The ultimate marketing tool (Part 1 of 2)

(November 2005) Branded fridge magnets. Logo-shaped fly swatters. "Lunch and learn" sessions for busy executives. Brochures that explain a business approach to accountants or other centres-of-influence. Which one is the best use of your time and money?

Over the years, I’ve seen every one of these tools used to market a financial practice. But if you’re looking for the "ultimate" marketing tool — the one piece that entrenches long-lasting credibility in a highly crowded marketplace — you need to write a book.

Our company has written, designed, and printed a number of financial planning and investment books. And I’ve seen some incredible marketing success stories that come out of them. A well-written, well-researched book can transform your practice in a way no other marketing tool can.

I’m thinking of one case in particular, where an established advisor wanted to transform his practice from a high-volume, product-focused practice with over 1,100 client families into a service-oriented, "boutique" practice dealing exclusively with high-net-worth individuals. He used a book as the lynchpin in a well-coordinated marketing campaign intended to brand himself and attract his ideal client. Two years later, the strategy has been an outstanding success. He is one of his firm’s top producers, and deals with fewer than 100 client families, all of whom have $10 million or more to invest.

Or how about this advisor: a 25-year industry veteran who used a book to successfully distinguish himself and build his practice in one of the most competitive markets in Canada. Faced with increased competition from bank-owned firms, this advisor used a book to explain the virtues of independent thinking. Through his candid, entertaining writing style, he was able to explain open and honestly what products and services an investor needs, and what they don’t. He used real-life case studies to illustrate his points, and included a number of interesting facts and points in every chapter. The book was a tremendous success with his intended audience — novice investors who are looking for a full service financial planner for life. As a result of his book, this advisor has one of the best referral records I’ve ever seen, along with the lowest rate of client attrition.

It’s stories such as these that lead me to believe that a self-published book is the ultimate marketing tool for financial advisors. Simply put, there is no better method of revealing who you are, what your philosophy is, and how you approach investment management, all in an impressive, persuasive package. But there’s a lot more to a book than words on the page. What can a book do for your business? Here are a few:

Forces you to think about what you believe: There’s a lot of business thinking that goes behind a book. Writing a book is a great way to think about what exactly it is that you love about this business, what you don’t, and how you can change it for the better. It also helps you zero-in on a particular market niche.

Recent colums from Jeff Thorsteinson

Rethinking the marketing newsletter The rules of niche marketing

Acts as a marketing springboard: A book becomes a natural source of "raw material" for further articles, discussions, seminars, newsletter content, media interviews, etc. These additional opportunities make it easy for you to deliver your marketing messages to your intended audience with very little additional time or money.

Generate a media buzz: A book is a natural "attention-getter" with the media. Send financial reporters a copy, and you can bet they’ll be on the phone for interviews.

Instant credibility: Having your name in print provides an instant boost to your credibility in the eyes of clients and prospects alike. It’s like a super-powered business card, one that tells people you’re a person with knowledge, ideas and substance, rather than just another face in the crowd.

Demonstrate your commitment to clients: By definition, the purpose of a financial handbook is to educate and inform readers. The effort taken to write it becomes a concrete example of how you care about empowering your clients.

Demonstrate expertise: A book gives you the ability to lay down your financial principles in detail, and demonstrate the depth and breadth of your ability to deliver wealth management services and supporting client service — in your own special way.

I could go on. Despite all of these advantages, many advisors take a pass on a book strategy. Writing a book is a major undertaking. Many professionals don’t feel that they’re up to it. And that’s too bad. Because in my experience, the most significant challenge in writing a book isn’t necessarily the writing. It’s getting it done.

With the average book taking at least nine months to complete, the time crunch is a challenge successful advisors find difficult to hurdle. What advisors may not know is that much of the business writing today by successful business people has been produced with the help of co-writers, editors, designers, print consultants, etc. Together, as a team, with the advisor leading the process, a book can be completed with relative ease, and with complete control.

The big issue, essentially, is planning. I’ve seen a lot of professionals start off with an excellent idea for a financial bestseller. But they fail to plan ahead, and outline exactly what they want to say, and why they want to say it. So they write a chapter or two, and then they don’t know where to go from there. Inevitably, other business issues and marketing ideas come up, distracting them and diminishing the momentum they’ve built. The result: a lot of wasted time.

(11/08/05)

Jeff Thorsteinson is the creator of the YouFoundation, an organization that helps investment advisors advisors build world-class practices through innovative concepts, tools, and systems since 1993. With over 3,000 investment advisor marketing projects and business cases behind him, Jeff has become a well respected speaker in the industry and over the last 3 years, delivered his practice-building programs to thousands of financial advisors throughout Canada. Contact strategicadvisor@youfoundation.com or 1 800-223-9332, ext. 1, for more information about YouFoundation, or visit the website at www.youfoundation.com.