Susan B. Weiner's Blog, page 46

Out-of-office auto-reply: vacation necessity?

It’s summertime. Vacations abound, so you’d think that out-of-office auto-reply emails would be just as numerous. Think again. It seems as if they’re on the decline, just like the length of time that we see the sun now that we’ve passed the summer solstice. That’s frustrating for people like me. We could adjust our plans if the vacationers let us know that they’re away. Instead, we’re in limbo.

I’m not alone in my perception that out-of-office messages are less common. My LinkedIn status update on this topic attracted many likes and people saying that they’ve noticed this phenomenon. It also scored more than 2,500 views, which is huge for me.

What’s behind the out-of-office auto-reply’s decline?

I blame the decline of out-of-office messages on the rise of the smartphone. Now that people carry their email everywhere, they think they’ll reply from vacation. They may not plan to reply to every email, but at least to important ones. However, desire seems to collide with vacation-induced inertia—or the judgment that emails like mine aren’t important.

The smartphone may not be the only culprit. One respondent to my LinkedIn update said that some people lack the ability to set up auto-reply messages. Financial technology expert Blane Warrene says,

If someone is anchored to mobile only, it can be tricky handling out-of -office messages. Some accounts do not allow for the Automatic Replies feature in Outlook on mobile, for example, when they are not powered by an Exchange server. A little how-to prep can fix this though. For example, even simple POP and IMAP accounts (for example if you have a GoDaddy domain that also anchors your email accounts in a small business, offer web access to the setting that enables out-of-office responses.

In general, though, most mobile apps do allow for setting up mobile out-of-office settings. This includes iCloud, Gmail (free and professional), as well as the aforementioned browser access.

If this discussion of servers and domains confuses you, you’re not alone. There are people who who struggle to follow instructions to set up auto-reply messages. I have one friend who relies on a helper to set up auto-reply messages. Some people may avoid setting up auto-replies because they don’t know how to create them.

Another potential culprit: the explosion of spam. Graphic designer Karen Coleman said in response to my LinkedIn update, “I don’t like auto-responders going from my email account. I don’t want it going to spam bots so they know the email is active.” She’s afraid she would receive even more junk emails if she used auto-reply messages.

Self-employed people are especially likely to worry that an out-of-office message alerts thieves to their absence. No one wants to advertise, “Hey, come break in!”

When do you need an out-of-office auto-reply strategy?

I don’t believe that you need to turn on your out-of-office message when you’re out of the office for only one day. But if you’re out for an entire week, it’s polite—and good for business—to let people know that you won’t be reading or responding to email.

Warrene agrees, saying, “I have found through years of both corporate work and starting and operating businesses, that the out-of-office message is woefully underused.”

Put some thought into your message. Sue Hershkowitz-Coore, author of Power Sales Writing, says:

With the expectation of an immediate reply, an out-of-office auto-reply can be quite helpful. The challenge is the message needs to be more than “Thanks for your message, I’m not here.” Beyond explaining when to expect a reply and an alternate contact, if available, it must also be on-brand. This is key to engagement.

A good out-of-office message will improve the quality of your time away from your email. Warrene says, “The out-of-office message can be used artfully (with well written and useful directions for correspondents) so blocked time can be used efficiently when on the road for business or pleasure.”

If you can’t or won’t respond to email from vacation, then set up a workaround. For example, you could ask a colleague to monitor your email. If you’re a solopreneur, you hire a virtual assistant to check email for you, as Coleman suggested in her LinkedIn reply to me. This gets around the concern that an out-of-office message will alert thieves that their homes are ready to be robbed.

 

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Writers, do you know when something’s wrong?

As a writer, can you recognize when something you’ve written doesn’t work?

In Unless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing, Roger Rosenblatt says:

Good writers always know when something is wrong with a piece. They may kid themselves for a while, but the mistake eats at them until they have no choice but to act.

Does Rosenblatt’s opinion ring true to you?

I have mixed feelings about it.

