How much does a great Insight library cost?

This page is for owners of financial planning, advice, and coaching firms of all sizes.

Getting to grips with these facts could:

1. Save you tens of thousands of pounds over the next few years.
2. Remove a huge workload from your shoulders—or from those of your key people.

This is a 10 to 20-minute read, depending on your speed.

What does it *really* cost to create a great Insight library?

Some of these numbers come as a shock to some business owners, but they’re a good estimate of your (create, buy, or rent) cost options for acquiring a great library of consumer-facing money Insights.

Why would you want such a library?

Great educational libraries are proven to help firms attract, engage, and retain more clients.

One of my clients told me that they secured ‘TESCO’ and other FTSE 100 firms as clients for their service because of the quality of the educational program I helped them create.

Of course, their core proposition is superb – but it was the educational program that made the difference.

And a great Insight library will deliver outstanding results for you, too.

For a more complete answer, including a list of the 25 benefits of Education-First marketing, click here

Please: If you doubt the value of Education-First Marketingto YOUR business, read this Insight first

Here, I’ll assume you’re familiar with all the benefits, so I’ll help you explore your cost options.

Do (great) content libraries really cost around £100,000?

Yes, absolutely – and possibly a lot more.

As a leading financial planner, a friend of mine said to me recently:

‘Most advisers don’t know how long it takes to create great content.’

Of course, if you already have a good-sized library, your costs to enhance it will be lower.

But those costs are real if you build a brilliant library from scratch, on your own or with qualified financial planners from inside your firm.

So, I’ll explain the numbers (and the size of the library you need to engage an audience) below.

How do I estimate nearly £100,000 in costs?

To properly estimate your content costs, you must do two things.

First, account for all of your time, or that of your (financial planning qualified) in-house writer, at a sensible rate.

Some advice business owners assume their content creation time costs them nothing. And if you love writing and can afford all the time in the world for it, don’t let me stop you.

Just be aware that the intense time you dedicate to content creation really is time lost to other, possibly more profitable, work.

Second, you need to be realistic about the time it takes to create great content.

In the bar chart, I assume:

• An (effective) fee-earning rate for an average IFA of £200 per hour (Source: VouchedFor)
• That you (or your in-house writer) create Insights (with high-impact visuals) at the same pace as me*.

* The pace is based on my experience of creating more than 500,000 words of content over many years.

I keep detailed records!

And yes, I’ve allowed for AI-enhanced productivity.

AI-based tools can help, but not nearly as much as some claim.

I assume you want Accurate, balanced and compelling (ABC) Insights – and you still want to sound like a human!

So, you’ll still need a skilled human hand on the tiller of your content creation ship.

You will also need a considerable amount of time to navigate all these steps in the process.

How hard can it be to create a great library?

Let’s take a look, and there are two levels to this.

First, there is the high-level planning work – where you must:

1. Assess the content you have today and identify areas where quality could be improved. (And I recommend an outside expert to help you with that. It’s hard to check our own homework!
2. Plan ‘how’ you will build/enhance your library. (I use a 25-point planning document for this)
3. Generate Insight ideas across a range of Insight categories – a subject I’ll come back to another time.
4. Arrange those ideas into a sensible (foundations-first) order for rolling out over time.

You’ll want to start with foundational Insights for a host of reasons, which I can explain if you like.

In short, this approach avoids a ton of duplicated work for yourself (and confusion for your audiences) down the line.

You’ll also want to be prepared, at this planning stage, to reject or defer many of your initial ideas. So, I urge you to save those in a well-structured folder for future use.

Just remember, there are no bad ideas, but there are plenty of ideas that need fact-checking, development, and refinement.

And you may have many more ideas than you have time to develop into polished content. So it’s vital to log all your ideas into sensible (consumer-friendly) categories, for later use.

