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ChalantProduction agency since 2014Films and photos for Amazon, Walmart, and ESPN

For independent RIA owners with no marketing hire

Marketing you don't have to do yourself.

We run marketing for independent RIAs so your firm is easy to find, easy to trust, and easy to refer. Your homepage, your reviews, your profiles, and how referrals reach you. In your voice. Nothing goes out without your yes.

  • Prices on this page
  • No setup fee
  • Month-to-month after 90 days

About two hours a month of your time. One call, plus your approvals.

Get my free teardown

The problem

Referrals still work. They just check first.

Most new clients still start with a referral. Then they look you up.

They read your homepage. They check Google. More and more, they ask ChatGPT.

If what they find is generic, the referral goes quiet. Nobody tells you.

Meanwhile, distributions keep going out the door, every year.

3.1% to 3.7%

True organic growth at the typical advisory firm, against a 10% target.

Ensemble Practice, 2025

4% vs 11%

Client growth from referrals at practices 10+ years old, versus under 5 years.

Kitces Research, 2026

2% to 5%

Of assets that leave each year through retiree distributions.

Cerulli Associates, 2026

68%

Of the real cost of advisor marketing is the advisor's own hours.

Kitces Research, 2026

What you've tried

Different from what you've tried.

What you triedWhat usually happensWhat we do instead
Lead services Shared prospects, a monthly bill, and you're the fifth call. We don't sell leads. We fix what referrals and searches find.
Content libraries The same article as hundreds of other firms. We interview you. Your stories, in your words.
Agencies A nice site, an annual contract, then quiet. Prices on the page. Month-to-month after 90 days. A report every month.
Stock photos Sailboats, handshakes, and a couple on a beach. Real photos and film of you, your team, and your office.
Doing it yourself Friday afternoons and 9 p.m. drafts. About two hours a month: one call and your approvals.

How the Referable Firm Program works

Ninety days to build. Then we keep it running.

  1. Week 1

    We read your Form ADV. Then we interview you.

    One 60-minute conversation. Who you serve, how you work, and the clients you'd like more of. Everything we write starts here.

  2. Weeks 2 to 4

    We fix where referrals land.

    Your homepage says who you serve in the first screen. Your Google Business Profile and directory profiles get cleaned up and made consistent.

  3. Month 2

    We start your reviews program.

    Every client gets the same simple ask. Disclosures are written in. Your CCO signs off on the program once.

  4. Month 3

    We check what search and AI say.

    Screenshots of what Google and ChatGPT return for an advisor like you, in your city. Then the fixes. Partner firms get their shoot day here.

Month four onward

One call a month, your approvals, and a one-page report: inquiries by source, reviews, profiles, and AI mentions. Search takes six to twelve months to move, so we show you the numbers on the way. If nothing is moving by month four, cancel with one email.

Start with the free teardown See pricing

Real photos and film

Your clients chose you, not a sailboat.

Most advisor websites run the same stock photos. Chalant has made films and photos since 2014, for Amazon, Walmart, and ESPN.

On the Partner plan, a small crew comes to your office for a half day each year. You get:

  • Portraits of you and your team
  • Photos of your office and how you work
  • A 60 to 90 second film of you explaining who you serve
  • Short cuts for your homepage, profiles, and emails

68% of advisors recorded no videos last year. Most said they had no time or didn't know what to say (Oechsli Institute, 2025). We bring the crew and the questions. Every frame goes through your review, like everything else.

Restaurant owner at the pass while a chef works behind him, from a Chalant photo shoot A woman sitting quietly on gym equipment, a still from a Chalant film A grandmother sends her grandson off on his bike with food containers, from a Chalant campaign
Stills from recent Chalant shoots. Your shoot will look like your firm.

Compliance

Built for your CCO's review.

Nothing goes out without a written yes.

From you, or from your compliance reviewer. No exceptions, no “we assumed.”

Every piece comes as a review packet.

The final copy, where each fact came from, the disclosures we suggest, and a note on what changed.

Your archive captures everything.

We publish through your own accounts. You get a monthly export for your books and records.

Reviews, done by the rule.

Same ask for every client. No incentives, no editing, disclosures inline. State-registered? We check your state first.

No claims we can't back up.

No performance figures, no projections, no “best” or “top.” We write what can be shown.

We don't need client data.

We work from interviews and public information. We never ask for client records.

We don't call our work “compliant.” That's your CCO's call. Our job is to make the review short.

Pricing: the Referable Firm Program

Three plans. Prices on the page.

Foundation

$2,000 a month

Be easy to find and easy to trust. Usually $100M to $200M, one advisor.

  • Form ADV read and a 60-minute positioning interview
  • Homepage rewrite: who you serve, fees, and minimums, in the first screen
  • Google Business Profile and directory profiles, kept current
  • Reviews program, shown on your own site, with a one-page policy for your CCO
  • "How did you find us?" tracking on your contact form
  • Quarterly check of what Google and ChatGPT say about you
  • One client email a month, in your voice
  • One-page monthly report: inquiries by source, reviews, profiles, AI mentions
Start with the free teardown

Best fit for most firms

Growth

$3,500 a month

Add the referral side. Usually $200M to $500M, two to four advisors.

