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title: (Most) Marketing is B.S. description: [AFW M.1.10] Michael's Epiphany #10 published: true date: 2026-06-30T08:11:19.422Z tags: editor: markdown dateCreated: 2021-09-11T05:27:22.833Z

"Don't get distracted from the main thing." -Michael Thomas

Watch (Most) Marketing is BS VIDEO


Passive Marketing is Avoidance Behavior

Most marketing in financial services is useless at best, and distracting (and costly) at worst.

Marketing, in this context, is differentiated from prospecting in that marketing is passive (such as online ads, automated postings to social media, email distribution etc), and prospecting is active person-to-person.

There is a place to approved content to be posted on social media - but it is NOT to attract new clients. It is to reinforce your philosophies to your existing clients/followers and to let them know you're "still around". This is the same for your monthly emails.Always use the WWID rule. What would you respond to if you were in their position? If you had a $500k 401k to rollover would respond to an instagram ad?


Trade Shows

Trade shows and events don’t even crack my top ten favorite marketing strategies. I'm not a fan of lugging around a six-foot folding table, cloth, signs, cards, and all the stuff that goes along with setting up at these events.

And then talking with random people who have no idea who I am and how I can help them. I like to warm up my leads first, which is why I focus so heavily on social media marketing, website marketing, email marketing, referral marketing, networking, and so on.

I'm also not a fan of shelling out cash to event coordinators and trying to please them at every step along the way.


What Are Some Passive Marketing that Does Work?

  1. Your monthly Clint Newsletter + Annual Review email
  2. High quality business cards.
  3. Updated LinkedIn profile and share it. (Possibly a client web page).
  4. One-page Marketing pieces.
  5. Hand written thank you notes and birthday cards.


What is the 'Main Thing'?

So, if most marketing is doesn't work, what does work?

The answer is simple, but not easy and not what you want to hear.... it is traditional, old-school person-to-person prospecting and introductions from people that trust you.

Ultimately, passive marketing is a form of avoidance behavior. It absolves the Advisor from doing what he doesn't want to do (prospecting one to four new people daily), but convinces him he's "doing something" (he isn't).