I think I can recognize when my work is blatantly “off.” But I’m not so sure about smaller things. That’s why I’m always open to getting a second opinion on my work. For example, my writing group’s feedback on Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients was very helpful. I also sometimes use software to read things out loud to myself. As I said in “Why I love Adobe Acrobat Pro for proofreading,” I hear problems that I couldn’t see.

What about you? Can you tell when something is wrong with your writing?

Dis

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How I named my website—and the lessons for you

I’m reading One Perfect Pitch: How to Sell Your Idea, Your Product, Your Business—or Yourself. Author Marie Perruchet says, “Very often, a startup’s name tells much more about the company’s story.”

That made me wonder, what does my naming story say—and what lessons might it offer for naming your financial services firm?

Here are my lessons for you.

1. Personal vs. generic name

Do you want a name that’s specific to a firm headed by you, as with SusanWeiner.com? Or, do you want a generic name?

I started out wanting to use my own name to make it clear that I’m the only person who does my firm’s writing, editing, and training. As Perruchet says, “Audiences are smart and can easily detect what is fake. There is no reason to inflate or transform the truth.”

However, think differently if you plan to build a firm with employees—a firm you may eventually wish to sell. You might prefer a more generic firm name that doesn’t use your surname. You can still personalize by using words or images that resonate with you and your target audience.

For example, I love the spinning classes at my gym. If I were starting a writing business aimed at companies offering spinning-related classes and products, I might call it Spinning Words.

2. Grab your desired name ASAP

I wanted to use SusanWeiner.com for my website. Unfortunately, it wasn’t available when I started. I faced much less memorable variants that involved inserting hyphens or underscores into my name.

As you consider names for your investment, wealth management, or financial planning firm, see if your candidates have already been taken by someone else. The on how to check that your business name won’t infringe a trademark or if another local business has already incorporated under the name.

Think about your website name, in addition to your firm’s name. If a couple of short, memorable names are available, consider reserving those website addresses. It’s fairly inexpensive. For example, it’s about $15 per year for a URL on GoDaddy.

3. Crowdsource

What if the name you want isn’t available? That’s what initially happened to me with SusanWeiner.com.

My first thought was to use InvestmentCommunications.com because my title at my previous corporate job had been director of investment communications. Unfortunately, that website address was already taken.

I asked my web designer for advice. His suggestions included InvestmentWriting.com. In retrospect, I’m glad I was forced into using something other than SusanWeiner.com. InvestmentWriting is more memorable and more easily spelled, especially since I pronounce my name WEE-ner, instead of the more common WI-ner. Also, Investment Writing identifies my key skill. That’s priceless.

If I ran into this problem today, I might crowdsource my naming dilemma. I might ask for ideas on social media, as I did for my book cover. Or, I might ask a select group of colleagues. Your choice will depend on how comfortable you are with these options.

4. Don’t give up on your ideal website address

Remember how I wanted SusanWeiner.com? My web guy kept his eyes open. We snared that address once it became available. Now it rolls over to InvestmentWriting.com.

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of One Perfect Pitch from McGraw-Hill in return for agreeing to write about it. Also, if you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

The post appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

Top posts from 2017’s second quarter

Check out my top posts from the second quarter!

They’re a mix of practical tips on marketing (#1, 6, 7), writing (#4, 5, 9, 10), blogging (#3, 10), newsletters (#2), compliance (#3), and investment commentary (#8).

Here’s my list of posts that attracted the most views during the second quarter.

Be specific about your advantages, or lose prospects—This post received many social media shares.
Catch e-newsletter non-openers with this technique—I’ve boosted my newsletter’s open rate with this technique.
Fixing compliance issues with comments on your LinkedIn Pulse posts
Quotation websites for your writing
Underline your way to less financial jargon
Use Trello to manage your VA’s marketing help
Financial call transcripts: are they good for marketing?
What are your top challenges in writing investment commentary?
Writing lessons from a famous painter’s journey
AP StyleGuard: the answer to your proofreading prayers?

