Susan B. Weiner's Blog

OCT. NEWSLETTER: Are blogs written by humans still relevant?

Now that financial professionals can harness artificial intelligence (AI) to spew out blog posts, are blogs written by humans still relevant?

Yes, they are.

Sure, it’s relatively easy to create a large volume of blog posts with AI’s help. Also, you may be able to use AI to help with your blog post research, as long as you check the sources to make sure they aren’t AI “hallucinations.”

However, AI-generated blog posts have a big flaw. They typically lack the distinctive flavor of a blog post written by a creative writer with a unique voice. This means that AI-generated blog posts won’t help you stand out from your competitors—especially not if they’re drawing on the same sources as your competitors. In contrast, you’ll stand out if you dig deep into your unique personal experiences.

Try it and see!

If you’d like to learn more about how to blog efficiently and effectively, check out my book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients, and my online financial blogging class.

 

Examples of how to convey a lot in few words

Do you know that famous quote to the effect of “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter”?

100 word story is a website that shares stories—essays or fiction—that are complete within 100 words. That’s quite a challenge.

For investment-related examples of how to shorten writing, read my post on “Can YOU simplify investment commentary better than this?”

And to understand the origins of that famous quote, read The Quote Investigator’s “Quote Origin: If I Had More Time, I Would Have Written a Shorter Letter.”

For authors affected by the Anthropic settlement

If you’re the author of a book with content that might have been used by AI company Anthropic without your permission, check out “What Authors Need to Know About the $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement” from the Authors Guild.

Bring your plants indoors

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, it might be time for you to bring in your houseplants before frost hits. I found some tips for this in “How & When to Bring Plants Inside: Timing & Debugging Tips.”

I am also mulling over how to keep some perennials alive on a balcony for the first time this winter. I think I’ll wrap a blanket around the pots to provide the protection that they’ll miss because they’re not planted in the ground.

What my clients say about me

“Fast, effective, insightful. I can think of no better resource for superior financial writing.”

“Susan has an exceptional ability to tailor investment communications to the sophistication level of any audience. She has an uncanny ability to make very complex investment and/or economic topics accessible and understandable to anyone.”

“Susan’s particularly good at working through highly technical material very quickly. That’s very important in this business. A lot of people are good writers, but they have an extensive learning curve for something they’re unfamiliar with. Susan was able to jump very quickly into technical material.”

Read more testimonials!

Improve your investment commentary

Attract more clients, prospects, and referral sources by improving your investment commentary with 44 pages of the best tips from the InvestmentWriting.com blog.

Tips include how to organize your thoughts, edit for the “big picture,” edit line by line, and get more mileage out of your commentary.

Available in PDF format for only $9.99. Email me to buy it now!

Boost your blogging now!

Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients is available for purchase as a PDF ($39) or a paperback ($49, affiliate link).

 

The post OCT. NEWSLETTER: Are blogs written by humans still relevant? appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

MISTAKE MONDAY for September 29: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment.

 

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

The post MISTAKE MONDAY for September 29: Can YOU spot what’s wrong? appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

Free help for wordy writers!

Wordiness is a curse. Long-winded writing obscures your meaning and scares off readers. However, many writers don’t realize that their writing is dragging on and on.

A free online tool—the Hemingway App—can help you recognize when your sentences are too long. Hemingway highlights sentences that are too long. It also suggests some ways to improve your writing. You could identify long sentences using your word processing software, but Hemingway is easier to use.

I’ll walk you through how to use Hemingway.

Step 1. Drop your text into the middle of the Hemingway page

Entering your text into the Hemingway app is a little more complicated than I expected, but it’s worth the effort. First, click to select all of the colored text in the middle column that starts with “Hemingway App makes your writing bold and clear.” Then, hit “delete.” You’ll see a blank space in the middle of your screen.

Next, either type or copy-paste in the text that you’d like to analyze. As soon as you drop in your text, Hemingway will analyze it.

 

Step 2. Look at Hemingway’s grade level analysis

Look first at Hemingway’s overall rating of your text. The image below says the sample below is written at a grade 17 level. You may think, “Great! My clients are sophisticated, so aiming at a graduate-school level is fine.” Think again. Grade level measures how hard you’re making your reader work. Do you want your readers to struggle or to easily absorb your message?

