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: Hey, welcome to another episode of the Financial Advisor Marketing podcast. This is Episode 248. I can't believe I'm almost at 250 episodes. What? Wow. I will admit that this podcast requires a lot of work and because of the huge time commitment, I'm not so sure I would do it again, if I could go back in time, because, truthfully, I can just run an ad online and get far more results than the podcast generates for my business. Just logically speaking, numbers on a spreadsheet, making pure analytical decisions, I'm not so sure I would do it again. [01:05.3]
Let's say this podcast episode will get 25,000 downloads. That's a lot, don't get me wrong. However, I could send an email and get more people to read my message. I could run an ad online and get more people to see it, and both the email and the ad would take a lot less time than it takes me to record this podcast episode.
Also, the amount of money this podcast makes is pitifully low compared to some of the other marketing channels here at The Advisor Coach. For instance, I have a mid-roll in every single episode telling advisors to subscribe to the Inner Circle Newsletter. It's the woman that you hear in the middle when it cuts off and she's like, “Hey, financial advisors, if you'd like even more help with your business,” that's the mid-roll, okay? It's in every single episode. Everybody hears it, if you’ve listened to the entire thing.
But yet, even with thousands and thousands and thousands of people listening, the majority of them, just the way that marketing cookie crumbles, the majority of them continue to listen without investing in themselves. And for the ones who do, thank you very much, I appreciate you and I will continue to serve you in the highest manner possible. I absolutely love to do that. I live to serve. [02:09.5]
But the truth is, there are thousands and thousands of people who are listening to this podcast who will never make an investment in themselves and never really do anything with their businesses, and the number is much, much higher with podcasts than with webinars, emails, online ads, and even social media, which tends to get a lot of freeloaders, too.
You might be thinking, Wow, that's kind of harsh, James. You're complaining a lot, too. If you hate podcasting so much, why do you continue to do it? There are a few reasons.
First, it's because it's not like my calendar is jam-packed with emails, online ads and stuff like that anyway. It may take me 20 minutes to write an email and another 20 minutes to set up an online ad. If that's the case, then what else should I do with my day? I could record a podcast episode. And to be fair, the podcast does pretty well for itself. It's not like it sucks or anything. It's just not as good as the alternatives. [03:03.8]
The second reason is that it's selfishly a credibility booster for me. I have been helping financial advisors since 2015. I have seen so many marketing coaches, consultants, gurus and agencies come and go. People set up shop, say they're marketing experts, say they're down, they want to help financial advisors, who are really into it, like this is their life now, and within a year or two, go back to working in their cubicles where they belong. It's hard to know who to trust and who will actually stick around.
The podcast is a subtle signal of longevity, because when a financial advisor sees that I’ve been doing a weekly podcast for 248 episodes now, that's another way for me to demonstrate that I’ve been around for a while and I'm dedicated to the industry, and I kinda sorta know a thing or two about . . . hmm . . . financial-advisor marketing. [03:51.2]
I remember when I first started the Advisor Coach and I began pushing my message out into the world. I got so much hate. Especially because I was young and I looked even younger, people told me things like, “Why would I take marketing advice from someone who looks like he's 16 years old?” Imagine bragging that you don't have a good skincare routine? Tell me you don't take care of yourself without telling me you don't take care of yourself. I legitimately lost out on business deals because I had clean pillowcases and I washed my face and I'm moisturized. Isn't that wild?
I also remember when I started the Inner Circle Newsletter, I specifically as clear as day remember people in the health-financial advisory space who told me it would never work. They told me I should give up. They told me it was one of the dumbest ideas they ever heard. Nobody will pay $99 per month for a newsletter. I remember people snarkily putting stuff like, “Oh, and you don't have to pay $99 a month for it,” in their marketing, trying to take little digs at me. [04:50.5]
Well, guess what? Those people aren't around anymore. I have outlasted them all, all of the haters at least, and I will continue to serve financial advisors at a high level. I will last twice as long with them out of business than they ever lasted in business. Isn't that crazy? I'm so thankful. I'm so grateful for it. I know it seems like I'm just being a Debbie Downer, but I promise you, I'm so incredibly grateful.
I remember one guy, this is a marketing guru guy. He messaged me on LinkedIn. We were having a conversation and he asked, “What is your backend? Nobody got rich from coaching,” and this was back when I was offering one-on-one coaching to financial advisors. I told him my backend was real estate, stock market investments and other businesses. I'm making real investments.
Let's say I'm investing in a business that generates a 20% ROI. If I invest $100,000 and I continue growing that investment without ever putting in another dime, I will have nearly a quarter of a million dollars over five years or at the end of five years and that's just the first five years, and again, that's without ever investing another dime. That's without ever improving the ROI. That's $150,000 of growth in five years from one investment. [06:04.8]
Of course, I understand it's risky. I understand it takes work, it takes time. You’ve got to know what you're doing in business. But even something like investing in the stock market can quickly replace your bare-bones income if you just get serious. But, I mean, that's how I think, though. I don't think like most people, and I think in terms of investing and ROI. I look at my alternatives. We're going to get into that a little bit, because that's something I'm going to talk about later.
