Marketing for independent RIAs, $100M to $500M Here from McClain’s email? This is Furlong.

Your referrals look you up before they call.

Furlong is a small studio that does the marketing an independent RIA never gets to: the homepage and Google profile a referral checks, your reviews, a letter to your clients every month, and the CPAs who send names. In your words, with a packet for your CCO on every piece.

Get the free teardown Or book 15 minutes with McClain

Prices on the page
No setup fee
Month to month after 90 days

McClain McKinney, founder. He has read your homepage before the call. 15 minutes, no slides.

Fig. 1 The referral. A name on the back of a card. Saturday, 7:40 p.m.

Twelve years of photo and film for Amazon, Walmart, ESPN and Hilton, through his production studio
Three plans, prices on the page
One firm per metro area and niche
Orlando, Florida

The problem

They get your name at dinner.
They search it that night.

Fig. 2 The lookup. 9:12 p.m., the same night.

Most new clients still come from a referral.³ Then they check. Your homepage, your Google profile, and more and more, what ChatGPT says when they ask for an advisor like you.

If what they find is thin, the referral goes quiet. Nobody tells you. You see fewer first meetings than last year and can’t point to why.

96%

People referred to an advisor who say they will research them online before making contact. Wealthtender survey of 500 households, 2025.¹

42% vs 4%

Clients who say they made a referral in 2026, versus the share of clients advisors report meeting a referral from. Absolute Engagement, 2026.²

What you’ve tried

You’ve probably paid for this once already.

Lead services

A monthly bill for shared names who don’t pick up the phone.

We don’t sell leads. We fix what a referral finds when they look you up.

Content libraries

The same article as a few thousand other firms, with your logo on it.

We interview you. Your stories, in your words, and nobody else gets them.

Agencies

A nice site, an annual contract, then silence.

Prices on the page. Month to month after 90 days. You own the domain, the copy and the list.

Stock photos

Sailboats, handshakes, a couple on a beach.

Photos of you, your team, and your office.

Doing it yourself

The client newsletter you meant to send in March.

About an hour a month from you: one voice memo and a weekly approval email.

What we do

Three things, every month.

Foundation does the first two. Growth and Partner add the third.

Found

When someone hears your name and searches, they find a homepage that says who you serve and what you charge, a Google profile with reviews, and the same story on the directories and AI tools they ask next. We check those every week.

Close

Your clients hear from you. A letter every month and a note within a day of a market drop on every plan. On Growth and Partner, a summary after review meetings and a handwritten card on birthdays, up to the monthly caps on the price cards. In your words, approved by you, sent from your own system.

Referred

Your clients, and the CPAs and attorneys in your town, get told plainly who you help and how to introduce you. In one 2026 survey, four in ten clients said they had made a referral, and advisors said they met referrals from about one in twenty-five.²

About an hour a month of your time
A packet for your CCO with every piece
You own all of it, and can leave after 90 days with a full export

The teardown

Here is what
a referral sees.

Every engagement starts the same way. We read your homepage the way a referred stranger does: at night, on a phone, asking one question. Is this the right person for us?

This is a composite firm. Most advisor homepages we read look a lot like it.

Who is this for?
Sailboat.
Fees? Not here.

Fig. 3 Sample teardown. Composite firm, not a client.

The client letter

Here is what
your clients get.

In week three, before your new homepage is even live, every client gets a letter from you. One page, in your words, built from a ten-minute voice memo and the month’s facts. Your CCO signs the packet first.

Invented firm, invented clients; the facts are made up to show the form. On Foundation the letter stays general, in two versions by client type. Household lines like Tom’s come from your own notes, on Growth and Partner.

Review packet

Piece: November client letter, version 2
Facts sourced: 4 of 4
Disclosures: 2 suggested, inline
Changed since v1: Cut one line about returns
Sign-off: Owner, then CCO

November 2026

Dear Margaret and Tom,

Two things this month.

First, the market had a rough week in October and the phone rang more than usual. The short version: your plan already assumed years like this one. The cash bucket exists for exactly this reason, and your withdrawal schedule stays as planned. If you want to walk through your own numbers, call Lisa and she’ll find a time.

Second, Tom turns 73 this year, so his first required minimum distribution is due. We can take it in 2026, or wait as late as April 1, 2027. Waiting pushes it into 2027, when the second one is also due by December 31, so two withdrawals would be taxed in the same year. We lean toward taking it this year, but it is your call. Tell Lisa by December 15 so the paperwork clears before the holidays.

One more thing. A few clients have asked whether I’m taking new clients. I am. The people I can help most are engineers within ten years of retiring. If someone comes to mind, I’m glad to talk with them, no obligation either way.

Dan

Dan Ashcombe, Ashcombe Financial Planning, Orlando

This letter speaks to your plan in general terms; your plan documents and account agreements govern. Ashcombe Financial Planning is a registered investment adviser. Our Form ADV is at adviserinfo.sec.gov or from Lisa on request.

Get yours free

Your homepage read by a stranger, plus a sample letter written for your firm. In your inbox within five business days.

Fig. 4 The mark. A furrow long: about 660 feet, one straight pass.

Why Furlong

A furlong is
a furrow long.

It’s the old measure of how far a team of oxen could plow before they rested and turned: one straight row, worked by hand, about an eighth of a mile.

That’s the job as we see it. One row at a time, kept straight, every month, season after season.

We aren’t responsible for the harvest. We are responsible for the planting.

No one can promise you new clients, and we will not. We promise the work, done on schedule, and a report every month that shows what came up.

How it works

Your clients hear from you in week three.
Your homepage follows in month two.

One interview to start, then about an hour a month: a voice memo and a weekly approval email. Nothing goes out until you say yes.

Week 1
We read your Form ADV. Then we interview you.
One 60-minute conversation: who you serve, how you talk, the clients you want more of. We pull your filings, reviews, local competitors and what AI says about you into one firm profile. If your website and your ADV disagree, you hear about it that week.
Weeks 2 to 4
Your first client letter goes out.
Your Google profile gets fixed. A market-drop letter sits ready, approved in advance. In week three, a letter in your words goes to every client from your own email system.
Months 2 and 3
Your homepage says who you serve in the first screen.
The new homepage goes live. Reviews start, with the same ask to every client and the disclosures written in. Then we check what Google and ChatGPT say about you, and fix what we control: your listings, your profiles, your site.
Month 3 on
Referrals get a path.
The CPAs and attorneys in your market, mapped, and introduced to you each quarter on Growth and up. We introduce you to the professional, never to their clients, and nobody is paid for a referral. Every month: one call, your approvals, and a one-page report of inquiries by source, reviews, letters sent, and the hours we saved you.

Fair warning

Search takes six to twelve months to move, so we show you the numbers along the way: inquiries by source, reviews, letters sent. If the scorecard is flat by month four, cancel with one email.

Get the free teardown See pricing

Compliance

Built for your CCO’s review.

Nothing goes out without a written yes.

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

Every piece comes as a review packet.

The final copy, where each fact came from, the disclosures we suggest, and what changed since the last version.

Your archive captures everything.

Letters go out from your own email system, and we publish through your own accounts. Each month you get an export for your books and records: final copy, every version, approvals with date and initials, and where each fact came from.

Reviews, done by the rule.

The same ask to every client, no incentives, no cherry-picking. On your own site, the disclosures sit next to each review. We do not select, edit or repost Google reviews; if you ever want to quote one, it becomes your advertisement and gets the disclosures first. For state-registered firms 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.

Client data stays where it is.

Foundation runs on public information and your memo. Growth and Partner read your CRM in place, under a data agreement your CCO sees before anything is connected.

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

Fig. 5 The sign-off. Initialed and dated before anything goes out.

A note from McClain

I’d rather show you the work.

I make photos and films, and have for twelve years, for Amazon, Walmart, ESPN and Hilton, out of Orlando. Furlong is a studio I started for one kind of client, the independent RIA.

Furlong is new. No advisor case study yet. I’d rather say that than dress it up.

Send me your website. I’ll read it the way a referral would, write the client letter your firm would send next month, and email both back to you. Free. Keep them either way.

Prices are on the page. If they fit, grab 15 minutes. I’ll have read your site before we talk.

McClain McKinney Founder, Furlong. Orlando, Florida.

Three plans

Prices on the page.
Pick by the size of your firm.

No client data on our systems

Foundation

$2,000a month

Found and Close, from public information and your memo. Usually $100M to $200M, one advisor.

Form ADV read, a 60-minute interview, and your firm profile
Homepage rewrite: who you serve, fees and minimums, in the first screen
Google Business Profile and directories, kept current
Reviews program on your own site, with a one-page policy for your CCO
What Google and ChatGPT say about you, checked every week
A client letter every month in your words, two versions by client type
A market-drop letter, ready within 24 hours
Year-end checklist for clients and a referral one-pager
A one-page scorecard every month and a planning call every quarter

Talk through Foundation

Best fit for most firms

Growth

$3,500a month

Adds Referred, and your CRM. Usually $200M to $500M, two to four advisors.

Everything in Foundation
Pages for the clients you focus on, local search work, and two niche articles a month
Review-meeting summaries sent to clients, up to 15 a month
Handwritten cards for birthdays and anniversaries, up to 30 a month. Real pen and ink, no gift cards.
A welcome packet for every new client
The CPAs and attorneys in your market, mapped, and three introductions a quarter made to you. Nobody is paid to refer.
First-meeting prep, follow-ups, and close-rate tracking
A half-year growth report, before and after
Reads your CRM in place, under a signed data agreement

Book 15 minutes about Growth

Includes a photo day

Partner

$6,000a month

For multi-advisor firms, or a firm bringing up its next advisor. Usually $350M and up.

