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

Titles count. Especially in these days of search engine optimization, better known as SEO. But even without SEO, the quality of your blog post or article title can make a difference in your readership.

Today’s Reader Challenge is coming up with a better title for a piece of published investment commentary: “The ‘Great Recalibration.’ ”

First reactions to “The ‘Great Recalibration’ ” as a title

When I skimmed the title “The ‘Great Recalibration,’ ” I couldn’t tell what it was about. Then I read “Volatility in third-party credit ratings heightens the value of proprietary credit research.” Aha. This told me I was reading about bonds and that there might be some useful information in the article. This prompted the Facebook poll you see below.

However, reader comments (see below) on the poll made me think this title provides good fodder for conversation.

Please give your title suggestions below. You’ll probably want to visit the article–at least briefly. I look forward to hearing from you.

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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.

Mind mapping is a powerful tool for brainstorming, analysis, and presentations. I know a handful of advisors and investment professionals who feel passionately about the value of mind mapping. I do, too.

You can create mind maps with paper and pencil or on the computer. I prefer the old-fashioned way, so I asked some of my social media friends what they use and why.

MindJet

“I chose Mindjet because it has the most extensive array of templated maps as compared to other systems. For example Mindjet has ready made templeted maps for business plans, story outlines, SWOT analysis, etc. I have found Mindjet to be very useful in this regard and as I have used them for our company strategy sessions and general brainstorming,” says Alex Murguia of McLean Asset Management.

Mindmeister

Jude Boudreaux of Upperline Financial likes Mindmeister.

I’ve used it, too, because the basic version is free and pretty easy to pick up.

Mindomo

Russ Thornton of Wealthcare Capital Management is one of my favorite resources for new technology. Here’s what Russ says:

Xmind

Dave Grant of  Vantage Financial Partners says, “I use xmind as a project management tool. We have monthly meetings and each meeting is its own “spoke” from the main subject, then each discussion in that meeting is its own “sub-spoke.” You can see see a year’s worth of project in a quick glance – great tool.”

Paper and pencil

Like Nathan Gehring of MyFirstFinancialPlanner.com, I like paper and pencil.

I imagine that when children learn mapping in school, as I discussed in “What your kids can teach you about writing,” they use paper and pencil.

If you’re not familiar with mind mapping…

There’s a decent introduction to mind mapping on Wikipedia.

Please answer my poll on mind mapping solutions, which you’ll find in the right-hand column of this blog. If you don’t see your software listed there, you can add it. I also included paper and pencil as an option.

Here are links to the software options listed above:

• MindJet
• Mindmeister
• Mindomo
• Xmind

If none of these options work for you, you’ll find more listed in my 2008 post on “More options for mind mapping.” To learn more about using mind mapping in your blogging, check out my class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read.”

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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.

It’s almost time for quarter-end investment performance reporting. I have some tips for you.

1. Use the past tense.

Why? Because portfolio performance commentary discusses historical performance.

2. Describe benchmarks’ key characteristics, when appropriate.

The general public doesn’t know the difference between the S&P 500 and the S&P 400. They may think one is a subset of the other, like the Fortune 50 and the Fortune 1000. So specify “the mid-cap S&P 400.”

3. Be consistent in how you spell and punctuate terms.

For example, choose between “indexes” and “indices.” Decide whether you’ll use “small cap” exclusively without a hyphen or hyphenate it as “small-cap” when you use it as an adjective.

4. Limit your references to the time period.

Once you establish that you’re writing about the second quarter, don’t repeat that information frequently. However, if you shift between discussing the second quarter and the month of June, name the periods often enough that your reader follows your transitions.

5. Don’t go crazy replacing “returned,” as in “the fund returned 3%.”

There are plenty of other ways to convey the information in the sentence. However, I believe too much variety is counterproductive in a paragraph that consists mainly of returns. Instead, the variety distracts from the reader’s ability to compare returns. If you’re citing many index returns, perhaps you should insert a table.

Do you have grammar, punctuation, or other usage tips for people writing about investment performance? Please leave them as comments below.

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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.

Time is running out to register at the Early Bird rate for “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Self-Paced 5-Lesson Writing Class for Financial Advisors.” This rate, exclusively for my e-newsletter subscribers and clients, expires at 12 midnight on Wednesday, JUNE 22.You will find details about the class on the registration page.

• “The class is great! I’m really getting a huge amount of value – there really is a process to writing.”

• “Loving the blog writing class I am taking with @susanweiner #FF”

• “Susan’s coaching is a classic case of ‘under-promise, over-deliver.’ I highly recommend her as a writing coach or teacher. Her coaching has improved the quality of writing in my blog posts. My writing skills were very rusty when we started. Susan’s practical, insightful suggestions–along with her Blog Post Preparation Worksheet–have been an incredibly valuable resource.”

