Blogging can be an effective way for you to express your value to clients, says Stefanie Holmes-Winton, CEO of the Money Finder in Halifax. But the quality and reach of your blog hinge on your choice of subject matter.
“Choosing the right topics is essential,” Holmes-Winton says. She advises against posting what she calls “vanilla pudding” — entries that lack substance and fail to set you apart from others. “People won’t want to read it,” she says, “if it doesn’t say something.”
Holmes-Winton offers the following suggestions to help you select compelling topics for your blog:
> Diversify
As a rule of thumb, Holmes-Winton suggests, you should vary your blog posts. While it is a good idea to have some fact-based analytical posts, be sure to balance them out with more personal entries, such as articles about travel.
Varying your posts in this way will help you to illustrate your competency as a qualified advisor as well as your ability to build strong relationships with your clients.
> Have an opinion
In order to avoid being lumped in with the “vanilla pudding” blogs, Holmes-Winton says, feel free to express an opinion.
It is important to differentiate between opinion and advice. The purpose of your blog is not to recommend investment products or services. But you can make a case for certain types of products as potentially suitable for a particular group of clients.
For example, you might choose to blog about how certain younger clients might find maxing out their annual TFSA contribution to be more beneficial than investing in an RRSP.
It’s important to make sure you aren’t recommending any course of action for your clients. Instead, you are evaluating a hypothetical scenario. If you are uncertain, check with your compliance department.
> Keep your ear to the ground
Follow your local and national financial media to help you to identify timely and relevant material your audience might enjoy reading about in you blog.
Another way to find ideas is to pay attention to conversations with your clients or prospects. Take stock of questions that often arise or themes that cut across different segments of your clients.
Keep an idea file — on your computer, your mobile phone or in a notebook — listing subjects that might make good blog posts. Update your list every time you have a new idea.
You might find that writing a blog based on a commonly raised client question can pre-emptively solve future client questions and express your expertise in a particular area.
> Focus on your specialties
If you specialize in a niche topic, such as living benefits, or you deal with a specific group of clients, such as doctors, make sure that the majority of your blog posts refer, in some way, to these specialties.
Writing generic posts about the overall importance of financial planning in a bear market is unlikely to generate as much interest as something specifically tailored to your audience. You understand their concerns — so blog about them.
This is the second instalment in a three-part series on blogging.
Tomorrow: Balancing blogging and compliance concerns.