Susan B. Weiner Investment Writing - Susan B. Weiner Blog

If you’re too busy to complete a draft in one sitting, these tips can help.

When you return to a partly written draft, you may feel as if you’re starting from scratch again. You have lost your momentum because you have no idea what comes next. You can beat this “blank page” feeling by leaving yourself some hints for your next words.

Here are some techniques you can use:

1. Stop after you write the first sentence of your next paragraph. If it is an effective topic sentence, the rest of the paragraph should flow easily.

2. Jot down bullet points outlining what you’ll write after you return. It’s easier to turn bullets into sentences than to pull ideas out of your head in an organized manner.

3. Pull out your mind map, outline, or other notes. If you organized your ideas in writing before you started your draft, you can pull out your notes to ease you back into your draft. For me, this usually means looking at a hand-drawn mind map. You might prefer an outline or some other form of reminder.

YOUR tips?

I’m sure some of you have discovered other tips that make it easy to dive into your incomplete drafts. Please share.

Image courtesy of Zuzzuillo / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

The students in my blogging classes inspired me to write my forthcoming book teaching advisors how to write blog posts that attract clients. To thank them, I invited past participants to share information about their blogs. This post is the result.

Bloggers in alphabetical order by last name

Vernon Budinger
Latin America Structured Finance Advisors, LLC

Website: Latin America Structured Finance Advisors, LLC

Featured post: At What Height Does A Seawall Protect From A Tsunami?

John Christianson
Highland Private Wealth Management

Blog: Wealth Clarity Blog

Featured post: Why Courage is Important to a Life Fully Lived—I chose this post because of my growing interest in writing about the intersection of money and abundant life, or what I’m calling living fully.

Sheri Iannetta Cupo, CFP®, Founding Principal
Sage Advisory Group, LLC

Blog: Sage Blog and Articles

Featured post: Financial Life Planning: The Astounding Benefits of Gratitude—I personally went through a lot in 2008 and I used what I learned to change me—and to change the direction of my firm. Although always holistic in our approach, we now have a much bigger focus on the LIFE in Financial LIFE Planning. And I have learned to make more room in my day for gratitude, meditation and more time with my family.

Cathy Curtis
Curtis Financial

Blog: Of Independent Means

Featured post: Getting Comfortable With The Uncomfortable—I like this post because it is short! And I think the analogy with CrossFit and Investing works well. I wanted to appeal to my  target market….savvy women and lots of them are doing work-outs such as CrossFit.

William L. Gaul

Blogs: TCI Blog and Just Getting Started, his personal blog

Featured post: Getting To “Why” At Work And Life—I find writers are effective when they are vulnerable; you have to be willing to share about yourself in order for clients to feel comfortable with you. This post captures as much about me as it does my skills as an advisor.

Bonnie B. Hartley, President
Transition Dynamics, Inc

Blog: Zoom Out Blog (also available on Flipboard for iPhones and iPads at http://flip.it/Hc3qO)

Featured post: Contingency Planning: Keeping the rug firmly under your family’s feet

Eve Kaplan, CFP® Practitioner

Blog: Kaplan Financial Advisors

Featured post: Downtown Abbey Financial Lessons—It’s often hard to make personal finance blogs interesting or compelling—it helps if the public is engaged in something “fun”—hence my light piece on “Downton Abbey Financial Lessons.” It had excellent traffic—4,300 views (approx. 5-10x the normal number).

Helen Lambiase
Boomers, Markets & Money

Blog: Boomers, Markets & Money

Featured post: A Critical Step in Preparing for Retirement—I chose this post because it touches on some of the major goals I am trying to achieve with this blog:

Sara Stanich, CFP, CDFA
Raymond James Financial Services, Member FINRA/SIPC

Blog: Cultivating Wealth

Featured post: How We Saved $50,000 Per Year has been my most popular post.  I didn’t write it with SEO in mind, but apparently people are searching the term “how to save 50000” every day.  Although my blog isn’t about budgeting or money-saving tips, the article is pretty personal and I think really helps potential clients connect to me.  My core clients are high income NYC couples with young families, and they can relate to this!

Tracy B. Stewart, CPA, PFS, CFF CDFA, CFP

Blog: Money & Divorce

Featured post: The Number: How Much Spousal Support to Seek?

Roger P. Whitney, CFP^®, CIMA^®, CPWA^®, AIF^® 
Partner, WWK Wealth Advisors

Blog: WWK Wealth

Featured post: Budgeting Made Easy—This was my first attempt at a pictograph and many clients and contacts have mentioned it to me as one of their favorites.

