"3 Reasons Why Your White Papers Might Fail to Bring in New Business "

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Winton Churchill offered three “Reasons Why Your White Papers Might Fail to Bring in New Business” in a White Paper Source post that’s no longer online. But his reasons are still relevant.

I list his reasons below and give my take on how they apply to the investment business. 

  •  “#1. Preaching to the choir“: For example, if your white paper pitches municipal bonds to high-net-worth investors who’ve been getting professional advice, they probably already have munis in their portfolios. Maybe it’s time to seek out the newly wealthy or do-it-yourself investors.
  • “#2: Cradle to grave“: Don’t try to cover your topic from A to Z because you’ll lose your reader in a morass of details.  With munis, that might mean focusing on the potential tax benefit and relegating your caveats about AMT paper to a sidebar.
  • “#3: Company-focused instead of issue-focused“: As the author says, “Too many white papers boast.” Ironically, that’s a quick way to lose credibility. It’s far better to offer valuable information, then end with an enticement for your prospects to contact you.

Do white papers that make these three mistakes turn you off?


April 23, 2018: This post was updated because Churchill’s article is no longer available online.

Lesson from a headline, "A 30-Year Treasury Bond: Probably One of the Most Dangerous Investments You Could Make"

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“A 30-Year Treasury Bond:  Probably One of the Most Dangerous Investments You Could Make” is a great headline. It’s also a great topic.

Why? Because it challenges the average person’s idea of what’s a safe investment. Turning a common idea on its head will attract readers. In this case, it will also do them a service by explaining the downside of investing in 30-year Treasuries.

Kudos to RegentAtlantic Capital for an excellent headline and story idea for their recent press release.

"Narrow slice" article topics are better

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An article that covers a topic exhaustively can exhaust the reader. Writing about a narrow slice of that topic can be much more engaging.

This quote by New York Times health columnist Tara Parker-Pope, in Maura Casey’s “Tips, Tricks & Rewards of Writing Short,” makes a similar point:

“Kitchen sink stories do too much…. If you take on a big, unwieldy topic, you can wind up with a big, unwieldy story. Our writing improves when we try to do a little less, but do it better.” 

So, the next time you write about, for example, the bond market, don’t try to cover everything. Pick one slice that reflects an important development in that asset class.

Don’t trust your spell-checking software

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Automated spell-checking won’t eliminate typos in your writing. Human intervention is also essential.

Can you find the typo in the following sentence, which appeared in a national magazine this week?

What’s more, firms must have adequate risk management to make sure that managers aren’t taking undo risks to boost returns, he said.

Meanwhile, to catch your typos, read your text out loud or get a colleague to proofread for you.

"Alternative Careers for CFA Charterholders" on Jan. 14

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I’m one of four panelists presenting to the Boston Security Analysts Society (BSAS) on “Alternative Careers for CFA Charterholders” on January 14.

Among the four of us, we have experience as a due diligence analyst, treasurer, investment technology salesperson, consultant, and writer. We’ll help you understand what each job involves and how you can target your job hunt.

In addition to my role as panelist, I’m a member of the group planning career development events for the BSAS. So, I’m interested in your ideas for other career-related events for CFA charterholders.

Please join us on January 14 if you’d like to learn more about alternative careers.

"Discover hundreds of post ideas for your blog with mind mapping"

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I’m a big fan of mind mapping as a way to organize your ideas before you start writing. But you can use mapping to brainstorm ideas for blog posts.


Problogger Darren Rowse tells you how in “Discover hundreds of post ideas for your blog with mind mapping.”


Rowse suggests that you list topics that you’ve already blogged and then brainstorm spin-offs from them.

Should you say "No" to "Please"?

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People feel passionately about “please.”

“Common sense might tell you that adding ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ to an email will always make it more polite. Common sense would be wrong.” That’s according to David Shipley and Will Schwalbe in Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better.

I decided to ask the participants in my workshop on “How to Write Effective Business Emails and Letters” if they think “please” should be optional. “No way!” was their response.

I agree that it’s good to leave “please” in your vocabulary. I’m puzzled by Shipley and Schwalbe’s assertion that it’s “almost impossible to use please in writing without coming across as obnoxious.”

Do you use “please” in emails? Please leave a comment below.

"The Ten Biggest Mistakes Case Study Writers Make" by Casey Hibbard

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Before you write case studies for your wealth management or financial planning business, read “The Ten Biggest Mistakes Case Study Writers Make” by Casey Hibbard (registration required). You can learn from her tips, even though her article is geared to professionals writing for technology companies.

“Ignoring the Audience,” Hibbard’s number one “don’t,” is also the most common mistake that financial advisors–and all business people–make when they write. Gear your case study to the issues that most concern your potential clients.

“#5 Not Digging for Results Data” is another mistake. A case study typically includes a problem, a solution, and results. A case study saying the client “saved $1 million in taxes” will be more powerful than a similar case study that doesn’t quantify the results.

“#9 Not Catering to Readers or Skimmers” afflicts many of the marketing materials I read. People have short attention spans. So you’ve got to cater to skimmers in addition to the folks who’ll plow through every word you write. As Hibbard says, you can make your writing easier to scan using:

  • A headline that conveys “your number one idea”
  • Subheads that convey your main points
  • Pull quotes that highlight engaging customer quotes
  • Sidebar summaries

A case study is a great way to show that you’ve solved problems for people like your prospective client. However, step carefully around investment management issues. Remember the SEC’s prohibition on testimonials for registered investment advisors.

If you’re confused about what type of chart to use…

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…check out Chart Chooser.

It’s a website that suggests chart formats for each of six purposes: 

  • Comparison
  • Distribution
  • Composition
  • Trend
  • Relationship
  • Table  

Plus, it provides free PowerPoint or Excel templates that you can load your data into.

I learned about this resource from Ann Wylie’s Revving Up Readership newsletter. Thanks, Ann!

 

 

It’s okay to end a sentence with a preposition

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“My mother always told me I shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition.”

I don’t agree with that client’s mother. 

It is okay to end a sentence with a preposition. At least, it’s okay most of the time. Because, as Grammar Girl says, it doesn’t sound natural to say things like “On what did you step?” instead of “What did you step on?”

Image courtesy of samuiblue at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.