Susan B. Weiner's Blog, page 51

Controversial topic spurs LinkedIn discussion

One of my LinkedIn Pulse posts on a controversial topic received 34 comments in less than two days. It also received 33 likes and more than 200 views in that period. That floored me.

The comment-spurring post was “Periods: One space or two at the end of a sentence?” It’s a topic that spurs strong feelings in people, especially if their teachers or editors have emphasized that there’s only one correct answer.

What can you learn from my controversial topic experience?

You may assume that my post generated comments because it was controversial. In “13 Types of Posts that Always Get Lots of Comments,” ProBlogger’s Darren Rowse lists “Debate or controversy posts” as one of his 13 post types. “Put two or more opposing arguments to your readers and step back to see what happens,” says Rowse.

I think it’s more than that. I think part of my post’s success was due to my choice of a controversial topic that is also safe. Punctuation isn’t a sensitive topic in the same way as politics or religion. Readers can disagree on punctuation without others thinking “Oh, how horrible that person is for opposing my opinion!” I doubt that clashes over punctuation have ended any friendships or turned off potential clients.

Another strength of my post was that it posed a question, inviting comments. Moreover, it was an easy question—one space or two?—that could be answered briefly. Rowse’s article listed question posts among the types mostly likely to spur an above-average number of comments. He said, “Ask a question and those who hear it are wired to answer it. I find when I include a question in the title of my posts that comment numbers tend to be at least double normal posts.”

My post wasn’t one of my more in-depth or insightful posts, much as it hurts me to say this. Sometimes being safely controversial and asking an easy-to-answer question can override the quality of your work. On the other hand, I am relieved to report that some of my more thoughtful posts have also spurred comments. In his article, Rowse listed “meaty posts” as good candidates to spur comments.

What’s YOUR experience with comments on LinkedIn Pulse?

To get a sense of whether controversial topics—especially those that are safe and pose a question—work best at spurring discussion on LinkedIn Pulse, I invite you to share the name of your most commented-upon LinkedIn Pulse article in the comments, along with a link to your post.

If you’d like to learn more about my experience with LinkedIn Pulse, read “My experiment blogging on LinkedIn.”

Image courtesy of Sira Anamwong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

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What if my financial article has too many examples?

Examples are great additions to your financial article or white paper. They make your points come alive, convincing your readers of your main points. However, your financial white paper can have too many examples.

For example, imagine an article that has 20 bullet-pointed examples of how a retirement account might help investors. I doubt readers will get beyond six bullet points at most. They may abandon your article because of information overload.

Sometimes it’s true that “less is more.”

How can you fix a financial article or white paper with too many examples? I have suggestions.

Solution 1: Delete examples from your financial article

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. Identify the most compelling examples and delete the rest.

Don’t throw out those examples, which a small subset of readers may find powerful. Instead, “Save your trash to feed your blog,” as I’ve said before. You can write a narrowly focused blog post or article that addresses the examples cut from your original article.

Solution 2: Organize examples into subgroups

You may be able to organize your examples into subgroups. Imagine that you have 20 examples of the best retirement account choices. If you divide those examples into six categories, your readers can zoom in on the information that’s relevant to them.

For example, you might divide examples into the following categories in terms of whom they help. Categories might include retirement savers who:

Are under age 50
Are age 50 and up
Are nearing the age of required minimum distributions
Have maxed out their other retirement accounts
Want to buy a piece of property as an investment
Are more concerned about passing assets to future generations than saving for retirement

Solution 3: Create a chart, table, or other exhibit

Consider creating a chart, table, or other exhibit that organizes your examples. You can discuss the most compelling examples in the body of your white paper, but refer your readers to your exhibit for more information. The visual aspect of exhibits helps readers to focus on what interests them the most. It also helps them to absorb your information more efficiently.

Another possibility: Create a flow chart that points readers to different examples based on their individual situation and desires.

Exhibits break up the wall of words. Exhibits with more images, such as infographics, are also great for capturing attention on social media.

Solution 4: Dump examples in an appendix

If you can’t bear to edit or organize your examples, then put them in an appendix. There they won’t prevent readers from absorbing your arguments in the body of your white paper or article. Yet they’re available for people who want to review all the relevant information (and more) before making a decision.

Use these solutions and boost the power of your financial article, blog post, or white paper!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/Freedigitalphotos.net

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Financial e-newsletters, kill your annoying, weak clickbait!