  • Everything in Foundation
  • Pages for the clients you focus on, plus local search work
  • Two articles a month built around your niche
  • A referral kit: client touch calendar, thank-you notes, and wording that welcomes referrals
  • One-pagers for the CPAs and attorneys who refer to you
  • First-meeting agenda, follow-up templates, and close-rate tracking
  • A quarterly planning call
Start with the free teardown

Includes a shoot day

Partner

$6,000 a month

For larger or multi-advisor firms, or a firm bringing up its next advisor.

  • Everything in Growth
  • A half-day shoot each year: portraits, office photos, and a short film
  • Profiles and bios for each advisor, including your next one
  • Materials for client events and CPA or attorney lunches
  • A monthly planning call instead of quarterly
  • Your work goes to the front of the line
Talk to McClain

Not ready for a monthly plan?

Start with a Visibility Review. $750, one time.

A deeper look than the free teardown, and a plan you can use with or without us.

  • Your website and profiles, read the way a referred prospect reads them
  • What Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity say about you, next to three local firms
  • A plain list of anything your CCO may want to look at
  • A ranked fix list, with the effort and cost of each
  • A 30-minute walkthrough with McClain

Delivered within seven business days. If you start a plan within 30 days, the full $750 comes off your first month.

Book a Visibility Review
  • No setup fee
  • 90 days to start, then month-to-month
  • Cancel with one email
  • You own your site, accounts, and files
  • One firm per city and niche
  • Shoot travel quoted up front

Five or more advisors? We'll quote it after a short call.

Not included, on purpose: paid ads, lead lists, per-lead fees, cold calling, and return or projection figures.

Fit

Who this is for, and who it isn't.

A good fit if

  • You own an independent RIA, roughly $100M to $500M.
  • You have 2 to 10 people, and nobody's job is marketing.
  • Most clients came from referrals, and fewer come now.
  • You've tried a lead service or content library and want something different.

Not a fit if

  • Your broker-dealer pre-approves your marketing. We're not set up for those review queues yet.
  • You're in the middle of selling the firm.
  • Referrals are working and you're happy with your book. You may not need us, and that's fine.

Why we built this

A note from McClain.

Independent advisors do some of the most personal work there is. Then the marketing lands on their desk at 9 p.m.

I've run Chalant since 2014. We make films and photos for brands like Amazon, Walmart, and ESPN. The lesson from all of it is simple: people trust what feels real and specific.

Most advisor marketing is neither. Stock photos, borrowed articles, and promises about leads. Read any advisor forum and you'll see the same story. It cost money and time, and it didn't sound like them.

So we built something smaller. A few people who learn your firm, write in your voice, and let you approve every word. Prices on the page. A report every month.

We won't show you numbers we don't have. We'll show you ours, every month.

McClain McKinneyFounder, Chalant

FAQ

Fair questions.

What's in the free teardown?

A short PDF with two parts. First, your homepage read the way a stranger reads it: is it clear who you serve, what you do, and why you? Second, screenshots of what Google and ChatGPT return when someone asks for an advisor like you in your city. We add the three fixes we'd make first. It's yours to use, with or without us.

Which plan should I pick?

Most firms from $100M to $200M with one advisor start with Foundation. Firms from $200M to $500M with a few advisors usually fit Growth, because referrals and follow-up are where the next clients come from. Partner is for larger or multi-advisor firms, or a firm bringing up its next advisor. Not sure? The free teardown or the Visibility Review will tell you.

What's the difference between the free teardown and the $750 Visibility Review?

The free teardown is a short PDF: your homepage and an AI search check, with three fixes. The Visibility Review goes deeper. It covers your site and profiles, compares you with three local firms across Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, flags anything your CCO may want to look at, ranks every fix by effort and cost, and ends with a 30-minute walkthrough. Start a plan within 30 days and the $750 comes off your first month.

Will you work with a firm down the street?

No. We take one firm per city and niche, and we put that in writing.

How much of my time does this take?

About two hours a month: one call and your approvals. The first month takes a little more, for the 60-minute interview. If it takes more than that, we've designed it wrong.

Will it sound like me?

It starts with interviews, not templates. We use your stories and your words. You read every piece before it goes anywhere.

Can I really use reviews and testimonials?

For SEC-registered advisers, the Marketing Rule has allowed them since November 2022, with disclosures. Only about 1 in 10 firms shows any public reviews today. For state-registered firms it depends on the state, so we check first. Your CCO approves the program before anyone is asked.

Is this written by AI?

We use AI for first drafts, formatting, and research. A person interviews you, writes the stories, checks every fact, and logs it. You approve the final word.

Do you guarantee new clients?

No. No one honest can, and your CCO wouldn't want us to say it. We promise the work, on schedule, and a monthly report of what moved. If nothing is moving by month four, cancel with one email.

My clients come from referrals. Why would I need this?

Referrals still matter most. But most referred prospects look you up before they call. We make sure what they find matches the advice they heard about.

Why not hire a part-time marketer?

If you can find and manage a good one, that can work well. This is for firms that would rather not hire, train, and manage another person.

Do you work with advisors at a broker-dealer?

Not yet. Home-office review queues don't fit how we work today. We'll say so when that changes. The free teardown is still yours if you want it.

Where are you based?

Orlando, Florida. The monthly work is remote. For shoot days, we come to your office.

See your firm the way a referral does.

Get the free teardown: your homepage, read by a stranger, plus what Google and ChatGPT say about you. A PDF in your inbox within five business days.

Get my free teardown Book 15 minutes with McClain

Or email McClain directly: mcclain@chalant.us

we care, a lot.