"Relevant and useful content earns trust. And trust sells."

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“Relevant and useful content earns trust. And trust sells.”


I love this tag line from Bob Leonard’s Bolen Communications.

It reminded me of why newsletters are so powerful. Why? Because newsletters that convey a sense of who you are–and that provide relevant and useful content–build trust. And trust sells, just as Bob Leonard says in his tag line. 

Another thing about newsletters. The importance of building trust through relevant, useful content argues against putting a lot of promotional copy in your newsletter. Sales writing may interfere with your building your relationship with your audience.

 

Optimism watch: "Could Bear Talk Be a Contrary Signal?"

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“Doing the reverse of the crowd has often worked well,” as New York Times columnist Floyd Norris points out in “Could Bear Talk Be a Contrary Signal?“

So the fact that consumers feel unusually gloomy about the stock market, according to the Conference Board’s latest consumer confidence report, may bode well for stocks.

More than half of those polled expect stocks to decline over the next 12 months. However, as Norris reports:

In the past, there have been only six market cycles when the proportion of bears reached 36 percent. Five of them were excellent times to buy stocks, and the other one was followed by a decent return.

If you only want to read an optimistic spin on these numbers, do NOT read Mark Hulbert’s “The Stars Have Yet To Align For Stocks,” also published in The New York Times.

This blog post is part of a recently launched “Optimism watch” series on this blog.

Wealth managers should specialize by affinity, NOT demographics

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“In my opinion, a successful segmentation will be less demographically driven (e.g., net worth or income striations) and more affinity driven (tapping into a deep pool of investors who share a common passion — auto racing, yachting, the arts, religion, and so on).” writes Scott Welch of Fortigent, LLC in “Differentiating When Consulting to the Ultra Affluent,” an article I blogged about on August 25.


Are you tapping a common passion among clients of your wealth management practice? Share it in the “Comments” section of this blog post.

Optimism watch: The case for maximum pessimism

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Is the stock market getting you down? I’m starting an “Optimism watch” on this blog. 

In “Optimism watch” posts, I’ll highlight the case that other writers make for you and your clients to hang in there.

Let’s start with a quote from “Nowhere to Hide: Foreign Funds are Falling, Too,” from Morningstar’s Bridget Hughes.

…before you fall into deep despair, I’d remind you that the late Sir John Templeton made a highly successful career investing where he saw “maximum pessimism.” We’ve been here before. Markets are cyclical. Keeping a truly long-term perspective (10 years or more) can be liberating, and you may realize this is a time to add to your holdings.

Related posts on the Investment Writing blog:

ACLI promises better disclosures about annuities

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The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) is promising to improve disclosure about annuities in cooperation with the National Association for Variable Annuities (NAVA), according to “User-Friendly Annuity Documents Planned,” an article on the Financial Advisor website.

Maybe they could start with the so-called “easy to read tip sheet” for seniors on their website. It sports plenty of jargon. Like “current credited interest rate”–a term that I couldn’t even find in the ACLI’s glossary. The same goes for “subaccount.”

The ACLI and NAVA are tackling a tough job. I wish them good luck.

How to make your ultra-affluent clients happy

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“…the model that works in the institutional world does not necessarily translate well to the world of the ultra affluent,” writes Scott Welch of Fortigent, LLC in “Differentiating When Consulting to the Ultra Affluent,” an article published in the CFA Institute’s private wealth management e-newsletter.

So, while wealth managers like to talk about bringing institutional-quality management to individual clients, forget about your institutional client-service model.

As a professional writer, I was intrigued to read that “…satisfied clients hear from their primary adviser 28 times a year, or a little more than twice a month, and it might be a phone call, an e-mail, a fax, a newsletter, a research report, or just a quick hello.  Unsatisfied clients hear from their primary advisers fewer than 17 times a year (emphasis added).” One extra client touch per month could make an enormous difference!

Welch discusses how to satisfy ultra-affluent clients in terms of platform, process, and people.

Platform means that your product and service offerings must be comprehensive.  Without the full array of wealth management offerings, you won’t “get a seat at the table.” But the key is providing access to those services. Outsourcing is okay.

Process means that a relationship manager with excellent people skills and an outstanding support team arranges client access to products and services. 