Direct marketers aim for grade eight. On its home page, Hemingway shows grade seven as “good.” You might be able to hit that level in a personal finance blog post, but it’s too hard for more formal financial communications that discuss technical topics. I figure I’m doing a good job if my client materials hit grade level 10.

Your grade level gives you a “big picture” indication of how hard you should work to simplify your writing.

 

Step 3. Review Hemingway’s assessment of your sentence length

Hemingway will color code your text according to its wordiness, as you’ll see in the example below. Red means a sentence is “very hard to read” because of length, as in the first sentence in the image below. Yellow isn’t as bad, but it’s also too long, as you can see in the sample paragraph’s second and third sentences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4. Start simplifying

Hemingway also uses highlighting to suggest some simple fixes by using fewer adverbs and simpler words or eliminating the passive voice.

Hemingway’s suggestions are just a starting point. Complex sentences require a re-thinking of the content. That’s what it took for me to go from the sample paragraph in Step 2 to my rewrite below:

Prices of riskier investments rose in response to recent proposals by German and French leaders, but we are skeptical that this will continue. Investors seem to believe that the proposals will strengthen the euro zone by capping bond yields. This would make euro-zone bonds more attractive to private investors. However, success would require the European Central Bank (ECB) to use strong language or to boost its daily purchases of the troubled countries’ debt by at least €5 billion. To convince distrustful investors will require strong action. That may be more than the ECB can achieve.

If you’d like to learn more about shortening and simplifying your complex sentences, check out my publications and my presentations for do-it-yourself tips. I also edit materials, typically for larger firms with bigger budgets.

 

NOTE: This post originally was published in 2014, but was republished because it remains relevant today.

The post Free help for wordy writers! appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

SEPT. NEWSLETTER: Advice from a powerful book agent

Success requires passion

To write a best-selling book, write about a topic you’re passionate about, advised agent Suzanne Gluck on the podcast  “People I (Mostly) Admire,” episode #10. Gluck has represented almost 200 books on the New York Times bestseller lists.

Passion alone isn’t enough to create a bestseller. But without it, you’re unlikely to succeed, Gluck said.

Write better investment one-pagers

In “About Those One-Pagers,”  Tom Brakke of The Investment Ecosystem says:

Most asset managers fail the test of communicating the essence of who they are in their one-pagers — theirs looks the same as all the others, so the reader naturally gravitates to the performance information, resulting in a wasted opportunity to tell their unique story.

Brakke suggests, due to the rise of machine analysis and artificial intelligence (AI), investment managers should stop arbitrarily limiting their information to one page. Instead, “Tell the story of who the manager is in a way that prizes brevity but not at the cost of quality in content and design.” I like this idea.

Rules for effective AI prompts

How can you create effective prompts for generative AI?

The Nielsen Norman Group recommends using a CARE—context, ask, rules, examples—framework. Learn more in “CARE: Structure for Crafting AI Prompts.”

For fans of the em dash

Lately, some sources have suggested that the use of em dashes suggests that something was written using generative AI.

Many writers disagree.

McSweeney’s is fighting back with a humorous essay, “The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations” by Greg Mania. I’m a big fan of a well-placed em dash, so this essay made me smile. I hope you enjoy it too.

Here’s an old post of mine on em dashes versus en dashes.

Bulgur salad

A bulgur salad is easy to make and works great for picnics during the summer. I recently made this “Bulgur Salad with Fruits and Nuts” by VegKitchen. I like that it’s made with ingredients that I often have at hand.

I love my roses

Here’s a photo of my ballerina roses in a Japanese mug.

 

What my clients say about me

“Fast, effective, insightful. I can think of no better resource for superior financial writing.”

“Susan has an exceptional ability to tailor investment communications to the sophistication level of any audience. She has an uncanny ability to make very complex investment and/or economic topics accessible and understandable to anyone.”

“Susan’s particularly good at working through highly technical material very quickly. That’s very important in this business. A lot of people are good writers, but they have an extensive learning curve for something they’re unfamiliar with. Susan was able to jump very quickly into technical material.”

Read more testimonials!

Improve your investment commentary

Attract more clients, prospects, and referral sources by improving your investment commentary with 44 pages of the best tips from the InvestmentWriting.com blog.

Tips include how to organize your thoughts, edit for the “big picture,” edit line by line, and get more mileage out of your commentary.

