Financial advisor blogging Q&A: Michael J. Evans

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Michael J. Evans of The Cogent Advisor in Chicago is the latest participant in my Q&A series with financial advisors who blog. Advisor Tim Maurer suggested Michael for this series, saying via Twitter, “@CogentAdvisor stands out as a recovering commodities trader serving traders through evidence-based investing.”

I was interested to learn how Michael manages the burden of regular blogging by mixing his own substantive posts with a strategy of highlighting other people’s content with his quick takes on that content. This is a technique more blogging advisors should consider.

If you enjoy this Q&A, check out others in this series, which started with a Q&A with Michael Kitces.

Q. When did you start your blog?

A. The Cogent Advisor Cogent Conversation blog grew out of my monthly e-newsletter. Clients and prospects had mentioned how much they enjoyed the educational information I was sharing in our monthly newsletters, and urged me to write a blog post and share insights more often. My first post was in March 2012.

Q. How has your blog brought you new business or improved your existing client relationships?

A. It’s been an interesting and unfolding experience! I started to blog to further my passion and mission to educate investors in an additional forum. As I started to post ideas targeted to my niche of financial professionals and other high-end professionals, I found I was being contacted by followers from wider circles about a variety of subjects ranging from wealth management to money challenges in their relationships and more. While I appreciate the business connections, I’ve also enjoyed serving as a connector among intelligent and inquisitive people. Some of them have become clients, but all of them help me think and grow as a wealth advisor and a person.

In terms of specific business growth results, I’ve heard many anecdotes from clients who have shared specific posts with others they believed might benefit. I’ve also heard from prospects who have accessed the blog to learn more about me and my firm’s culture. By combining blog posts with related supporting tweets, LinkedIn announcements, and periodic e-newsletter “best of” distributions, our overall social media presence continues to develop as well.

In a report we compiled last year-end, our LinkedIn connections and e-newsletter open rates remained relatively consistent in 2013, but we found our Twitter followers and LinkedIn impressions were up 27.0% and 4.5%, respectively, between Q3 and Q4 2013. It’s admittedly difficult to directly connect specific social media stats with client growth. However, given the blogging benefits described above and the general health of our firm, we’re convinced that our blog plays an important and integral role in our overall business development efforts. Besides, it’s fun!

Q. What blogging techniques or topics have most helped your business?

A. My mission is to educate successful professionals to build durable wealth. Everything in my blog relates to sharing content that my readers can use to enhance the quality of their lives and to Free Their Wealth for Something More®. To be effective and efficient with our mission, we aim to produce one more substantive Cogent-authored post each month (which is then republished in our e-newsletter), and then regularly serve as a “content curator,” by sharing others’ posts along with our brief take on them.

I try not to sell anything on my blog. If I do my job and produce or share others’ ideas that help readers visualize a better future for themselves and their families, I’ve accomplished my goal. I’m convinced that the business development will flow naturally from there as I share my Cogent content.

Q. What are three of your favorite—or most effective—blog posts? Provide the titles, URLs and a comment about why you included them.

  1. As an educator, I love it when I can write a post and elicit a response that creates an “Ah ha!” moment in the reader’s mind. For example, our recent post, “The Triple-Action Power of Donor-Advised Funds,” helps successful individuals consider how a donor-advised fund may enable them to best fulfill their charitable intents. How great that I can reach out to readers and help them advance a cause that matters to them.
  2. I also have teamed up with The BAM Alliance, whose experts share my passion for promoting financial understanding. One of my recent shared posts came from BAM’s Director of Personal Finance Tim Maurer: “Tim Maurer on College Spending: Planning vs. Procrastinating.” Sharing a lucid explanation of an intimidating but important subject like saving for your children’s higher education is just great for me.
  3. A subject vital to a family’s wealth but often overlooked is the critical need to balance one’s investment risks with the related risks a high-end professional may be taking in his or her career. I took on this subject in this post: “From 65 to Zero in 10 Seconds: Managing Your Human Capital Risk” and also as an article in the Spring 2014 Inside Advantage, a trade journal.

Q. What’s your best tip for advisors who blog?

A. Write from the heart, on ideas of relevance to your audience (which assumes you have identified who your audience is)! It enhances the quality of your readers’ lives, positions you as a subject matter expert, and makes the effort more enjoyable and personally rewarding – financially and emotionally.

It’s okay to blog about your company–sometimes

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While a business blog should focus on its clients, it’s okay to write about your company sometimes. After all, your clients and prospects want to know that they can trust you. I was reminded of this when reading the “identity content” section of Born to Blog: Building Your Blog for Personal and Business Success One Post at a Time.

