You're listening to “Financial Advisor Marketing”—the best show on the planet for financial advisors who want to get more clients, without all the stress. You're about to get the real scoop on everything from lead generation to closing the deal.
James is the founder of TheAdvisorCoach.com, where you can find an entire suite of products designed to help financial advisors grow their businesses more rapidly than ever before. Now, here is your host, James Pollard.
James: In this week's episode, I'm going to push some religion on you, you heathen. Just kidding. But I am going to share one of the best money-making stories I’ve ever heard in my entire life and it just so happens to come from the Bible. [00:47.0]
What's interesting about these Bible stories is that there are some people who hear the word “Bible” and immediately turn off. They're like, Gasp, oh, no, I'm too good for that. I can't listen to anything from these Bible thumpers—and, look, I get it, there are lots of people out there who call themselves Christians who have nefarious purposes and who have probably never even cracked the spine on a Bible. But there's obviously a ton of wisdom inside its hallowed pages, and not to get pessimistic or anything, but chances are no one is going to remember you or anything you did in 500 years. Five hundred years from now, people will still remember the Bible and its stories.
So, my advice to you is to humble yourself a little bit and learn from something that has existed for thousands of years and will outlive you by a longshot. Besides, if someone repackaged some of these stories and put them into a self-help book or something, I guarantee you, people would say things like, “Wow, such wisdom, what a great book. That changed my life.”
Let me tell you the story and, along the way, I’ll pop in some lessons you can learn that can help you in your business. What I will do is I will give you one verse and then I’ll give you some lessons, and this story is about Elisha and the widow’s oil, specifically, 2 Kings 4:1–7, and it goes like this: [02:04.6]
“Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.’”
Uh-oh, bad things are happening. First, the widow’s husband did not leave enough resources to cover his debts, which led to the threat of her children being taken. This underscores the importance of planning for the future. That includes saving, investing and having insurance to cover unexpected events.
Don't you think that the husband may have benefited from having someone like you in his corner, giving financial advice and helping him protect his family? Every time you pull a punch, every time you fail to message or call someone because you're afraid of rejection, I want you to think about this story and I want you to realize that you are part of the problem if you don't act. Fortunately, you can be a part of the solution, if you do. You could have been the one who prevented this widow from basically being destitute. [03:06.4]
One of the reasons I personally sell so hard is because I know this story and I appreciate it. I know that your spouse's future and your children's future depends on me helping you do better in marketing and accomplishing your business goals. I have to make the offer to you. I have to let you know. If you say no, that's on you. If you hear all the stuff and you're like, Ah, that James guy, he's a little strange, so I'm not going to get involved in his world, then, look, that is your decision, but I have done my part and my conscience is clear, because I put myself out there and I made my services available to you, and you made the decision to say yes or no. I want to help you be more, do more and have more. If I don't do that, if I don't at least make that available to you, I'm doing a disservice to your entire family. I truly believe that. [03:55.4]
Next verse:
“Elisha said to her, ‘What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?’ She answered, ‘Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.’”
Wealth is more about resourcefulness than resources. The widow believed she had nothing of value. She's like, I’ve got nothing. I’ve just got this little jar of oil. But Elisha pointed out that even her small jar of oil could be used for a greater purpose.
This teaches us to recognize the value in what we already have, no matter how insignificant it may seem. You have to get started. What do you have? You have a keyboard, a computer and an internet connection. You have clothes on your back. You've got shelter. Be thankful for what you have. Use it to its fullest potential.
Also, note that Elisha didn't start spouting off advice and recommendations. He started by asking her about her situation. Remember that prescription without diagnosis is malpractice. Elisha did not say, “Oh, you need to pay off debt? This is what you need to do. Here's Step 1, Step 2, Step 3,” without asking anything. What did he do? He asked, “What do you have in the house?”—What is your current situation? What resources are available to you? [05:10.7]
And I should have mentioned this earlier, but the widow sought help. That's a lesson there by herself. She didn't just sit on her butt and say, “Woe is me. Looks like I'm in trouble. I'm not going to do anything about it.”
Moving on. The next verse says:
“He said, ‘Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few.”
There are several lessons in this verse, too. This whole story is just dripping with lessons. The first one is that asking the widow to gather “not just a few” vessels was Elisha preparing her for the abundance to come. This teaches us to plan for prosperity.
