Content-Sharing Library

No Fooling: FREE Timely Content and a Discounted Library Membership đŸŒșđŸđŸŒ»

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Photo by Bich Tran (Canva)

Happy April Fools’ Day, such as it is. If there’s one thing the coronavirus has laid bare, it’s that we truly are all in this together. So, to help you stay in touch with your clients during these challenging times, I am giving away two no-fooling gifts to advisors like you:

(1) FREE Client-Ready Content: A CARES Act Overview

My newly published piece, “A CARES Act Overview,” is now available as a FREE download from the Content-Sharing Library. Share this 1,450-word report with clients or (slightly modified) with prospects to provide an approachable but relatively substantive summary of critical content within the Act.

Click here to download it. 

(2) Join the Content-Sharing Library at a Discount

If you find this free content useful and would like plenty more where it came from, you can subscribe to the Content-Sharing Library to access everything else there, plus everything I’ll be adding soon. Use the discount code NOFOOLING to subscribe between now and April 6, and you’ll receive a 10% discount off your annual membership — or $295 instead of $325.

Click here to view the Library collection.

To complete our circle of support, I’d be grateful if you share this announcement with other advisors or advisor forums who might benefit from the information. You’ll be doing them — and me — a lovely favor.

Be well.

Wendy

News Glut

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News glut
© Can Stock Photo / deserttrends

Have you ever ended up with so many subjects to write about that you seize up and skip writing anything at all? It happens. Time to get caught up on some of my blogging backlog …

Twenty Over Ten Offers Content Assist

A few weeks ago, I attended one of Twenty Over Ten’s webinars, introducing Content Assist. The new offering struck me as one more reason to consider turning to this firm for your next website build. I especially liked the fact that it provides you with “starter” content, but you can edit it as much or as little as you please to personalize it for your own use. That’s not unlike my own Content-Sharing Library, except theirs is integrated tightly into their website service.

Will there be a content creation alliance between us at some point? Hey, stranger things have happened. No promises, but let me know if that’s of interest to you. Either way, I’d like to think Twenty Over Ten and I go together like Forrest Gump’s peas and carrots. Way to go, Twenty Over Ten!

Continue reading “News Glut” →

New Year, New(ish) Content-Sharing Library

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© Can Stock Photo/homestudio

Good news! This April, the Content-Sharing Library will be five years old. We’re just under 140 worldwide subscribers, with approximately 140 pieces available for download 
 and growing. Here’s a quick take on some recent updates I’ve made to celebrate and liven up the Library. (ALSO, don’t miss the UPDATED CONTENT announcement bundled into this post.)

Preview the Library Before You Join

Non-members can now preview the Library before subscribing. In preview mode, you’ll be able to browse everything that’s available for members to download. Click on Free Samples, to see how the download process works. When you’re ready to gain full access to the Library, Become a Member, and you’re on your way.

NEW: Updated Material from the Archives

Some of the material in the Library is now several years old, and yet still useful. To make best use of still-relevant material, I’ll be refreshing and re-releasing key content in updated form. You’ll find these updated materials featured in a new category, UPDATED Content.

To launch this initiative, I’ve just loaded an updated version of “The Vital Role of Rebalancing.” Originally released in June 2013, it’s still a timely discussion today.

Easier Access After You Join

Library members can now download content straight from “new content” email announcements or blog posts:

  • If you’re already logged into the Library, clicking on an email or blog post link (like this updated “Vital Role of Rebalancing” link) – will instantly download the referenced content.
  • If you’re not yet logged in when you click on a new content link, you’ll be prompted to log in, and then the material will immediately download.

When viewing the Library, members can now also click on the title of the content to download a single piece, or check multiple selection boxes to download several pieces at once.

More Good Content to Come

It’s been a fun ride so far building the Content-Sharing Library. I look forward to adding new materials and continued updates for many more years to come!

“The One Time” Lesson Learned

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© Can Stock Photo / photography33

A Wendy’s Wednesday Whimsy

Always proofread your blog posts and e-newsletters, and preview a test version before you really hit “send.”

