Does Your Marketing Have Any Soul?

Does your marketing have any soul?

Maybe…if you focus on referrals in a proactive and strategic way.

I love fly fishing, and I love me some fly fishing videos on YouTube. One of my favorites is the Slide Inn channel featuring Kelly Galoup. He is one of the most influential fly-fishing anglers out there, especially when it comes to streamer fishing.

Kelly did a YT video in ‘23 that I loved called Euro Nymphs Have No Soul.

It was mostly (but not totally) in jest. There are many things that are super effective in life to produce results that aren’t necessarily the most rewarding personally. Euro nymphing is a style of fly-fishing that is aimed at catching the most trout possible. I practice it at times, and it is without question the best way to catch as many trout as possible in certain conditions.

However, it doesn’t make my soul sing. Inevitably, after a few sessions, I find myself drawn to more aesthetic ways of fly-fishing that do fill my soul…even if I might catch less trout. I am more than a number, and so are you.

This blog and the forthcoming book later this year are aimed at business owners and sales professionals who value soul. You want to achieve your goals and get the right outcomes for you, your organization, and your clients, but you also want to do it with soul…looking for a deeper reward beyond just the economic and financial success of successful sales practices.

You, if you didn’t already know this, are my people, and referrals are our language…the representation of our soul at work.

That is because, unlike all other marketing in general, your soul is what powers true relationship development and the ultimate success of getting all the business you need from referrals, whether you are a sole proprietor or the owner of a several thousand-employee regional/national business. Who you are and how you treat other people is not only important to you, but it's non-negotiable when it comes to feeling like your success is deserved and worth the effort of everyone involved.

Let’s be honest; Much like Euro nymphs, most marketing that is currently popular has little to no soul. Cold outreach, whether by the phone (you dinosaur!) or via email and direct messaging on social media (I hate it), is without soul. That doesn’t mean it isn’t without merit from a results standpoint. I am not arguing that lots of different types of marketing can work if done well.

What I am saying is this: It doesn’t make you or the client better, as growing through referrals does.

Inherently, when done well and within the right ‘culture’ of giving as the foundation for the exercise, referral marketing grows every person touched by it as a necessary result of caring for and then delivering desired outcomes for other human beings personally. You can’t continue to be successful, in a predictable and confident way, by referral if you, your company, and your network don’t continue to grow and improve as vessels for providing intrinsic value to humanity.

If this sounds ‘woo woo’ and emotional to you, without any intrigue about how to live this out personally…I have great news for you: you don’t have to do business by referral on purpose, and it doesn’t make you a bad person.

Just like in fly fishing, there is no requirement in business to do so with a value towards ‘soul’.

However, there are a lot more people than you think that would love to find people and companies that do…and then buy and refer the heck out of them.

There is a way to pursue desirable outcomes and results from your marketing that builds human beings at the same time. If that appeals to you, I have a ton of stuff out there for you to pursue for free on LinkedIn and my websites and podcasts. I will never stop pursuing a life of significant expression of what I feel it is to be a human while pursuing business success in those terms.

I know that successful financial advisors face unique challenges as their career matures. My goal is to help people like you manage the transition from producer to successful business owner while enjoying life now. To learn more about how we do that, subscribe to Can I Borrow Your Car on Substack.

You can also:

💡 Connect with Mike on LinkedIn

🔗 Visit Can I Borrow Your Car website

🔗 Explore Strategic Referral Team website

📕 Purchase your copy of Can I Borrow Your Car?

🎙 Subscribe to the Why Should I Refer You? Podcast