Then, after the planning work, for each Insight you’ll then need to:

1. Develop a compelling title, and be ready to revise it multiple times as you develop the content.
2. Conduct thorough research to verify your claims and the facts. You cannot rely on ChatGPT or other AI tools to warn you of errors.
3. Develop and unpack the Insight into a series of sections / chapters, and give each a compelling heading as well.
4. Draft and restructure the content, possibly multiple times for longer (signature) works.
5. Select or create images that bring your key messages to life. (Notice a mix on this page?)
6. Edit again to remove any waffle. (Never pay a writer by the word; you want clarity, not padding)
7. Edit again after your ‘nearly complete’ draft has been honestly and harshly reviewed (for understandability and interest) by people like those you’re writing for.
8. Finish the insight with a copy edit. You could use an AI App like Grammarly to suggest improvements, but be selective about the changes you accept. These editing tools can make you sound dull if you’re not careful.

You’ll then want to draft 5 to 10 short (attention-grabbing) posts for each longer-form Insight.

After all, there’s no point in drafting great Insights unless you have plenty of short posts to draw people into them. More on that later.

See where the time/money goes?

Of course, if your effective fee-earning rate is £100 per hour, you can halve those in-house cost estimates in the bar chart above.

Just be sure to double them if your effective earning rate is £400 per hour.

(I imagine the effective rate (on intense work time) for leading planners is far higher than £200)

Finally, on your initial cost assumptions, be aware that experienced content creators create (great quality) content relatively quickly.

So, unless you’re an experienced writer and image creator, increase your cost estimates by, say, 30% over the figures in that bar chart, at least for a time while you master the content creation art!

How long will that take?

Hard to say. It could take one or many years.

It depends on how much content you create and how keen you are to develop these skills.

The same applies to becoming a great financial planner.

You didn’t learn all of those skills on day one, right?

What about content maintenance costs?

Indeed, what about those costs?

You can’t ignore them.

So, take your initial (library build) cost estimate, and double it* to get an idea of your total content costs over, say, ten years.

* Double it?

Yes. This assumes that 10% of your library will need updating each year.

If you focus on ‘topical’ content (like stock market performance updates), your maintenance costs will be significantly higher than 10% of the initial costs each year.

So doubling your total costs (up to nearly £200,000) might be a conservative estimate!

Can I help you avoid content maintenance costs?

Yes, absolutely.

For licensed content (options 4 and 5 in the bar chart), I maintain the Insights at no additional charge.

I advise you when the works have been updated or enhanced. You log into your account on my website and download the update.

You’ll see that the changes are clearly marked – making it easy to update your website (or other documents where you use the works), whether you update those items yourself or outsource that work.

Got any gaps in your library?

I don’t want to oversell the benefits of education-first marketing or bore you with my record of creating acclaimed programs of Insights for leading firms.

If you’re familiar with the quality, depth, and range of my work, and you’ve reviewed my testimonials, you’ll know I can help you build a great content library – or enhance the one you have.

This bar chart is designed to help you consider which of my services might best suit your business.

What’s this NEW All Insights Pass?

As the name suggests, the All Insights Pass gives your firm immediate digital access and the right to use my library of Insights in your business, in exchange for one low monthly payment.

It’s like a content rental agreement. As long as you pay the subscription, you can use the content.

If you’re happy to use standard, licensed works (if only for some of your content), this NEW Pass is the best way to access my growing library of content at the lowest price possible.

You can find details of the All Insights Pass here.

You can cancel your subscription easily and without charge if the service doesn’t meet all your expectations. I don’t think you’ll want to cancel, given the content available now and what I have planned for the future to help you attract and engage more clients.

But you’ll be free to cancel at any time. I don’t tie clients into contracts of any kind and I don’t apply exit penalties either!

Do you tend to avoid licensed (standard) content?

Well, as you’ve seen, I offer both licensed and custom-made content, so I have no axe to grind.

And, I agree, it makes sense to create many of your marketing assets in-house.

The question is whether you have the time, skills or desire to write and maintain a whole library of engaging educational content?

Or would it make sense to use (proven) content creators to supply some of that valuable content for between 50% and 97% less cost?

It’s your choice – and it’s not an all-or-nothing decision.

You can always add top-quality Insights from external suppliers, alongside those you create in-house or source from other suppliers, as shown here.

