Five great writing tips: They’re not just for ads

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Even if you’ve never looked at Twitter and you’ll never advertise, you should take the time to read “what can Twitter teach us about advertising?” (sorry, this article is no longer available).

The IDTAGS blog’s five tips include

  1. Be brief.
  2. Be impactful.
  3. Less is more.
  4. No one likes to read.
  5. Just give us the headlines.

That almost sums up what I spend 60-180 minutes discussing in my writing workshops.

If you visit theIDTAGS blog, you’ll see the power of brevity combined with visual images.

Thank you, @MarkRaganCEO, for pointing me to this IDTAGS piece.

Thank you, Boston Women in Finance, for your feedback on my writing workshop

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Boston Women in Finance gave me great feedback on my workshop “How to Write What People Will Read About Investments.” Before I share some their feedback with you, I’d like to thank all of the participants. Your energetic participation made it a very enjoyable workshop for me, too.

Here are some participant comments.

  •  “A very practical workshop! You’ll get tips you’ll use as soon as you return to the office.“
  • “I truly learned a lot from this presentation. It was refreshing to have someone break down how to best reach people and to say it’s okay to write in simple short sentences.”
  • “It’s always good to hear these reminders to get you back to the basics of effective writing. This seminar was a great way to refocus.”
  • “The mapping technique was helpful. I will use this for brainstorming and helping with project plans and meetings.”
  • “Susan’s ‘how to’ approach packed dozens of indispensable tips into 1 1/2 hours. Incredible!”
  • “I believe the mapping exercise will help me organize my thoughts and overcome writer’s block and get past the first blank page or screen.”

Some of you said that you would prefer “More time; more opportunity for individual exercises.” I’m interested in creating longer, customized training sessions for corporate clients that would allow more interaction. I’m also for hire to present the one-and-one-half hour version I delivered to Boston Women in Finance.

Twitter to the rescue of my colleague with a RFP dilemma

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Twitter can be mighty handy in a pinch. Especially when used in combination with other social media. That’s what I learned from the response to my colleague’s RFP dilemma.

My colleague asked me to post his dilemma on my blog, so I wrote it up as “RFP dilemma: What should my colleague do?“ I figured that a blog post alone wouldn’t draw helpful responses, so I tweeted–and emailed some colleagues on LinkedIn–for help. 

Within an hour, I received five constructive comments on my blog post plus some tweets.The exchange raised some issues that I’d never thought of before. For example, the fact that an RFP may be considered part of a contract.

This illustrates social media at its best. 

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the conversation!


Nov. 13 update: A reader recently asked “What’s an RFP?” 

RFP is short for request for proposal. It’s a questionnaire that businesses fill out to compete for a prospect’s business. 

In the investment industry, institutional investors often use RFPs in their investment manager selection process. You can read more about this topic in “How to Create an Investment Management Request for Proposal.”

Poll: Which brings you the most new business–email or U.S. mail marketing?

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Contact via email and U.S. mail can spur referrals and turn prospects into clients. Accordingly, this month’s poll asks which brings you the most new business–email or U.S. mail marketing? Please answer the poll in the right-hand column of this blog. Thank you! 

Also, if you have time, leave your comments about why you prefer one form of communication to the other. In addition, I’d enjoy hearing about what kind of communications you send. Newsletters? Sales letters? White papers? Invitations to in-person or virtual gatherings? It would be great to get a conversation going.

My monthly e-newsletter has brought me new clients. Sometimes new clients have called me within 24 hours of publication. Other times, they’ve sent an email inquiry as a reply to my newsletter. Perhaps U.S. mail marketing would work for me, but I haven’t done much with it because of the costs and additional steps required when compared to email.

May vs. might: It may matter, but it might not

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I thought I might have absorbed the difference between “may” and “might” after reading “I Wish I May, I Wish I Might” in Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips (a similar explanation is on the Grammar Girl blog). Grammar Girl, AKA Mignon Fogarty, wrote “If something is likely to happen, use may.” Might is for cases when the thing is “a mighty stretch.”

But the next day I read “Mighty Likely” by Jan Freeman in The Boston Globe. Freeman uncovered disagreement among usage mavens about which word is more optimistic. In her opinion, this distinction doesn’t matter much. It may be much ado about nothing. 

However, cautioned Freeman, it is important to use “might” rather than “may” when discussing past events.

For another perspective on this dispute, read “May, Might, Muddle” on The New York Times‘ “Times Topics” blog. It may help. Then again, it might not.

How to make one quarterly letter fit clients at different levels of sophistication

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You have clients with different levels of financial sophistication. But you probably don’t have the time to write separate letters tailored to each client’s understanding of investment jargon. To help you manage your time–and keep your clients happy–here are my top five tips for a one-size-fits-all client letter.

I’d like to thank the Maine CFA Society for suggesting this blog post topic when I presented to them on “How to Write Investment Commentary People Will Read.”

How to make one quarterly letter fit clients at different levels of sophistication infographic

1. Keep it simple
If you use plain language, all of your readers will understand you.

Follow the example of Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, who says, “When writing Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report, I pretend that I’m talking to my sisters…. They will understand plain English, but jargon may puzzle them.” Despite Buffett’s easy-to-understand style, plenty of financial sophisticates read his firm’s annual report.

