December posts on Investment Writing blog

If you’re not visiting my InvestmentWriting blog in its new location, you’ve missed the following posts over the last month:

• “Has housing bottomed out?”–Karl Case and others on the U.S. housing market
• Should you go bold?
• The letter reader who’s your biggest nightmare
• Financial advisor prospecting: Not all non-clients are the same
• Forget your spell checker!
• WikiLeaks writing tip
• Guest blogger guidelines for the Investment Writing blog
• How do you define outperformance by stock funds?
• Guest bloggers: 2010 in review
• Social media lessons from the top nine Investment Writing posts for 2010

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Copyright 2011 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

October updates to the Investment Writing blog

If you’re not visiting my InvestmentWriting blog in its new location, you’ve missed the following posts over the last month:

• Should the Morningstar style box go 3-D? Quality counts, says Atlanta Capital
• Poll: “Investable” or “investible”–which spelling is correct?
• My five favorite reference books for writers
• no, No, NO: My business card shouldn’t add me to your e-newsletter list
• Guest post: "How Seeking Alpha Can Build Your Professional Reputation"
• Your spell checker doesn’t work, so you must proofread
• Effective writing and blogging is faster with a plan
• Four lessons from Wasatch Funds on reporting underperformance
• Guest post: “Would you like to know how financial advisors are choosing products?
• Blogging buddies: Financial bloggers’ secret weapons

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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

New posts on my NEW Investment Writing blog

If you’re not visiting my InvestmentWriting blog in its new location, you’ve missed the following posts over the last month:

• Should the Morningstar style box go 3-D? Quality counts, says Atlanta Capital
• Guide to e-newsletters
• Guest post: “Generate Quality, Low Cost Leads with Facebook Ads”
• Great blog posts don't matter...
• E-newsletters: Great marketing tool for financial advisors and writers
• “CFA credential implies a standard of care not always upheld,” says Forbes opinion piece
• A top technique of financial advisors who blog successfully
• Introverts, steal this idea for your next conference!
• Poll: Should you make investment predictions that can backfire?

Also, you still have time to sign up for "How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors" starting Sept. 23.
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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

What you're missing, if you haven't visited my new Investment Writing blog

Come join me on my new Investment Writing blog! It's part of my website.

Here are links to articles you've missed since the beginning of July:

• "CFA credential implies a standard of care not always kept," says Forbes opinion piece
• A top technique of financial advisors who blog successfully
• Three writing lessons from "One Trader's Binge on Cocoa Wraps Up Chocolate Market"
• Audiocast: "How to Guest-Blog on Personal Finance or Investments"
• RIAs, are you ready for plain language in your Form ADV "brochure"?
• A great financial article isn't enough
• Great lines from Raymond James
• First, pick your target market and niche
• FINRA/SEC compliance guidelines for bloggers
  
• How NOT to toot your horn about investment publications
  
• Help me pick a better title for my financial blog post critiques!
  
• Press release: How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read, A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors Starts September 23
  
• Guest post: "Adding video into the Communications Mix"
  
• Thomas Jefferson's writing wisdom

InvestmentWriting blog is moving ...

Please keep reading my Investment Writing blog at its new location on my website: http://investmentwriting.com/blog/ 

If you have topics you'd like me to cover on the blog, I'm always interested in your ideas. You can note them below in a comment.

Thank you for reading!

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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Financial blogging lessons from The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Tips for more compelling posts

"The titles and the first few lines of your poem represent the hand you extend in friendship toward your reader. They’re the first exposure he or she has, and you want to make a good impression."
-- Ted Kooser, The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets

This Ted Kooser quote applies to financial blog posts as well as to poems. Financial posts and poetry aren’t often mentioned in the same sentence. However, both forms of writing will win or lose readers on the basis of first impressions. So, I’d like to share tips for financial bloggers based on the “First Impressions” chapter of Kooser’s book.

1. Use your title to set your readers’ expectations. Give up bland titles, such as "401(k) plans" in favor of titles that give your audience a reason to read. For example, my title for this post identifies my target audience – financial bloggers – and the benefit I believe they’ll receive – more compelling posts. "Titles are very important tools for delivering information and setting expectations," as Kooser says. Instead of "401(k) plans," consider something like "Three ways you can get more out of your 401(k) plan."

2. Don’t lead with boring information. Put your background information somewhere other than your opening lines. Too often, as Kooser says, bloggers – like poets – start with “information that really is not essential but is there because it was a part of the event that triggered the poem. It’s the background story, and it may not be necessary for us to know it to appreciate the poem.”

