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

LinkedIn and Facebook are powerful.

The 2010 analytics on my blog made me appreciate the power of social media more than ever.

The influence of LinkedIn revealed itself in my most popular blog posts of 2010. These posts ranked high because they attracted attention in LinkedIn groups. “LinkedIn Groups Help Blog Posts Soar,” my guest post on the American Society of Business Publication Editors blog, discusses this phenomenon. I’d like to thank all of the LinkedIn members–and other visitors–who took the time to visit, forward, and comment on my blog posts.

As for Facebook, it has become a top five source of referrals to my blog. This is true even though I only launched the Investment Writing Facebook page partway through the year. Twitter didn’t rank as high as I expected on this count.

I also saw some themes in my most popular content. Top posts addressed marketing, social media, writing, and opinions of leading financial experts.

My blog’s nine most popular posts during 2010

1. Notable quotes from the CFA Institute’s emerging markets conference
2. My five favorite reference books for writers
3. ISI’s Straszheim: China’s interest rate hike is “tapping the brakes”
4. FINRA/SEC compliance guidance for bloggers
5. “CFA credential implies a standard of care not always upheld,” says Forbes magazine opinion piece
6. LinkedIn’s fatal flaw for financial advisor compliance
7. Great blog posts don’t matter…
8. “Has housing bottomed out?”–Karl Case and others on the U.S. housing market
9. Reader challenge: What’s the writing lesson from Physicians Mutual?

Why top nine?

You may wonder why I’ve listed my top nine posts instead of the top 10.

It’s not because I’m ornery. I figured I might pique your attention with an odd-numbered list. Did I succeed?

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Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

I’m thankful for the knowledgeable and talented professionals who have contributed guest posts to my blog this year.

Here’s a list of guest posts sorted by topic, including client communications, marketing, social media, and writing.

Client communications

Five Tips for Delivering Bad News to Clients by Kathleen Burns Kingsbury
Talking to clients about social investing by Annie Logue

Marketing

Adding Video into the Communications Mix by Samantha Allen
The Lost Art of the Thank You Card by Suzanne Muusers
My Six Best Marketing Tips for Independent Advisors by Steve Lyons
What’s a tomato got to do with getting your fund discovered? by Dan Sondhelm
Would you like to know how financial advisors are choosing products and making investment decisions in this market? by Lisa Cohen

Social media

Be Compliant When Using LinkedIn Messages by Bill Winterberg
Financial Advisors and Twitter by Roger Wohlner
Generate Quality, Low Cost Leads with Facebook Ads by Kristin Harad
How Seeking Alpha Can Build Your Professional Reputation by Geoff Considine
Investment analysts and social media by Pat Allen

Writing

Correct Grammar Errors in Your Writing Quickly and Easily by Linda Aragoni
Making Research Readable by Joe Polidoro

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Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

Portfolio managers want to outperform their benchmarks. There’s no question in my mind about this. But how much of an advantage do you need before you can claim outperformance?

Outperformance for stocks

To keep things simple, let’s focus on portfolios investing in stocks.

Is it okay to claim outperformance if your return exceeds the benchmark’s by more than 1 basis point (0.01%), 25 bps, 50 bps, or 100 bps?

Or should the margin be calculated relative to the benchmark’s return? After all, exceeding the benchmark’s return by 26 basis points (0.26%) looks better when the benchmark returns 0.01% than when it returns 45%.

Please answer the poll in the right-hand column of this blog. I’ll report on the results in my February e-newsletter.

Diverse opinions on “outperform”

I’m literal-minded. To me, a fund “outperforms” when it beats its index by the tiniest margin, though I doubt that I’d crow about that. However, asset management companies often report such returns as “in line with” or “closely tracking” the benchmark. The concerns of their legal or compliance departments probably influence this decision.

Here’s one example:

…the Wasatch Heritage Fund posted a return of 6.22% for the quarter. These results closely tracked those of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, which returned 6.78% over the same period.

Meanwhile, some managers–including the manager of the Wasatch Global Science & Technology Fund–question whether their returns should be compared to benchmarks.

Typically, the first paragraph of our quarterly letter to shareholders includes a statement regarding the Fund’s performance relative to its benchmark. We intend to move away from this approach beginning with this letter, as
we think the industry norm of tracking performance versus a broad index on a quarter-by-quarter basis distracts from the Fund’s long-term investment strategy. Our new mantra, forged by the pressure of the 2008–2009 credit crunch, is that we must invest “away from the market” as we attempt to deliver exceptional long-term returns.