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Dare to be different in your financial marketing

On my bicycle close to where I first glimpsed the Robolights

The Robolights house grabbed my attention. Its colorful sculptures stood out as my husband and I bicycled around the sleek modernist houses of Palm Springs’ Movie Colony neighborhood.

We were just one block away from Frank Sinatra’s house, where we glimpsed the pool side entrance as men set up for a party. We’d been biking and driving around, guided by a map of modernist architecture in Palm Springs, California. The colorful Robolights sculptures contrasted with the subdued earth tones that we saw around it in other homes and the landscape.

More Roblights sculptures

Looking in the back entrance to Frank Sinatra’s house

Another modernist home

Lesson for financial marketers

Too many marketers for financial services firms produce messages and materials that look the same. That’s okay if you don’t want to stand out from the crowd.

If you DO want to stand out, try becoming the Robolights house of your niche. Embrace a different appearance.

Sure, some people will shy away from your differences. I saw some nasty comments about the Robolights house.

On the other hand, other people will become passionate fans. Don’t you want to attract people who appreciate the real you?

 

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy 6 ways financial advisors can differentiate themselves or You vs me — or we: A rant on financial marketing.

 

 

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Editing tool: the Writer’s Diet

It’s hard to be objective about your own writing. I know that’s true for me. That’s why editing tools, like the Writer’s Diet, can help.

Writer’s Diet editing tool shows weaknesses

The Writer’s Diet is a free, online tool that assesses what you enter into its text box. It evaluates your use of verbs, nouns, prepositions, adjectives/adverbs, and “it, this, that, there.” As the website explains, “The higher the percentage of highlighted words, the ‘flabbier’ your score.”

Let’s look at each item:

The verb test doesn’t penalize you for verbs in general. It counts be-verbs, which I’ve railed against in “The ‘Be’ test for writers.”
The noun test counts abstract nouns, also known as nominalizations, which I’ve discussed in “Quit hiding your meaning.” Abstract nouns are generally not a good idea, though sometimes they are necessary.
The preposition test counts common prepositions. Prepositions aren’t bad. But too many of them may make a sentence too complex.
The adjectives/adverbs test counts words with common endings for adjectives and adverbs. An occasional adjective or adverb is fine. Too many make your sentences hard to understand.
The “it, this, that, there” test counts those words. The author also calls this the “waste word test.”

Below is a sample analysis that I found on the Writer’s Diet website. Can you see how weak it is?

 

Run multiple samples through this test, suggests Helen Sword, the creator of the Writer’s Diet, in her book, Stylish Academic Writing. “By the time you have tested three or four samples of your writing, you will have become aware of your signature usage patterns—for example, a predilection for abstraction (translation: too many spongy abstract nouns) or a tendency to begin every sentence with this.”

No editing tool is perfect

No online editing tool is perfect. The Writer’s Diet tool admits that. It says, “Many fabulous pieces of prose will receive scores of Flabby or even Heart Attack, because stylish writers have the confidence and skill to play around with language in ways that the test is not designed or intended to evaluate.”

The reverse is true, too. See the paragraph below, which I used as an example of bad writing in “Seven Ways to Talk Your Financial Execs Out of Jargon and Bad Writing,” my article on MarketingProfs (free registration required). The Writer’s Diet praised this awful sentence as “lean,” not recognizing that jargon made it difficult to understand.

Even my favorite online tool, which I discussed in “Free help for wordy writers,” can’t identify all problems. That’s why your writing will benefit from a combination of automated and human evaluation.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy “Quick check for writers, with an economic commentary example” and “5 steps for rewriting your investment commentary.”

Disclosure: If you click on the Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

Image courtesy of Keerati at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

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My suspicion about “best” lists

I’m grateful to be named occasionally to “best” lists that circulate via social media. I’m also a bit suspicious.

I imagine that many of the list creators are sincere. I get that sense, especially when they don’t describe me with a blurb drawn word for word from my website.

On the other hand, I suspect that some list creators are trolling for social media shares and “likes” by naming people with significant followings in their niches. As I write this, I have almost 13,000 Twitter followers. That’s not a huge following. However, it does add up the largest Twitter following for a blogger about financial writing.

