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!
Are You “Conflict-Free”? (Hint: No, You’re Not)
I’ll wrap with a communications tip of my own. Too often, I run across fee-only advisor websites (or in Canada, fee-based), assuring the visitor that the firm’s advice is “conflict free,” “completely unbiased,” or similar variations on these themes.
I hate to break it to you … Wait, scratch that. I’m happy to break it to you, since it’s in your best interest. Unless you’re a non-profit charitable organization, you’ve got pricing-related conflicts of interest. And if you’ve got brainwaves, they’re generating behavioral biases, whether you know it or not.
Worse, if you’re exaggerating your firm’s advantages, everyone essentially knows it, at least at a gut level. The strategy may not only strike a sour note in your communication efforts, it could be out of tune with best compliance practices. So, sing it proud, but say it accurately: Fee-only (Canadian fee-based) advice helps minimize biases, and better aligns your clients’ best interests with your own.
Or something like that. Need more help keeping your communications humming along? Keep me in mind.
Calling All Pacific Northwest Advisors
If you missed the news, Dimensional Fund Advisors is holding a three-day regional event this summer, June 19-21, at the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon. I took particular interest in its June 20th communications workshop. Sandwiched between a development conference and investor symposium on the 19th and 21st, the workshop is designed to help advisors “structure a more effective communication strategy with clients and prospects.” Rumor has it, the brainchild behind the event is one of Dimensional’s own communicator extraordinaires, Apollo Lupescu, PhD.
If all that isn’t enticing enough for you to attend, I’ll be there too! Let me know if you’re planning to join us. Maybe we can schedule an informal get-together before or after the program proper.