“Identity content should explain your company’s values and standards,” write authors Mark W. Schaefer and Stanford A. Smith. Getting concrete, they suggest that you “Use identity content to explain policies that guide your decision-making process. Identify the policies that your customers may encounter and explain the reasoning behind them.” For example, an investment manager might explain her preference for active over passive management. Or, an advisor could go into how he builds a financial plan.

The authors made me wonder if I have enough identity content on my blog. The only post that explicitly addresses my process is “How I ghostwrite your financial white paper.”

On the other hand, my many posts about writing give readers a good sense of the values that drive my writing. You, too, may find that sharing your values in your posts lessens the need to blog specifically about your corporate values.

Is this book for you?

I wanted to love this book, but I couldn’t. I had a hard time finding content that made me say, “Yes, I must do that.”

Perhaps this book is best for the person who’s thinking about starting a blog. It will help you decide whether blogging can work for you. It’ll also give you some ideas about where to start. Established bloggers will have a harder time finding value in this book.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from McGraw-Hill in return for agreeing to write about it. If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers. – See more at: https://www.investmentwriting.com/index.php?s=amazon#sthash.D1YjcRwr.dpuf

Blogging question: Can my researcher do interviews?

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My blog readers sometimes ask questions that could help you. For example,  a reader asked me about having an assistant help her with research for a blog post.

Can my assistant interview people for my blog posts?

Here’s what my reader asked. I’ve removed information that might identify the questioner.

I’d love your opinion on something. I have a gal helping me with my blog. She will be giving me an outline of points for an article about what they are looking for in a specific service. Then I will complete the writing. My question: Will I be shooting myself in the foot if I ask her to do one or two phone interviews with these folks? Any idea what the etiquette is here? Will they be wanting to hear from me directly if I don’t know them?

My answer: It depends.

Here’s what I said:

It depends how you position her interviews. If you position her as a good researcher who’ll ensure their thoughts are conveyed accurately, that could work.

Actually, I think they may be more concerned about the following issues:

  • How will your blog post benefit them? What are your monthly unique visit statistics or other metrics that reflect your influence? Will you provide links to their websites so they get a little link love? Will your post help them because they can use it to educate people who contact them?
  • Will you give them the opportunity to check that their thoughts are communicated accurately? While journalists don’t do this, it’s not unusual for bloggers to do this.

 Your opinion?

Have you ever had an assistant interview a source for your blog? How did you handle it? Did it work for you?

 

 

 

 

Top posts from second quarter 2014

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Did you miss something? Below you’ll find a list of my most popular blog posts from last quarter, as measured by Google Analytics.

Posts with a personal story often do well, as with my #1 post about my bad experience with LinkedIn, and my #10 confessions post. I noticed that my e-newsletter with the “Ouch, LinkedIn” subject line also pulled more readers than usual. Some titles and subject lines are more powerful than others.

The #2 post surprised me. I didn’t think this post would do as well as it did. I think the practicality of the “20 topics for your financial blog” appealed to many.

Posts featuring outside experts did well. They’re highlighted with red text below.

  1. Ouch, LinkedIn, why did you do that to me?
  2. 20 topics for your financial blog
  3. Top problems in asset management firms’ blog posts
  4. Blogging Q&A with advisor Lazetta Rainey Braxton
  5. Blogging Q&A with advisor Richard Rosso
  6. How to live-tweet a financial conference
  7. Three Decisions You Need to Make Before Setting Up Your New Blog <–Guest post by Elizabeth Kricfalusi
  8. Key Steps in Writing a Research Report <–Guest post by Tom Brakke
  9. Simple language helps your readers, even when they understand technical terms
  10. Confessions of a lousy writer—and 6 tips for you

 

Top posts from the first quarter of 2014

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Did you miss something? Below you’ll find a list of my most popular blog posts from last quarter, as measured by Google Analytics.

Since I wrote “Your call-to-action choice makes a difference” I’ve tinkered with the call to action on my blog, moving my newsletter CTA box back to the upper right-hand corner of my website. I think the move has helped, but the results aren’t conclusive.

 

  1. Email lessons adapted from Hootsuite’s CEO
  2. Your call-to-action choice makes a difference
  3. Tackling Vitriol in Your Digital Spaces <–Guest post by Blane Warrene
  4. 5 Secrets to Finding the Best Virtual Assistant to Streamline Your Financial Advisor Blog <–Guest post by Kathy Goughenor
  5. Don’t sabotage your website’s news page

Top problems in asset management firms’ blog posts

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Investment management firms are joining the blogosphere, but they’re off to a rocky start. Here are some mistakes that I’ve seen as I’ve sampled asset managers’ blog posts.

Mistake 1: Failing to adapt materials written for other media

Materials written for other media don’t transfer well to blogs. For example, I’m thinking about traditional market commentaries and position papers. Many of these commit the mistakes I list below.

The solution? Break your traditional materials into chunks and edit them to make them more reader friendly.