I've met lots of people who have ideas, goals and plans for making money, yet nothing designed to keep it. They are not preparing for their abundance. In a financial context, this could mean setting up the right systems and processes to handle increased wealth, such as proper financial management—hello, you're a financial advisor. Help people make and keep money—and investment strategies. [06:13.5]
The second lesson, and a lot of people miss it—I’ve talked to a lot of people, both Christians and non-Christians. I’ve exposed them to the story. I've gotten them to think about it. I’ve gotten them to give me their feedback on, What do they think about the story? and almost nobody mentioned this: Elisha did not limit the number of vessels she could borrow. He didn't tell her 10. He didn't tell her 100 or 100,000. He didn't give her a number. He just said not a few, so it's open to interpretation.
The number of vessels she got was one hundred percent dependent on her. If you have gifts, how often are you using them? If your gift is giving financial advice to people and I tell you to help not a few people, what does that mean to you? Does that mean helping 10? Does that mean helping 100 people? How big are you thinking? It is up to you to use your gifts. [07:06.0]
The third lesson from this one verse that I want to share with you is that the widow had to take initiative to go out and borrow the vessels. Elisha didn't volunteer to do it for her. I wish a lot of you would get this through your thick skulls. Nobody is coming to save you. You have to do the work.
I hear from so many financial advisors who have this pipe dream that all they have to do is find the right lead source from which to buy leads, or hire the right market or agency to do everything for them. That's like wishing someone would bring you the vessels and that ain't gonna happen, so take some initiative.
Next verse: [07:45.8]
“Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.”
The widow was focused on the task at hand. She wasn't scrolling the ancient version of social media. Maybe there was a scroll or tablet she was scrolling through. She wasn't outside chatting with the other villagers. She was in her house with the door shut, working. She was doing other stuff. She was working, and you need to—drumroll, please—work.
Also, the act of pouring oil into each vessel and setting it aside when full can be seen as a metaphor for allocating resources or budgeting. This teaches us the importance of managing our resources wisely and setting aside savings or investments systematically, one vessel at a time. We fill it up, then we put it aside. Fill it up, put it aside. And we'll see that in the next verse, too. And by filling the vessels, the widow was preparing to seize an opportunity.
This can be seen as a lesson in being prepared for financial opportunities when they arise, such as being ready to invest when market conditions are favorable, or being able to make an investment when it presents itself or to get involved in a business partnership, something, anything like that. You just have to be prepared. [09:08.1]
The next verse gives us more insight because it goes like this. Here it is.
“So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring.”
Here's a huge lesson. She took action. She listened to Elisha's advice and, most importantly, did something.
Hey, financial advisors. If you'd like even more help building your business, I invite you to subscribe to James' monthly paper-and-ink newsletter, “The James Pollard Inner Circle”. When you join today, you'll get more than $1,000 worth of bonuses, including exclusive interviews that aren't available anywhere else. Head on over to TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching to learn more.
Can you imagine if the widow told Elisha that she just needed to watch 100 more YouTube videos or read a dozen more books, or that she needed to align her chakras and wait for a full moon? She got to work and she kept working. [10:11.7]
She didn't fill just one vessel and then wonder if all her debts were paid either. That's like you financial advisors out there who run one marketing campaign and then wonder why you didn't 10x your money. Or those of you who run an online ad, get three impressions, and then ask why you haven't gotten any email subscribers yet. You’ve got three impressions, you ding-dong.
Let's look at the verse again: “they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring.” That is patience and persistence. Guess what else requires patience and persistence? Paying off debt, building wealth, sales, building a business, building marketing campaigns, obviously. The widow filled one vessel at a time, similar to how you might make one debt payment at a time or one investment contribution at a time, or one phone call at a time, one LinkedIn message at a time, one ad campaign at a time. [11:05.5]
I know this episode is titled, “How financial advisors can sell without being sleazy,” so
I really want to tie this back into sales. When you are, quote-unquote, “selling” financial advice, or anything for that matter, one of the best ways to suck the sleaze out of it is to be candid. Be honest. Be transparent. Tell your prospective clients that building wealth takes work and effort. It will not happen overnight.
A side benefit of being straight up with people is that it will filter out the ones who have unrealistic expectations. That is a huge plus. I do this all the time with the Inner Circle Newsletter. I’ve told people they should not subscribe unless they're willing to commit for at least a year, because it takes time and it takes effort to implement the stuff I teach. I'm not going to B.S. you. I'm not going to say, “Oh, you're going to get 5,000 new clients in six seconds,” or whatever. You have to be willing to commit. And if you're not willing to do that, then you should go bother someone else, because I don't want you anywhere near my business or my precious newsletter subscribers. Does that cost me subscribers? Yes, but I'd rather have five diamonds than 50 lumps of coal. [12:12.7]
Now, let's keep it moving. The next verse is”
“When the vessels were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another vessel.’ But he said to her, ‘There are no more.’ Then the oil stopped flowing.”
