Teleclass FAQ–Answers to common questions about "How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read"

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Are you a financial advisor with questions about whether my teleclass on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors” will work for you?

You’ll find answers to common questions below. Do you have questions I haven’t answered below? Leave them as a comment or call me at 617-969-4509.


Q. What if I can’t attend all of the scheduled class meetings? Is there a way to catch up on the content?

A. It’s no problem if you miss a class.

You can download an audio recording within 24 hours after the class. It’s easy to catch up with a mp3 file that you can listen to on your computer or your mp3 player.

You can save all the audio files to give yourself a refresher course months or even years after your formal training ends.

Register for How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Teleclass for Financial Advisors in Once-a-week telephone conference call for 5 weeks, April 22-May 20 on Eventbrite

Q. What if I don’t see myself as a “financial advisor”? Can I still take your class?

A. I use the term “financial advisor” as shorthand for my target audience, which includes employees of investment, wealth management, and financial planning firms.
Register for How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Teleclass for Financial Advisors in Once-a-week telephone conference call for 5 weeks, April 22-May 20 on Eventbrite

Q. Why is the class limited to 12 students?

A. You’ll learn more when you get the personal attention that comes with a small class. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to ask questions during our telephone call. Plus, you’ll get written feedback on your homework assignments.
Register for How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Teleclass for Financial Advisors in Once-a-week telephone conference call for 5 weeks, April 22-May 20 on Eventbrite
 
Q. How are classes taught?

A. You dial a teleconference number to participate in your weekly teleclass. Prior to the class, you’ll download a handout so you can follow along and take notes during class. You’ll also receive weekly homework assignments, which you’ll post to a private website, so you can get feedback on them.
Register for How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Teleclass for Financial Advisors in Once-a-week telephone conference call for 5 weeks, April 22-May 20 on Eventbrite
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The next session of “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors“ starts on April 22. Sign up to receive  my free monthly newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

What students say about “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read”

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The investment and wealth managers who’ve taken my writing class, “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read,” have enjoyed it. Here’s a sampling of what my students have said on their evaluation forms and in phone calls with me.


*  What was valuable for me was the structure. The handouts, the thesis statement, the rules.

*  Your class delivered exactly what it promised.

*  The best part for me was having my work edited and critiqued by a professional.

*  Susan is onto something unique. There’s no one else doing exactly what she does.

*  The class is great! I’m really getting a huge amount of value — there really is a process to writing.

*  Any advisor who’s serious about blogging should take this class.

*  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.

*  I have Susan’s checklist out on my desk to help me review my blog posts.

*  You really helped me with how to organize my thoughts before writing.

* I liked how you gave us outside-the-box ideas.

* You really helped me by saying that not everyone can immediately write everything down right

*  I would sign up for another class with you. Have you thought about offering a class about writing emails?

Register for How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Writing Teleclass for Financial Advisors in Once-a-week telephone conference call for 5 weeks, April 22-May 20 on Eventbrite

I’d like to thank the great students who made teaching this class such a pleasure!

This post was updated on April 25, 2010, and June 10, 2011.

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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Which blogging platform should I use?

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If you’re not yet blogging, you’re probably wondering which blogging platform to use.

WordPress seems the most popular. If I were starting my blog today, I’d probably go with WordPress rather than Blogger. I’m no expert on blogging platforms, so you’ll find below some opinions from folks who know more than me.

Technology specialist Bill Winterberg told me via Twitter that he prefers WordPress “because if you need new functions, there’s likely a plugin available. Support and forums are comprehensive, too.” Speaking of plugins, Bill told me about Akismet, a spam-blocking plug-in that’s available for WordPress, but not Blogger. By the way, as I understand it, a plug-in is software that expands the capabilities of a larger piece of software–but don’t quote me on that.

The Tech for Luddites blog, written by my friend Elizabeth Kricfalusi, compares Blogger vs. TypePad vs. WordPress in “Picking a Platform for Your Blog.” She also favors WordPress. If you’re a non-technical person with computer questions, you may enjoy her blog, with its motto, “Increase Proficiency. Decrease Profanity.” 