Some financial e-newsletters drive me crazy. I click to open them and find nothing there. Well, not nothing, but just enough to annoy the heck out of me.

If you’re doing what these newsletters do, please stop.

The most annoying habit of financial e-newsletters that I actually open

If I actually open a financial e-newsletter, I expect it to have some content. The body of the newsletter shouldn’t simply consists of links leading elsewhere.

Below is an example of a newsletter that failed the test. The first two blacked-out lines are the title of a blog post formatted as a clickable link. I’m concealing the firm’s identity because I assume this is an innocent mistake on their part. It’s the kind of thing that happens when non-professional writers create content.

This is the only text that appeared in the main body of a financial e-newsletter that I received.

 

I think that the e-newsletter senders hoped that their links would serve as clickbait—provocative content that drives readers to a web page. However, the title of a blog post written by financial professional rarely has the flair to do that.

The senders could have achieved better results by adding a brief summary or introduction to their article on MarketWatch. That would have let me assess whether their topic interested me.

I understand that the authors probably are limited in how much they can copy from their MarketWatch article. However, that shouldn’t prevent them from writing teaser copy or saying “If you’re a ___ type of investor, this article can help you to ____.”

The second offense by this financial e-newsletter

When I clicked on the two blacked-out lines, which are clearly meant to be clickable links, they took me to a post on the company’s blog. The content on the page? Exactly what you see in the image above.

Oops! I had to click again to reach the article on MarketWatch. What casual reader is going to take all of these steps with so little indication in the e-newsletter of what benefit they’ll gain from their clicks?

I understand that people want to drive traffic to their websites. But balance that against the risk that along the way you’ll annoy and lose readers for your financial e-newsletters.

I think the newsletter senders in this case should have linked directly to their post on MarketWatch. They would have avoided annoying me by sending me to their blog post that didn’t add anything new. Also, even without the link to their website, they would have learned whether their title was strong enough to interest me. Most newsletter programs allow you to measure your readers’ click. Although their measurements aren’t 100 percent accurate, they’ll tell you if one title attracts more readers than another.

Mistakes by other financial e-newsletters

What else do financial e-newsletters do to annoy or drive away readers? They:

Add people to their newsletter distribution lists without asking permission, as I’ve discussed in “no, No, NO: My business card shouldn’t add me to your e-newsletter list” and “Our LinkedIn connection isn’t an invitation to spam.”
Use weak subject lines in their emails. For an analysis of a weak title and how to spice it up, read “Stop! Get a better title, or forget winning readers.”
Send newsletters that aren’t mobile-friendly. Today people are often read emails on their phones and other mobile devices that fail to display traditional e-newsletter formats effectively. For tips on how to be mobile-friendly, see “3 ways to make your emails mobile-friendly.”

They may also suffer from “4 reasons your emails don’t get results.”

Image courtesy of adamr/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Infographic: Manage writing by committee

Are you frustrated by the challenges of managing writing by committee?

If you need to get ideas and approval from multiple sources for your investment and wealth management communications, you can benefit from the six tips in my infographic. Make your life easier by trying something new!

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Market commentary for index investors

Market commentary is an important client communication and marketing tool for investment and wealth managers. Making predictions can be particularly powerful, as I said in “Are financial predictions too risky?”

But what if you’re in the camp of index investors—or similar strategies, such as evidence-based investing—or if you simply don’t believe in market timing? You may skip market predictions on principle, as my friend, writer Wendy Cook, suggested in conversation with me. You won’t say which asset class will outperform next. Nor will you predict the meeting-by-meeting decisions of the Federal Open Market Committee and how they’ll affect stocks, bonds, and interest rates.

Index investors can’t totally avoid predictions

You can’t totally avoid predictions, in my opinion, when you communicate with the clients for whom you manage money. You just make a different kind of prediction than your peers who rejigger their portfolio holdings and asset allocations as their predictions change.

For example, index investors may predict that the current trendy asset class—or investing in high-fee, actively managed portfolios—will not pay off over the long term. You may also encourage investors to “stay the course” based on historical evidence. This helps you convince investors to stick with their current asset allocations until their personal circumstances change. This kind of prediction focuses more on long-term truths backed by the historical record. It’s part of active managers’ predictions, too, but to a lesser extent.

You’re trying to solve your investors’ challenge of “Consuming financial news without being consumed by it,” as Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig points out in a blog post recommended to me by Wendy Cook.

