A title can make a world of difference

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“Titles and subtitles are turbocharged text. They are your work distilled,” says Francis Flaherty in The Elements of Story, p.247.

So, don’t just dash off your titles and subtitles. Put some thought into them. Make them convey the main points of your articles or blog posts. You’ll get more readers, if you follow this advice.

For example, which article would you read? One entitled “Cost Basis Records” or “Save Your Cost Basis Records Now, Or Pay More Taxes Later”?

"Helping Advisors Grow"

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Now more than ever, advisors want to grow their businesses while keeping a lid on expenses. For many, this requires thinking more strategically about how they operate. George Tamer, Director, Institutional Sales, at TD AMERITRADE Institutional, oversees a team that works to help registered investment advisors create operational efficiencies by assisting them on workflow processes, technology usage, and best practices.

Continue reading this Q&A with George Tamer on “Helping Advisors Grow. It appeared as sponsored content in Advisor Perspectives.


Guest post: Dale Carnegie and Your Clients

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This is a guest post from AdvisorBlogger’s Lawain McNeil, which originally appeared on March 11. It’s an excellent reminder that it’s important to treat clients as individuals.

In 2009, I made a resolution to re-visit the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Of course, everyone has heard of this book (it has sold over 15 million copies). Its influence has been far reaching and helpful for many. Thanks Dale Carnegie.

Why do I mention him today? I think some of the principles of How to Win Friends and Influence People can be helpful in dealing with clients in the current state of the market. Even though the market was up the last two days, clients are still concerned about their investments. This will be very present to them when they open their quarter-end statements and see negative numbers and lower account balances. Yes, you will have clients that will want to argue with you regarding their investments. You will have clients that will want to change their allocation to a different allocation or strategy due to the market (even though they signed an investment policy statement saying they were a long-term investor). You will have clients that are afraid and just need reassurance.

So, as you prepare to talk, write, visit and meet with clients, revisit the words of a timeless classic and see if the Carnegie Principles can help you communicate more effectively with your clients.

DALE CARNEGIE’S HOW TO WIN FRIENDS and INFLUENCE PEOPLE

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

Six ways to make people like you

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
6. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

Win people to your way of thinking

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
2. Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately.
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.
9. Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge.

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

A leader’s job often includes changing your people’s attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.


Here’s how AdvisorBlogger describes its mission: “AdvisorBlogger is a website dedicated to providing valuable and timely resources for financial advisors through the use of blogging, podcasts, video and other rich media formats. Our goal is to become a leading online resource for the independent advisor community.” 

A new question you should ask reporters

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Add a new question to your checklist when you’re interviewed by reporters–or risk an unpleasant surprise in the world of Web 2.0.

Ask “Is this just for your personal use?” when a reporter asks to record your telephone interview. As publications add podcasts to their websites, this question increasingly makes sense. It’ll prevent you from being surprised by your voice on a podcast. A good reporter won’t spring a podcast on you by surprise. But it can’t hurt to confirm the purpose of a recording.
 

So far I’ve only recorded interviews to help when I can’t take notes fast enough. Sometimes I’ll replay parts of the recording to check facts or quotes. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if some day I record a podcast for one of my trade publication or corporate clients. I’ve already been interviewed for a podcast by Russ Thornton and Lawain McNeil of AdvisorBlogger. It felt funny being the person who answered questions, but I had fun.

If you’re thinking about starting to blog…

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… you can learn about the case for blogging and how to integrate it into your schedule. Just watch this YouTube interview with Denise Wakeman of The BlogSquad. The interview was conducted by Michael Stelzner of Writing White Papers.

One of Wakeman’s points applies to all of your marketing communications. Think about the problems you solve for your clients. Write about those and you’ll command their attention. It doesn’t matter whether you’re writing a blog post, quarterly client letter, newsletter article, or website.


What’s a good elevator pitch for this blog?

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Whether you’re marketing your company, job hunting, or just networking, everybody needs an elevator pitch that succinctly conveys how they add value.

