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: It looks like this episode is scheduled to release in mid-October. That means by the time you're listening to this, there are only two and a half months left in the entire year, or at least, if you listen to this, the exact day that it drops, I hope you have either reached your yearly goals by now or you're at least coming close. Either way, I'm going to share three of the best marketing resources ever created for financial advisors. Let's roll. We're going to get right into it. [00:58.1]
The first one is just a little something, something I've created called Pollard AI, and at the time of this recording, it is brand new, but by mid-October, you've probably heard of it by now, or at least heard of it. In late-August, I created this custom-trained AI agent, trained on every podcast episode I've ever recorded, every email I've ever sent, every article I've ever written, more than 2,000 pages of my published content, and every product I've ever created.
I also made sure to train it with more than 1,000 pages of private marketing notes from my personal collection. That means I trained it on the results of tests I've conducted. I trained it on marketing campaigns I've launched. I trained it on critiques that I've given to financial advisors, and so much more. These are private notes that I've never shared anywhere else. It's a big old fat stack of information. I went to my computer, I said, “Okay, I'm going to grab this file and this file, and this file from this year and then that year,” and it's just so much information. [01:59.4]
I created it, so it would be like having me on call 24/7 without hefty consulting fees, without waiting for me to reply, and without second-guessing if you're doing the right thing. You could just pull your phone out of your pocket, go to Pollard AI, and get the information that you need. Or on your computer, you can go to the Pollard AI link and you can just start talking to it.
Do you want to know which email subject line has the highest chance of working in your situation? Ask. Do you need a content idea that fits your style and actually gets people interested? Ask. Wondering which marketing activity will bring you the fastest results based on where you are right now? Ask. You will get an answer in seconds. It has more knowledge than any one person can take in, at least in a very short period of time, because, again, this literally years of my life all into one thing. Even I can't come up with this stuff as well as Pollard AI, in many cases, because I can’t really synthesize and formulate 10 years of stuff and thousands and thousands of pages all at once. You’ve got to give me a second, alright? [03:04.7]
So, this is your 24/7 marketing advisor that gives you personalized answers in 30 seconds instead of months of trial and error, and actually it's sometimes a minute. Sometimes it takes a little longer to answer because it gives you so much detail. It tells you exactly what to do, why to do it, how to do it, where to go, who to talk to. It gives you a ton of information, and if you have seen information or the videos that I've shared on social media, where I will literally just pull up the screen and start talking to it, then you know how detailed it is, because the proof is in the pudding. I like to just bring it up and show people, because if they see it, then they're practically sold on it because they realize how awesome it is. [03:44.0]
Pollard AI is incredible, and it's because it has a humongous advantage over other AI tools, because the tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity and Claude, they all pull from the entire web. This is really bad, because nearly all of the marketing advice out there does not apply specifically to financial advisors. It may apply to e-commerce stores or people selling shoes, or people selling books on Amazon or private-label sellers, but not financial advisors. You want something that is catered specifically to your industry, and that is what Pollard AI does. [04:21.6]
I saw this stat. It's called “Where AI gets its facts?” and it's based on an Semrush study of 150,000 citations in June 2025, and the top sources for AI are—Reddit, 40.1% of information on AI tools comes from Reddit. I'm sorry, but you probably should not be getting your marketing and business promoting advice from Reddit. 26.3% comes from Wikipedia. 23.5% comes from YouTube. 23.3 comes from Google. 21 comes from Yelp. 20 comes from Facebook. [05:00.0]
Do you really want Facebook users with their propaganda and all their nonsense and whatever they're putting out there, do you want Facebook to be in charge of, or at least the users of Facebook, do you want the average Facebook user, the average Redditor, the average Wikipedia article, to be in charge of your business direction? I don't think so. I personally don't. I wouldn't do that in a million years.