For a blogging platform comparison from another source, check out the “Blogger vs. WordPress Comparison Table 2010.”

WordPress was also the choice of the financial advisors who took my recent class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read” (next session starts April 22).
 
I’d be happy to get comments on this post from those of you who are more knowledgeable about blogging platforms.
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Sign up for  “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors“ starting April 22 or join the list for my free monthly newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

The compliance-constrained financial advisor’s guide to using LinkedIn: Part I

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“I’ll connect on LinkedIn if my clients ask me, but I don’t see the value of LinkedIn because my compliance officer won’t let me do anything.”

If this is how you feel about LinkedIn, this article is for you.

Even if you can’t post more than your name and company affiliation, you can benefit from LinkedIn in two big ways. First, your listing makes you more easily located in an Internet search. That’s the focus of this article. In Part II of this article, I will address more active, yet compliance-friendly, strategies you can apply.


It’s easier for clients, prospects, and referral sources to find you
 
You want clients, prospects, and referral sources to find good information when they Google your name.  LinkedIn profiles tend to rank high in such searches. 
Just make sure you’ve made your profile public by clicking on “Edit Public Profile Settings” and checking “Full View” instead of “None.”

You can increase the ease with which you’re found by creating a custom URL for your LinkedIn profile, so the URL reads http://www.linkedin.com/in/YOURNAME. Simply edit the Public Profile URL at the bottom of the “Edit My Profile” page.

Your LinkedIn profile also offers the advantage of presenting yourself as you’d like to be seen, within the confines of what’s permitted by your compliance department.

Another factor to consider: Many LinkedIn users will look for you using the site’s search box. If you’re not on LinkedIn, it’s almost as if you don’t exist.

So, hurry and put your profile up on LinkedIn. If you’re already on LinkedIn, stay tuned for my article on compliance-friendly ways to use LinkedIn. 

Related posts
* My most popular blog posts of 2009
* Guest Post: “How to Use LinkedIn When Your Compliance Department Says No”
* Twitter to the rescue of my colleague with an RFP dilemma
* How to publicize your white paper using LinkedIn
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The next session of “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors” will start in April. For more information, sign up to receive “Information on upcoming classes, workshops, and other events” as well as my free monthly newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

How should you thank clients for referrals?

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Everybody knows you should thank clients when they refer business to you. But financial advisors can’t agree on the right way to express their thanks.

Is a verbal thank you at your next client meeting enough? How about adding a card, gift or discount on your professional services? Often your response depends on the nature of your relationship with the client and the value of their referral.

If you decide on a card, must it be handwritten? Or could you use an automated service such as SendOutCards? I know advisors on both sides of this debate.

Some advisors reward referrals with a discount on their fees. Others shrink from this approach. They feel discounts make clients question the validity of their pricing. The non-discounters may prefer to buy dinner or send a gift to the referral source.

What do YOU think? Express your opinion in the poll you’ll find in the right-hand column of this blog. I’ll share the results of the poll in my April e-newsletter. (Note: The poll is no longer active, but you can read the results on page 3 of my archived newsletter.)

Related posts
* Guest post: “The Lost Art of the Thank You Card”
* “You” can help your job hunting “thank you”

Update on June 23, 2013: The combination of urLetters and urFont might substitute for SendOutCards with something that appears handwritten. Learn more about the two apps in “App puts a techie twist on writing letters,” which appeared in The Boston Globe. I haven’t tried either app because I prefer to write longhand.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My best posts for financial advisors who blog

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If you’re a financial blogger who cares about well-written blog posts, you’ll find something useful in these posts.

By the way, if you’re struggling to crank out a steady stream of blog posts, “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read,” my 5-week teleclass for financial advisors, starts tomorrow, Feb. 25.