I’m looking forward to learning what YOU think.

Dec. 27. Oops. I made a miscalculation in discussing the Heritage example, so I’m deleting the offending sentence thanks to David Lufkin.

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Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

You can’t rely on automated spell checkers. They won’t catch all of your typos.

I remember a beautiful institutional investment pitch book shared by a senior portfolio manager. I’ll call him George Miller. The front cover billed him as “George Miller, Portfolio Manger.”

Yes, that’s “manger” not “manager.”

You can use the proofreading methods in “Six ways to stop sending emails with errors” to complement your spell checker.

_______________________________________________________________
Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

Getting new clients for your investment or wealth management business is always on your mind. But there are so many prospects and so little time. One way to narrow your scope is to focus on a target market, as I described in “First pick your target market and niche.” A next step is to distinguish between prospects, leads, and opportunities as defined in The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage, and Ed Gandia.

“Don’t confuse prospects with leads,” says the book. “Prospects are individuals you believe may be interested in your services. Leads, on the other hand, are prospects who have already indicated a certain level of interest in what you have to offer.” Moving along the continuum from prospect to client, an opportunity is “a lead who has given you a chance to present your services, discuss a project, or quote a job.”

Action step: Look at your universe of potential clients. How many fall into each of these categories? If you’re short on prospects, do research to build their numbers. Once you’ve got enough prospects, focus on moving your prospects, leads, and opportunities through your funnel.

Follow-up will be the key to your success.

Disclosure: I received a free press copy of this book.

_______________________________________________________________
Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

If you’re a sloppy letter writer, then my friend’s old employer is your biggest nightmare. But clean up your writing, and you can win over even this tough customer.

The impatient reader

“How do you go through your mail so quickly?” she asked after watching him flip through letters one after another without pausing.

His reply? “If it’s not in the first sentence, I don’t read it.” People who wrote flowery introductions to their letters had no hope of communicating their messages to this impatient reader.

Your solution

You can reach impatient readers by getting to your point in your first sentence. Tell your readers what you want – and why it should matter to them. For example, “Here’s a review of our recent meeting with a checklist of the actions you must take, so I can implement your plan.” Save the niceties for the end of your letter.

Some financial advisors think it’s rude to write a letter that doesn’t “make nice” for the entire paragraph. Indeed, some of your readers may prefer a leisurely, chatty introduction.

However, a letter that immediately gets to the point is kinder to your readers. It relieves them of the burden of searching through your letter to figure out what you want. You’ll benefit, too. More readers will do what you want when you’re clear up front.

Take a second look at your most recent letter. Is it direct enough?

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Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

Bold type, which is thicker than regular type, can make it easier for readers to grasp your meaning. This happens only if you bold wisely. Go overboard with bold, and you may lose readers.

When to bold

Here are three ways I’d use bold in a blog post:

1.  Bold your headings or the first part of your numbered lists. I’m a big fan of headings as visual indicators of your main points as well as your shifts from one point to another. This goes for bolding new points on your list, but only when the bolded text is followed by plain text. A whole block of bold text is hard to read.

2.  Bold the key sentence in one or more paragraphs. Michael Katz of Blue Penguin does this well in his newsletter.

3.  Use bold for one key sentence. It could be the eye-catching content that draws readers to your blog post. Or the “call to action” that invites your readers to contact you.

Bold vs. heading format

Your choice of how to highlight your text may affect how well it is picked up by online search engines.

Some folks have told me that any bolded words are given more weight by search engines. On the other hand, Beth Graddon-Hodgson of WriteSourcing told me this only applies to text that is emphasized by a heading tag, so the text is treated as a title. However, this “subject is highly debated,” said Graddon-Hodgson. “Some people believe that ANY changes to text make a difference with SEO since they incorporate different coding.” Check with your SEO expert for the latest opinions on this debate.

Used wisely, bold can boost the impact of your writing. Give it a try!

_______________________________________________________________
Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

Guest bloggers have made some great contributions to my Investment Writing blog. Guest posts are welcome, but must meet the following requirements to be considered for publication.

1.  Relevance – Please propose a topic that shows you’re familiar with the Investment Writing blog and our readers. Don’t expect me to come up with a topic for you.

2.  Clear writing – Guest contributions must be reasonably well-written. They may be edited for clarity.

3.  Brevity – Ideal length is 250-400 words. Longer posts may be considered.

4.  Ease of posting – Once your post is accepted for publication, please provide a version in Microsoft Word (no fancy formatting, please, because it won’t carry over) or HTML  along with a head shot photo, so it can be easily posted in the desired format.