Mistake 2: Poor skimmability

Everybody skims content in these days of information overload. If you present big uninterrupted blocks of text without headings you’ll scare away readers who can’t quickly assess your content’s relevance.

To reel in readers, use informative headings. For example, don’t just write “Bond Market,” but share specific information. Perhaps something like “Convertibles attractive as Fed tapers.” or “Avoid this sector as Fed tapers.”

To enhance the skimmability of your posts, write short paragraphs.

Mistake 3: Excessive formality

The blogosphere is an informal place. Writers typically use “I” and address their readers as “you.” They also shun formal words and writing styles.

Asset managers, your blog is a great place to loosen up your writing style.

What do YOU think?

What are asset managers doing on their blogs that you like or dislike? I’m curious to hear your opinion.

If you’d like more guidance on writing blog posts, check out my book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients.

Seven tips for slogging through blogging: Lessons from the Blogathon

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“How can I force myself to blog regularly?”

The investment and wealth managers in my blogging classes often ask this question. I grappled with this challenge during the 2010 Word Count Blogathon, for which I committed to post daily. And now I’m participating in the 2014 Blogathon. So this is a good time for me to share tips with you.

Tip 1: “Set it and forget it.” Most blogging platforms allow you to schedule blog posts in advance. This potentially lets you put your blog on auto-pilot when you’re busy. During the 2010 Blogathon I learned how to take automation one step further. I set HootSuite to tweet my blog posts without human intervention.

Tip 2: Blog when the spirit moves you, whether or not your schedule requires you to post. It’s much easier for me to blog when I’m in the mood. On a good day I can push out three or more blog posts. To help me write regardless of location, I always carry a spiral-bound notebook or pad of paper. It’s worthwhile jotting down blog ideas, not only full-fledged posts. It’s much easier to blog when you don’t face a blank PC screen or piece of paper.

Tip 3: Write posts that are “evergreen” or tied to a future event, so you’ll have material to post when you’re too busy to write. “Evergreen” articles aren’t time-sensitive. Like a pine tree, they don’t lose their attractiveness with the changing of the seasons.

When I participated in the May 2010 Blogathon, I scheduled a bunch of evergreens to run between May 16 and May 31, when I was distracted by attending the CFA Institute’s annual conference and going on vacation out West.

Blog posts tied to events such as the April 15 tax deadline or the August-September “back to school” season aren’t evergreen. But they can be written and scheduled long before a timely date for posting.

Tip 4: Keep it short. Short blog posts are okay. Just pick one point and explain it. This is how I dealt with Jeremy Grantham’s wide-ranging presentation to the CFA Institute’s annual conference. Having trouble writing economically about your topic? Slice it narrower.

Tip 5: React to online articles or blog posts. Notice when you have strong feelings upon reading something. Your passion makes it easier for you to jot down a quick blog post that links to the original article. Links spare you the need to describe the other author’s position in detail. However, it’s kind to your reader to briefly summarize what sparked your blog post.

Tip 6: Hire someone to type your blog posts if you dictate or write your drafts on paper. I drafted this post on a plane to Las Vegas. Later I scanned it for my virtual assistant to type. Or follow the suggestion that Bill Winterberg of the FPPad blog gives in the comments below.

Tip 7: Update and republish old blog posts. I originally published this post in 2010. However, with a few tweaks, it’s relevant again in 2014.

 

For more tips on blogging, check out my book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients.

Blogging Q&A with David Merkel of Aleph Blog

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I met investment manager David Merkel when he contacted me about speaking to Baltimore’s CFA Society. I’ve noticed that his Aleph Blog posts frequently get picked up in investment blogs’ roundups, including Tadas Viskanta’s Abnormal Returns. Having met many people who blog in the hope of attracting clients, I was intrigued by David’s statement on his blog that “…though David runs Aleph Investments, LLC, this blog is not a part of that business. This blog exists to educate investors, and give something back. It is not intended as advertisement for Aleph Investments; David is not soliciting business through it.” This is a good reminder that advisors blog for many reasons.

By the way, David was a wonderful host for my presentation earlier this year. He has also reviewed my book on his blog.

This Q&A is part of a series that started with Michael Kitces.

Q. When did you start The Aleph Blog and why do you explicitly state that it’s separate from Aleph Investments?

A. I started Aleph Blog in February 2007 because I wanted to develop my own voice. I had written successfully at RealMoney.com for four years, and wanted to broaden my writings.

Aleph Blog is purely for the public good. That has been the goal from day one. There are many people that want a trustworthy investment advisor with talent. They contact me of their own desire.

Q. Has your blog brought you new business or improved your existing client relationships?

A. Yes, my blog has brought new business. Many of my clients came from reading what I wrote over the long-term. But I don’t sell my readers on my abilities. To do so is tawdry. I don’t like being sold to, so I don’t sell to my readers.