James E. Wilson, CFP®
J.E. Wilson Advisors, LLC

Blog: J.E. Wilson Advisors

Featured post: The 5 Things Successful Investors Know—I chose this post because it is a good summary of characteristics successful investors exhibit.

Thank you!

I’m grateful for the contributions of all of my students. That means the men and women listed above, plus those who remain anonymous.

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Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

Sometimes you want to share a list of resources with links and colorful thumbnails. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time on your list, Storify can help. For instructions on how to create a Storify story, read through the guided tour.

Advantage 1: Spend less time creating clickable links

Normally I create a clickable link on my blog by typing or copy-pasting the content’s title, opening the link box, and then copy-pasting the website address. With Storify, I simply copy-paste the website address into a box on my computer screen. Storify automatically generates a thumbnail image that serves as your clickable link.

This feature isn’t limited to online articles or websites. It also applies to tweets, YouTube videos, and more. When you insert the URL of a tweet, Storify displays an image of the tweet. Later on, when you publish your story, the site will ask if you’d like to notify the authors of the tweets that you’ve quoted.

Advantage 2: Save time sourcing images

Storify automatically generates thumbnails, as I mentioned above. Without this feature, you’d need to do one of the following.

1. Find an image from an independent source to illustrate your piece. You’d need to pay for the image or identify it in the manner requested by its creator, or possibly do both things.
2. Create an image from the content you’re quoting. For example, you can create and use a screenshot of a tweet without violating copyright. Copyright may become an issue when you capture images that you don’t own. So far Storify hasn’t run into major issues on this count.
3. Go without any image knowing that this makes your content less likely to catch readers.

Advantage 3: You don’t need a blog or website

Your story will exist on Storify.com, so it’s no problem if you don’t have a blog or website.

Of course, hosting by Storify is a negative, too. Even if your story attracts many viewers, it won’t boost your website or blog’s ranking by search engines. This drawback is why I’m using Storify only for quickly compiled list posts. You can view my Storify stories, including my popular piece on “Ready-to-use content for financial advisors.”

If Storify intrigues you, but you need to draw people to your blog, consider using the Storify widget for WordPress. I’ve read mixed reviews of the widget, so please let me know how it works for you. I have not used it myself.

Have you used Storify?

If you have used Storify, please comment or share a link to your story below. Here’s an example of how the CFA Institute uses Storify for conference coverage.

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Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

Marketing that focuses on the client, not the seller, is the most effective. The following story, told by Dave Dyer about his training as a rookie salesman supports this point.

The trainer said that you should assume that the prospect you are talking to is saying to himself “What’s in it for me?” during your presentation.  Then, we had a class exercise where each salesperson had to do a presentation to the rest of the class while all the other students interrupted him with comments like, “Who cares?  So what? What’s in it for me? Why should I care about that?”

As you can imagine, the students had lots of fun giving every presenter a hard time and the lesson sure stuck with me.  The product is not important; the prospect only buys what he thinks the product will do for him.

Before you brag about your firm, services, or products, you’d do well to consider this lesson.

If you like how Dyer tells stories, check out his latest book, Steel’s: A Forgotten Stock Market Scandal from the 1920s.

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Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

Guest blog posts are a great way to expand your network. This tip will help you get more mileage out of your appearances on other people’s blogs.

Photo: BrittneyBush

When you guest-blog, ask your host to insert your headshot photo, byline, and brief bio into the post. Without this information, your readers may not notice that the host is not the author of your post.

I know this because a friend of mine was a guest blogger. However, at first I attributed his opinions to his host. I finally caught on after the friend tweeted his authorship. Don’t let this happen to you!

I follow my own guidelines when I host guests on my blog. I also introduce them briefly. You can see examples by clicking on the many links in “Guest bloggers: 2011 in review.”

I’m mulling over another insertion: the guest blogger’s Twitter handle. I like how Mridu Khullar Relph included @SandraBeckwith in the byline for “Platform Building for Non-Fiction Writers.”

Unsure about how to find guest-blogging opportunities?

You can learn how to find guest-blogging opportunities from my audiocast on “How to Guest-Blog on Personal Finance or Investments.”

P.S. Why I’m no longer labeling guest posts as “guest posts”

I used to put “guest post” in titles of the posts other people wrote for me. However, I’ve stopped doing that after reading “Why Blogs that Allow Guest Posts Will Be Penalized in 2013” on the ProBlogger blog. The gist of that post seems to be that blogs that abuse guest posts as part of the authors’ attempts to raise their rank in searches will be penalized by Google in 2013.

