Financial writers clinic: Lessons from Floyd Norris of The New York Times
I’m a big fan of New York Times columnist Floyd Norris. His Feb. 27 column illustrates techniques you can use for your financial articles and blog posts. Lesson 1: Make your title provocative–and consider giving away your conclusion. “Think Banks Are Out of the Woods? Maybe Not,” says Norris’ title. The title achieves two positive […]
My best posts for financial advisors who blog
If you’re a financial blogger who cares about well-written blog posts, you’ll find something useful in these posts. Bloggers’ top two punctuation mistakes —Please READ this if you’re a blogger who is not a professional writer. Financial writers, lead with your message, not your source A title can make a world of difference Bloggers, one […]
Guest post: "The Lost Art of the Thank You Card"
I’m a big fan of saying “Thank you.” So I’m delighted to feature this guest post by Suzanne Muusers of Prosperity Coaching. Suzanne is a consultant to financial advisors. I met her through Twitter. The Lost Art of the Thank You CardBy Suzanne Muusers What would happen to your referrals if you wrote five thank […]
Can you over-use "you" in your marketing materials?
You may be surprised by my suggestion that you can overuse “you” in your written communications. I’ve said many times that investment and wealth managers speak too much about “we,” the firm, and too little about “you,” the client or prospect. Writing reader-focused text is important. However, dropping “you” and “your” multiple times in every […]
Financial writers clinic: Getting rid of “mitigate”
Words with Latin roots, such as “mitigate,” drain life out of your writing. Let’s spruce up a sentence by deleting “mitigate.” Here’s a sentence from Gretchen Morgenson’s “Credit Cards and Reluctant Regulators“: Alliance is not the only company working to mitigate the effects of new credit card restrictions. I’d rewrite it as Alliance is not […]