Potential clients aren’t going to choose to work with you just because you’re a financial advisor, says Amelia Young, principal of Upside Consulting Group Inc. in Toronto. They will want to work with you because they see how you can help them solve a specific problem.

To attract clients, it’s best to focus on a problem related to a specific life event, Young says, such as downsizing a home for the reduced needs of retirement or dealing with a change in jobs.

Start growing your business by focusing on life events and following these tips:

1. Choose one life event
To really become an expert and develop your business, it’s best to develop expertise in one specific area that relates to major life changes.

Whether it’s divorce, a change in jobs or downsizing for retirement, it’s best to choose only one to focus your business on, says Young. Most events and the financial problems around them are so nuanced and complex that to become an expert you really need to focus on one.

2. Make yourself relatable
Work with clients around an issue or life event that you can personally relate to and start building relationships and your business.

“You can say you specialize in people preparing for retirement,” says Young, “but if you’re a 30-year old who’s so far away from that experience, you’re unlikely to really understand it and it won’t work for you.”

3. Build a network
Once you’ve identified the life event you want to focus your business on, says Young, build a network of professionals with related expertise so that they can help with the process or offer referrals.

For example, if you work with people who are downsizing for retirement, she says, you may want to associate yourself with a realtor. Or, if you plan to specialize in working with clients who are changing jobs or careers, an executive coach can be a great resource.

4. Stay on topic
Make sure you are talking to clients and prospects about the right topics in order to develop your business.

For example, if a client is just starting out with their own business, says Young, it’s probably not a good idea to start talking about retirement planning right away as that’s not the problem they want solved right now.

5. Set specific goals
Think carefully about how long it takes for you to turn prospects into leads to make sure you set reachable goals for your strategy.

“Advisors should be mindful of where they get their leads from,” says Young, [and] how many meetings it takes to progress a lead through a sales pipeline.”

For example, if the target is to double your business this year, she says, you may find that there simply aren’t enough hours in the week to accomplish that goal, based on how long it typically takes to turn a prospect into a client. As such, you may have to revise your goals to something more realistic, such as a 50% increase in business instead of 100%.