Are your paragraphs the right length?
The length of your paragraphs can help or handicap your readers. I favor short paragraphs, especially when I’m writing blog posts for readers in a hurry. However, I also believe you should vary paragraph length according to the length demanded by your subject matter. It’s better to run too short than too long in these […]
Reader challenge: Can you explain duration better than The New York Times?
The duration of a bond isn’t easy to explain in few words. This is why I was delighted by the brief description I found in The New York Times. Author Carla Fried wrote, “For the most part, managers seem to agree that it is best to limit a fund’s duration, or sensitivity to changes in […]
Poll: How quickly and often should you follow up with prospects for your financial services?
Gaining new clients is important to you. That’s the whole point of your marketing. However, a blog post by Karyn Greenstreet suggests that you aren’t making the most of a great opportunity: systematic follow-up with prospects who contact you. “Most people will make one follow-up call or email to a prospective customer. But if they […]
Miller’s Killer: Paper swap brainstorming blog and article ideas
How can you come up with fresh ideas for your blog, newsletter, or white papers? I recently discovered a new technique, The Paper Swap in “Think Bank: Break out of brainstorming boredom with these thought-provoking topics” in Spirit Magazine (no link available). Here is a description of this group brainstorming technique: Participants write ideas on […]
Focus your marketing, says the “Financial Services Marketing Handbook”
Targeting your prospects instead of marketing to everybody works best, as the Financial Services Marketing Handbook suggests in the following quote: Very few companies can afford to be everything to everyone any more. Even companies with mass-market products (like basic checking accounts) segment their markets so that they can focus their limited marketing dollars […]