Wait-Wait-Don’t-Tell-Me Business Blogs

“Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!”, NPR’s weekly hour-long quiz program, is a favorite of mine.  I’m not the only one – the show has been enormously successful for years.

Since at Say It For You, we’re all about creating content that can engage readers, I asked myself just why the “”Wait Wait” content is so very engaging.  I concluded there are two main reasons for the program’s success:

• Listeners get to be involved (by guessing the answers)
•  Listeners don’t need to actually make a commitment (sitting in my car, I don’t worry that anyone will kow I’ve selected the wrong response)

So, what’s the takeaway for us blog content writers?

A couple of years ago, I remember, I commented on an advertorial in the Indianapolis Star supplement called “Why To Buy a Piano”.  The piece provided tips on the basic decisions facing piano buyers (digital vx. acoustic, upright vs. grand, used vs. new).  But the big thing about that advertorial was in the final paragraph: “You don’t have to make the ultimate piano decision the first time.”

Think about how reassuring that statement might be for a buyer (“They’re trying to help me, not sell me the most expensive instrument in the store.”)

Searchers on the web may be shopping for the products or services you offer, but may not be ready to make a commitment.  If, in your business blog, you can convey the idea that there are different levels of involvement possible, and that “ultimate decisions” need not be made the moment a potential client or customer “steps into” your website, visitors can be comfortable engaging with you.

The NPR blogging secret for business owners and professional practitioners: Offer valuable information and encourage “just looking” blog visitors who may be thinking, “Wait, wait, dont sell me…yet…”