How-Did-It-Get-Its-Shape Business Blogging

The title “How the NFL Football Got Its Shape” has two qualities I think bloggers for business ought to consider imitating: It’s engaging, and it doesn’t try to sell you anything.

Life’s Little Mysteries contributor Dan Peterson offers seven paragraphs on the history of American-style football, with links to two other football-related stories, so the content of the article fulfills the implied promise in the title, which engages readers’ interest and offers an overview of what the article will cover.

There’s certainly a lot of talk in blogging circles about creating “engaging” content, but as a business blogging trainer, my “fix” on “engaging” is that, however relevant the factual content you provide in your blog, at least some of your online visitors will have heard at least some of that information before.

What can make the critical difference between “ho-hum” and “engaging” in blog content is showcasing the unique slant or approach your business takes. Your blog should reveal how your products – or at least the products you’ve chosen to offer to customers – “took shape”. How did your business model – the unique way you’ve selected to offer services to your clients and customers – evolve?

For readers looking for facts and statistics about football equipment, Dan Peterson provides plenty, from the standardized dimensions and weight of NFL and NCAA balls, to the different ways white lines are painted on high school footballs compared to those used by college players.

For readers seeking insight into the “why” of football shape, Peterson traces the early rugby balls made of pigs’ bladders, explaining the improved grip that the laces provide, even though they’re not needed for closure on the now-rubber balls. Providing valuable information to readers without being too sales-ey is one way to positively differentiate your business blog and cultivate potential buyers.

Effective blog posts will move readers along a path:

• verifying that they’ve come to the right place
   
• you’re on the “same page” as them because you understand their interest and their needs

Your content leads readers from

1.  “Never thought of it that way!”, to
    
2.  “I didn’t know that!”, and finally to
    
3.  “I’ve got to take advantage of that!”