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.

 

FA reticence to TV appearances could be traced to advisors whose affiliations with broker-dealers often restrict what they can say on air. That's one reason Joe Anthony, president of financial services for Gregory FCA, focuses on independent RIAs and independent FAs. “It's just easier for an FA who is part of an independent shop to go on cable shows,” says Anthony, a veteran of 13 years directing the media area for Gregory FCA. “There's very little chance a Merrill Lynch would allow an FA to do a spot without pre-approvals.”

TV or cable guests are not compensated in money, directly or through their agencies, unless they become an exclusive contributor to a show and are offered a contract. The reward is in the opportunity to show prospective clients what you know and how you think.

To get noticed for TV appearances, advisors should first develop a professional web presence to maximize their exposure, says Anthony. Gregory FCA will help clients keep their content fresh with stories of how they've helped clients. Advisors can get a template-based site for a few hundred dollars, or pay $7,000 to $10,000 to customize one. Whole branding can cost as much as $60,000.

Of course not every FA or new RIA firm can afford an agency. Some effectively use social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter to spread their business names and raise their profiles. Kessler, who doesn't use an agency, says letters to the editor and opinion pieces in magazines, newspapers and online comment areas are more free outlets where an advisor’s name and expertise can get known.

He suggests that advisors call writers directly. Let friends and relatives know that you're looking for contacts in TV and cable studios. And, send ideas straight to studio producers, whose names can be found in credits and online. He urges advisors to stay persistent. When finally meeting a producer whom Kessler had e-mailed repeatedly with no reply, he apologized to her. “She just said, 'That's OK. Keep stalking!'”  

“The cost to benefit [of appearing on air] is almost impossible to track, in my opinion,” says Joe Heider, president of Cleveland-based Cirrus Wealth Management, who also uses Gregory FCA. Heider compares the cost to his investment in a law degree, which he completed while operating his advisory practice. His spots include CNBC's Closing Bell and others. “I've been quoted multiple times in USA Today and Crain's Business in Cleveland. It builds credibility the same way.”

Heider competes against large banks and wirehouses. After winning a client, which has $40 million with Cirrus now, Heider asked them why. “'It was a difficult choice,'” he recalls the client said. But out of the other contenders, the client continued, "No one else was quoted in national publications or on TV. So there must be something you do that sets you apart."

Says Heider, “It evens the playing field when competing. That's the bottom line.”