Index investors still need commentary

If you manage an index fund, you need to put fund performance in perspective. Your investors want to know why returns were positive or negative. They may also care about why your fund performed the way it did relative to your index and the broader market. Relative performance is particularly important when your fund performance differs greatly from your index.

This means discussing what drove the fund’s performance, which could include:

Individual stocks that outperformed or underperformed—while you’re not a stock picker, telling the story of your fund’s best- and worst-performing stocks gives insight into what drove performance during the period.


Factors influencing the index’s performance during the period—for example, if you run a value-oriented index fund, your fund’s performance will suffer relative to broader or growth indexes when growth stocks outperform.
The way that your fund attempts to capture index performance—your fund probably doesn’t invest in every single stock in your index in the exact same proportions as the index. Portfolio holding differences can make performance diverge from the index.
Your fund’s cash position and inflows or outflows—if your fund’s positioning differs from the index, it won’t perform like the index.
Fees and expenses—one can’t invest directly in an index. Funds have expenses, such as management fees and transaction costs, that cut into their ability to achieve index returns.

If you’re an advisor using index funds

If you’re an advisor using index funds, you may share commentary from your fund providers with your clients.

To get the most mileage out of sharing that third-party commentary, add your personal observations. For example, “The strong performance of ASSET CLASS, which underperformed dramatically last year, reminds us of the value of staying fully invested.”

I believe index investors need commentary, even if they’re invested for the long term, with little change in their allocations. What do YOU think?

Image courtesy of hywards/freedigitalphotos.net

 

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How to be a great guest blogger

Providing guest posts for other people’s blogs is a great way to raise your visibility. I’ve discussed how to snare these opportunities in “How to guest-blog on personal finance and investments, Part I: Your approach” and “Part II: Blogs that accept guest posts from financial advisors.” However, your responsibilities don’t end once you’ve sold the host blogger on your idea. There are more steps you can take to deepen your relationship with your host and her or his readers. Become a great guest blogger and get results!

1. Provide your post as promised—the first rule for a great guest blogger

If you’ve promised to submit a 400-word post on emerging market debt by the first of the month, do it. Your host may be counting on you to fill a hole in the blog’s editorial calendar. Don’t disappoint him or her by flaking out or writing on an unrelated topic.

2. Proofread your work

Take more care than usual in proofreading your draft before you submit. Sloppy errors undermine your credibility. Your hosts—and their readers—may wonder if you manage your clients’ investments as carelessly as you treat your words.

You can find proofreading tips in

Why I love Adobe Acrobat Pro for proofreading
Stop sending emails with errors
Bloggers’ top two punctuation mistakes
Investment commentary numbers: How to get them right

3. Follow through on host requests

Provide whatever additional materials your host requests. For example, I ask my guests for a headshot photo and a one-to two sentence bio. Your host may ask you to edit or clarify something in your draft. Go along with those requests, assuming they’re reasonable.

4. Keep your requests reasonable

It’s reasonable to expect at least one link to a web page or social media profile of your choice in your bio. After all, readers should learn how to find you.

Don’t go overboard by inserting a gazillion links or overtly promotional text in your guest post. You can get a sense of what’s reasonable by looking at earlier guest posts on your host’s blog. Some blogs are more tolerant than others.

5. Help the host with PR

Your host will appreciate it if you spread the word about your guest post via social media. If you’re on Twitter, earn extra points by including your host’s Twitter name in your tweet. For example, “TITLE is my guest post on @susanweiner‘s blog: URL.”

6. Respond to reader comments on your guest post

Engaging with your guest blog’s readers will deepen your relationship and increase the odds that they’ll visit your website or blog. It’s important to respond to reader comments.

Of course, you can’t respond to comments if you don’t know about them. A good host will send you a message after the first comment. Typically, when you post your reply, you can subscribe to be notified of additional comments.

If you don’t want to rely on your host for an initial notification, you can leave a “thank you” comment on your guest post. It could be something simple like “Thank you, NAME, for this guest-blogging opportunity. I’ll be happy to respond to any comments or questions from your readers.”

7. Reciprocate

If your blog offers a good audience for your host, it’s nice to offer her or him a guest slot on your blog. Of course, that assumes his or her expertise is relevant to your audience.

Other tips?

Did I miss any tips for how to be a great guest blogger? I’m always open to your suggestions.

