John talks with Bill Cates — Hall of Fame professional speaker & TEDx presenter, financial services & referral marketing expert, wealth mindset coach, entrepreneur, author of The Hidden Heist: Stop Robbing Yourself of Lasting Wealth and seven other books, host of the Top Advisor Podcast, and a proud dad. Bill has spent more than 30 years in financial services, helping thousands of advisors bring in billions of dollars through better referrals, relationship marketing, and messaging.

Listen to this episode to learn more:

[00:00] - Intro

[00:49] - The million-dollar TEDx prop

[03:38] - Bill's backstory

[06:20] - How relationships helped Bill land a TEDx talk

[08:00] - Bill's journey from grad school to rock band drummer

[10:11] - How he entered the financial services world

[13:36] - Marketing, prospecting, and selling

[16:29] - The key to marketing

[19:45] - Difference between employees and entrepreneurs

[22:19] - How to find a financial advisor you can trust

[27:10] - The 3 R's of relationship marketing

[29:42] - The 3 C's & 3 R's for an entrepreneur

[33:34] - How Cates Academy started

[36:46] - The OG referral coach

[38:10] - The Hidden Heist book

[43:09] - How Bill's business affected his relationship with his daughter

[47:19] - #1 daily habit

[48:27] - Traits of a great leader

[50:24] - How Bill invests in his growth

[52:00] - Best way to connect with Bill

[56:39] - Book recommendations

[57:20] - Wrap-up

NOTABLE QUOTES:

"When you're building a business, it's always best to be in a position to solve a blatant, critical problem, meaning the prospects of your business know they have the problem, and it's not just aspirational. It's not, 'I'll get around to it someday.' It's critical."

"Marketing is getting your message out. It's a promotion. It's getting your message out in front of people with the intention of attracting them to you."

"If it's not relevant, your message will be ignored."

"If you're all prospecting, it's tiring. It's a grind. But as you market your product, service, or brand better, you start to attract people to you, and you catch them later on in the process."

"Most people don't have the patience to pay themselves first, make their savings automatic, and let it build over time. That takes a unique, disciplined mindset, but it's extremely powerful when you do."

"When you learn how money really works, it sometimes sheds light on what you were or weren't taught when you were younger."

"Sometimes we don't have the vision yet. Sometimes we're not clear on it, and creating that vision can be a process."

"Everyone in an organization, whether you're in sales, marketing, customer service, a clerk, or whatever, should know who the customer is. We should all know our value, and we should all know how to talk about it."

"You get clarity through imperfect action. You start heading in a direction you think is right, make some mistakes along the way, and make adjustments. That's when clarity starts to come."

"Just about everybody trying to produce any kind of result, it boils down to confidence. Because if you don't have that, you won't get to the next stage."

"You don't want just word of mouth. You want to get connected with people. So use the word that represents that."

"The hidden heists are the limiting beliefs and mistaken assumptions we all have around money. There's a lot of money story going on for us."

"If you're stuck somewhere, the first place to go isn't necessarily strategy or tactics. It might be to self-reflect, on your business, your product, and your belief in yourself."

BOOKS MENTIONED:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (https://a.co/d/0aINW0V2)
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz (https://a.co/d/06aeI1I8)
Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear (https://a.co/d/0cPmYjfO)
The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann (https://a.co/d/08FTL8jK)
The Latte Factor: Why You Don't Have to Be Rich to Live Rich by David Bach and John David Mann (https://a.co/d/0fjibjj8)
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard (https://a.co/d/0deaqMQ8)
The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (https://a.co/d/03FL34dR)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (https://a.co/d/0gLeenbt)
The Greatest Salesman In the World by Og Mandino (https://a.co/d/0ec9TlQ9)
Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich by Jason Zweig (https://a.co/d/0eR6ftUu)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

https://referralcoach.com/

https://www.thecatessystem.com/link-in-bio

https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcates/

https://www.instagram.com/thereferralcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/billcates1

https://x.com/Bill_Cates

https://www.youtube.com/@BillCatesReferralCoach

Top Advisor Podcast - https://tinyurl.com/TopAdvisorPodcast

TEDx Talk "How to Stop Your Money Anxiety & Start Building Wealth Today" - https://youtu.be/PycIrnPEUPo?si=D7G-06vXxXtk4hot

The Hidden Heist: Stop Robbing Yourself of Lasting Wealth (https://a.co/d/03soYwRf)

The Language of Referrals: The Words & Scripts Financial Professionals Use to Gain More Ideal Clients (https://a.co/d/067bNxYZ)

Radical Relevance: Sharpen Your Marketing Message - Cut Through the Noice - Win More Ideal Clients (https://a.co/d/00IEcIMY)

Beyond Referrals: How to Use the Perpetual Revenue System to Convert Referrals into High-Value Clients (https://a.co/d/0fOqolyF)

Don't Keep Me A Secret: Proven Tactics to Get Referrals and Introductions (https://a.co/d/0824AHDa)

Get More Referrals Now! (https://a.co/d/0dbxqU7j)

CONNECT WITH JOHN

Website - https://iamjohnhulen.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen

X - https://x.com/johnhulen

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLX_NchE8lisC4NL2GciIWA

EPISODE CREDITS

Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/