Available in PDF format for only $9.99. Email me to buy it now!

Boost your blogging now!

Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients is available for purchase as a PDF ($39) or a paperback ($49, affiliate link).

 

The post SEPT. NEWSLETTER: Advice from a powerful book agent appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

MISTAKE MONDAY for August 25: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment.

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

The post MISTAKE MONDAY for August 25: Can YOU spot what’s wrong? appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

AUGUST NEWSLETTER: Does writing with AI hurt your ability to think?

Writing using artificial intelligence (AI) can save you a lot of time. But what effect does it have on your ability to think?

In “Should we fear cognitive debt?” a podcast interview by Deep Work author Cal Newport, either author Brad Stulberg or Newport said that we sacrifice cognitive fitness when we use AI to write. Also, “my thinking is what I’m paid for,” and AI can’t communicate that, so professional writers shouldn’t use AI to draft their writing.

Here’s a link to the MIT study, “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task,” that underlay their comments about AI-assisted writing. The study compared users of the large language models (LLM) that are key to AI. It concluded

Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI’s role in learning.

All of us who could calculate sums in our heads as children know that not using that part of our brain has made us less adept at such mental calculations. Something similar probably happens when we rely on AI to write.

Fatal flaws of case studies

Case studies can be great marketing tools for investment and wealth managers. But sometimes case studies fail.

Learn about their fatal flaws in “How Do Case Studies Go Wrong? Let’s Count the Ways – and How to Fix Them” by Michelle Rafter of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

To fix the flaws, Rafter recommends that you:

Include enough details and data, including the initial outcomes at a minimum.Omit extraneous details.Avoid jargon and acronyms.Emphasize how the client used the product or service more than the details of the product or service.

On a related note, read my take on the problems that derail white papers: “The compelling investment white paper that wasn’t.”

Your house cleaner’s insurance might fall short

Did you breathe a sigh of relief when your house cleaner sent you a certificate of insurance? Stop! That might not cover what you expect.

I checked that the company that did a deep clean for me had insurance, but I didn’t delve into the details until after the cleaners damaged a table. Then, I discovered that the insurance didn’t cover damage done during the cleaners’ work.

Here’s what commercial insurance agent Traci Eagles told me that cleaners should look for:

I’m an insurance agent, and the coverage that you should look for on your policy is called “voluntary property damage.”

Without this endorsement, if you damage property that is in your care, custody, or control, the General Liability policy won’t respond because this is excluded.

You have to ask for it to be added, and it’s not that much more in premium to add.

It pays to be skeptical. After my bad experience, I called the insurance agent listed on another service provider’s certificate of insurance and discovered that the certificate was not valid. The service provider apparently had no insurance at all.

Summer flowers

I’m enjoying the flowering of my coneflowers and lamb’s ear. Plus, I enjoy the soft, fuzzy texture of the lamb’s ear’s leaves.

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What my clients say about me

“Fast, effective, insightful. I can think of no better resource for superior financial writing.”

“Susan has an exceptional ability to tailor investment communications to the sophistication level of any audience. She has an uncanny ability to make very complex investment and/or economic topics accessible and understandable to anyone.”

“Susan’s particularly good at working through highly technical material very quickly. That’s very important in this business. A lot of people are good writers, but they have an extensive learning curve for something they’re unfamiliar with. Susan was able to jump very quickly into technical material.”

Read more testimonials!

Improve your investment commentary

Attract more clients, prospects, and referral sources by improving your investment commentary with 44 pages of the best tips from the InvestmentWriting.com blog.

Tips include how to organize your thoughts, edit for the “big picture,” edit line by line, and get more mileage out of your commentary.

Available in PDF format for only $9.99. Email me to buy it now!

Boost your blogging now!

Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients is available for purchase as a PDF ($39) or a paperback ($49, affiliate link).

 

The post AUGUST NEWSLETTER: Does writing with AI hurt your ability to think? appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

MISTAKE MONDAY for July 28: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one didn’t jump out at me when I reviewed the image. Will you do better than I did?

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

The post MISTAKE MONDAY for July 28: Can YOU spot what’s wrong? appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

Reader question: How can I ask clients to follow me to a new firm?

When financial planners, wealth managers, and portfolio managers change firms, they want their clients to follow them. But clients don’t fall in line as easily as ducklings following their mother.

