In his presentation, Pone encouraged advisors to get past “what” marketing – describing what they do – to instead embrace and create materials that tell clients and prospective clients why.

“Your brand is not what you say it is,” he told the group, “it’s what Google says it is. People form an opinion on that basis.”

The two most important things an advisor can do, he says, is to have a clear position – to know why you are different, and then get beyond ‘what,’ to make your raison d’être, why you do what you do, clear to those reviewing your materials.

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” he says. “The opportunity to resonate with people, to drive behaviour, and inspire them, (comes from) talking about why you do what you do. That will get you out of the table stakes area. It will differentiate you from everybody else.”

Pone also says there is brain science to show that addressing people in this way – by communicating at the ‘why’ level, “you communicate to a level of the brain that drives behaviour more than what.”

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