The main feature that differentiates our newsletters from others is that we offer many ways for you to personalize your financial newsletter. We feel that one of the best ways to do this is to use your personalized space to write your own article, customizing it to speak to your clients in your own style.

There are several things to think about when writing your article. First of all, it’s important to pick a topic your clients will want to read about. Although the rest of the newsletter focuses on topics that will be of interest to many of your clients, only you know what specific needs your clients have.

Sometimes a topic will be very obvious; for example, when you are having a seminar that you want to announce, or when the volatility of the market has some clients nervous and you need to reassure them. If nothing pops out at you, though, think about what questions clients and prospects have asked you lately. Also consider what your clients are concerned about – estate planning? college funding? retirement? Many readers are interested in market updates and would like to hear your analysis of current trends. Draw from your knowledge of your clients’ personalities to gauge what subjects would most interest them.

Many of our clients use their sections to emphasize what their expertise is and what services they offer. You could use your article to give a short biography of yourself, mention seminars you’ve given, or introduce your office staff. Besides helping your clients get acquainted with you, this information will also reinforce your credibility and experience.

We do understand that not everyone has time to write an article for each issue and that’s why we give you “Ideas for Your Article” each quarter from which you can pick an article. Feel free to edit these as much as you like, re-writing things in your own words, or maybe adding a quick announcement about something happening at your office. The important thing is to add yourself to the newsletter wherever you can. There are several other things to keep in mind as you’re writing in order to communicate your message most effectively and to personalize your financial newsletter:

• Convey a conversational feel. Use “you” whenever you can as if you’re talking to your readers.
• Try to stay away from technical jargon that will lose your readers. If you do have something complicated to explain, try to sum it up and invite your readers to call you for more detailed information.
• Try not to write too much. We can accommodate many sizes of articles, but if the text is too small you’ll lose your reader. Generally, the guidelines are 300 words for each 1/3 of a page.
• Break your text into small paragraphs and use subheadings whenever possible to make it easy to read.
• Encourage your readers to respond. Ask them to call you or send in your reply card.
• Hopefully these suggestions will help you make the most of your personalized section. Remember, the main thing is to make sure you are putting yourself into your newsletter and helping your clients get to know the person behind the information.