5.  Author’s credentials – Explain why you are qualified to write on this topic. Also, provide a two-sentence bio that will run with your guest post, if it is accepted. You may include a link to your website or blog in your bio. After I accept your post, I would like to receive a headshot photo from you.

Questions? Please post them in the Comments below.

_______________________________________________________________
Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

You can’t avoid the media’s coverage of WikiLeaks. An article in today’s New York Times focused on the high quality of the writing in the cables. Naturally, I was intrigued.

“The trick is to catch the reader’s attention,” advises Ambassador Richard Hoagland in his “Ambassador’s Cable Drafting Tips,” according to “Clinton Squeezes WikiLemons, Trying to Make Diplomatic Lemonade.” That’s a great idea. I wish more folks would think of the reader when they write.

Hoagland tells writers to get to the point in their subject lines. “The first three to five words are all they will see in their electronic queues.” He’s right. Remember this the next time you write an email.

_______________________________________________________________
Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

The U.S. housing market was the focus of a December 2 presentation to the Boston Security Analysts Society on “The U.S. Residential Housing Sector: Are We Near the Trough?” Scott B. Van Voorhis, lead real estate blogger for Boston.com, moderated a panel including Karl E. Case, founding partner, Fiserv Case Shiller Weiss, Inc.; Laurie Goodman, senior managing director, Amherst Securities Group, L.P.; and Brian Kinney, managing director, State Street Global Advisors.

Case on the near-term future of housing prices

Karl Case, who’s well-known for his role in creating what’s now known as the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, said he’s neither optimistic nor pessimistic about housing prices.

On one hand, Case is concerned about a potential fall in the number of potential home buyers if immigration falls and more adult children end up living with mom and dad. The 1990 census showed that we had 10 million people whom we didn’t know we had, said Case. He’ll feel discouraged if the 2010 census shows we’ve got a smaller population than expected due to a decline in immigration or other factors.

On the other hand, said Case, affordable house prices help.  You can buy a house today for half of what you would have paid on a monthly basis three years ago, he said. Low interest rates help, too.

In Case’s opinion, the next one-and-a-half years are likely to see a 0% change in housing prices. If prices don’t decline, we’re happy, said Case. Moreover, “When prices begin to rise, it’ll be a whole different ball game,” he added. A small number of people coming into the market can have a big impact on prices because valuations are set by a small number of transactions. In “A Dream House After All,” a September 2010 op-ed essay, Case said, “…a house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. That’s a very personal, emotional decision. And emotions can change on a dime.”

House price decline of 5%-10% foreseen by Goodman and Kinney

Case’s fellow panelists were more pessimistic, both projecting a house price decline of 5%-10%. Houses are affordable by traditional standards, said Goodman. However, that plus is offset by a huge number of houses and limited credit availability. This poses an obstacle to reform of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Kinney agreed that reform will be a big challenge.

Geographic differences

Case pointed out that housing prices vary by region. For example, California suffered from a boom in house prices, but not an oversupply of housing. So it’s recovering ahead of states such as Nevada and Arizona that overbuilt. However, California accounts for one-quarter of the nation’s housing by value. That means as California goes, so goes the nation, according to Case. The state’s house prices have been rising since the spring of 2009.

Foreclosure crisis calls for dramatic moves

Goodman made the point that the foreclosure crisis isn’t over. She believes that about 95% of 5.2 million non-performing loans will eventually be liquidated. The government’s measures have stretched out the foreclosure crisis, rather than solving it, she said.

Principal reduction for mortgage holders who are “under water” must be part of the solution, said Goodman. The Home Affordable Modification Program hasn’t gone far enough, in her view. For the sake of the U.S. economy, the government should make principal reduction mandatory, she said.

She also suggested the following:

1. “Increase credit availability to borrowers.”
2. “…[re-qualify] borrowers who are in a home they can’t afford into one they can afford.”
3. Offer immigrants “amnesty through an investment in housing.”

What do YOU think is the solution?

I’m curious to learn your take on the housing market.

For another perspective, check out “Could Your Children Buy Your House?” by David Glen. Dave, whom I was delighted to meet in person for the first time at yesterday’s BSAS meeting, also discusses the panel.

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Need to write better? Register for my next class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Class for Financial Advisors” starting May 16. You won’t get another chance to take this class until 2013.

Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.