The class format has been tweaked to accommodate your summer vacation and busy periods. So don’t delay. Sign up TODAY for “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read”!

_______________________________________________________________
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.

Investment RFP writers–the folks who fill out those tiresome questionnaires called requests for proposals–sometimes get sloppy.

Photo by Paul Watson

Tight deadlines allow little time for copyediting. This before-and-after example shows how adding bullet points can streamline an RFP answer. The “after” example is also easier to skim.

BEFORE editing

Each month, you can expect a summary report via email that includes your portfolio’s performance results, attribution analysis, and portfolio characteristics. We send the summary reports no later than six business days following month end.

AFTER editing

Within six business days of month end, you will receive by email a summary of your portfolio’s

• Performance
• Attribution analysis
• Key characteristics

How you can crack this editing challenge

Could you achieve the “after” version on your own?

It’s a result that mind mapping, which I discuss in “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read,” could help you to achieve.

_______________________________________________________________
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.

One of my best posts for bloggers seeking to grow their readership isn’t on my blog.

I wrote  “LinkedIn Groups Help Blog Posts Soar” as a guest post for the American Society of Business Publication Editors. It describes my accidental discovery of how sharing the right blog post with the right LinkedIn Group boosts your readership.

As I describe in the post, simply blasting your every blog post to every LinkedIn Group is not the recipe for success. In fact, you’re likely to irritate more people than you attract.

Instead,

• Be selective.
• Show genuine interest in the responses that LinkedIn Group members post.

I sometimes wonder how many LinkedIn Group posts I can make before I’m perceived as too self-promotional. I suspect that your answers differs from the next person’s. Also, the nature of the content probably influences your response.

If you’ve successfully used LinkedIn to promote your blog–or you have opinions about how bloggers use LinkedIn Groups–please share your story. I’d like to learn from you.

_______________________________________________________________
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.

Some great bloggers have participated in Brag About Your Blog Day–Financial Advisor Edition on the Investment Writing Facebook page. In case you don’t visit Facebook, I’m listing them with links to their blogs.

Thank you, participants! By the way, if I skipped your blog–or if your link needs updating–please let me know.

The next Brag About Your Blog Day is scheduled for June 25. Please join this distinguished group of bloggers in participating!

Bloggers who offer financial advice

ACap Asset Management – Ara Oghoorian

Curtis Financial Planning – Cathy Curtis

The Blog of Chuck Rylant – Chuck Rylant

Planning for Your Life – Strategies for a Healthy and Wealthy Life – Dagmar Pollex

Frazer Rice – Frazer Rice

Getting Your Financial Ducks in a Row – Jim Blankenship

Benefits and Compensation With John Lowell – John Lowell

Upperline Financial – Jude Boudreaux

Wall Street Steward- Matthew G. Griffin

Couples Financial Planning and Coaching, LLC – Nathan Gehring

The Whole Investor – Paul Puckett

Markets, Life & MCFC – Richard Stott

The Wealthcare Revolution – Russ Thornton

YH&C Investment Blog – Yale Bock

Bloggers who offer services to financial advisors

FP Pad – Financial Planning Technology Blog – Bill Winterberg

The Advisor Upside – HNW Advisor eSuite

If you haven’t started your blog yet…

…perhaps it’s time for you to consider enrolling in “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read,” my virtual class tailored to financial advisors. You will receive personalized feedback from a seasoned financial writer–that’s me. As you turn in your homework, I will coach you through each step of the writing process. If you do all of the homework, you will finish the class with a polished blog post. Plus, you’ll have a process for creating future posts.

_______________________________________________________________
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.

Here’s some of what you missed at the annual conference of the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts (#FPAMA), as reflected in my tweets and blog posts. I grouped my tweets by speaker. My comments on the tweets are preceded by an arrow (<–).

Blog posts from #FPAMA

• “The pebble in the shoe: The power of metaphor
• Mark Tibergien’s one thing for financial advisors’ business improvement
• Love, hate, and the CFP ad campaign

Bill Bachrach of Bachrach & Associates

• Advisors, do you find your clients love being videotaped by you? Bill Bachrach says they do. #FPAMA <– Personally, this would make me feel self-conscious. However, I would like the idea that my advisor hangs on my every word.
• “Financial planners’ income need not decline with the market or the economy.”  — Bill Bachrach #FPAMA
• “People who are competent know the right questions and when to ask them.” — Bill Bachrach, #FPAMA
• “You build trust by listening to their story, not telling yours.” — Bill Bachrach #FPAMA  <– This last point is one that more financial advisors should consider when writing their websites, newsletters, and other communications.