3. Deliver on your promise. For example, if your title and first paragraph promise 401(k) tips, don’t switch midstream to discussing online checking accounts.

4. Write in a consistent style. If you drew in your blog readers with a warm, conversational style, you’ll lose them when you switch to a cold, institutional style. As Kooser says, "If a poem begins with three lines of strict iambic pentameter, a reader will be disconcerted if that forceful rhythm is abandoned in the fourth line."

5. Be aware of your "voice." Kooser describes "voice" or "presence" as "the person we not only hear, but intuit to be behind the words." For example, I think my voice is friendly, conversational, and reflects a genuine desire to help financial advisors communicate better with their clients. Voice is communicated by your writing style as well as your content.

Try applying one--or all--of these tips in your next financial blog post!

Related posts
* Start with a good lead, or lose your reader
* Financial writers, lead with your message, not your source

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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Six lessons from the CFA Institute’s conference tweets

You can learn some lessons for how to tweet a conference from the CFA Institute. It has done things right as it timed its Twitter debut to coincide with its annual conference. But there’s still room for improvement.

Lesson 1:  Deploy a team. The CFA Institute mobilized a team of 14 people to report on its three-day conference. One person will burn out if she or he tries to cover every session. Plus, it’s impossible for one person to cover concurrent sessions.

Lesson 2: Use a hashtag. The hashtag #CFA2010 allowed people to find conference tweets by both official and unofficial sources.

Lesson 3: Complement your tweets with blog posts. You can’t say much of substance in a line of 140 characters or less. You’ll engage your conference attendees more deeply when some of your tweets lead them to blog posts. Tweets may be the sizzle that leads some reader to the steak. Read the CFA Institute's 2010 conference blog.

Lesson 4: Decide on a strategy for engaging with fellow Twitter users.  The CFA Institute included non-staff #CFA2010 tweets in the Twitter feed. It might also have engaged with other people tweeting about the conference.

I may have overlooked something, but I didn’t see any CFA Institute Twitter users getting into conversations on Twitter. On the other hand, there aren’t many CFA charterholders on--or even knowledgeable about--Twitter. “You can tweet, although I don’t know what that means,” joked John Rogers, the CFA Institute’s President and CEO, to widespread laughter when he introduced the conference’s Monday morning sessions.

Lesson 5: Monitor the back channel. This isn’t an issue for the CFA Institute yet, but it’s becoming more of an issue, as reflected in the publication of The Back Channel: How Audiences Are Using Twitter and Social Media and Changing Presentations Forever by Cliff Atkinson. The CFA Institute kept its eyes on the back channel by featuring #CFA2010 tweets on its conference blog and on screens at the conference. 

Lesson 6: Go multimedia. Some folks like to take in their information in written form. Others prefer audio and video. The CFA Institute did a great job of getting its headline speakers interviewed on camera by reporters and tweeting the interviews as they became available online. It has also gradually fed the interviews onto its blog.

Congratulations CFA Institute on a conference well-tweeted!

Related posts:
* My blog posts related to #CFA2010
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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Pull your white papers into the year 2010

Investment and wealth managers, you can get a lot more mileage out of your white papers today.

How's that?

Don't forget about the content once it's up on your website. Reuse it using social media.

Recycle as blog posts
White paper content can be recycled into blog posts. In some cases, you can pluck a few paragraphs and drop them into your blog "as is." However, most of the time, you'll need to frame and re-write the content. I've been doing this recently for a white paper client.  

Another possibility: Send your white paper to a blogger whom you respect. Offer to answer questions about your topic on the other person's blog. Check out "How to guest-blog on personal finance or investments," if you'd like to explore this option

Tweet it--and don't forget LinkedIn
It's a no-brainer to tweet the availability of your white paper. Smart marketers go beyond this. They tweet intriguing excerpts, keeping them short enough to be retweetable. Pithy quotes are popular on Twitter.

Remember, tweets are also great fodder for LinkedIn updates. While you're over at LinkedIn, you may also want to raise a question in a Group related to your white paper topic.

Go multimedia
Different members of your audience prefer to take in content in different ways. So, also consider turning your white papers into podcasts, videos, or interactive webinars.

