In this episode, we discuss three listener questions. 1) how to get started as a commodity trading advisor without a track record (spoiler alert: you can’t, but listen to find out why—the reason will help you become a better trader and grow your CTA); 2) How to know when you’re ready to trade other people’s money (and what to do if you aren’t ready); and 3) How do you know if your CTA will grow.

If you want more customers and more revenues, your offers must convey confidence. Today we’re going to discuss three features of a low-confidence offer, and how they keep you from getting what you want in business and in life. If you have a profitable trading program that isn’t attracting customers, I can help. Go to profitablecta.com where you can access my calendar and schedule a free but very valuable call with me.

If you don’t have the brokerage statements that support your track record, you don’t have a track record, and that means you don’t have a business. Too many commodity trading advisors find themselves without a usable track record because they can’t support the returns in their track records. Today’s episode discusses five common reasons that critical brokerage statements go missing. Don’t let these happen to you!

Commodity trading advisors often wonder how many trading programs they should offer. Generally, less is more. Too many trading programs can communicate a lack of confidence, confuse your customers, undermine sales, and thwart the development of your own expertise. Listen to this episode to find out why too much diversification can be harmful to your business!

Commodity trading advisors (“CTAs”) who use lots of promotional material typically have lower assets under management than CTAs who use none. Why? Because typical CTA promotional materials repel customers! In this episode you’ll learn the primary reason this is the case, and what you can do to avoid this problem in your own promotional material.

Many CTAs have a hard time attracting customers, and their promotional materials are a big part of the problem. One reason CTA promotional materials repel rather than attract customers is that they are riddled with jargon that prospective investors (including institutional investors) find confusing and difficult to understand. This episode explains what jargon is, gives examples (that you might not think of as jargon), and explains why CTAs are tempted to use jargon.

In the last episode, we discussed the problem of not knowing anyone to invest with your CTA. This week we discuss what to do when you know people who want to participate in your trading program, but you think they’re not suitable to invest. We also discuss the customer suitability rules applicable to registered CTAs, and why writing your own more stringent rules about suitability hurts your profitability.

What do CTAs do when they don’t know any prospective customers? The first thing to do is assess if this thought about not knowing anyone is true, and whether it’s useful. Often, the thought is untrue, and never is it useful. Listen to this episode to learn why.

Almost every CTA will at some point be asked to pay to play. “Paying to play” means paying money for the promise of accounts coming your way, now or at some point in the future. This episode discusses the downsides of pay to play, so you can decide

Many gifted CTAs forego significant profits because they simply don’t charge what the market would pay. Listen to today’s episode to find out why this happens and how you can avoid it, so you can earn more money as a commodity trading advisor, and attract more clients into your business.