What can a songwriter teach you about financial communications? Plenty.
Here’s what singer-songwriter Josh Ritter says:
To edit yourself isn’t an admission of lack of talent; it’s sticking up for that talent by taking the time to make sure that everyone can understand what you’re trying to say.
I agree. Good editing will make your writing more reader-friendly.
Ritter shared his wisdom in “Seeing Red: To Write Is to Edit” in The Wall Street Journal.
My writing books
My post on “My five favorite reference books for writers” sparked many suggestions for additional useful resources for writers.
Suggestions arrived via my blog, social media, and email. I am grateful for every suggestion.
For example, Julie Fordyce said, “In your reference book section, I’d add the New York Times Style Guide, Fowler’s Modern English Usage (even if it is British) and Theodore Bernstein’s The Careful Writer.”
You’ll find a list of books, with links to their descriptions on Amazon.com, below.
Thank you, contributors! I wish I could acknowledge every contributor by name, but even compiling the list of titles was daunting.
I hope to work my way through the books you’ve suggested.
Busy financial advisors may seek ghost bloggers to write blog posts for them.
Photo: tomasrotger.com
As a ghost blogger for a registered investment advisor, I’ve stumbled on a great way for you to train your ghost blogger: Hire the writer to craft a white paper before she or he starts ghost-blogging.
White papers are usually rich in information. So one white paper provides the foundation for multiple blog posts.
I’m a big believer in recycling information, as I’ve said in “A top technique of financial advisors who blog successfully.” Your white paper readers may not even notice that you’re recycling, if your writer doesn’t simply cut-and-paste into your blog.
Another advantage: When I write a white paper, I learn about the client’s expertise, business, and how the client likes to interact with me. This means I can get up to speed quickly on the blog.
Here are some factors to consider before you ask your white paper writer to become your ghost blogger.
1. Ability to generate blog post ideas
2. Compatibility with the way you like to work
3. Dependability
4. Mastery of a “voice” – a writing style and formality level that works for you and your audience
5. Understanding of your field
I put these five factors in alphabetical order. Your priorities may differ.
If you’re a registered rep using a ghostwriter, you may need to disclose that. I discussed this in “Registered reps, it’s time to ‘fess up.”
Kristin Harad writes irresistible, conversational email subject lines. I feel as if her emails are addressed to me, so I open them even when they’re part of a mass mailing.
I’m delighted that Kristin shares her subject line secrets in her guest post.
by Kristin Harad, CFP®
When you send email communications to your list, is your subject line an afterthought or a strategic decision? When I started my marketing career, I worked for an agency managing direct mail for a large bank. Unbelievable amounts of time, testing and creativity went into figuring out which 5-10 words on the outer envelope would entice the recipient to OPEN the mailing. To call the practice strategic is an understatement. Open rates were the first measure of success for these expensive campaigns.
In the new world of overflowing Inboxes, email subject lines serve the same purpose as those teasers from the old world of mass direct mail. The primary objective of your subject line is to persuade the recipient to open up your email. You may feel jaded just thinking about trying to be strategic for every subject line you send as you communicate with your database. Relax. To be deliberate with this critical ‘lure’ you just have to select the right style for your specific message and keep the words conversational.
Match your email content with one of the FOUR TYPES of subject lines:
As you can see, what makes a subject line effective depends on the situation. Test out different ones to see what works best for you and your brand. Keep your eyes peeled for the subject lines that make you click and the ones that you delete. Remember, your subject line objective is to engage the reader’s interest just enough to open the email. Then it’s all up to your email copy to drive your reader’s next action.
About the Author: Kristin Harad, CFP® is the President of VitaVie Financial Planning, a fee-only financial planning firm in San Francisco. She offers a free video series on marketing strategies for financial advisors at http://www.next10clients.com.
If you’re about to start writing your quarterly investment performance commentary, you may find the following resources useful.
I learned in high school English to form the possessive of a word ending in the letter s by adding only an apostrophe. According to this rule, the workers of Degas should become Degas’ workers.
But times have changed. Today many people and organizations don’t observe the apostrophe-only rule. Not even The New York Times, where I spotted “Degas’s.”
Grammar Girl says opinions are divided, but she prefers to leave off the s.
Here’s what my old AP style guide says about the possessive and singular common nouns ending in s:
Add ‘s unless the next work begins with s: the hostess’s invitation,the hostess’ seat; the witness’s answer, the witness’ story.
In another complication, the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) says:
add ‘s to the singular form of the word (even if it ends in -s)
OWL’s rule means that you’d write about “General Mills’s divisions.”
I think the AP and OWL recommendations are too complicated. Let’s keep things simple! However, if you prefer different rules, it’s okay as long as you apply them consistently. Consistency will make it easier for your readers to process what you write.
Note: I updated this post on Dec. 27, 2015 by adding links.
Smart financial professionals often struggle to convert their ideas into compelling prose, losing readers in the first paragraph.
Photo: Joe Mud
If this sounds like you, you can benefit from my fill-in-the-blanks approach to write your introductory paragraph and structure your article, blog post, or other writing.
This approach depends on your identifying three pieces of information:
1. Your target audience
2. Their problem
3. The solution
To craft a compelling introduction, take the key information from from Step 1 and drop it into the blanks highlighted in yellow in the illustration below.
In other words: Name of target audience struggle with brief description of problem. You can solve this problem with brief description of solution.
Does this structure seem familiar?
It should. I used it in the first paragraph of this blog post. Name of target audience: smart financial professionals. Brief description of problem: struggle to convert their ideas into compelling prose. Brief description of solution: my fill-in-the-blanks approach.
Introducing your topic this way quickly shows your audience that you’re speaking to them and their needs. Plus, they’ve got an incentive to continue reading because you have a solution for their problem.
You’ve set expectations in your introduction, so follow through in your article. If it’s a brief piece, such as a blog post, dive in to explaining the solution. If it’s a longer piece, such as a white paper, you can first describe your audience and its problem in more detail to show you grasp their challenges. This enhances your credibility.
I’d like to hear about your experience with this audience-problem-solution approach.
A video that only shows you speaking about a financial topic can get boring. This is why I suggest you add some visual elements.
One way to boost your visual appeal to use a whiteboard, as Paddy Hirsch does. I discovered his video through a tweet by Cathy Curtis of Curtis Financial. Hirsch is senior editor for the Marketplace radio show.
Here’s the link: Fiscal and Monetary Policy.
If you try a whiteboard video, remember to
If you’ve ever tried a whiteboard video, I’d like to learn about your experience.
It’s time for a reader challenge. How would YOU rewrite the sentence below to make it more compelling and yet stay within compliance guidelines?
Portfolio are managed using the latest risk management techniques.
I’m looking forward to reading your suggestions!