I think I’m in good shape because none of my guest bloggers are inserting keywords or links solely to boost their Google rankings. However, the first tip of the ProBlogger post was “1. Stop telling people it’s a guest post.” I figured that was a small step worth taking.

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Receive a free e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

Visual appeal is part of what draws readers to your blog posts. Photos can make your blog stand out, especially when you go beyond stock photography. Sheri Iannetta Cupo of SAGE Advisory Group works with a photographer to locate and create photos tailored to individual blog posts. This seems unusual for a three-advisor firm, so I interviewed Cupo by email to learn more about how she works on the SAGE blog with Wendy Vissar, a former photojournalist who holds a MFA in electronic art.

Why work with a photographer?

Some blogs don’t bother with images, but Cupo knew that wasn’t for her. “I am a visual person, very drawn to images when I read, so I wanted images for my blog postings,” she said.

Cupo wanted images that would stand out from the stock photos that pop up everywhere. “I generally dislike stock photos (here is the happy gorgeous family eating at home, here is the happy gorgeous family having fun together…) so I wanted custom images.”

How the process works

The path to image creation for the SAGE blog starts several weeks prior to publication, when the draft blog post is uploaded to Dropbox, a file sharing service. This is the cue for Vissar to create one to three images based on the post, and then upload them to Dropbox. Vissar says, “I would call what I do photo illustration. I’ve been using Adobe Photoshop, probably since it came out.” If someone wants an image she can’t shoot, she’ll take a stock photo and customize it.

The next step is for Cupo, Vissar, and editorial consultant Wendy Cook to vote for the best image. “We generally all agree on which we like best,” says Cupo.  “Wendy gets SAGE so well I have never had to ask her to go back and try again.”

Benefits of working with a photographer

As Cupo sees it, “Wendy Vissar’s images do an awesome job complementing our words and perhaps draw attention to our blog that we may not otherwise get. A big added bonus is that she also creates and uploads the entire posting with image each week to WordPress.  That’s a big time saver for me.”

Finding a photographer

Cupo found Vissar almost literally in her own backyard. Vissar is her neighbor. In addition, “We have used Wendy before for SAGE website photos and for family photos so using Wendy was an easy decision.  She is the only photographer who has EVER captured my Dad smiling in a photo!”

If you don’t already know a photographer, try asking around and looking at their work. “They have to understand the vibe you are going for on your blog,” says Cupo. “They need to get ‘you’ so that their images complement your work and your company.  Otherwise you spend money for images you won’t use.”

If you like what you see of Vissar’s work, you can contact her at wendyvissar@yahoo.com.

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Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

Use photos carefully in your blog posts. You must respect the photographer’s copyright. You can’t simply grab and post any photo you find on the Internet. This is particularly challenging for bloggers who refer to celebrities or other public figures. It’s not as if you can run out to snap your own photo of such a person.

Respect copyright law

I’ve been surprised to find financial advisors who have copy-pasted photographs from newspapers or magazines into their blogs. This is not legal, not even if you credit the source. For a quick overview of the issues, read the Lifehacker post on “The Best Ways to Be Sure You’re Using Online Photos Legally.”

Wikimedia Commons: A helpful resource

Wikimedia Commons is a free source of photos and other images, which can be used as specified by the photographer . I’ve found it particularly useful when I needed a photo of a national figure, such as Warren Buffett or Woody Allen.

Here’s how Wikimedia Commons describes itself: “Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content (images, sound and video clips) to everyone, in their own language.”

To find the image you seek, simply input the name into the search box in the upper right-hand corner of the Wikimedia Commons site. For example, here is part of the image you’ll see if you input “Warren Buffett.”

Each image has terms specified for its reuse. Be sure to read Wikimedia’s explanation of the terms for reuse.

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Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

Sometimes you have to limit yourself to a specific number of words when you write. This is often true when you write for someone else’s print or online publication. If your draft runs too long, and you have trouble cutting, consider starring your content as Roy Peter  Clark suggests in Help! for Writers in his chapter on “Making it Better.”

Rate each section of your content, considering its importance and interest to your readers. “Strongest sections earn a grade of three stars; the next get two; and the weakest get one star,” says Clark.

Start your cutting with the one-star sections. Depending on how many words you need to lose, you may achieve your goal by eliminating a word here and a sentence there from your one-star sections.

On the other hand, if your piece is way too long, you may need to delete all of your one-star material and start hacking at your two-star material.

Does this approach seem helpful to you? I haven’t used it because I usually cut based on what my gut tells me to do. Still, I can see how it might help writers without this instinct.

Image courtesy of Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

If you’d like to boost the effectiveness of your financial writing, consider attending one of my May 2013 events in Hartford, Conn., New York City, or Norwood, Mass.

