Shaun Overton, the founder of OneStepRemoved, a Dallas based firm which offers programming services for traders developing custom applications believes that managed accounts and EAs have a shaky reputation in the FX industry among investors.
LeapRate’s Forex Yellow Pages had the chance to catch-up over the weekend with Shaun about his success in marketing QB Pro, one of the company’s managed accounts using a new approach.
LeapRate: Hi Shaun, so can you explain this new angle your speaking of?
Shaun: Blogging. I know that’s hardly revolutionary, but everything around EAs and managed accounts goes for the hard sell by dangling impressive performance numbers in front of clients.
Performance is a critical ingredient, but it’s not the only thing. Traders come into the field because of money. Money isn’t what keeps them around. Most retail traders are gambling or looking for a thrill.
From what I see with my programming business at OneStepRemoved, the market for selling FAP Turbo style EAs has hit the skids. The traders looking for thrills have learned to avoid sales letters with the same old story.
LeapRate: How does that relate to blogging?
Shaun: Blogging is a slow sale, kind of like dating. Someone stumbles across the site, they see something interesting. If they sign up for the newsletter, then they get next week’s article. Repeat that process for six months and the reader has a genuine relationship with the content.
When I open up the strategy periodically for new traders, they know I’m serious about not accepting people after a certain date. I have a loyal following because of the blog. They trust what I do. When I told my readers that you either get in now or miss the boat, they hopped aboard.
LeapRate: What do you blog about? Numbers and performance?
Shaun: Yes, but it’s more than that. When I wrote about the QB Pro performance in January, I took a heavy loss on USDCHF and lost most of the gains for the month. This was 10 days after the SNB surprise.
I got a lot of blowback from clients that felt I should avoid the pair altogether and, for an unfortunate group of traders, it was the first trade in their new accounts.
So, I blogged about the struggle and responsibility that I feel to do the best that I can for them. I highlighted the blow up risks and what I’m doing to mitigate them. It’s very rare for people to publicly discuss their losses.
Basically, I’m honest. Readers get the whole story, even the bad parts. That’s sadly a distinguishing feature for an FX web site.
LeapRate: Your updates always show your performance from Myfxbook. Do you think you’d have success promoting managed accounts without it?
Shaun: It’d be a lot harder, I’ll put it that way. Sites like Myfxbook and FX Blue are critical to verifying everything I’m saying. Yes, readers trust me, but I’m sure it puts them at ease to see a 3rd party verify everything that I’m writing about.
LeapRate: You’ve mentioned your EA programming business and now the managed accounts, but you also work at Shift Forex. What do you do exactly?
Shaun: The best summary is algorithmic trading and marketing. I joined Shift on the marketing side because most of the FX broker campaigns are long past their shelf life. Banner ads lead to clicks that lead to demo accounts that lead to live accounts.
It’s a well worn pattern that everyone knows. Small and mid-tier brokers that are willing to speak to specific audiences like managed accounts or EA traders are likely to get higher CTRs. I see a lot of opportunities for FX brokers to change their messaging and sales process.
Most of the brokerage owners are stuck in the old model, but they’re also realizing that the old way of marketing is stale. Not many of them are ready yet to try something new, although I think they’re starting to come around..
LeapRate: Finally, where can people view your Myfxbook numbers?
Shaun: My normal risk account is here. The high risk account, which most people follow – they’re gamblers at heart, right? – is here.
OneStepRemoved offers Forex programming, especially for MetaTrader, NinjaTrader and TradeStation. Check them out in LeapRate’s Forex Yellow Pages, by clicking here.