If I'm going to be a hundred percent candid with you, I'll let you in on a really big secret. I actually have private chatbots that are trained on other topics and things that are specific to my business. I'm growing a publishing model, right? So, I will have an AI chatbot that is specifically trained to be a publishing agent and someone who helps me with the ideas behind media and buying, and distribution and promotion. You need to have something like that. I am taking my own advice here. When I tell financial advisors that it’s probably a good idea to have a custom-trained AI agent that is trained on financial advisor marketing, it is because I'm taking my own advice here. [06:07.7]
d to think like a financial advisor marketer. It means you will get answers that default to things like prospecting and niche-positioning, and referrals and email marketing, and things like that. The reason this is such a humongous advantage is because you don't need to overexplain. It already kind of knows what you want.
For example, I shared a video where I prompted it to get help with a direct mail campaign and I asked for headlines, I believe. I asked give me 10 headlines that I can use to target executives in the oil and gas industry in Houston, Texas. It gave me those headlines, and it also said, “Make sure you use a white No. 10 envelope with a blue-ink handwritten address and live stamp.” It gave me all of these details that I didn't even prompt it to give. Other AI tools don't do that. [07:00.7]
The big weakness for AI tools, in addition to where they get the information, they just scrape the entire web, and it's Facebook and it's Reddit and it's Wikipedia. The other big weakness is they're only as good as the prompts that you give them, but Pollard AI helps mitigate that problem, because it will give you information that you did not ask for. It gives you information that you need to know. So, it solves the problem of you not knowing what to ask. That is really huge.
Even if you hire a marketing coach in person, this still won't guarantee that you will solve this problem, because sometimes the marketing coach won't know that you don't know certain things. Pollard AI will just give you the information and you can discern it by yourself. It is just amazing. It blows people away. If you ask the same questions in ChatGPT, and then again in Pollard AI, you will be astonished at how much better Pollard AI is. It's almost laughable at this point if you use it just a generic ChatGPT chat, especially for financial advisor marketing. [08:00.2]
Let me give you some examples of what it can do. In the past 48 hours, I developed a financial advisor marketing plan with step-by-step systems for attracting ideal clients. That includes messaging. That includes direct outreach methods. That includes follow-up sequences. I pinpointed exactly who a financial advisor should serve and who he shouldn't, eliminating years of trial and error.
I turned a vague financial planning offer into a crystal-clear, irresistible value proposition that positions the advisor as the go-to expert. I produced 30 days’ worth of social media content tailored directly to an advisor’s target market. I mapped out a referral strategy for a financial advisor to generate introductions from centers of influence.
I also identified the exact centers of influence to contact that is amazing. I tell the advisor exactly, “Go here. Contact this person, this person, this person.” I revealed exactly where an advisor was wasting his prospecting time and explained to him how to replace it with systems that work while he sleeps, and best of all, every single one of the things that I just told you was done in two minutes or less with Pollard AI. That is how incredible it is. [09:08.8]
Oh, and I didn't even mention this yet, or at least I don't think I did, but I should have. Pollard AI is 100% free for Inner Circle members. It is on the house. It is $0.00 if you're in the Inner Circle. It's the newest perk available exclusively for them, which means, if you're not an Inner Circle member yet, then, oh my goodness, holy moly, you are missing out. [09:32.8]
Listen up, financial advisors. This is something special I'm doing exclusively for people who listen to this podcast. If you subscribe to the Inner Circle Newsletter over at TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching, I will send you a collection of seven copyright-free emails, personally written by me, that you can use right away to begin getting more clients.
I call these my “objection-busting” emails, because they are designed to overcome the biggest objections financial advisors face. All you have to do is send me an email letting me know you’ve subscribed and I will reply with a link where you can download them for free.
I originally offered these in the May 2024 Inner Circle Newsletter issue, and it was one of the most popular bonuses I've ever given away. Today, these seven objection-busting, copyright-free emails are only available to listeners of this podcast, because I'm not mentioning them anywhere else. Go to TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching to subscribe today. Now, back to the show.
You probably think I'm exaggerating, right? You probably think I'm being just a classic marketer, I'm trying to hype it up, but if anything, I'm not doing it justice. It truly is phenomenal. You can prompt it with something like, “I am a financial advisor in Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm interested in targeting corporate executives. Can you give me a specific step-by-step plan on how to contact them?” and it will come back with a step-by-step plan. It will tell you exactly what to do. It will tell you how to target them. [10:59.3]
What's even more awesome is that sometimes it will give you exact groups you should join in the local area. It will give you exact mailing list you should rent and just things like that. I know I just said this, but, honestly, I am not doing it justice. It is wild.
