nyc #investmentbanking #wealthmanagement #assetmanagem... See more

Instead of focusing on likes, comments, & impressions, I just shared what I wanted. And had fun with it.

Don’t get me wrong they still took HOURS to put together.

But we noticed that the content itself didn’t matter. It was all about the authenticity, relatability, and enthusiasm behind it all.

I went from funny analyst stories, to breaking into banking, to career advice, to sales advice, to personal finance advice, to life advice, and then I blinked and we had 20,000+ followers.

People began to stop me in public, not like they were wanting an autograph or a photo, but just acknowledging the content.

Wild.

Our Demand-Side Biz

So…the demand side of our business is essentially a personal financial media company. We got my TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn pages, and this blog.

The demand side goal is not to convince people to have a financial advisor, but just to spread awareness that if you do want one, then you should come to Habits.

And bear in mind, in this blog I didn’t even go into customer experience, feedback loops, our mobile application, website, CRM system, operations, onboarding, product roadmap, new feature launches, and so many other critical parts of the demand side.

See how it can get stressful pretty quick?

Don’t worry, we’ll go through all the above in the months to come. In the meantime, stay tuned for supply-side biz next week.

^{Find Your Financial Advisor}

If you’re somebody on the sidelines or are not sure if a financial advisor makes sense for you or your family, just shoot me an email at [email protected].

Or… visit our website and book time with us!

Thanks for reading, Habits fam. See you back here next week for more.

-JB