Everything in Growth
Summaries up to 30 a month, cards up to 60 a month, including life events
A holiday card to every client, up to 250
A family and heir program. Only about a quarter of heirs say they would keep their parents’ advisor.⁴
Pages and bios for each advisor, including your next one
Materials for client events and for meetings with the CPAs and attorneys you know
A planning call every month, and your work goes to the front of the line

Photos of the people your clients actually chose.

Once a year McClain comes to your office for a half day with a camera and a short list of questions. Every frame goes through your review.

Portraits of you and your team
Your office, and how you actually work
A 60 to 90 second film: who you serve, in your words
Short cuts for your homepage, profiles, and emails

Talk through Partner

Founding firms

The first five firms pay 25% less, locked for twelve months, in exchange for honest feedback every month. No testimonial required, and none asked for.

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. Delivered within seven business days. Start a plan within 30 days and the full $750 comes off your first month.

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

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 metro area and niche, in writing

Five or more advisors? We’ll quote it after a short call. Photo day travel is quoted up front. Price increases are capped at 5% a year with 60 days’ notice. Not included, on purpose: paid ads, lead lists, per-lead fees, cold calling, and any return or projection figures.

Not sure which plan fits?
Start with the free teardown.

Get my free teardown Or book 15 minutes with McClain

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 paid for leads or a content library and got little back.

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.

FAQ

Fair questions.

Do you guarantee new clients?

No. We promise the work, on schedule, and a monthly scorecard of what moved: inquiries by source, reviews, letters sent. If the scorecard is flat by month four, cancel with one email.

Have you worked with advisors before?

Not yet as Furlong, and we won’t pretend otherwise. McClain has made photos and films for large brands for twelve years. Furlong is his firm for independent RIAs only. The first five firms get founding terms: 25% off, locked for twelve months, in exchange for honest feedback. No testimonial required.

Which plan should I pick?

One advisor and $100M to $200M usually means Foundation: you get found, and your clients get the monthly letter, with no client data on our systems. Two to four advisors and $200M to $500M usually means Growth, because the review summaries, the cards and the CPA introductions are where the next clients come from. Partner is for multi-advisor firms or a firm bringing up its next advisor. Not sure? The free teardown will tell you.

What’s in the free teardown?

A short PDF with three parts. Your homepage, read the way a stranger reads it: is it clear who you serve, what you do, and why you? Screenshots of what Google and ChatGPT return when someone asks for an advisor like you in your city. And a sample client letter written for your firm, so you can see what your clients would get. We add the three fixes we’d make first. It’s yours to use, with or without us.

How much of my time does this take?

About an hour a month. One ten-minute voice memo and a weekly approval email you can answer from your phone. The first month adds the 60-minute interview. If it takes more than that, we designed it wrong.

Will it sound like me?

The first draft comes from your interview and your voice memo, in your words. McClain edits it against how you actually talk. You read every piece before it goes anywhere, and if a line doesn’t sound like you, we fix the draft and the rule that produced it.

Is this written by AI?

Partly. The first draft is built from your memo, your notes and facts we have sourced, and AI does the typing. McClain then edits every piece against how you talk, checks each fact against its source, and builds the review packet. You approve the final word, and everything goes out from your own systems, never ours.

Can I really use reviews and testimonials?

Yes, with conditions. Since the SEC Marketing Rule’s compliance date in November 2022, SEC-registered advisers can use testimonials and endorsements if the required disclosures appear with them, the firm oversees the program, paid promoters generally have a written agreement, and nobody disqualified takes part. States set their own rules, so for state-registered firms we check yours first. Your CCO approves the program before anyone is asked.

What happens after 90 days?

You can leave, with a full export within five business days. If you stay: at month six, Growth and Partner firms get their own handwriting turned into a font for the cards, on us. At month twelve, a free homepage refresh. At month 24, your price is locked.

Will you work with a firm down the street?

Not in your niche. We take one firm per metro area and niche, and we put that in writing.

Why the name Furlong?

A furlong is a furrow long: the distance an ox team plowed in one straight row before turning. It’s a reminder of the job. We don’t control the harvest. We do the planting, carefully, one row at a time.

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 photo days, we come to your office.

Start here

See your firm the way a referral does.

The free teardown: your homepage read by a stranger, what Google and ChatGPT say about you, and a sample client letter written for your firm. A PDF in your inbox within five business days. No call needed.

Rather talk? Book 15 minutes with McClain or email [email protected]

Fig. 6 The first meeting. Ten days after a name on a card.