‘Z’ is my new ‘All Insights Pass’

Just be sure to use the very best content creators.

You need content that: Talks to people of all knowledge levels; genuinely helps with Consumer Understanding – and can sit easily alongside your other money insights.

So, choose a content creator who will help you engage more clients in a plain English, conversational style.

Thousands of firms (in all professional services) use licensed (ready-made) content to attract, engage and retain their clients.

The cost savings are clear, and you may be amazed by the range and quality of content from some content providers today.

Do you want to look and sound different to others?

Some advisers I talk to say they avoid using licensed content for fear that a client or prospect might see another firm with similar messages.

I understand the concern for some content, but not for Insights on the basics of personal finance, which everyone needs to learn.

We all need to understand the importance of regular exercise, a balanced diet and plenty of sleep, right?

How is personal finance so different?

And I don’t think consumers crave ‘unique’ content either. Indeed, I’d say their confusion is caused by the many ways we describe ‘what’s important’ about financial planning.

If I visited a GP in Manchester, I’d be given a (high-quality) guide on any health challenges I faced.

And I’d expect to find a similar guide if I visited a GP in Bristol.

So, *content uniqueness* is an idea that’s been seriously overblown by some marketers.

What *matters* is that you offer content that passes these A to F tests.

And let’s face it, not all content suppliers tick all of those boxes!

As I say, I have no axe to grind on whether you opt for unique/custom-made or licensed content.

Or whether you place my Insights alongside your in-house works and those from other suppliers.

Most of my works are custom-made (100% unique), and my clients are delighted with the results.

Just bear in mind that while custom-made works may cost far less than creating all your content in-house, custom-made content is still a lot more expensive than licensed content.

It’s a bit like Savile Row vs M&S (off-the-shelf) suits, only in my case, the quality of my off-the-shelf works is the same as my tailored offerings!

You just enjoy huge savings with the licensed content.

What’s more, there’s a great (Unique Derivative) option that sits in between those two extremes.

This is where I draw on the text of my existing proven works and tailor them to your business.

Here’s how it works.

This gives you content that’s unique to your firm – but at a low cost.

So, unsurprisingly, it’s an increasingly popular service.

Having said all of that…

There is almost no chance of your firm being seen sharing similar ideas to another if you use *my* licensed content in your library.

That’s because while I’ve written programs of educational content for leading financial firms for years, my licensed content services are relatively new.

This means there’s little chance of your clients finding similar content on other sites today.

And, however fast my business grows in the future, I plan to limit the sales of my NEW “All Insights Pass” to fewer than 1 in 20 advisers across the UK.

So, 95% of firms won’t have access to this content – and, currently, that number is close to 100% because I’m only now launching this NEW ‘All Insights Pass’

How could you make your Insights stand out?

That’s a big question!

So, I’ve explored it in another two-part explainer on ‘Six ways to rate a content creator’.

In short, there are no golden rules for being attractive – if there were, everyone would be so!

That said, obviously, you need top-quality images and an engaging writing style if you want to boost your engagement numbers – and not damage them!

And please be in no doubt, you will waste a ton of money on a library if you bore people with financial planning ideas!

People today are hugely sceptical about ‘dull and complicated’ content.

And in some cases, they are right to be so.

Overly complex descriptions and excessive use of graphs often indicate that the writer doesn’t fully grasp the ideas themselves and is trying to bamboozle the audience with “science”.

That’s why I focus on making all this ‘Dull Money Stuff’ interesting.

I passed the ‘hard’ (advanced) financial planning exams (G10 and G60) on my first attempt. So, I can get complicated if you want – but your clients won’t thank you if we do!

Remember also that if you want my (low-cost) licensed Insights to have your firm’s branded look, you can always replace the images!

And it is the *look* and writing style (after accuracy and balance) that makes your content compelling.

Do your signature Insights on your website stand out?

Or do they drop you into the grey sea of financial services, along with others?

Do you even offer *signature* educational Insights or ‘White Papers’?

(And is ‘White Paper’ a compelling term?)