This episode is going to be about what I’ve learned from 10,000 conversations with financial advisors. The title is inspired by my newsletter, because subscribers get direct email access to me for the questions and I have had so many conversations with them, at least 10,000. Ten thousand is a conservative estimate because I’ve been writing the newsletter for six years, over six years, and I’ve been getting questions almost every single day for the past six years, and by “almost every day,” I mean pretty much every day, except for a rare Saturday, a statistical anomaly or a holiday or something. [07:02.3]
I've seen a lot from these conversations. I've seen what works. I've seen what doesn't work, what didn't work. I've seen what people wanted to work, and I’ve seen things that shouldn't have worked, but did. Oh, and since it's a one-on-one email conversation, here's something cool that happens. Advisors are a lot more willing to share private details that they wouldn't share anywhere else, like at a mastermind group or a conference.
I know this might burst your bubble, but if you're getting information only from public places, then chances are you're only getting part of the stories that advisors have to tell, because I promise you, I promise, there are nitty-gritty details that advisors aren't willing to share in front of a group that they're willing to share in private. This means I have access to the raw, real and unfiltered stuff that isn't available anywhere else, and I use that knowledge to help other advisors through the newsletter. I take that material and put it right back. Then people ask me questions. I take that material, put it right back in. [08:00.7]
Let me begin by telling you the first thing I’ve learned. The very first thing I’ve learned that I’ve noticed that I have on my list here is that successful financial advisors think in terms of ROI. This is huge. I've already alluded to this, but successful advisors view their businesses and their human capital as investments. They are not afraid to invest money to achieve even a modest ROI, and I think that's the real difference maker, because a lot of average people won't invest in themselves unless there's a huge ROI or potential ROI and that sabotages them. The successful people will go and get a moderate or a modest ROI.
For instance, a lot of low performers will listen to thousands of free podcast episodes, read thousands of free emails and watch thousands of free YouTube videos, because they're addicted to this high-potential ROI chase. They might not even realize it, but I assure you it's happening. They think they can get something, anything that makes them a little bit of money, and if they get that thing, then they'll get an infinite ROI because they didn't have to spend any money. [09:01.7]
They think they're smart for doing this, which is really the saddest part, and, sadly, they don't place a lot of value on their time, because spending 100 hours watching YouTube videos is a lot when you value your time at $100 per hour. The weirdest part, though, is that these financial advisors will typically invest in a low-cost index fund and be thrilled with a 10% return over the long term.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love investing in the stock market and I personally have the bulk of my wealth invested in index funds that I plan on holding for the long term, and by long term, I mean until I die. But I'm not such a dummy that I would pass up an investment that offers a higher risk-adjusted return. I would consider my alternative.
For instance, investing in my business and my marketing campaigns, as long as I have them and I get it while the getting is good, and I know that they're already proven to work, doing that can easily yield me much more than market averages. [09:56.5]
Plus, as Warren Buffett said, “Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.” I didn't say that. Warren said it. Uncle Warren Buffett, right? He’s the person who put this quote out there, and when he says something, people are like, Oh, yeah, that's so smart, that's brilliant. He said, “Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing,” and since I know what I'm doing in my business, I would argue that the risk is actually lower than investing in the stock market. Of course, there is not really a good way to quantify that, but I hope you get my point, because even if it's 50% riskier, it's actually a higher risk-adjusted rate of return if I can get double or triple the market averages.
One of the reasons my newsletter specifically has done so well is because it's a no-brainer for financial advisors who think in terms of ROI. For instance, the reason I include so many bonuses upfront, available immediately for download as soon as you subscribe is because I want to help Inner Circle members get results as quickly as possible. I want to help them get a positive ROI before they ever receive the first newsletter in the mailbox. Do you get that? Do you know how powerful that is? Before they ever have the first one in their hands, they get a positive ROI. [11:02.5]
But even without the bonuses, the ROI potential is ridiculous. Let's say you subscribe for a year at $99 per month. Your total cost will be 99 times 12, which is $1,188. Now, let's say you get one client and you charge $3,000 for a financial plan. Let's calculate your ROI. Your ROI is 3,000 minus 1,188, which you've invested in the newsletter over the course of an entire year, divided by the cost of a newsletter. It's 152%.
In that scenario, your ROI would be 152%, and that is from one client per year, which is about as conservative as I could be, because, truthfully, you could get that from the bonuses. You can get that from your very first newsletter issue. You could get something that changes your life and your business from the very first issue, and you could throw every other issue for the entire year in the trash and you would still get 152% ROI. That's crazy. That's ridiculous, but awesome at the same time. [12:05.1]
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.