Best lists as part of campaigns targeting influencers

I couldn’t find any articles that focus on using best lists to boost the creators’ social media influence. However, I found some related articles.

The Social Media Examiner blog discusses how to “How to Encourage Influencers to Share Your Content.” Its first recommendation? “Give influencers free publicity.” Here’s what it says under that heading:

Create content that gives a highly regarded brand or someone influential (and deserving) free publicity and they and/or their marketing people will be sure to share.

For example, Lagavulin was included as one of the top 10 scotch whiskies in this post. The post Lagavulin shared with the article generated more than 1,500 likes and 300 shares.

That sounds exactly like what some folks try to do with their best lists. However, this blogger seems to have taken a rigorous approach to compiling the list, saying “…we’ve collaborated with a team of whisky experts and distilleries to compile the following lists.” Also, by the time I looked at the whisky post, it was up to almost 10,000 shares. That suggests that it’s a quality list (though as a non-drinker of whisky, I don’t have an opinion on the topic).

It’s OK to target influencers

Please don’t get the sense that I don’t want you to target influencers. Heck, I target them myself, with techniques such as guest posts, retweets, Q&As, and commenting on their content.

But please do your targeting with integrity. I’ve written about an influencer-targeting that bugs me in Hey, loser, quit @ naming people to promote yourself.

Here are some articles that may give you some legitimate ways to target influencers:

7 Steps to Get Influencers to Share Your Content
11 Guaranteed Ways to Get Others to Retweet Your Content
11 ways to encourage your customers to share your content

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Word repetition—good or bad?

“Can I repeat this word throughout my report, or is it better to mix things up?” That’s a question I hear sometimes. Many people think that repetition is bad.

I like the following quote from Roger Rosenblatt in Unless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing:

Read Hemingway’s short stories, where he uses the same words over and over, and the words gain meaning with every repetition. If you have someone say something, let him “say” it—not aver it, declare it or intone it. Let the power reside in what he says.

I love that last line: “Let the power reside in what he says.”

I took a stand for repetition in “How to discuss index and portfolio returns: My case against synonyms for ‘return’.” I prefer plain old “returned.” However, many of my survey respondents favored more colorful words. I’m glad I found Rosenblatt’s quote to make my case.

Disclosure: If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

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Writing for financial experts

How should you tailor your financial writing for experts like institutional investors or financial professionals? I have many gut feelings about what you should do. But this time I’m drawing on other people’s research. Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) performs great research about how people read on the web. NNG’s Hoa Loranger and Kate Meyer discuss “Writing Digital Copy for Domain Experts” in an article that may apply to financial experts. I say “may apply” because their article only mentions “medical professionals, scientists, and engineers.”

Here are the five main findings or recommendations in Loranger and Meyer’s article:

Provide facts, avoid interpretation.
Citations and supporting evidence are critical.
Experts care about recency.
Shared vocabularies change the rules for plain language.
Grammar and spelling count.

1. Provide facts, avoid interpretation

Loranger and Meyer say that experts care most about the following two types of information, as they are “on a fact-finding mission”:

New information that they haven’t considered or heard of
Contradictory information that is contrary to their existing knowledge or beliefs

“Lead with data and facts. Researchers can see through hype,” say Loranger and Meyer. They stress presenting facts and providing “proof for your statements.” The idea of providing proof squares with what colleagues have told me about their perception of the difference between writing for institutional vs. retail investors.

Although Loranger and Meyer’s heading says to “avoid interpretation,” I think what they really mean is to make your content “free from unnecessary fluff and vague assertions,” as they say elsewhere in this piece.

2. Citations and supporting evidence are critical

Loranger and Meyer say, “Domain experts often scan bylines and citations for name recognition. If the content is written by a well-respected person or entity, readers are more likely to trust the information.”

How might this translate into the world of investment management? It might mean the difference between using asset-class performance data from Standard & Poor’s or Bloomberg Barclays vs. data from a little firm that’s not widely known or—even worse—simply saying, “in our experience, this is how this asset class behaves.”