“How to Write Investment Commentary People Will Read” in Hartford, Conn., and New York City

•  I will speak to the CFA Society Hartford on May 2. This is a classic presentation that I’ve delivered to CFA societies across the U.S. and Canada. The lunch meeting runs from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Hartford Club. Please register in advance.

• The New York Society of Security Analysts will host the same presentation on May 20 at 9:00 a.m.

“Writing Emails and Letters People Will Read”

On May 16 I’ll present “Writing Emails and Letters People Will Read” to the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts. It’s part of the association’s all-day annual meeting. You can register online for this event.

“The Four Secrets of Must-Read Communications”

I’ll present “The Four Secrets of Must-Read Communications,” an interactive program on investment-related communications at the PAICR RFP Symposium in New York City on May 20.  

Mistake Monday

To improve your proofreading skills, be sure to “like” the Investment Writing Facebook page and visit on Mistake Mondays. It’ll raise your awareness of common mistakes that we all make. You’ll also find links focusing on blogging, writing, and marketing.

Yes, that’s really my photo on a Times Square billboard

At 3 p.m. on March 5, I was the featured guest on ProfNet’s #ConnectChat Twitter chat moderated by Maria Perez (@ProfNet). I tweeted for journalists who’d like to shift into corporate writing. One cool thing was that my picture was posted in the Reuters billboard in Times Square as part of the chat promotion (see photo above). My recent Twitter chat for journalists trying to break into the corporate market was summarized on the ProfNet blog.

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Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.

Metaphors can make your communications stand out from the crowd. Anne Miller’s perspective on using metaphors was well received when she spoke on a corporate writing panel that I organized for the American Society of Journalists and Authors. I’m delighted to share her thoughts on this topic.

Got Metaphor?

By Anne Miller, @annemillerny

I’m a big fan of Pimco’s Bill Gross, not just for his obvious investment acumen, but for his communication savvy. He repeatedly uses a writing technique that every financial blog, tweet, column, or book writer would do well to emulate. He uses visual language to seduce his readers before he presents his arguments. Consciously or unconsciously, he knows that without that initial seduction, there is little hope for getting undivided attention to what he has to say.

What is visual language? Metaphors and analogies that create mental images and instantly resonate with listeners.

Here are some examples from Pimco “Investment Outlooks”:

Feb. 2013. “Credit Supernova!” complete with a beautiful photo of the universe and T.S. Eliot’s quote “This is the way the world ends…Not with a bang but a whimper.”

He carries through on this image to frame his argument: “…And too, the advancing entropy in the physical universe may in fact portend a similar decline of “energy” and “heat” within the credit markets. If so, then the legitimate response of creditors, debtors and investors inextricably intertwined within it, should logically be to ask about the economic and investment implications of its ongoing transition.”

December, 2012. “Strawberry Fields – Forever?” This title is followed by a riff on John Lennon’s song, which ultimately leads to the subject of his newsletter: “But whoever succeeds President Obama, the next four years will likely face structural economic headwinds that will frustrate the American public.”

And one example from Twitter…

March 6. “Rule Britannia? Nah. Maybe the waves once upon a time but their economy is now a lifeboat. Sell the pound-Aggressive QE ahead.”

All of these are immediate attention grabbers. Why? Because they speak to the way our brains work. We are wired to respond to images. We notice images, particularly when they are used unexpectedly (Credit Supernova!). We remember images (where were you when JFK was shot, or when you attended your first rock concert?). We react emotionally to images (Hurricane Sandy’s devastation).

From cave drawings to advertising (Prudential’s rock, Nike’s swoosh) to the internet (files, desktop, trash cans) to Wall Street (bulls, bears, white knights), to current events (fiscal cliff), mankind’s communications have reflected this primal reach for images to communicate. Even Einstein acknowledged the centrality images play in how we process information: “If I can’t see it, I don’t understand it.”

As a financial advisor in a world of too much, and often complex, information, too many similar sounding competitors, and increasingly shorter and shorter attentions spans, skill at using visual language is increasingly necessary to stand out. Visual language is the fuel that drives your ideas forward. Without it, it’s like driving a Ferrari on an empty tank. You won’t get very far on the road and you won’t get very far with your readers.

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Anne Miller, business communication specialist, helps professional service providers increase business by sharpening their sales and presentation skills. She combines best practices with client psychology and the latest brain research to ensure her clients have maximum impact on their clients.

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Receive a free e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

Copyright 2013 by Susan B. Weiner
All rights reserved

This content may not be reposted without the author’s written permission.