2. Explain briefly
The Wall Street Journal has mastered the art of explaining technical terms with phrases set off by commas. For example, a reporter might write about “the carry trade, where investors borrow in currencies with low interest rates to invest in those with high interest rates.”

Savvy investors skim over the explanations, while the less knowledgeable gain a quick understanding.

3. Use a sidebar
A sidebar, which is a text box that’s set off from the main body of your article, can help you to accommodate different levels of knowledge among your readers.

Let’s consider my example in Tip #2. You could use a sidebar to explain the carry trade in more depth. Your goal could be to educate less sophisticated investors. Or, you may convey details to more educated investors that wouldn’t interest the rest of your readers.

4. Provide a glossary
A glossary at the end of your printed communication can help when you can’t squeeze all of the necessary explanations into the body of your text.

If you send electronic communications, you can provide click-through links to definitions on your website or elsewhere.

If you’re willing to link to third-party glossaries, you’ve got a variety of choices. I’ve found some good definitions on the following sites:

5. Provide a newsletter with articles for different audiences
If you have the luxury of writing a multi-article newsletter for your clients, consider including articles aimed at different levels of sophistication.

However, don’t vary your level willy-nilly. I’d suggest aiming your newsletter at a general audience and then consistently including one article targeting better educated readers.

How do YOU handle this challenge?
I’m interested in hearing from you. Please leave comments below.

 

Image courtesy of stupakidmod at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Grab readers with an anecdotal lead

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Starting your article or blog post with with a real-life story can draw in readers who’d otherwise ignore you. 

“The anecdotal approach, by framing [your topic] in personal terms, becomes instantly accessible and—more important—readable,” as Mark Ragan says in “How to write an anecdotal lead.”

To write good anecdotal leads, Ragan suggests that you 
1. Find some good stories.
2. Write your explanation of what the story is about before you write out the story. This will help you to pick the right story and focus it.
3. Start your article with a short anecdote, followed by a colorful quote, and then your explanation of the story’s main points. After that, you can dive into the body of your story.


Have you seen any examples of financial advisors making good use of anecdotal leads? I’d like to see them.

Tune up your writing skills on Nov. 10 or Nov. 19–or hire me to help you

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Could your writing skills use a tune-up? If you work with investments, you’ll get useful tips from my November 10 lunchtime presentation to Boston Women in Finance (BWF) on “How to Write What People Will Read About Investments.” Lunch is included in the program cost.

This program sold out the first time I presented it to BWF, so register early. 

It would be great to meet you at this program. Please introduce yourself as one of my readers.

If you’re a NAPFA member who lives in the Boston area, you can see me present on “How to Write Effective Emails and Letters to Your Financial Planning Clients” at your November 19 study group. 

If you can’t attend either presentation, consider hiring me to train people at your company. I’ve presented across the U.S. and Canada on “How to Write Investment Commentary People Will Read.” I can develop presentations tailored to you. 

Note: I updated this blog post on Oct. 21 with the BWF registration link and NAPFA information.

3Q09 vs. Q3 09 –which is better?

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You probably know that Q is the abbreviation for quarter. But what’s the proper way to abbreviate “third quarter of 2009”?

I prefer 3Q09 to Q3 09. It seems cleaner to separate the 3 of third quarter from the 09 of 2009. I worry that readers will get confused if the numbers in Q3 09 run together, as in Q309.

Looking for evidence to back up my opinion, I did a Google search. I found about 121,000 instances of 3Q09 vs. 10.9 million for Q3 09.

Wow–that’s quite a disparity! Q3 09 is the format that @BillWinterberg sees in regulatory filings. Perhaps that explains it. I wonder if the SEC requires the Q3 09 format. 

Please answer the poll in the right-hand column of my blog. I’ll track your answers with interest and will report on them in my November e-newsletter. Thank you!

Do you use “pride capitals”?

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If you’re in business, you probably use capital letters more than grammar geeks recommend.

I confess. I was guilty of overcapitalizing titles until Prof. Albert Craig, my Ph.D. thesis advisor, drummed the rules into me. I learned to write “Goto Fumio, home minister” instead of “Goto Fumio, Home Minister.” Titles should be capitalized only when they directly precede the titleholder’s name, as in “Home Minister Goto Fumio.” Goto Fumio, by the way, was the focus of my Ph.D. dissertation.

For a quick overview of the rules, see the Grammar Girl blog’s “When Should You Capitalize Words?” (Sorry, this post is no longer available.) The blog post, written by Rob Reinalda, who goes by word_czar on Twitter, discusses “pride capitals” to explain why “One mistake business writers often make is capitalizing words simply for emphasis or to augment their importance.”

You’re using pride capitals if your firm’s biographies refer to “Jane Smith, President and Chief Investment Officer” instead of “Jane Smith, president and chief investment officer.”

 

Note: edited on Feb. 11, 2016 to delete an outdated reference and again on Dec. 12, 2016.

Image courtesy of FrameAngel at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.