Guest post: "The Lost Art of the Thank You Card"

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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 Card
By Suzanne Muusers

What would happen to your referrals if you wrote five thank you cards per week? Would your client relationships deepen? Would you spread goodwill and kindness?

I’ve been sending out a lot of hand-written thank you cards lately. I find really nicely designed thank you cards at Trader Joe’s and AJ’s and I just get the urge to send them. You wouldn’t believe the response I get when the recipient receives the card. I usually get a phone call from them gushing about “taking the time to send a hand-written card” and “thank you so much for thinking of me.”

We have become such a digital world we forget about the impact such a simple action can have.  We now have email, ezines, newsletters, evite.com, and the like.  While it’s nice to save paper on such niceties and be “green,” getting a card in the mail is like getting a present.  When you send someone a card through the mail, I am betting that it stays on their desk for quite some time.

As I glance over my desk, I see a hand-written card I received from a financial advisor I met last month at the Financial Planning Association meeting. He asked me for advice on where he should get coach training. I gave him a few choice pointers and several days later received a beautiful zen-like card from him thanking me for the tips. You can bet that I’ll keep that card for a long time.

So how can you use thank you cards in your business? What occasions would be suitable for a thank you card?

How about:

  • Birthday cards
  • Nice to meet you cards
  • Thank you for the referral cards (as part of a written referral program)
  • Congratulations for your achievement
  • Sympathy cards
  • Wedding cards


Maybe thank you cards should be part of your Marketing Plan and part of your week!

Suzanne Muusers is a business coach, marketing expert, and a sales and marketing speaker based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her coaching program for financial advisors, The Prosperous Advisor™ , focuses on revenue-building activities.

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Susan B. Weiner, CFA
If you’re struggling to pump out a steady flow of good blog posts, check out my five-week teleclass for financial advisors, “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read,” and sign up for my free monthly e-newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Can you over-use "you" in your marketing materials?

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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 sentence is overkill.

Here are some usage suggestions that emerged from my conversation with designer Margaret Patterson, author of the popular pitch book posts on this blog.

  • Don’t use “you” when it isn’t clear who “you” is. Make it clear whether “you” refers to the client, financial advisor, consultant, or some other individual or group.
  • Don’t use “you” prematurely. Writing “We help you reach your financial goals” isn’t appropriate when you’re addressing a prospect who may never become a client. “We can help you reach your financial goals” would be okay. Better yet, “We help clients reach their financial goals.”
  • Simply using “you” won’t convince your clients that you care about them. You must back up your words with actions.
  • Don’t write “you” in fancy fonts that are hard to read. If used too much in any font, “you” makes a document tedious.

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Susan B. Weiner, CFA
If you’re struggling to pump out a steady flow of blog posts, check out my five-week teleclass for financial advisors, “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read,” and sign up for my free monthly e-newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Financial writers clinic: Getting rid of “mitigate”

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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 the only company trying to work around new credit card restrictions.

What do you think? Better or worse? Clearer or more muddled?

 

Moldy websites hurt your SEO, but blogging can help

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Your website needs regular infusions of fresh content to help potential clients find you.

That’s one of the lessons I took away from “Things that can hurt your website’s ranking” in The Boston Globe on Jan. 24. The author advised against “Building your website but letting it molder for months without updates,” if you’d like your website to show up in searches.  

If you blog regularly on your website, that counts as an update. The same thing applies if you add your regular newsletters to your site. If you blog somewhere other than your website, consider feeding your blog to your website, as I’ve done on my Investment Writing website. I also regularly add my monthly newsletter and occasionally update my portfolio of writing samples and other website pages.

By the way, while I couldn’t find a link to the website ranking article that I quote above, I believe it appeared as a sidebar to Scott Kirsner’s “In Web world, a successful marketing effort means gaining inside track on searches.”

What about YOU? Have you found that updating your website regularly has improved your online search rankings?
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Susan B. Weiner, CFA
If you’re struggling to pump out a steady flow of good blog posts, check out my five-week teleclass for financial advisors, “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read,” and sign up for my free monthly e-newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved