To avoid cold calling: do it online – get a website or a blog and do your advising online – practice on yahoo answers and let people come to you….

To avoid building a client base from ground up? Use family & friends as clients first…word of mouth always works!

This is a very good question.

I work with a few fin. advisors on their marketing and here is what I have found. Cold calling is not effective. You can make 4,000 calls and get 0 response from it. I work with them on alternative methods of marketing that are much more effective, but relatively expensive, so for someone starting out they are probably not ideal either.

So what can work? Networking and referrals. Join a couple networking groups and get people you know to help you build your circle of prospects. Done right this can be very powerful.

you could buy existing clientele from a retiring advisor. Contact advisors in your area and see if you can shadow them or assist them and then their clients will become familiar with you if you take over.