Related posts

• How I've benefited from Twitter
• Reader question: How can I share my investment commentary on LinkedIn?
• The LinkedIn status update is your friend

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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

My May blog posts by category: Blogging, economy/investments/wealth management, marketing, social media, writing

Did you notice that I went wild in May, posting every day as part of the Word Count Blogathon? For your convenience, I'm listing my May posts by category.


Blogging

• The two most important words are...
• Financial bloggers' posts may violate copyright law
• Spice up your blog with free or low-cost photos
• Setting myself a challenge: A May Blogathon

Economy, investments, and wealth management

• "Have mutual fund fees gone up or down?"
• Poll: Which should investors fear most? Which #CFA2010 speakers were right?
• R Koo, "Lessons from Japan: Fighting a Balance Sheet Recession" from #CFA2010
• GMO's Jeremy Grantham on "The Ethical Hole in Finance" at #CFA2010
• Dan Ariely says disclosure may hurt investors: Report from his #CFA201 talk
• Roger Ibbotson attacks asset allocation "folklore"
• Hear Roger Ibbotson on asset allocation
• Morgan Creek Capital's Yusko riles up Tweeters with comments on investment fees
• Morgan Creek Capital's Yusko on investing
• Small-cap investing opportunities according to Artio's Dedio

Marketing

• My Boston-area networking suggestions
• Tip for how to connect with your workshop attendees 
• If you enjoy my #CFA2010 tweets
• Top four email mistakes to avoid when you've got a referral
• Timely, creative financial ad from Northwestern Mutual
• How to improve your financial planning client relationships
• Your customers, your inspiration

Social media

• Using CFP in your Twitter name--Read the CFP Board's position
• The compliance-constrained advisor's guide to LinkedIn, Part II: Status updates
• Can you help with my Facebook dilemma?
• How I've benefited from Twitter

Writing

• Plain English can bring your financial topic to life
• How to write subheads that command attention
• Executive's lesson for your communications with clients and prospects
• Start with a good lead, or lose your reader
• Guest post: "Correct Grammar Errors in Your Writing Quickly and Easily"
• 10 blogs I can't live without: Writer's edition
• Financial advisor poll: How do you sign your business emails?
• Whoa, insurance=spam?

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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Six tips for slogging through blogging: Lessons from the Blogathon

“How can I force myself to blog regularly?”

The investment and wealth managers in my blogging teleclass often ask this question. I grappled with this challenge during the Word Count Blogathon, for which I committed to post daily. So now’s a good time for me to share tips with you.

Tip 1: “Set it and forget it.” Most blogging platforms allow you to schedule blog posts in advance. This potentially lets you put your blog on auto-pilot when you’re busy. During the Blogathon I learned how to take automation one step further. I set HootSuite to tweet my blog posts without human intervention. Read about "How to Add an RSS Feed" using HootSuite.

Tip 2: Blog when the spirit moves you, whether or not your schedule requires you to post. It’s much easier for me to blog when I’m in the mood. On a good day I can push out three or more blog posts. To help me write regardless of location, I always carry a spiral-bound notebook or pad of paper. It’s worthwhile jotting down blog ideas, not only full-fledged posts. It’s much easier to blog when you don’t face a blank PC screen or piece of paper.

Tip 3: Write posts that are “evergreen” or tied to a future event, so you’ll have material to post when you’re too busy to write. “Evergreen” articles aren’t time-sensitive. Like a pine tree, they don’t lose their attractiveness with the changing of the seasons.

I scheduled a bunch of evergreens to run between May 16 and May 31, when I was distracted by attending the CFA Institute’s annual conference and going on vacation out West.

Blog posts tied to events such as the April 15 tax deadline or the August-September “back to school” season aren’t evergreen. But they can be written and scheduled long before a timely date for posting.

Tip 4: Keep it short. Short blog posts are okay. Just pick one point and explain it. This is how I dealt with Jeremy Grantham’s wide-ranging presentation to the FA Institute’s annual conference. Having trouble writing economically about your topic? Slice it narrower.

Tip 5: React to online articles or blog posts. Notice when you have strong feelings upon reading something. Your passion makes it easier for you to jot down a quick blog post that links to the original article. Links spare you the need to describe the other author’s position in detail. However, it’s kind to your reader to briefly summarize what sparked your blog post.

Tip 6: Hire someone to type your blog posts if you dictate or write your drafts on paper. I drafted this post on a plane to Las Vegas. Later I scanned it for my virtual assistant to type. Or follow the suggestion that Bill Winterberg of the FPPad blog gives in the comments below.
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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved