How to add a little more "you" to your articles

“Use a strong voice”...

“Hit the right tone”

“Inject some personality in your writing!”

We all know these things are good.

In my business, the independent financial publishing industry, this is what helps us get our "edge"...

And stand out from the WSJ’s, Barrons, and Business Insiders of the world.

See, with the mainstream articles, the bylines don’t matter as much. People go there to get the facts, summaries on sectors and trends, and general overviews. Which is fine.

But our business is built on the relationships we have with our subscribers. We strive to not just make our essays useful... but also entertaining, with the reader front and center.

Adding a little more “you” to your articles is a great way to stand out and connect with readers... and make them want more.

(By the way, I hate the quotes above... they add unnecessary pressure, and almost make us feel like we have to write a certain way. Instead, I’ll share easy ways that naturally add more “you” to your pieces... without all the overthinking.)

#1. Write a quick personal story lead

Key word: quick.

And it needs to be:

1.??Interesting.

2.??Connected to the main idea of the article.

That's it. That's the formula.

Take a look at these articles from RiskHedge chief analyst Stephen McBride....

Are stocks bottoming as you read this?

"My wife nearly fainted in the bank the other day...

She was exchanging euros for US dollars for her upcoming trip to NYC.

For as long as I can remember, €1 bought you more than a dollar...

Heck, last summer, a euro got you a buck twenty.

My wife’s jaw dropped when the bank teller quoted her the exchange rate.

Today €1,000 only gets you $950. That’s the lowest exchange rate in over 20 years!"

I grew up in this tiny house that just sold for $430K

“$430,000 for THAT?”

My colleague, Chris Reilly, nearly spat coffee on his laptop when I showed him the house my mom just sold.

It’s the white door on the right:

This was the house I grew up in. It gets damp and moldy in the winter. The walls have water damage. The paint is peeling.

And it’s tiny—with two rooms upstairs and two rooms downstairs. It measures just 678 sq. ft.

It’s not in some swanky Beverly Hills-style neighborhood, either. A few murders take place on the surrounding blocks every year. It’s the type of place where “the Pitbulls go around in pairs,” as my grandad would say.

Yet… it sold for close to half a million bucks!"

These were entertaining and interesting... and connected to the main idea of the articles. The first article was about the US dollar... and how it affects stocks. The second was about crazy inflation. It wasn't Stephen randomly talking about a visit to the bank or reminiscing for no reason about his childhood home.

A slam dunk lead in our industry is the "boots on the ground"/research trip lead... Answer: what did you see/learn?

You don’t need a grand lead…

Sometimes, a sentence or two of personal detail goes a long way...

Take this example from our chief trader Justin Spittler...

"A strong dollar is great news if you’re an American traveling abroad like I am. For the past three months, I’ve been in Colombia. During that time, the local currency has depreciated by 19% against the US dollar. Everything suddenly became a lot cheaper for me.

But here’s the thing: stocks don’t like a strong dollar..."

Another from our CIO Chris Wood...

"CEO Bob Iger is back at the helm of Disney...

He’s replacing Bob Chapek, who will go down as one of the worst major media CEOs in history. Under Chapek’s leadership, Disney shares fell by 19%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 34% over the same period.

I met Iger at a Disney board meeting back in 2007, when he was a relatively new CEO. He’s impressive and if anyone can turn Disney around, it’s Iger. As former CEO of Disney, he oversaw acquisitions of Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel... all of which grew to be wildly successful.

Iger must accomplish two things in order to right the ship. His first order of business has to be to fix Disney’s streaming service, Disney+. Disney’s theme parks and resorts businesses are doing great. But they’re subsidizing major losses from the “growth at all costs” approach the company has taken with Disney+."

^ This is gold. Not many analysts can say they met Iger. It makes us unique. It demonstrates Chris’ connections, experience, and staying power in the industry.

Let voice shine through in your Conviction

Do you have high conviction in an idea?

Let it shine through!

Write bold.

Put your stamp on an idea.

Your conviction becomes your voice.

Check out this essay from Justin Spittler... Must read: did the bear market just end?

Develop your “Investing USP”

I'm talking about your investing unique selling point.

And then beat the drum on it over and over again…

Chris Wood's formula for finding potential dominant disruptor stocks is simple. He simply asks, is the company executing better, cheaper, or faster than its competition? The best disruptors check all three boxes.

Justin Spittler constantly talks about what how he sees things through a trader's lens...

"You see, I’m a professional trader.

Unlike many investors, I pay little attention to economic indicators like the consumer price index (CPI), gross domestic product (GDP), or the unemployment rate.

Instead, I watch the prices of stocks, bonds, commodities, and interest rates.

Each week, I easily review over a thousand different charts.

And right now, I see a ton of opportunity when I look at the market."

DailyWealth editor Steve Sjuggerud’s “cheap, hated, and in an uptrend” is also great and simple to understand.

In short: lean on what you already know...and write about that. In the case of investing, what's your strategy? Where have you been lately? Any interesting stories that tie into you recommendation?

These principles apply to any industry.

Add "you" into your articles by simply writing about... your unique ideas! From there, the natural "voice" will come.

Don't overcomplicate it!

Thanks for reading,

Chris Reilly

Executive Editor, RiskHedge

Follow me on Twitter here:?https://twitter.com/C_Reilly5

And sign up for our free weekly e-letter, the?RiskHedge Report,?here.