Notice that the oil, the supply, continued to flow as long as there were vessels or demand to fill. When there were no more vessels, the oil stopped, and that's got a lot of metaphysical stuff in there and I could have an entire podcast episode about that sentence alone. It's super deep, right? But understanding this principle of supply and demand from an economic lens can help you in making informed financial decisions such as starting a business. [12:56.0]
The nice thing about selling financial advice is that there's almost certainly greater demand for your services than there is a supply of you to go around, so you have a lot of leverage, a lot more than other companies like clothing companies or electronics companies, or restaurants. Don't take it for granted, and don't ever think that someone can talk down to you or treat you badly and you have to take it. Your supply is limited. Don't waste it on people who don't appreciate it. Life is too short to waste it with people you don't like.
The money lesson you can gather from this is that even miraculous resources have their limitations. This means we have to manage your resources wisely. What do you have? Resources doesn't mean just money. It means your gifts, your energy, your time, your friends, your colleagues, coworkers, people in your neighborhood, your website, your marketing assets. What do you have? You just have to manage them wisely. [13:54.7]
And the final verse in this little story is this”
“She came and told the man of God, and he said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest.’”
After paying off the debts, Elisha advises this widow to live on the rest. He did not tell her to refinance her house or take out a credit card and go into more debt. He also explained that she and her children could live on the rest. This means she didn't only provide for her own needs, but for the needs of others. You are not selling for yourself. If you are, then you're just being selfish. It's just selfish, plain and simple.
I'll give you my own situation. I'm a relatively simple guy. I don't do much. Yes, I travel a lot now. I guess not now—I’ve kind of settled down a little bit now. I used to travel a lot. I guess I still travel a lot by average standards—but I wear basic sweatpants and hoodies. I don't need fancy stuff. Realistically, I could fulfill all my needs and more with about $5,000 per month. I could have everything I need, food, shelter, water, I could be totally content, because I don't spend a lot of money. I don't do a lot. [15:09.6]
And if that's the case, why don't I just make five grand a month, which is like breathing for me, and then spend the rest of my time in a hammock somewhere? Because I'm helping others. I have people I care about, charities I care about. I have causes I care about, and I know that my gifts, aka marketing for financial advisors, can and should be used to benefit those people in causes.
Elisha instructs the widow to sell the oil. He doesn't tell her to give it away. “Give a bunch of value. You’ve got value. Give it away for free.” He tells her to sell it. This can be seen easily as a lesson in capitalizing assets. Use the gifts you have and the gifts you've been given. Gifts are called gifts for a reason, because you've been given. You did not do anything to earn them. Yes, you can make your gifts better and sharper. If I give you a knife, you can sharpen the knife but I still gave you the freaking knife. The knife is a gift. Get that through your thick skulls, people. [16:06.4]
For those of you who don't quite understand what you have and what you don't, you can use those gifts to build your financial foundation in the process. It's important to identify what you can do to generate income. If you're a financial advisor, obviously, that's giving financial advice. Selling is in the Bible.
Here's the biggest takeaway I want financial advisors to get from the story. Assuming you have something valuable to offer society, like the widow and her oil, then you should be excited to sell it to earn money for yourself, your family, and the people you care about.
Many financial advisors are skittish and squeamish about selling. Yet they don't realize that selling is one of the most moral, ethical and virtuous things you can possibly do, because it allows other people to benefit from the value you create. Elisha's advice to the widow is not just about financial management. [17:01.2]
I know I talk a lot about paying debt and investing, and patience and persistence and all that thing, but it's also about the moral and ethical implications of selling. Selling in this context is not just a transaction. It is a way of sharing the value you've created with others as a way of contributing to society and making a difference in the lives of others.
In the story, the widow had a valuable asset, the oil. She was instructed to sell it, not just to pay off her debts, but also to provide for her family. This is a powerful lesson for financial advisors. If you have something valuable to offer, you should not be hesitant or apologetic about selling it. On the contrary, you should be excited and proud to share it with others. Selling is not just about making money. If it was, I would just make the five grand and go in a hammock somewhere, and live my life happy and free, and doing whatever I want. It's about helping others solve problems or fulfill needs. [17:58.7]
When you sell your services as a financial advisor, you're not just earning a living. You're helping people manage their finances, plan for the future and achieve their financial goals. You're making a positive impact on their lives and, by extension, their family's lives. So, don't be skittish or squeamish about selling. Embrace it. Be proud of it, because selling is not just a necessary part of business. It's a way of serving others. It's a way of making a difference. It's a way of using your gifts to benefit others.
I hope this inspires someone to sell a little harder in order to serve more people. That is my goal with this episode. Thank you for listening. I appreciate you and I will catch you next week. [18:43.0]
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