 

Note: This post has been updated since it originally appeared on a blog hosted by Tony Vidler.

Clapping people image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Index-card approach to writing

The index-card approach to writing had me sprawled out on the floor while writing my Ph.D. thesis. I was arranging the index cards with my notes so I could turn them into sentences, paragraphs, and chapters that made sense.

You’re probably not writing a dissertation. You’re probably not even taking notes on index cards. But the index-card approach to writing can help you organize your thoughts.

If you’re organizing your thoughts before you write

To help you write your first draft, jot your main ideas down on index cards. Then rearrange the cards until you hit an order that makes sense. This is essentially what I did with my Ph.D. dissertation, although I already had all of my notes scribbled onto cards.

Prefer an electronic approach to organizing your thoughts? Record your thoughts using mind mapping software. Then you can rearrange by clicking and dragging.

If you’re rewriting a draft

If you’re rewriting a draft, you can print it and then cut it into strips of paper. You can shuffle the paper strips until you find the right order.

Sure, you could cut and paste within a word-processing document. However, as soon as you open that software, you’ll be tempted to tinker with your wording. That’s less of a problem when you’re moving around pieces of paper. It’s best to solve your organizational problem first, as I’ve said in “5 steps for rewriting your investment commentary.” Otherwise, you could spend a lot of time wordsmithing a section that gets thrown out because it doesn’t fit your article’s ultimate structure.

The bottom line of the index-card approach to writing

There’s something about a visual approach to writing that helps many of us conquer organizational challenges. If you’ve read my book or taken any of my classes, you know I’m a big fan of mind mapping, another visual technique.

Try the index-card approach to writing, and let me know what you think!

 

 

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8 ways to find guest bloggers for your financial blog

Sometimes it’s good to invite a guest to share the spotlight on your blog. Guest bloggers help you

Meet new readers when your guests’ followers visit your blog
Deepen your relationships with your guests who’ll feel grateful for the exposure, especially if you promote their guest posts on social media and elsewhere (I include my guests’ posts in my monthly e-newsletter)
Learn something new
Enjoy a break from your writing duties as you save time—loading a guest post takes less time than writing one

Where can you find guest bloggers? Start with experts whom you know and read.

1. Colleagues and referral sources can become guest bloggers

If you’re a financial planner or money manager, you probably have colleagues to whom you refer clients for tax preparation, estate planning, and other needs. When these folks appear on your blog, you’re introducing them to your clients and burnishing their credibility. Your clients will feel as if they know these professionals by the time you introduce them in a meeting.

A guest post is also a nice way to attract and thank a source of good referrals. You can offer a slot on your blog even if you’re not yet able to reciprocate with referrals. This shows that you value the relationship.

2. Bloggers whom you read

Have a favorite blogger who writes about a topic that interests your readers? You can propose a guest post on your blog. If the bloggers are complete strangers, introduce yourself briefly. They’ll probably want to know about your blog’s readership so they can assess the usefulness of a guest appearance. Speaking of readership, guest bloggers with strong followings can help attract new readers to your blog.

3. Non-competing experts in your field

Let’s say you’re a wealth manager who works exclusively with orthopedic surgeons in New England. If you like the expertise and blogging style of a wealth manager who focuses on Californian orthopedic surgeons, you’ve got nothing to lose by trading posts with that manager. In fact, you could gain a lot by taking advantage of that manager’s expertise for your clients.

4. Authors with new books

A blog like mine typically can’t snare a guest post by a renowned academic such as Meir Statman. However, my blog became one of the first stops on his virtual book tour for What Investors Really Want. “Guest post: ‘Client fears and financial advisor services’ “was the result. Check with publishers if you learn of a new book coming from a relevant author.

5. Forums and other discussions

I’ve found some of my guest bloggers through online forums. For example, “Do longer articles really get shared more often?” by Angelique Geehan originated with a comment she left on one of my posts on the Investment Writing Facebook page. Mridu Khullar Relph’s “Don’t make it hard for people to comment on your blog” started with a discussion on a private forum for writers. I found Ted Jenkin, who wrote “Peter Lynch Went Grocery Shopping With Me At Whole Foods The Other Day,” at a cocktail party during a conference held by the Financial Planning Association. I found other guest bloggers through their comments on my blog or social media.