If you’d like me to SCAN the structure and content of your educational Insights, drop me a line, and we’ll have a chat about a sensible way to do that.

The truth is, if you only ask your team (or family or friends) to review your content, you won’t get all the feedback you need.

Trust me, I give honest and full feedback… as I’m sure you do on the financial products you find held by new clients.

E-mail me at hello@paulclaireaux.com with the subject title ‘SCAN’ if you’d like an external view on the content you’re sharing today.

How much is enough to make your marketing easy?

‘How much is enough?’ is the classic financial planning question, as you know.

What surprises many business owners, however, is how this question applies to your Insights library.

How much content do you need to start impressing and engaging your audience?

How much hard work is required before that marketing ball starts rolling on its own?

Short answer?

Size isn’t everything – but it matters!

Of course, your first focus must be on quality – and there are no shortcuts here.

If you fail on either Accuracy or Balance, your firm will lose trust with your clients, their close family members or other professional advisers.

I have been that close family member helping my parents undertake the ‘John West’ task of finding the best by rejecting the rest!

And there’s now plenty of evidence of this problem from Schroders UK and Cerulli in the US, who have found that up to 70% of spouses and adult inheritors plan to leave the current adviser when the wealth holder dies.

It’s also essential to build and maintain trust with your clients’ other professional advisers, whom many wealthy people have.

You know that building trust is the perennial challenge across Financial Services, which only came off the bottom of the Edelman league table in recent years as they’ve added two new categories.

Social Media and Fashion!

More recently, in the 2025 Advice Gap Report from LangCat, we learn the following most worrying statistics from their consumer research.

When asking why consumers might not take regulated advice:

• 25% cite  ‘lack of trust in advisers’.
• 20% cite ‘lack of trust in the process’.

And both reasons are growing in importance.

So, this is not optional. We must get on top of this trust issue.

Of course, most (advice) firms are capable of sourcing or creating accurate and balanced Insights.

You just need a lot of time to review the content from suppliers, some of whom pay little attention to accuracy or balance!.

For most advice, planning and coaching firms, however, the real challenge is less about content quality and more about being heard at all – and to be heard, you need two things:

• Highly compelling content.
• Plenty of ‘outreach’ messages to grab people’s attention.

If your Insights are not compelling, no one will read them, and your efforts to be accurate and balanced are wasted.

So, your Insights must pass the ABC tests, and you need enough to keep people coming back for more.

You can’t get traction with a few ad hoc insights each year. And that leads us back to this question:

How much educational (helpful) content is enough?

If you follow the business growth guru Daniel Priestley, you’ll have heard him talk about his (4-7-11) idea for content volume.

Daniel suggests that to become a ‘go-to’ place for answers, in most service businesses, you may need to:

1. Maintain a regular presence in 4 different online locations.
2. Have 11 interactions with your ideal clients.
3. Offer 7 or more hours’ worth of high-quality Insights.

Seven hours’ worth of content, is he serious?

Yes, and you need a lot of valuable content to educate, inform and entertain people for that time.

At a modest pace (of reading or listening), that’s 80,000 to 100,000 words.

And that’s enough for a good-sized non-fiction book.

Could you set aside a year of your time?

If so, you could start your content library by writing a book, and then draw all consumer-facing Insights from that.

Indeed, there’s no better way to establish yourself as a thought leader than by publishing a book that receives good reviews – as Priestley often reminds us.

And, if you’d like to explore what’s involved in writing and publishing books, I’m happy to talk. I’ve published two of those – and I keep an eye on developments in this space too.

If book writing isn’t for you (or you’d rather write on topics other than personal finance), consider acquiring some of the Money Insights you need from trustworthy content suppliers.

Could a better library help your Social Media team?

Yes, absolutely.

The wonderful thing is that once you’ve got a great library of Insights, you’ll have enough short ideas to post on social media every day of the year.

And if the Insights are foundational (and up to date), you’ll have enough short posts for every day of every year after that.

Let’s think about this.

Does your Social Media marketing person struggle to create great (financial planning educational) Insights?

