Week 3 of the virtual book tour for Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients

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To see what you missed on the virtual book tour for Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients, please click the links below.

Last week’s posts:

Be sure to check back each week in August for new links to posts on my tour.

Don’t forget to buy my book!

Blog like a college applicant

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Finding topics for your financial blog posts can be challenging. Sometimes it’s helpful to steal topics from unrelated fields. I was reminded of this when I read about thenew 2013 essay topics for college’s Common Application. (To see the list of essay topics, go to the Common Application’s Training Resources page, and then click on “2013-2014 Essay Topics” under the “Reference Documents” section of “Applicant Information.”)

One of the topic reads as follows: “Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?” This prompt could lead you to a blog post about a personal failure with a financial lesson that your clients can learn from.

Another topic addresses feeling content. Contentment can have financial angles, too.

Check out the Common Application’s topics and please tell me if you end up blogging about one of their essay topics.

 Aug. 13, 2013 note: This page was edited to fix a broken link.

What people are saying about “Financial Blogging”

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“One of the best investments you’ll make”

This “book will be one of the best investments you’ll make this year,” says writer Wendy Cook in “A (NEW) Guiding Light for Financial Bloggers.” Why? Wendy says the following:

  • It walks you through clear, manageable steps for financial blogging.
  • It is not one-size-fits-nobody.
  • You won’t have to read it all to reap the rewards.

“The strength of this book is it caters to all types of learners”

“Susan does not provide one technique, or a my-way-or-the-highway approach to blogging. Instead, she offers many techniques and ideas that speak to linear thinkers, visual learners, and those who want to think outside the box,” says Kathleen Burns Kingsbury in “Financial Services Professionals: Do You Want to Blog But Don’t Know How?”

Burns Kingsbury also says, “I highly recommend picking up a copy of Financial Blogging today. It is a must-have resource for anyone in the financial services arena who wants to or already is marketing their services online.”

“Incredibly practical”

Kitces review headline

“Susan Weiner’s ‘Financial Blogging’ book provides an incredibly practical, hands-on way to learn how to blog as a financial advisor, says Michael Kitces. To read his entire review on Amazon, click on this image.

Praise from more advisors

Read more testimonials from advisors Cathy Curtis, Eleanor Blayney, Russ Thornton, and others who previewed the book! You can also read reviews on Amazon.

More comments

“Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients, is…a must-read for financial advisors who blog (or who are thinking about doing so),” says Megan Elliot on the Wealth Management Marketing blog.

Tweets about Financial Blogging

https://twitter.com/RefrmdEconTchr/status/366310306386935810

https://twitter.com/mindingmoney/status/364864850259738626

Note: This post was updated on August 13, August 21, and September 9, 2013. I’ll continue to update it as more reviews become available.

Week 2 of the virtual book tour for Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients

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To see what you missed on the virtual book tour for Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients, please click the links below.

Last week’s posts:

Be sure to check back each week in August for new links to posts on my tour.

Don’t forget to buy my book!

Update: on August 16 I edited this post to remove information about a book discount that ended.

 

Do you want unexpected visitors to your blog?

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The appearance of a raccoon on my squirrel feeder made me think. Just as a dried ear of corn on a nail drew an unintended masked guest, your financial blog may draw readers who don’t belong to your target audience. Is this good or bad?

Are you still serving your target audience?

If you’ve chosen your target audience well, your top priority should be serving them, NOT your unintended visitors. After all, you’re aiming at a narrowly defined group of potential clients, referral sources, or other folks who are in a position to help you meet your goals.

It’s bad if you attract unintended visitors because you routinely stray from topics that interest your target audience. Your ideal readers will abandon you if they can’t find enough good content on your blog.

On the other hand, if your blog meets your target readers’ needs, but still attracts broader interest, that’s good. You never know where your next referral will come from. Your ideal clients may be best friends with people who don’t share the characteristics on which you focus. Those oddballs can be powerful referral sources. Plus, social media’s unexpected dispersion of your content can eventually put your content in front of great prospects and referral sources.

Raccoon-squirrel analogy

If I’d attracted a raccoon because I’d put out a form of corn that’s loved by raccoons, but spurned by squirrels, that would have been a failure. Since the dried corn also pleased the gray squirrels that abound in my yard, I was okay.

Still, if I start to see more raccoons than squirrels at my feeder, I should rethink my feeding strategy. You should do the same with your blog.

Follow the virtual book tour for Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients!

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Last week marked the start of my month-long virtual book tour to promote my new book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients. Here are links from my first week.

Last week’s posts:

Be sure to check back each week in August for new links to posts on my tour.

By the way, the introductory discount code for the book expires on August 14, so buy it soon!

 

Video overview of the Investment Writing blog

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In case you haven’t seen it, here’s a video overview of the Investment Writing blog. I think the folks at AdvisorTV did a really nice job.

Top five posts from the second quarter of 2013

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In case you missed them, below is a list of the top five posts from the Investment Writing blog during the second quarter of 2013.

The success of “Q&A format for articles” surprised me because I wrote it to satisfy my own curiosity, rather than in response to a common marketing challenge. However, when Ragan.com asked to reprint this piece, I realized that I had touched a “hot button” among communicators. This is a good reminder that topics that you feel strongly about can often form the basis of blog posts that pack a punch. Also, it’s a good idea to share your posts into LinkedIn Groups, which is where Mark Ragan spotted it.

In the #2 spot is a post that probably benefited from being shared by the people mentioned in it and from others interested in identifying financial bloggers to follow. This was one of my most-tweeted posts during the quarter.

One of my quirky personal posts made the list again, this time at #3. Experts say that stories make your points memorable. Perhaps my story about my long-suffering husband is what made this piece resonate with readers.

  1. Q&A format for articles: Good or bad?
  2. My blogging class students’ blogs
  3. Instructions for a bad wife
  4. Techniques to boost your white paper’s visual appeal
  5. Boost your blog with original photos

 

Don’t hire a proofreader

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Don’t hire a proofreader for your blog, says Michael Hyatt in Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. Hyatt thinks a proofreader will cause unnecessary delays. However, he recommends that you proofread your own work.

Hyatt’s advice shocked me. But then I realized, hey, I don’t use a proofreader. I check my work. I’m usually pretty good at it. Sometimes errors get through, but usually I’m the only person who notices. It’s easy to correct errors on a blog. It’s not as big a deal as a printed book, presentation, or even an e-book.

However, if you have a budget that allows you to hire a proofreader, then go for it. More importantly, if you routinely make awful mistakes, or if you have super-critical readers, then please consider hiring a proofreader. Ask your colleagues for recommendations. Talk to people whom you know, which is how advisor Rick Kahler found his editor. You can also find a proofreader online through Craigslist or freelance sites.

As an in-between measure, consider using my “read out loud” method.

 

Feb. 6, 2018: I updated this post to add a link to the “read out loud” method of proofreading.

Alternate short and long blog posts?

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Some bloggers have made their reputations by writing long, thoughtful posts. Their only problem? They’d like to post more frequently, but long posts take too much time.

“Is it okay to alternate short and long posts?” That’s the question one of them asked.

There’s no law against it. Blog posts can run any length. However, if you’re known for in-depth posts, I like the idea of managing readers’ expectations by telling them that you’re alternating short and long posts. The folks who enjoy the long ones will know when to visit your blog. You may pick up new readers with short attention spans with your alternate posts.

If the contrast between your short and long posts isn’t great, you don’t need to say anything. The length of my posts varies greatly, but I haven’t remarked on that until today.

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net