The second thing I’ve learned is that successful financial advisors think in terms of payback periods. The payback period, also called time to value, it refers to the length of time until you cover your cost from something, and, truthfully, the bonuses I just talked about, they can make the payback period as little as a few hours depending on how quickly you begin implementing. But one of the most common things financial advisors tell me as a result of the newsletter and other products and things like that is “I'm so much more productive than I was before,” or “I'm so much more efficient now.” [13:01.4]
Let's do some math. You're a financial advisor. You love math, don't you? Let's say you pay yourself $50 per hour. If the information in the newsletter—or whatever, anything, really anything. I'm just using the newsletter as an example—if it helps you save a measly two hours per month, then it pays for itself, gasp, in perpetuity forever, forever, and ever and ever, as long as you save that time, and that's without ever getting a single client. That's without ever implementing a single marketing campaign or doing anything else. That's solely from the productivity gains, because you could take every single additional newsletter issue you've ever gotten and shred it, never look at it, you could put a blindfold on to make sure you don't read a single letter, and you would still get gains from it.
That's also why successful advisors tend to move faster than others. It's something else that I’ve learned from having 10,000-plus conversations with financial advisors, because I’ve noticed that when successful ones ask for advice, they tend to implement it a lot faster. They realize that good advice can't make the money if they're sitting on it. They have to do something with it. [14:05.4]
They also think this way when they're purchasing even mundane things, like office equipment, keyboards, computers, mice. They put the stuff to work immediately. They don't just leave it sitting around. They want to get the payback period as short as possible.
I've also seen advisors think this way when it comes to software, especially productivity software. If they use a project management tool, like Asana, for example, they're thinking about how quickly they can make back the cost and keep making back the cost from their enhanced productivity, because one of the cool things about becoming more productive is that it's a gift that keeps on giving.
I want you to imagine for a second that you could lock in your current income by only working one minute per day. That's all, one minute. If that were possible for you, you could basically work that one minute per day, keep your current income, and then refill your entire calendar with what you already know how to do and make at least double the money. The reason I say “at least double the money” is because you will probably spot inefficiencies. You will probably get better. You will probably improve yourself. You would attract more than just your average client over time. [15:13.0]
That's what happens when you focus on becoming more productive and when you focus on shortening your payback periods. One of the most overlooked assets in the financial world is time. We often hear the phrase “time is money,” but few truly internalize its meanings.
For financial advisors, understanding the value of time can be the difference between a thriving practice and a stagnant one. Every hour saved, every process streamlined and every efficiency gain doesn't just benefit you once; it compounds. Think of it like compound interest, but for your time. If you save two hours this month, that's 24 hours in a year, so that's just two hours in a month, right? That's nothing. So, 24 hours in a year, over a decade? That's 240 hours or 10 full days from that one simple improvement. Now imagine if you can invest those saved hours into activities that directly generate revenue or further improve your processes. The returns could be exponential. [16:08.4]
The most successful financial advisors don't just view expenses in terms of dollars and cents. They view them in terms of time. When considering a new tool, training or piece of equipment, they don't just ask, “How much does this cost?” in terms of dollars and cents, but rather, “How much time will this save or will it generate for me with respect to how much I'm investing?” They ask, “How quickly can I recoup this investment of time, in terms of time, money efficiency, whatever?”
Another area where the payback-period concept is crucial is in continuous learning. Financial advisors often attend seminars, webinars, and courses. They read books. They get on social media. They follow people who know what they're talking about. Unfortunately, yes, they listen to a bunch of free podcasts, including this one. I mean, I'm kind of hating on myself here, but I'm just giving you the truth. I care too much about you to just stroke your ego or tell you some half-truth. I'm just telling you that listening to a bunch of free podcasts isn't really going to move the needle for you. But they do this stuff. The best ones, however, don't just attend. They implement. [17:11.0]
They understand that the sooner they apply what they've learned, the quicker they will see a return on their investment. It's not just about the cost of the course or the seminar or the conference, or the time invested in watching a YouTube video. It's about the potential revenue that new knowledge can generate.
When you start to optimize your processes and you start to become more efficient, it's not just you who benefits either. Your clients notice. If you care about your clients, you should care about this, because your clients will see improved service, faster response times, and all of the enhancements that you have made. This can lead to increased client satisfaction. It can lead to more referrals. It can lead to a better reputation in the industry. [17:55.1]
So, in essence, the payback period isn't just about covering cost and isn't just about making your time back. It's about setting the stage for future growth. But, hey, what does that require? That requires long term thinking. I'm talking big now and I'm talking a big, big, big game, long term. And it's probably going to go over a lot of people's heads, but, hey, that's the nature of the beast. Again, that's how the marketing cookie crumbles.