Q. What blogging techniques or topics have most helped your business or boosted your readership?

A. Can’t say. Aleph Blog is varied in what it writes about. I know this is a challenge for some readers, but I write about what I feel more strongly. I have a broad set of interests, so I may not be the best as far as marketing goes.

I have not tried to boost readership artificially. I’m not out for fame. I just try to produce good content, and let the readers do what they will. I do know that I have respect from most of the top bloggers.

Q. What are three of your favorite—or most effective—blog posts?

A. I have written many effective blog posts. I wait a year before I declare them to be such. You can read them here: http://alephblog.com/category/best-articles/

Q. What’s your best tip for advisors who blog?

A. Define your period over which you generate articles. You can generate a lot of little articles every day, or you can generate one significant article once a month. Or you can do something in-between. But be regular, or people will forget about you.

Second, write about what you feel most strongly. And if you don’t have a strong feeling, don’t write.

Perennially popular posts and top posts from the fourth quarter 2013

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Some posts are perennial favorites on my blog. You’ll find a partial list below, based on traffic in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Perennial favorites

Looking at the list, it seems that most of their traffic comes from Google searches. “Ideal quarterly investment letters” is probably an exception because I share this post often.

  1. Poll: “Investable” or “investible”–which spelling is correct?
  2. Reader question: How can I become a freelance financial writer?
  3. Reader question: Writing resources for equity research analysts?
  4. Singular or plural–which is right for $5 million?
  5. Ideal quarterly investment letters: Meaningful, specific, and short <–This is one of my favorite posts
  6. Career strategies for wealth managers without a “book of business” <–I hope this post helps some job hunters
  7. Reader question: How can I ask clients to follow me to a new firm?

 

Fourth quarter 2013 top posts

Here’s a sampling of my most popular blog posts published during the fourth quarter of 2013. Yes, I know that was a long time ago. I’m just catching up.

  1. 6 lessons from my book writing experience <–Read this if you’re thinking about writing a book!
  2. Make an email sandwich for introverts
  3. Ammo for your plain-language battle with compliance
  4. Q&A with Michael Kitces of Nerd’s Eye View
  5. Q&A format for articles: Good or bad? <–This article attracted more eyeballs than is apparent from these statistics because it was also published on Ragan.com

It seems ironic that my blog post questioning the value of the Q&A is followed by the first in my Q&A series with advisors who blog. However, you’ll notice that I keep the Q&As short and I edit them. Readers’ response has been encouraging.

 

 

Top 3 Compliance Concerns When Writing Your Blog

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Compliance expert Cindi Hill very kindly reviewed the compliance section of my Financial Blogging book from the perspective of a registered investment advisor (RIA). I’m delighted to share her guest post on compliance and your blog. It seems to me that most of her advice also applies to other forms of advisor writing that might be considered marketing or advertising.

Top 3 Compliance Concerns When Writing Your Blog

By Cindi R. Hill

Let’s explore the compliance side of writing your blog. What are the things you should avoid or be concerned about when planning what you will write in your blog?

1. Understand who will need to review your blog

Is it simply the chief compliance officer or will your blog post need to go through a complete review cycle? How much lead time is needed for the review? If you have something that includes breaking news, you don’t want it tied up in review for days. In some states, like Idaho, all advertising items are required to be reviewed and approved by the state prior to being published.

2. Learn the guidelines for discussing performance

If you discuss investment performance, you need to follow guidelines. There are disclosures that may be required as part of your blog footer, the text that runs immediately under the body of each post. Which guidelines and disclosures depends on if you are registered with the SEC, your state, or FINRA. Be aware of these before you start to write.

3. Use words carefully

When reviewing any advertising/marketing piece I look at the words used. Some I discourage from use are “no bias” or “no conflicts of interest.” Just because you are a fee-only advisor does not mean that you have no biases.

This leads me to other types of words you should avoid, starting with definitive descriptors like “all” or “will.” Use “may” when you are tempted to use “will.” On a similar note, the word “exact” in a blog will get my immediate attention.

Another type of word I suggest staying away from—adjectives. For example, “excellent” or “superior” when referring to returns. This may seem obvious, but I have had to remove them from a reviewed document in the past. Also “highly” as in highly experienced. Or another one: “ultra-low cost.” You get the picture.

Remember that your blog is an advertisement. Compliance around any advertisement applies to your blog. No testimonials. This prohibition appears to apply to non-investment advisory activities as well.

Cindi R. Hill, CFP®, IACCPTM of Hill Compliance Advisors provides comprehensive compliance services and solutions for the financial professional who is a Registered Financial Advisor (RIA). You can follow her blog at https://hilladvisors.wordpress.com.

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