Bruce Brumberg of MyStockOptions.com

The restricted stock session at #FPAMA was way more interesting than I expected. Things sure have changed since I listened to stock option talks as the employee of a wealth manager.

• “Performance shares come in many flavors” — Bruce Brumberg #FPAMA
• To identify prospects with stock compensation, see proxy statement, Form 10K, and Section 16 Forms. — Bruce Brumberg #FPAMA <– This might work well for advisors targeting public companies that are big in their local area.
• “Rise of restricted stock, RSUs, SARs, & performance shares makes financial planning more complex.” — Bruce Brumberg, MyStockOptions.com #FPAMA

Mark Tibergien of Pershing Advisor Solutions

• “Advisors, do you feel your business has become more complex?” — Mark Tibergien at #FPAMA <–I felt the entire room nodding in agreement
• “My job is to disturb you.” — Mark Tibergien at #FPAMA
• Top performers spend more on client experience. Top 25% = $4,306/client, rest = $3,735. — Mark Tibergien at #FPAMA
• “Advisors, what does ‘wealth manager’ mean and does it differentiate you?”  — Mark Tibergien at #FPAMA #in
• “Bull markets camouflage a lot of sins.” — Mark Tibergien at #FPAMA
• “Companies hire people, managers lose them.” — Mark Tibergien at #FPAMA

Craig Zablocki, speaker

• “The ability to be silly is a blessing.” — Craig Zablocki at #FPAMA conference
• “When we give more, we have more fun.” — Craig Zablocki at #FPAMA conference
• “We have a tendency to argue for what we know.” — Craig Zablocki at #FPAMA conference
• “Get used to ‘no.’ ‘No’ is just information. Yes lives inside ‘no.’” — Craig Zablocki at #FPAMA conference
• “Fear limits us.” — Craig Zablocki at #FPAMA conference

Miscellaneous

• Social Security expert Kurt Czarnowski is now available for consulting www.czarnowskiconsulting.com #FPAMA
• Social Security expert Kurt Czarnowski received special recognition at #FPAMA. Learn more about him at www.czarnowskiconsulting.com
• Delighted to meet the advisor who sparked this blog post with comments by @Vitavie and @JenBaty http://ht.ly/50ngU #FPAMA

Confession: I did not live-tweet

You may notice the conference took place way back in May.  I’m not much of a live-tweeter, unlike the folks who live-tweeted the Financial Planning Association of Northern California’s recent conference. Even though I tweet like crazy, I prefer to write at greater length about interesting presentations. Also, I feel I absorb information better when I focus on taking notes.

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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.

“What’s the one thing that most people in this room can do to improve their business?”

Photo by dawning.ca

This is the question I asked Mark Tibergien, CEO of Pershing Advisor Solutions, at the annual conference of the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts on May 20.

Tibergien hit four points in his reply describing how financial planners can build a practice that differentiates them.

1.  Identify your core capabilities–both as a planner and a business person.

2.  Identify your optimal client. Target them in terms of characteristics other than wealth.

3.  Identify competitors who attract your optimal clients. Figure out what makes them special. Think about how you compare.

4.  Identify your personal definition of success.

This four-step process will help you figure out if your current business strategy is still relevant, said Tibergien. If your strategy is outdated, this assessment provides clues about how to tweak your strategy. I imagine it helps you focus your marketing, which can provide an incredible boost to your efficiency.

Have YOU tried this? I’d like to hear how it has worked for you.

_______________________________________________________________
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.

Metaphors are powerful tools for communication.I couldn’t get the phrase “the pebble in the shoe” out of my mind after an advisor mentioned it to me at the annual conference of the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts.

Photo by Kaptain Kobold

Apparently speaker Todd Fithian of the Legacy Companies suggested that advisors tackle whatever represents “the pebble in the shoe” for their clients.

I felt anxious just thinking about that pebble. This metaphor also sparked my curiosity about the presentation in which the term popped up.

Pebble vs. pressing problem

Which phrase is more memorable? “The pebble in the shoe” or “The pressing problem your client wants to address”?

For me, it’s clearly the first phrase. I’ll probably remember this phrase and perhaps even Todd Fithian long after I’ve forgotten the rest of the day’s sessions. This is true even though I didn’t attend Fithian’s presentation.

Your metaphors

Some of you are already using metaphors to your advantage, as I learned in your comments on “Reader challenge: New, non-liquid metaphors for money.”

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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.