Always.

That’s what I advise others. It’s also what I always do myself.

Well, almost always. Herein lies a lesson re-learned a few weeks ago.

I’d just added some new material to the Content-Sharing Library, coincidentally about how to avoid identity theft and financial fraud. Announcing availability on a Friday, I watched the downloads rolling in over the weekend from interested subscribers. Yay.

Then 
 remember the WannaCry ransomware scare? That very weekend, reports broke of this new, seemingly major threat. I certainly hadn’t planned my release to coincide with the breach, but had I been psychic, I couldn’t have timed it any better.

So, carpe diem, I decided it would be a great time to release a quick follow-up e-blast and post, with an additional cover letter advisors could use to share the newly released and incredibly timely materials.

That’s when I made a beginner’s mistake. Continue reading ““The One Time” Lesson Learned” →

Financial Security and Modern-Day Pirates

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© Can Stock Photo / AlienCat

Pirates may be jolly when they’re Johnny Depp in a costume, but the real renditions aren’t amusing at all … as the world is being reminded of recently in the form of a global Microsoft ransomware outbreak. If you’ve not yet seen the news, all you have to do is Google “ransomware attack 2017” and you’ll get caught up pretty quickly. You might want to have a paper bag handy, to breathe into.

Bottom line, to help shore up the security of your virtual ship, there’s one important step you and your clients should be taking if you’ve not yet done so: Make sure all updates and patches to your Windows operating system have been completed – like, yesterday. (As in, stop whatever else you’re doing, and do that now.)

By the way, I’ve just added a short email to the Content-Sharing Library, which you can use to reach out to your clients about this simple but important step. And, as incredibly excellent timing would have it, just last Friday, I also happened to load a quick-reference guide and a longer report on the subject of protecting against financial fraud and identity theft (U.S. and Canadian versions of the same).

If my timing were always this impeccable, I’d become an active investor! It’s not, and I won’t.

As they used to say on Hill Street Blues, let’s be careful out there.

A Hat-Tip to Stuart Zimmerman: “Every 100 Documents Count!”

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Stuart Visits Us in Oregon - Oct. 2014
Stuart Visits Me in Oregon – Oct. 2014

Wendy’s Wednesday Whimsy:
“Every 100 Documents Count!”

Read on for a nifty Content-Sharing Library discount offer.

Back when I was director of communications at an energetic young financial firm, I was privileged to work alongside one of its co-founders, Stuart Zimmerman. Others at this relatively small start-up firm may have had it over Stuart on nitty-gritty number-crunching skills, but nobody could beat him on cheerleading optimism. His “the best is yet to come!” enthusiasm was a virulent contagion; few were immune.

Stuart started our “Good News Friday,” for example, where we swapped tales of good deeds that had happened that week, whether it was launching a major new service or helping a family finally get its portfolio on the right track.

One of my favorite “Stuart-isms” is: “Hey, every [number] counts!” At first, the number would be modest. By the time I left The BAM ALLIANCE toward the end of 2008, that number had increased exponentially. But it wasn’t about size. Every client and every dollar entrusted to us did indeed count. This is a lesson I learned from Stuart and the rest of my BAM compatriots – and brought to my own little business.

101 Documents

This is why I am delighted to celebrate last week’s publication of the 100th document in my Content-Sharing Library. Continue reading “A Hat-Tip to Stuart Zimmerman: “Every 100 Documents Count!”” →

What Should You Say About the DOL’s Ways?

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© Can Stock Photo Inc. / damedeeso

While the Department of Labor’s fiduciary ruling is not any sort of death knell (unless, perhaps, you’ve been peddling some seriously toxic investment products), you might think it was, given last week’s glut of headlines in the financial press. I’ve seen all five of KĂŒbler-Ross’ famed stages of grief on exhibit: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, ultimately, acceptance.