If possible, make it easy for the experts to access your original sources of information. Of course, that’s not possible if you’re licensing proprietary information from a provider that keeps its data behind a pay wall.

3. Experts care about recency

Experts may leave sites where article dates aren’t shown or the dates are old, according to NNG’s research.

Loranger and Meyer say, “Show dates even for evergreen content that continues to be relevant long past its publication date. Domain experts can decipher between time-sensitive developments and long-lasting concepts and older dates.” (This makes me feel good about the fact that my blog posts on this website show their publication date.)

4. Shared vocabularies change the rules for plain language

It’s OK to use technical language if your audience consists solely of technical experts, according to this article. Although I often rail against technical language, as in “Words to avoid in your investment communications with regular folks,” I’m more flexible when I work on institutional communications.

Explaining concepts that experts know well may work against you, say the authors. Experts may look at your work and decide that it’s meant for the general public. Still, I suggest that you be careful not to overestimate your audience. For example, a so-called institutional investor could be a less sophisticated investment committee member or financial advisor. Read “How to make one quarterly letter fit clients at different levels of sophistication” for my take on how to keep everybody happy.

Loranger and Meyer suggest that you use extra care if your audience includes people new to the field, if you’re discussing less-common concepts or tangential fields, or if your terms have multiple meanings.

5. Grammar and spelling count

You may think that experts care more about the information than how you write about it. Think again.

“…when your target users are highly educated, they may be more likely to catch mistakes in your writing, and they may be more critical,” say Loranger and Meyer.

Useful tips for writing online for experts

This article provided some tips specific to writing online for experts.

You can’t dump too many facts on a web page. You’ll overwhelm your readers. The solution? Loranger and Hoa suggest layering your information, using two techniques:

State the summary at the top. Then provide more detail information down the page progressively.
Include hyperlinks that take readers to supporting details on deeper-level pages. Experts are particularly likely to click on hyperlinks to increase their understanding of a topic.

An A-to-Z index to your content may make sense for experts, while it wouldn’t work for the general public “because users don’t often know the exact name of the topic they want,” say Loranger and Meyer.

Another online writing tip: sign up for the Nielsen Norman Group weekly newsletter. It’s one of the few newsletters I read regularly.

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Catch e-newsletter non-openers with this technique

Do you feel disappointed when some of your e-newsletter subscribers fail to open your newsletters? It happens to everybody. The average “open” rate for financial e-newsletters is about 18%, according to Constant Contact.

I’ve learned a technique that has boosted my open rates significantly in two tests. First, I increased the open rate on one of my monthly e-newsletters from 20.4% to 29.1%. Second, I increased the open rate on one of my Weekly Tips from 20.7% to 27.2%. Since then, I’ve achieved open rates greater than 30% on some newsletters.

The secret of my higher open rates

I achieved this improvement by re-sending those emails to people who hadn’t opened them within about a week following their original sending. It’s big win to boost the open rate this easily.

How did I do it? I had my virtual assistant use the QuickSend feature in Constant Contact. I imagine that other forms of e-newsletter software offer similar features. For example, Mailchimp has an option to resend an unopened campaign.

I use QuickSend on every issue of my monthly newsletter. I use it on just one of my Weekly Tips because I don’t want to overwhelm my subscribers’ email in-boxes. I time the Weekly Tip re-send so it doesn’t overlap with the re-send of my monthly newsletter.

How about YOUR newsletters?

Look at your newsletters. Think about how you can use this feature. If your newsletter is monthly, it’s a no-brainer to use this QuickSend approach. If you publish more frequently, be careful that you don’t overwhelm your readers’ in-boxes.

Please tell me if it boosts your open rate and, more importantly, if it helps you to improve your relationships with clients and prospects.

Another tip for your e-newsletter

In addition to using QuickSend, I have another tip for boosting the open rate for your monthly newsletter.

Don’t wait until your regular monthly date to send a newsletter to a new subscriber. I try to send weekly to new subscribers. I hope to attract more attention by contacting them while they still remember signing up for my newsletter.

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