After an advisor asked me for advice about composing a letter asking clients to switch firms, I created the list below.

Your letter should be about your client first, then you and your new firm. I’d use “you” in the first sentence and focus on the benefits to your clients from your move. For example, “You’ve said you’re interested in a broader range of investments. You can choose from many more options when you follow me to my new firm, XXX Financial. The concerns expressed by clients like you are a big reason behind my move. At XXX Financial, you’ll benefit from…”Make it easy to switch. Do anything legally possible to make the change easy. If you can fill out the paperwork, so all they need to do is sign, then do it.Stress the benefits of continuity. It must be easier to continue working with the same advisor than to educate a new one from scratch. Stress these positives rather than criticizing your previous employer.Show that you know them well. No form letters, please. Personalize your letter, referring to things their new advisor at your old firm won’t know.Follow up with a phone call. Letters and emails are a great way to reach a large group of people quickly, but a phone call is more personal.

Image courtesy of cj berry

 

Note: Updated on Nov. 15, 2022, and July 22, 2025.

The post Reader question: How can I ask clients to follow me to a new firm? appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

JULY NEWSLETTER: Creating content for an AI world

Creating content for an AI world

Traditional content is less successful in a world increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence (AI).

Your potential customers are relying less on traditional search engines. “Because content discovery mechanisms that marketers have relied on for decades are being fundamentally disrupted. Users are bypassing the entire traditional search ecosystem and instead asking AI for answers directly,” according to “The Future of Content(ly)” on Contently’s The Content Strategist blog.

To combat this, Google Search Central suggests that you “Focus on making unique, non-commodity content that visitors from Search and your own readers will find helpful and satisfying. Then you’re on the right path for success with our AI search experiences, where users are asking longer and more specific questions — as well as follow-up questions to dig even deeper.” It also suggests that you assess your content using Google’s criteria in “Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.”

Streamline your content for greater impact!

Writing that’s less wordy is more powerful.

I have some suggestions on how to cut your word count. One tip is to substitute simple words for phrases. For example, “building my knowledge” becomes “learning.” “In advance of” becomes “before.”

Learn more in “8 ways to cut word count and boost your impact!”

Neurosurgery in 19th-century Japan

Having lived in Japan and earned a Ph.D. in Japanese history, I enjoy watching Japanese-language shows on Netflix.

Here are some subtitled shows that I like:

Jin —A modern-day neurosurgeon time-travels to the period just before the 1868 Meiji Restoration. He meets some real-life historical characters, such as Sakamoto Ryoma. The Family —A  zaibatsu  family’s son and father disagree about the company’s future. Dr. Coto’s Clinic —A doctor moves from Tokyo to a clinic on an isolated island. Inheritance Detective —A former lawyer helps clients resolve inheritance issues. Pan-fried chickpea patties

These chickpea patties from the Well Seasoned Studio blog are delicious! I’ve been trying a lot of dried bean recipes as I get rid of old pantry staples.

What my clients say about me

“Fast, effective, insightful. I can think of no better resource for superior financial writing.”

“Susan has an exceptional ability to tailor investment communications to the sophistication level of any audience. She has an uncanny ability to make very complex investment and/or economic topics accessible and understandable to anyone.”

“Susan’s particularly good at working through highly technical material very quickly. That’s very important in this business. A lot of people are good writers, but they have an extensive learning curve for something they’re unfamiliar with. Susan was able to jump very quickly into technical material.”

Read more testimonials!

Improve your investment commentary

Attract more clients, prospects, and referral sources by improving your investment commentary with 44 pages of the best tips from the InvestmentWriting.com blog.

Tips include how to organize your thoughts, edit for the “big picture,” edit line by line, and get more mileage out of your commentary.

Available in PDF format for only $9.99. Email me to buy it now!

Boost your blogging now!

Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients is available for purchase as a PDF ($39) or a paperback ($49, affiliate link).

 

The post JULY NEWSLETTER: Creating content for an AI world appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.

MISTAKE MONDAY for June 30: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?

Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment.

Here’s a key piece of information: I viewed this item when I was buying something from a website in February 2018. Without this information, you might not realize that anything is wrong with this week’s Mistake Monday item.

I post these challenges to raise awareness of the importance of proofreading.

The post MISTAKE MONDAY for June 30: Can YOU spot what’s wrong? appeared first on Susan Weiner Investment Writing.