I have experienced these myself. For some time, I doubted that the DOL would ever achieve a ruling. When they actually did, I was angered by some of the last-minute holes that were blown into what could otherwise have been a more solid fiduciary stronghold. While I am in no position to bargain with the DOL, I debated with myself, mulling over shifting moods on whether the ruling was a good or bad thing for investors.

In the end, I have accepted that we should think of the ruling as a modest victory for investors and that, by and large, you should communicate it as such to your community.

Continue reading “What Should You Say About the DOL’s Ways?” →

Client Communications and Current Crises: What’s an Advisor To Do?

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Hero Image

The New Year’s market volatility gives me an excellent opportunity to explore a question I am frequently asked by evidence-based advisors:

When the markets are having a bad day (or few), should I reach out to my clients right away, or hold off until the results are more clear?

I get that there are a number of reasons it may seem logical to pause and reflect before sending out client communications in the midst of a market crisis:

  • You might inadvertently generate anxiety where none existed. If you’ve done your job, they should already be remaining calm.
  • If your clients haven’t noticed the crisis or they don’t care about it, they already are best positioned to adhere to their long-term, evidence-based plan. Why mess it up?
  • Either making too light of breaking news or analyzing it too deeply could backfire on you if the markets render your comments obsolete or just plain wrong.
  • Reacting to breaking news may feel contrary to your evidence-based philosophy. Are you sending the wrong message by implying the news matters?

Go Ahead, Hit the Hero Key

So, yes, I can understand why you may be reluctant to be in touch with your clients during market crises. But here is why I believe that none of these bullet points should prevent you from doing so anyway.

Continue reading “Client Communications and Current Crises: What’s an Advisor To Do?” →

Evidence-Based Investing and Adviser Gray Matters

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For years, advisers like you and service providers like me have been defending evidence-based investing against the opposite of it: Active vs. passive. Alpha vs. beta. Rational vs. emotional. Scientific vs. speculative. Market timing and stock picking vs. risk factors and diversification.

Evidence-Based Investing Gray Matter
© Can Stock Photo Inc.

Evidence-Based Advances

Call it what you will, ours has long been a relatively black and white conversation about “us” vs. “them.” It’s a conversation we’ve gotten good at too, as we state the case for keeping market efficiencies high, unnecessary expenses low and human emotions in check. By keeping our message loud and clear through the years, we’ve been winning over an increasing numbers of investors, fellow advisers, fund providers and even the financial press.

So, congratulations, we’re winning! That’s good news. But I believe it’s also the fuel that’s igniting a new communications challenge. Our black-and-white messages may no longer suffice. These days, expect a finer shade of gray in your conversations, with more nuanced variations on the theme of active vs. passive investing. Continue reading “Evidence-Based Investing and Adviser Gray Matters” →

Tight marketing budget? Pre-produced content could be the answer

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Tight Marketing Budget Illustration
© Can Stock Photo Inc.

Today’s post is a re-post, reprinted with permission from author Sam Lewis of the U.K.-based Ember Television. Sam and his colleague Robin Powell are like the peanut butter to my chocolate in the world of financial communication service providers. While I focus on the words, Ember Television’s Regis Media team helps evidence-based advisers create high-quality videos and illustrations.  words and pictures work best together in helping you reach out to your ideal audiences. I encourage you to reach out to either of us for more information. Thanks, Sam and Robin, for letting me share our conversation here! 

PS: “Bespoke” is a British term for custom-crafted, so “bespoke content” means it is custom-written. Even I, a word-nut, learn something new every day by looking beyond my usual borders!  

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It’s well-known that for content marketing to be effective, content has to be posted regularly. A Hubspot study found that businesses that posted 15 times or more per month saw their web traffic increase by 500%. When faced with statistics like this, content marketing can seem like a beast that constantly needs feeding.

The problem is that we’re now expected to produce more content but with the same budgets. For some organisations, like financial services firms, this can seem like an impossible task.

Continue reading “Tight marketing budget? Pre-produced content could be the answer” →