How a great book helps gain clients as a financial adviser

Want to write a book that will help people understand more about their money while building trust in you as a financial adviser? Book Magic can help.

Landing new clients as a financial adviser isn’t without its obstacles. Your prospects may have negative perceptions of your profession as a whole, due to past industry scandals or bad experiences with other advisers. Building trust in this field, when clients are often cautious about sharing personal financial information to begin with, takes skill, experience, and strategy.

At the same time, you’re handling the everyday challenges that come with the financial adviser role. You’re navigating complex regulatory environments; you’re ensuring your marketing materials comply with financial regulations; you’re keeping up-to-date with changes in laws and industry standards.

With all that going on, is it worth investing the time and energy (and usually some money) that goes into writing and publishing a business book?

Many successful financial advisers have found that it is. One is Robert Gardner , pensions specialist, entrepreneur and co-founder of RedStart, a charity for primary-school children which delivers financial education through progressive learning.

Rob wrote and published ‘Freedom: Earn It, Keep It, Grow It’ in 2023. Let’s look at how having a book to his name has helped him – and how it could help you too.

Why a book is a great tool for a financial specialist

Rob initially decided to write his book because he had a mission: to help people achieve financial freedom in a world worth living in. “This book has been transformational for getting out my message,” he says.

But it does more than that. Writing and publishing a book:

Differentiates you from other financial experts

Rob has a strong brand, as an experienced financial adviser focused on financial education and sustainable investing, so that money works for the planet as well as for the investor. Having a book gives him the platform to showcase that brand, so readers understand the values and approach they’ll get if they work for him.

Establishes credibility and authority

This is so important in a field like financial advice, where clients may not easily distinguish between qualified and unqualified advisers. Published content like a book creates ownership over your chosen niche or micro-niche, and tells the world that you are an authority in your field: it’s no coincidence that the word ‘authority’ has the word ‘author’ in it! It’s easier for clients to trust you if they can see that you have both the expertise and the proven dedication to write an entire book on your subject.

Helps with lead generation and sales

Nothing sells you like a book. It’s a more in-depth marketing tool than an ad or an email campaign, and more efficient than arranging multiple face-to-face meetings. Rob has given 500 copies of ‘Freedom: Earn It, Keep It, Grow It’ away to teachers in the schools he’s worked in with RedStart. It’s a thoughtful and generous gesture – and it also helps turn some of those teachers into leads who might work with Rob in the future, or recommend him to people in their network.

Builds your confidence

The writing process teaches you a lot about your own expertise, and often helps you sharpen your message. It proves that you know what you’re talking about, not only to the rest of the world but also to you.

Increases visibility

In the highly competitive digital landscape of financial advice – especially when much of the competition may have a larger budget than you do – a book is a great marketing tool to help you stand out.

A book can do good for others and your business

Rob has been particularly successful at using his book to do good. Not only does ￡2 from every copy go towards funding his charity, RedStart, but the book itself provides valuable financial education while establishing Rob’s business credentials.

The fact that he’s having this positive impact on the world also helps build trust, and may help to overcome some potential clients’ negative perceptions about financial advisers.

So think about how a book can benefit not just you, but the people around you.

Planning and writing your finance book

But you don’t have to start a charity for your book to do good for others. You just need to write a book that adds value.

Yes, your book should help you reach more clients and sell your services. But if your book is one long sales pitch, it’s not going to complement your marketing strategy at all – in fact, it’s going to hinder it. You’ll get one-star reviews on Amazon and negative comments from people who parted with good money for your book. People are expecting to read something of value, and will have been understandably peeved to discover they’d paid for a brochure.

So how do you successfully balance your goal of gaining clients with your goal of writing something that offers real value to the reader?

The key is to position your book correctly. Think about the 3 Ps of Position: the Person, the Pain and the Promise.

• Person: who is your ideal client? What industry do they work in, and what’s their role in it? What’s their income or turnover? What might be their motivation(s) for using your services?
• Pain: what is the central question or problem you solve for your clients?
• Promise: what solution will your readers find in this book, and how will it make them want to come to you for more?

The answers to these questions will help you define the book you need to write – and the book your ideal client needs to read! – and understand how it ties in with the services you offer.

Rob knew exactly who his Person was: his book was aimed at young professionals.

Their Pain was that, like so many people, they didn’t understand how money works, and how to make it work for them.

The Promise of his book was that it would provide them with a simple toolkit to help them feel in control of their money, whether they were managing debt, saving for a rainy day, or investing in their future.

Following the 3 Ps of Position will help you make some decisions about the content of your book. Once you’ve done that, you can outline the structure of your book: the secure foundation on which to build your expert narrative.

This outline should balance your own knowledge with stories and data that provide compelling evidence for your points. Your aim is to take your readers from curiosity to understanding, and leave them informed and inspired.

Next, it’s time to write!

In Book Magic, we take you through our tried-and-tested WRITER Process, which stands for:

• Write (your first draft)
• Review
• Improve (your first self-edit)
• Test (with a select few beta readers)
• Edit (their feedback into your final draft)
• Repeat (any steps that need a bit more work)

Breaking book-writing into manageable chunks makes it so much easier!

Write your non-fiction book and make an impact faster with Book Magic AI

Read to write the book that will help people understand more about their money, while building trust in you as a financial adviser?

Book Magic AI’s technology guides and streamlines the process, helping you identify your 3 Ps, weave together all the elements you need to ensure your book’s structure takes your reader on a seamless and engaging journey, build a consistent writing habit, and get your finished book out into the world.

Try Book Magic for free today to get started!