Steve Martin, CFP® and CPA®, is the Wealth Planning Advisor of Oasis Wealth Planning, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Martin provided me with insight into his background, the Oasis Wealth Planning firm, and the process of building his website with Twenty Over Ten.
How did you get interested in becoming a financial planner?
As an undergrad, I majored in both finance and accounting and took a few tax and estate planning courses as part of the curriculum. I was fascinated with all of the subjects and how they were all tied together and relevant for families. (Also, it may have started when my dad convinced me to start an IRA and prepare my own taxes before I could even drive!).
What do you enjoy most about your profession? 
I really enjoy the uniqueness of my clients. While I am certainly passionate about all of planning’s substantive issues, those issues really come alive when I apply them to my clients and their variety of moving pieces, goals, and concerns.
What do you find is the most challenging part of your profession?
A part that continues to be a challenge – but also fun – is understanding each clients’ personality and determining how to communicate with each client, realizing that I may have to shelve my inner-analytical demons at certain points. (Compliance is the real answer.)
How do you stay up to date on the latest industry information and trends?
I’ve been blessed to be a part of The Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP), an alliance of 150+ fee-only financial planners located throughout the United States. The amount of experience, passion for planning, and forward-thinking entrepreneurial skills they bring to the table have saved me a significant amount of time and continues to help shape my practice through a variety of learning options (conferences, training, webinars, message board, phone calls with peers, etc.).
We love working with ACP Members – such a great group! What’s your favorite thing about working and serving clients in Middle Tennessee?
The Nashville and Middle Tennessee area is booming right now and has a lot of positive energy. The client base is a good mix of native Tennesseans and folks from every other region of the country. Natives have established such a strong reputation of being genuinely nice and positive, and everyone moving in seems to go with that flow.
What drove you to want to update your site?
This was my first website with my new firm. I needed something fresh and on top of today’s current technology. As a start-up, I realized my website was absolutely critical to communicate with future clients.
Why did you choose to work with Twenty Over Ten?
First, the appearance of their sample websites stood out. They were clean but seemed to be able to “jam” a lot of the most important information into the sites. Second, from reading Twenty Over Ten’s blog posts and reading about their process, I was confident that the process was going to be efficient while producing the results I needed. I wanted to get moving quickly and needed someone that understood the planning and advisory business.
Your website turned out great! How did you go about choosing your design and content?
As far as design, I was torn between about four different theme designs that Twenty Over Ten offered. I got some feedback from friends and family but ultimately it was the designer at Twenty Over Ten that provided valuable feedback to narrow it down to the ultimate one. I did spend quite a bit of time on content, pulling high level ideas from similar (and not-so-similar) practices.
And, again, the web designer at Twenty Over Ten was very consultative on some of the verbiage and how the content meshed with the design. I loved his willingness to bring ideas to the table without saying “this is how it has to be done”.
You dedicated a subpage on your site to Virtual Meetings. What made you decide to utilize this channel? Why do you think it’s so important to advertise this option to your clients and prospective clients?
If you want an idea (that may not be as common) to stand out, you really need more than a short blurb about it. Some prospects may be unaware of virtual meetings or even apprehensive of how they work so hopefully this page will provide some comfort. And, again, my Twenty Over Ten designer helped further refine where I wanted to go. There have been a few ACP members that have been successful with virtual meetings so I took their cue — it’s not just the millennials that are looking for an efficient way of working with experts.
I love your “Insights” subpage! It’s so engaging and informative. Tell me about your approach to blogging – when did you get started, what made you decide to include a blog, and how do you decide what to write about?
I really just wanted to get informative content out there to not only improve my website’s SEO but also to portray to prospects and clients the wide variety of issues that true financial planning can (and should) entail. I initially became interested in blogging during my consults with Geoff at Twenty Over Ten — it looked easy to implement, and I took it as a challenge to get up and running quickly (as they stressed that I should be active in posting new content on my website). I get ideas and even some content (legally) from third parties and try to mix up the time-relevant content with evergreen pieces.
What is your favorite feature of your site (imagery, calls to action, a specific page, etc.)?
I really liked the overall organization (as my clients and prospects have told me they like the flow) as well as the imagery that Twenty Over Ten put together. I thought it would be a big ordeal to decide on the images, but I liked what they did without any changes (except for one small picture that they quickly found a replacement for).
How would you describe the process of developing your new site and your experience working with Twenty Over Ten overall?
It was absolutely great working with Twenty Over Ten – it was efficient, consultative, and professional from the start to the “go live” stage (and continues to be today). I continue to be quite pleased with the responsiveness and ideas that I continue to receive from the group.
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