Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about direct-response (DR) marketing. In particular, how to be successful as a publisher of financial information. When I’m talking about the business to new employees (and even old-timers when they seem adrift), these are the important points I try to make:

1. DR publishers are different than literary publishers. Literary publishers are small businesses that target a tiny microcosm of readers, the academics and critics that determine literary prizes. On the contrary, DR publishers are large businesses that build their reputation (and profits) by discovering best-selling writers/analysts.

2. The job of financial writers is not to be smarter or righter than the rest of the pack. (A futile endeavor.) Their job is to write best-selling newsletters, blogs, and special reports. They should strive for big ideas that can make a big impact on their readers. Ideas that are just beyond the conversation of popular financial pundits.

3. In conveying their ideas, financial writers have a responsibility to make those ideas accessible to the average reader. The easiest way to do that is by using the online FK readability tool and keeping their score below 7.5.