This the super secret, tactical, strategic, whatever, high-level marketing reason why I created Pollard AI is because growing a newsletter business—back to the publishing model thing, where I'm taking my own advice here—it is incredibly difficult. It's difficult because you have to sell something that hasn't even been created. For example, if you subscribe to the Inner Circle during the month of October, then you'll be locked in for the issue that gets mailed on November 1, and you might have a sneak preview or a good idea of what will be in the November issue.
However, you don't know what's coming in December or January, or February or March and April, and so on. The big disadvantage is that you kind of just have to trust me. You have to have faith that what I'm going to give you will be good, and this is closely related to the objection that financial advisors have, which is, “How do I know I can apply your advice to my business?” [12:09.0]
This Pollard AI tool eliminates a lot of that skepticism, because now people can get immediate, specific answers to their questions, and they can start using it within minutes of subscribing to the Inner Circle, because they get immediate access. As soon as your payment goes through, you will be given access to Pollard AI.
If financial advisors were on the fence about the Inner Circle because they were wondering how to apply the marketing strategies to their specific business context, they shouldn't be on the fence anymore, because that eliminates that worry. Pollard AI is so well-trained and so comprehensive that it practically guarantees you will get marketing help tailored to your exact situation. Again, it's 100% free for Inner Circle members. I am not charging anything extra for it. If you want to join the Inner Circle, you could do so over at TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching. [12:59.8]
But enough about that. I don't want this episode to be just a promotion for Pollard AI or the Inner Circle. Let's move on to the second best or one of the second best marketing resources ever created for financial advisors, which I think is stuff that has stood the test of time. This includes old school sales letters, direct mail pieces and marketing classics that have lasted for decades or even hundreds of years.
I frequently give financial advisors examples of advertisements that were written decades ago that either still hold up today or inspire derivatives that still work today. For example, one of the most successful headlines of all time is, “Do you make these mistakes in English?” and that format still works today.
Financial Advisors can say, “Are you making these retirement mistakes” or “Do you make these mistakes with your 401(k)?” and it will likely do well for them. That's one of my go-tos when I'm helping financial advisors craft marketing campaigns. I go to whatever their niche is, like, “Dentists, are you making these retirement mistakes?” or “Teachers, are you making these mistakes with your 403(b)?” Just stuff like that, it does well. [14:04.3]
The fundamentals of influence and persuasion, and communication and good writing, and salesmanship in print, those are all timeless. Financial advisors who study these texts, these marketing texts that have stood the test of time, they find that they have a deeper understanding of why people do what they do, why they make decisions, how to get their attention, how to hold their attention—because those are two separate things, how to get and how to hold—how to compel people to take action. They just understand it because they have proof. They have a proof of concept that has been around for a long time.
For example, here's another one, if you study someone like Claude Hopkins—he's one of the best copywriters ever He is just on another planet—then you will learn the principles of “reason why” advertising. This is something that he created. It is just as relevant today as it was to his advertisements in 1920s. [15:01.0]
If you study Eugene Schwartz and his book Breakthrough Advertising, which I think was written in the 60s, don't quote me on that, but I believe it's from the 60s, you'll understand market sophistication. That was his big contribution to the marketing industry. If someone is not familiar with you at all, then your approach needs to be different than if someone knows who you are and is familiar with what you do. So, that's market sophistication. That was his big idea, his big contribution.
That's why I consider this sort of thing one of the best marketing resources ever created for financial advisors, because when you learn those timeless principles and you pair them with whatever you're doing today, especially if you use something like Pollard AI to help apply them, then you have an almost unfair advantage over your competition. [15:48.0]
I also mean stuff that has stood the test of time, like ancient Greek writings, stuff from philosophers who have been dead hundreds of years, and even the Bible. Let me let you in on another little secret. I’m just giving all my secrets away. I have probably read every law of attraction book in existence, everything from Esther Hicks to Florence Scovel Shinn. I mean, you name it, I've read it. Here's my advice if you're into that sort of thing—skip all of it. Don't bother. Go straight to the source, which is the Bible, and I don't mean that in a religious sense.