People means that roles are becoming more specialized, taking advantage of employees’ personalities and knowledge. Also, ongoing professional education is essential because of increasing specialization.

How I ghostwrite your financial article

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Too busy to write an article? Hiring a ghostwriter is a great way to produce a compelling article in a short amount of time.

Ghostwriting is one of my specialties. Please read on for an explanation of how you and I can work together.

My ghostwriting process typically includes these steps:
1. Topic identification
2. Interview of expert(s)
3. Outline
4. First draft
5. Revision, if necessary
6. Completion

1. Topic identification

You and I will discuss your topic over the phone. It’s helpful if you can answer these questions:
•    Why do you want to write an article and what do you want it to accomplish?
•    What is your topic?
•    Who is your audience and what do you want them to do after they read your article?
•    Why will your readers care about your article topic?
•    What problem will your article solve for your readers?
•    What are the three main points you’d like to make?
•    Where will the article appear?
•    What word count are you targeting? For example, a ghostwritten newspaper article often runs 600-1,000 words and a double-spaced, typed page runs about 200-250 words.
•    By when do you need the article completed?
•    What is your review and approval process?

Following this interview, I typically send you a letter of agreement that describes the scope of the work we will do together.

2. Interview of expert(s)

Most of the articles that I ghostwrite are based on an interview with a single expert. Sometimes multiple experts and outside research are involved.

Prior to the interview, I will send you a list of questions to think about. If that makes you think of useful exhibits or other data, it’s helpful for you to send them to me prior to our interview.

The interview will be conducted by phone and tape recorded, so I can refer back to it.

3. Outline

Following our interview, I will typically send you a robust outline, so you can agree to the direction of the article before I send you a complete draft. The outline will incorporate my questions and requests for additional information needed to flesh out the article.

4. First draft

After you respond to my questions and approve the outline, I will send you an article following the outline.

5. Revisions

My clients are often satisfied with my initial draft. However, sometimes changes are needed. Our letter of agreement will specify the scope of revisions included in your project fee.

6. Completion

When the process is complete, you’ve got an article you can publish under your name. It’s ready to go!

 

"You Can Write – Six easy tips to getting words from your head to your computer keyboard"

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Financial advisors need to write to their clients. It’s an essential part of marketing. “Phone conversations are fleeting and cannot be handed as a referral to a friend in the same way that a piece of written material can be passed on,” as PR consultant Beth Chapman of Ink & Air points out in “You Can Write – Six easy tips to getting words from your head to your computer keyboard,” her article below.


Forget your old issues with writing, this is a new day and this is business.

  1. Ever hear of an outline? Outlines can take away some of your uncertainty when you do realize you have something to say.
  2. No one really likes grammar, so write short sentences and avoid all internal punctuation that you can.
  3. Have someone else read your document after you have gone through spell check. Often a word can be spelled correctly, but be the wrong word for the context. Familiarity breeds written errors.  That second set of eyes is extremely useful.
  4. Write in bullet points instead of sentences and paragraphs, where transitions are not needed. This engages the reader’s eyes better than run on sentences.
  5. Writing can be done if you tackle it when you are the freshest and work for only 10 minutes a day for several days. Outline and get the ideas down and then polish.
  6. Phone conversations are fleeting and cannot be handed as a referral to a friend in the same way that a piece of written material can be passed on.

Cheer up your clients with views of Dallas Fed authors

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Has the economy got your clients feeling blue? 

Cheer them up with some statistics from “How Are We Doing,” an article by W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.


For example, over the past 20 years, “in terms of time worked at the average pay rate, the real cost of a 12-item basket of basic foods has hardly budged.” You can see that for yourself in Figure 3, “What Work Buys.”


I learned about this article from “Cheer up — these are the good old days,” a Boston Globe column by Jeff Jacoby.

"Let Content Determine Podcast Length"

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The best podcasts tend to run 5-7 minutes long, according to “Let Content Determine Podcast Length” on MarketingSherpa (paid registration may be required for article access). However, longer podcasts can work if the content is compelling.

Another key characteristic:  they focus on one topic. 

So, if you’re considering adding podcasts to your menu of investment or wealth management communications, keep them short and focused.