6. Look for answers to your questions—or your readers’ questions

Do your readers have a nagging question? Ask an expert to answer it on your blog. That’s how I landed designer David Williams’ post about making your white papers visually appealing.

7. Ask around

Let people know that you’re seeking guest bloggers. You can ask online via social media, private forums, and other places. You can also ask offline, mentioning your needs in your presentations or face-to-face meetings.

8. Keep your eyes open!

If you’re always looking for guest bloggers, I bet you’ll find them in unexpected places. Perhaps you’ve already done so.

Don’t rely on guest post submission guidelines

In my experience, guest post submission guidelines don’t keep away low-quality guest post requests. Spammers ignore them when they’re looking solely for an SEO (search engine optimization) boost from the links embedded in their guest posts on your blog.

I share my guest post submission guidelines as a courtesy to my guests offering high-quality posts. Guidelines make it easy for them to understand what I expect of them.

Please share YOUR tips for finding guest bloggers. I always enjoy hearing from you.

 

 

Note: This post originally appeared on the Wealth Management Marketing blog, which no longer exists.

The post 8 ways to find guest bloggers for your financial blog appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

Infographic: 5 Ways to Add Personality to Your Financial Writing

Want your financial writing to stand out? Use the tips in my infographic, “5 Ways to Add Personality to Your Financial Writing.” For more details on adding personality and warmth to your writing, read parts one and two of my two-part blog post.

For real-life practice in adding personality to your financial writing, sign up for my next financial blogging class or hire me to coach you.

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15 minutes to busting your writer’s block

My bilingual kitchen timer, purchased at a Montreal dollar store, has helped me write many words. A timer may help you, too.

Do you ever struggle to start your writing projects? I do. Although I’m a demon about completing my projects on time, sometimes writer’s block slows me. When that happens, sometimes a tool that I bought at a dollar store in Montreal comes to my rescue. It’s a kitchen timer.

Set a timer to bust your writer’s block

Even if I don’t feel like writing, I can squeeze out some words with the aid of my timer set for 15 minutes. I bet you can, too.

Here’s what you do:

Set your timer for 15 minutes.
Write for 15 minutes.
If you feel like it, keep going after 15 minutes. If not, put your writing implements away.

In my case, I’m typing this blog post into WordPress as my timer ticks away.

However, you could spend 15 minutes freewriting, which means writing whatever comes into your head without editing or even correcting typos. That’s one extreme.

The other extreme is spending 15 minutes on a structured project for which you know exactly where you’re heading. For example, you might be writing a white paper based on a mind map that you’ve made of your notes.

Since you can write anything, this 15-minute technique can get you going on a writing project where you are stuck because you have no idea of what to write next—or even what to write about. It can also spur you to work on something that you’ve been dreading, even though your next steps are clear.

The beauty of busting your writer’s block with a 15-minute burst

Most people can stand to do just about anything for 15 minutes. Yet 15 minutes is long enough for you to build up momentum at your task. You may also discover the task is not as awful as you thought. Or you may find inspiration during that 15 minutes. You may end up writing for longer than 15 minutes. I completed a draft of this post during a session that I began with my 15-minute timer.

Fifteen minutes may become the start of an extended writing session. If not, at least you’ve made a dent in your writing goal. You can circle back again later.

What others say about working in timed increments

I learned about working in 15-minute increments from the FlyLady website, which recommends it for decluttering your home. The Pomodoro technique is a timer-based time management technique that uses 25-minute blocks followed by short breaks.

Doing research, I discovered that “Trollope achieved his incredible productivity by writing in 15-minute intervals for three hours per day,” according to “Be More Productive: The 15-Minute Routine Anthony Trollope Used to Write 40+ Books.” That post tells us that Trollope churned out 250 words per 15-minute session. Wow!

Timer choices?

You don’t have to use an inelegant kitchen timer like me.

You may prefer a countdown timer on your smartphone or computer. I’ve used the Online Stopwatch website on my PC.

One of my writer friends says she uses a Time Timer, which more visually displays the passage of time and “well known in the ADHD world.”

Looking for more help with writer’s block?

Here are more tips for busting your writer’s block:

Force yourself to write or wait for inspiration?


Beating financial writer’s block with author Julia Cameron


Break your writer’s block with Robert Benson and Eric Maisel

By the way, I also use a one-hour timer to help me focus for longer periods of time. I was inspired to write this blog post when one of my timers went missing. That made me realize how much I rely on them.

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