Recommended Reading for Blog Content Writers – Part A

Since frequency and recency play such a large role in search engine rankings, what a blog writer can add to the marketing mix is discipline, consistently posting high quality content on behalf of the business. Hiring the extra “brain” relieves the “drain” on the business owner’s (or the professional practitioner’s) resources of times and energy.

So what relieves the drain on the blog content writer? (Years ago, in the process of explaining the way my company Say It For You came about, I talked about the “drill sergeant discipline” needed by blog content writers.  I knew that the main key to business blogging success was going to be simply keeping on task week after week, month after month, year after year.

One question I’m often asked when I train business owners and employees or newbie blog content writers for hire is this: Where do you get ideas for blog posts? My answer is – everywhere!  But that doesn’t mean the ideas are going to jump right onto your page. I like to emphasize that at least half the time that goes into creating a blog post is reading/research/thinking time!

This week I decided to highlight one aspect of the “everywhere” – namely books. I’ve spent almost a decade now putting together quite a collection of books that serve as blog writing resources.  I’m providing links so that you can take a look for yourself at some of these wonderful little books. I’d also love to hear about books you may have found especially useful.

Books about writing:

Of the two types of people who make up the English-speaking world, I find myself among the minority who believe proper grammar and spelling matter on business websites and in business blogs. Because of that, some of my favorite basic resource books deal with writing basics.

“If your writing is difficult to understand or written in an inappropriate style, it won’t serve the purpose,” points out Tony Rossiter in Effective Business Writing in Easy Steps. “When I’m writing, working as a management consultant or running a training course,” Rossiter adds, “I like clarity, plain English and gentle humor.”

A second favorite resource is The Little Red Writing Book, by Brandon Royal. This little book presents “20 powerful principles of structure, style, & readability.” Just to offer you a taste, Royal talks about four types of transition words:

• contrast – but, yet, on the other hand, whereas
• illustration – for example, for instance, in fact
• continuation – furthermore, on the one hand, undoubtedly, coincidentally
• conclusion – finally, therefore, thus, as a result

There’s no lack of information for us content writers when it comes to hooking readers and wowing fans, but, with words being our primary tools, it’s important to go back and review fundamentals of writing.

Stay tuned…In coming posts, we’ll offer reading resources for bloggers on marketing and metaphors…