Even a blog needs an elevator pitch, says Darren Rowse of ProBlogger in “Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog.“

Here’s my elevator pitch for this blog:
The Investment Writing blog helps investment and wealth management professionals to communicate more effectively with their clients and prospects. The blog provides helpful communications tips and timely articles about industry topics.

How did I do with my elevator pitch? Do you have suggestions on how to improve it?

Also, if you’re a blogger, please share your blog’s elevator pitch along with a link to your blog..


 

Your mail has three seconds to grab your reader’s attention

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“The consumer decides in 3 seconds whether to trash your mail, or take 30 seconds to scan and prioritize your mail, and 3 minutes to actually sit and read it,” according to a RR Donnelley Direct Marketing Tip of the Day  provided by copywriter Pat Friesen.

That’s why it’s so important to create a compelling subject line for your emails and a strong opening paragraph for your letters.


Related posts:
* When NOT to personalize your email’s subject line  
* Boost readership of your enewsletter with powerful subject lines
* “Email Subject Lines: 15 Rules to Write Them Right”

Top three signs you should hire a freelance financial writer

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Investment and wealth managers can deepen their relationships with clients, prospects, and referral sources by writing articles and white papers. Some firms do their writing in-house, while others farm it out.

Here are the top three signs you should hire a freelance financial writer for your articles and white papers.
1. Articles and white papers don’t get written–or take too long to finish–because the experts are too busy.
2. Your publications don’t appeal to readers because they are
     a.  Too focused on features, not benefits
     b.  Poorly written in terms of style, grammar, and punctuation

3. You realize that writing is a poor use of your employees’ investment and wealth management skills.

A savvy freelance financial writer can showcase your executives’ knowledge without eating up their time and energy.


"Starting Your First Blog? 29 Tips, Tutorials and Resources for New Bloggers"

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“Starting Your First Blog? 29 Tips, Tutorials and Resources for New Bloggers” by Problogger Darren Rowse is a great resource if you’ve just started blogging.


His resources are divided into categories including
* Starting a Blog
* Writing Blog Content
* Blog Promotion/Finding Readers
* Making Money from Blogs
* Further Resources and Reading


I’d also like to recommend Blogging Basics 101: Where there are no stupid questions.


Financial services: An industry at odds with its clients

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“Toward transparency and sustainability: Building a new financial order,” a newly released study by the IBM Institute for Business Value raises some provocative questions about the relationship between financial services firms and their clients. 

Two big questions
1. Do financial services firms really put their clients’ best interests first?
2.  Do financial services firms understand what their clients want?

Clients’ best interests lose to financial services providers’ 
“…providers offer products that serve their own best interests, rather than those of their clients,” according to more than 60% of the institutional and retail investors and intermediaries surveyed by IBM.  

Almost half of the American industry executives surveyed–and about 40% of executives worldwide–agreed that providers’ best interests get top priority. You can view graphs of the survey results on p. 10.

What do clients want? Financial services firms don’t get it. 
Financial services firms think they know what clients want. Clients’ top priorities are “best-in-class offerings” and “one-stop-shop,” according to their survey results. They reckon that most clients would pay a 5%-15% premium for these characteristics.

But neither of these items cracks the top two in client survey results. In fact, in the IBM survey, clients rate “Unbiased quality advice/client service excellence” and “convenience” as their top priorities. Best-in-class offerings rank third and one-stop shopping comes in eighth. I do wonder if some survey participants may confuse “convenience” and “one-stop shop.” I’m also curious about the make-up of the clients whom IBM surveyed.

You can view the providers’ and clients’ top 10 answers at the top of page 10. 

The survey results also lead IBM to suggest that financial services providers must segment their products accordng to how clients behave. “The ability to serve specific client clusters represents a major–and largely ignored–opportunity for the industry to make money,” says the report.

“We have lost sight of the client in our own striving for outsized returns. We must get back to basics and focus to a far greater extent on our clients.”–Global Head of Prime Brokerage, large U.S. bank

Related post: Research study: How financial services firms will make money in the future