Does this add to YOUR workload when they keep asking for more ideas?

Rhetorical Questions!

So, how about equipping them with a great library of content from which they can draw all the outreach posts you need – and more besides?

A great library gives you an unending stream of ready-made short posts.

You draw them from each section of your longer-form Insights.

What’s more, if you work with a leading content supplier, they’ll supply several short outreach posts with every Insight – for FREE!

Could this make your Social Media Marketing person more effective?

How big is the library I’m offering?

It’s pretty big, and will get a lot bigger!

If you’re considering subscribing to my NEW All Insights Pass, you‘ll gain immediate access to my current library of eight full lessons on the basics of financial planning.

Most of these lessons are broken down into two or three Insights. So, you’ll start with a wealth of content assets – and enjoy many more in the years to come.

Remember: You’ll save up to 97% compared to in-house content creation costs for the great quality library you can use with my ‘All Insights Pass’.

Your content is all updated and upgraded as necessary under this service.

And, once subscribed, your real-terms costs will never rise.

Does content quality matter to you?

OK, silly question.

I know quality matters to you, and you know you need great-quality consumer-facing Insights around financial planning.

That’s why I work so very hard to create it.

At least two leading financial planners review all my Insights. And one of them used to mark exam papers for the Institute of Financial Planning.

Additionally, my Money Psychology work is reviewed by an award-winning Doctor of Psychology, who has 20 years of clinical experience.

So, you can completely rely on the quality of the consumer-facing content you’ll find here.

Of course, I’m always open to ideas to make the content more compelling.

So, please share any feedback you have on the consumer-facing Insights on this website.

Are my consumer-facing Insights right for your business?

These Insights could be perfect for you if:

• You want to attract, engage or retain more clients.
• You don’t have the time, desire or skills to create all the educational content you need.
• You want content that passes the ABC tests. (It’s Accurate, Balanced and Compelling)
• You want to build a ‘go-to’ program of Insights or add proven content to a program you’ve started.
• You like the idea of getting FREE updates on the content supplied.
• You love the idea of saving up to 98% on some of your in-house content creation work.

What issues will you face with compliance?

All of my licensed consumer-facing insights are accurate, balanced (neutral) and generic educational content.

They do not contain any specific recommendations to buy, sell or otherwise transact in any financial product.

And, the reader is always encouraged to seek professional guidance or advice where they need it. So, you could think of these Insights as stepping stones to your services.

All of this means these Insights should be exempt from any need for compliance approval.

Of course, I know the views of compliance managers vary. So, please check with yours and add warnings to any content you licensed from me, as you feel you need to.

What do most clients value most upfront?

Whether you only offer Money Insights in person or you support those conversations with guides and explainers on your website, you know your clients (and prospective clients) value great ideas.

Yes, they want to see great testimonials from clients on your website and in other places, such as VouchedFor.

However, beyond the Social Proof, people today expect their advisers to offer sound money Insights.

And research from Psychologists (like Albert Bandura) helps us to understand why.

Bandura proved that people engage more with ideas where they feel somewhat capable.

What’s more, your educational Insights clearly demonstrate your warmth and competence.

And those things are what matter for building trust.

The research is in on this, too.

So, your website needs to share lots of valuable Insights to work like brilliant (unpaid!) salespeople – and draw enquiries to your services, while you get on with other work.

And if my educational content could help your business this way (as it has done for others), I’d like to offer it to you at the best possible price.

Unsure which content service is best for you?

Do you think you could use my help to establish your firm (or maintain your position as) a ‘go-to place’ for answers to vital money questions?

If so, this chart will give you a good idea of your cost options for building a great library of content or enhancing one you already have.

This is a realistic estimate of the range of costs to start (or add to) your library – over a year or two.

And I’m happy to help you explore all of these options on a video call, if you like.

I’m only interested in helping you share great educational Insights with consumers – whether you work with me or another content creator.

So, if you’d like to do that:

• E-mail me at hello@paulclaireaux.com
• Message me on LinkedIn
• Or book directly into my diary here.

And thanks for dropping in.