The third thing I’ve noticed from having 10,000-plus conversations with financial advisors is that multiple marketing strategies is the Holy Grail. I say this a lot, but it is truly the most important piece of marketing advice I could ever give to a financial advisor. I pioneered this approach. I was the one who started teaching it to financial advisors in 2015. Since then, it has been imitated, but never duplicated.
Now, sure, there are other people who have talked about this kind of concept or whatever in other businesses or whatever, but I applied it to financial services. I applied it to financial advisors and got them results. I'm telling you right now, if you're a financial advisor and you want to get more clients, one of the absolute best things you can possibly do is throw another marketing strategy into the mix—and if you're thinking something like, James, but I don't have time, I can barely handle what I'm doing now, then I want you to realize that is a symptom of a much larger problem. [19:11.3]
Perhaps the biggest reason why multiple marketing strategies worked so well for financial advisors is because it makes follow up easier. It makes following up so much easier and so much more natural. I can't tell you how many times I’ve seen financial advisors fall flat on their faces because they tried using the same medium and/or message over and over again, just because some guru told them that they should be following up. That's dumb.
But guess what? I could publish this podcast episode, then send an email, then write a blog post, then show up in an article somewhere or a guest podcast episode, and, boom, I’ve gotten at least four follow-ups already without even trying, assuming someone is in my world. I haven't made a cold call yet, haven't cold-emailed anyone, haven't sent a LinkedIn message, haven't done anything, haven't sent a LinkedIn connection request, nada. All I have done is just I put out content, and if someone is in my world, that person is going to see it anyway. [20:04.3]
If you're absolutely lost right now and you have no idea where to begin with multiple marketing strategies, let me start you off with what I call the “Big Three,” and the big three are your website, your LinkedIn profile, and email marketing. The reason those three are so important is because prospective clients will bounce around from your website and your LinkedIn profile to begin with. It is going to happen. You might as well maximize your odds here.
They're going to search for financial advisors near them or financial advisors within a certain specialty, and they're going to find your website. From there, they're going to go to your social media profile or they're going to search for your name in a search engine. If your name is John Smith, what they're going to do is they're going to type in “John Smith financial advisor,” and guess what is going to show up in the first page of the search results? Your LinkedIn profile. What are your prospective clients going to do when they see your LinkedIn profile? They're going to click on it. That's how most prospective clients will interact with financial advisors’ marketing assets when they're searching for a financial advisor. [21:02.8]
Look, I didn't make this up. I didn't just say, “Hey, this is what happens.” No, the data supports this, too, so either you make it good or you don't. Either you get the results or you don't. I'm going to sleep just fine either way.
The reason email marketing is also involved in the big three is because it is, by far, the most effective appointment-setting strategy I have ever seen for financial advisors. Here's some quick stats to prove it. According to McKinsey & Company, email is 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined. Combined, together. And now it's X. I know it's X. Twitter changed to X.
According to Campaign Monitor, email marketing has an average return on investment of 4,400%. Average. Average, average, you don't want to be average. If you listen to the stuff that I'm telling you, you will not be average, because I have so much data. I've helped financial advisors so many times with this stuff. You're just not going to be. Of course, I can't guarantee anything. I don't know you, don't know your specific situation, so I have to put that disclaimer in there, but I'm just telling you right now, you just listen to what I'm telling you. [22:09.1]
YCharts reports that clients prefer email over every other communication channel and it's not even close, and assuming you have a niche, your numbers should be even better, because, think about this, you should have a lead magnet designed for a specific target market, meaning, only people in that specific target market should subscribe to your email list. Then, in your lead magnet and in your welcome email, you should tell people exactly who you are, what you do, and who you help. Very simple stuff, right? You're going to be very clear about these things.
Then you have an autoresponder sequence that works, whether you're working, sleeping or on vacation, no matter what you're doing. You could be skiing. You could be surfing. You could be laying on the beach. You could be working. You could be in the hospital in a coma. Your emails will continue to send, no matter what, every single day, with content specifically for your target market. [23:04.5]
Oh, and by the way, the smart financial advisors who can leverage email marketing as a strategy, they should do it for sure, because I’ve been mailing my own list for years. Years. I have so much data, so much info and so much to share with the world, it warms my heart when I'm able to help a financial advisor with his or her email marketing, because I know how much of a difference it can make. I have so many episodes about email marketing in this podcast. If you just go back and scroll through all the old episodes, you can just look for the words “email marketing” or “email,” and you can listen to them. The bottom line with this, though, is that I want you to begin thinking about how you can integrate multiple marketing strategies into your business.
I have so much more I want to share about what I’ve learned from 10,000-plus conversations with financial advisors. This is going to be a two-parter because I'm already over the 20-minute mark. Next week, I'm going to share even more high level insights that can help you. I'm looking forward to it, and I will catch you next week. [24:02.1]
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