Are You Growing or Just Getting Marketed To?

I don’t know about you, but lately it feels like I’m living inside a 24/7 self-improvement infomercial. Turn on the TV and you’re promised a miracle drug by people dancing around a fountain. Scroll your phone and you’re hit with a diet fad by some ripped AI spokesperson. Open LinkedIn, and someone is absolutely convinced their program will “double your AUM in 90 days.”

After a while, it all starts to feel the same loud, shiny, and not particularly trustworthy.

Multiple times a month, I get direct emails offering me “exclusive” lists of attorneys, doctors, business owners, benefits managers, you name it. The messages all sound identical, right down to the font size. And here’s the funny part: I’m not even client-facing. So, if I’m getting this stuff daily, I can only imagine the marketing noise hitting advisors in the trenches.

Let’s just say it plainly:
If someone is offering you an “exclusive” list, that same list is being blasted out to 1,000 other advisors before lunchtime.

Nothing in these pitches is new. In my experience, nothing in the latest webinar is revolutionary. Nothing in this week’s lead-gen ad is the secret key to your growth.

Because the newest thing in marketing isn’t really going to grow your business.

You are.

Growth isn’t purchased, it’s practiced.
It has to be built into your daily rhythm, not outsourced to the shiny object of the week.

We are lucky; at Diversified, we’ve got a strong marketing engine. We run events, SEO, digital campaigns, content funnels, CRM data mining, all the buzzwords. But even with all that horsepower, our advisors know something every strong advisor eventually learns:

Marketing can only amplify what already exists.
It can’t manufacture caring.
It can’t automate authenticity.
And it can’t replace the human moments that make clients stick.

The advisors who grow aren’t the ones who rely on a vendor’s list. They’re the ones who show up consistently, who make the client experience referable, and who treat growth like part of the job — not a bonus project.

So here are a few takeaways worth building into your own playbook:

1. Visibility matters — but make it real.

Prospects look you up long before they meet you.

To-do: Give your digital presence a quick cleanup so it actually reflects who you are and why they could care.

2. A referable experience beats purchased leads every time.

People refer to humans, not marketing funnels.

To-do: Build one “wow” or “memory-making” moment into each review meeting.  Write them down in the CRM so you can recall and reinforce the next time you meet.

3. Automate the routine, not the relationship.

Technology should support you, not impersonate you.

To-do: Let automation handle reminders and logistics; you handle the human stuff.  Focus on the personal side of planning.

4. Tell stories, not sales pitches.

Stories stick. Data gets skimmed.

To-do: Collect a small set of anonymized client stories you can use to illustrate planning outcomes. Feelings trump charts and graphs.

5. Growth is a habit, not a campaign.

If you don’t prioritize it daily, it becomes an afterthought.

To-do: Block 30 minutes a day for a single growth activity.  Practice daily outreaches to a prospect or COI, build the marketing plan, socialize in social media, plan the event, or follow up with the “maybes” in the sales process.

And here’s the honest challenge:

If growth isn’t in your DNA, find a partner that will hold you accountable because growth doesn’t happen because of an email promise.  It happens because you showed up.