Philosophical Blogging for Business

I’d never  heard blog posts referred to as “philosophical” before, but Julie Neidinger‘s description really resonated with me. Philosophical posts are “idea” posts, she says, with the main goal being to further the culture of the brand or team writing the blog.

These posts (and here’s what really hit the spot for me) “are as much for the writer as the reader, helping to clarify the thought process… as the writer is working through the initial idea.” Some philosophical posts, Neidlinger observes, are “as much for the writer as the reader”.

“Philosophical posts are good,” she says, “in that they reveal the writers as real people. They don’t generally come from a place of hierarchy (i.e. teacher-down-to-student), but are instead on the same level. The reader is walking beside the writer and working through the idea.”

I express something of the same sentiment on the Say It For You website. “When you put up a blog with excellent content that engages your potential and current customers, you will typically receive the following four types of benefits: An SEO benefit, a promotional benefit, a credibility benefit, and (this is the one that comes closest to expressing what Julie Neidlinger is saying) a training benefit.

The way I explain the training benefit is this: When you blog, you verbalize the positive aspects of your business in a way that people can understand. You put your recent accomplishments down in words. You review the benefits of your products and services and keep them fresh in your mind. In other words, you are constantly providing yourself with training about how to talk effectively about your business.

Going on to describe how philosophic blog posts are born, Neidlinger talks about content curation: “They often stem from books or other outside influences that have caused the author to think about new things and apply them to a current situation.”

The information in a blog post might have been “curated” from various sources. That’s a good thing, because you’re providing a valuable service to readers by collecting information and presenting it in one easy-to-access form.  On the other hand, “collections” are not nearly of sufficient benefit to readers.  Those facts and statistics need to be thought through and then put into perspective so that readers realize there’s something important here for them.

Ms. Neidlinger, I agree. Blogging for business means being a curator, but also a bit of a philosopher, thinking through the material before presenting it, along with the new thoughts you find going through your head because of others’ insights.

So, go ahead, I’d say to freelance blog content writers and to their business owner and professional practitioner clients – reveal the “real people” side of your blog writing!