I'm not telling you what to believe. I'm not trying to convert anyone. I mean it in the most practical, common sense way possible, because every single idea that you'll find in those books, at least the main ones, like faith and gratitude, and persistence and sowing and reaping, those ideas are already in the Bible. They were there thousands of years ago, ready to go.
The difference is the Bible doesn't just give you principles in a vacuum. It points you to the source behind those principles and explains how they can be applied to you. This is legitimately some of the best advice I can give you. Just read it. Just study those resources. If you see something that has been around since the 1930s and or at least a derivative of it that has been around you, make sure you study it. [17:00.8]
I'm not really a big fan of big branding advertisements and the big Super Bowl ads, but truthfully, there are a few where you will see the same patterns come up again and again. Celebrity endorsements. What's that? That's centers of influence. These are people who are giving their endorsement. These are people who are lending their credibility. That is a pattern that comes up again and again. It has been around for decades with Super Bowl advertising. Just something to think about.
The final resource that I consider to be one of the best ever for financial advisors is also a combination of sorts. We just talked about stuff that stood the test of time, ranging from the Bible to ancient philosophy to marketing resources that have been around forever. This is also a combination. It is a collection of letters to shareholders, specifically Warren Buffett's letters to shareholders and Jeff Bezos’ letters to shareholders. [17:50.8]
The reason I recommend Buffett's letters is because he emphasizes things like patience and long-term thinking, which are essential to building successful businesses. He also has a way of explaining complex topics, especially financial concepts, with clarity and simplicity. He just breaks it down like no one else can do it, which is exactly what you should do for your clients, or at least aspire to be as good as Buffett in this area. I challenge you to read Buffett's letters to shareholders and not become a better financial advisor. I don't think it's possible. I don't think he could read his letters and not become better.
I recommend the Bezos letters because Jeff Bezos probably had the most relentless focus on the customer of any entrepreneur in human history. Every single day, he thought about how to make Amazon better for his customers. He wasn't obsessed with quarterly earnings or stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. He wasn't even obsessed with the stock price. If you study the history of Amazon, you'll see the stock price has been all over the place. Jeff Bezos had a singular obsession, and that was the customer. That obsession built one of the most valuable companies on the planet. [19:00.7]
As a financial advisor, you can take that same mindset and apply it to your business. Imagine if every day you ask yourself, “How can I make this whole shebang, this process, this business, easier for my clients? How can I add more value to my clients’ lives? How can I add more clarity to their lives? How can I deliver so much that working with me becomes the obvious choice?”
Most advisors get distracted by chasing one marketing fad after another. They worry too much about what advisors are doing outside, like on LinkedIn or different appearances that they give off, and just not enough about outcomes. But if you simply outfocus your competition on serving clients, you'll probably win period, and that's the lesson you'll absorb from the Bezos letters.
As a Delawarean, my home state of Delaware, I am familiar with Jeff Bezos and Amazon, because not many people know this, but Amazon opened their second distribution center in Delaware in 1997. They were in Seattle where Amazon was founded. Then they moved to Delaware so it would be easier for them to be national. [20:04.1]
So, fun fact for you, but those are three of the best marketing resources available to financial advisors, the letters to shareholders from Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos, any sort of marketing campaign or thinking or resource that has stood the test of time, because history is constantly filtering stuff out. Things get forgotten all the time, so if something lasts 100 years, or for some things, thousands of years, there's probably good reasons for that.
Finally, yes, my own tool called Pollard AI. Pollard AI, it's just like having my brain in your pocket or on your computer on demand. You can access it whenever you want. You can get marketing help whenever you need it. It is truly a phenomenal resource and it is 100% free for Inner Circle members. If you're not in the Inner Circle, go to TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching to join today.
That's it for this week. Thank you so much for listening, and I will catch you next week. [20:59.7]
This is ThePodcastFactory.com
