Spoon-feeding the Why’s to Business Blog Readers

“Because the baby slept all night….”  “Because he emptied the litter box…”  “You don’t need a big excuse to give a great gift,” read the sign at the end of the cafeteria checkout line.

Even though I’m constantly stressing to business blog content writers that blog posts are NOT ads, there’s a lot we can learn from advertisers.  After all, we have stuff to sell – whether it’s products, services, or ideas, and whether it’s for our own or our clients’ businesses or practices. And, that MCL sign notwithstanding, we have to make sure our prospects, the ones reading the blog content, see that they have good “excuses” to buy.

Fellow blogger Michel Fortin names five types of “why” you can tell buyers. (Fortin’s alluding to ad copy, but  his list is a good outline for using proof in your business blog posts to build belief in your – or your client’s – services and products.)

Why YOU:
Why did you target this particular market (the one represented by this potential buyer)?

Why ME:
The “me” is the business or the professional practitioner (or the ghost blogger as his or her voice). What is our expertise and experience?  Why do we care?

Why THIS:
What are the specific solutions you provide? Why is your product or service designed in the particular and unique way you describe?

Why NOW:
What reasons can you offer the reader to act now – (missing out on something important, preventing further damage, expected scarcity of the product, etc.)?

Why THIS PRICE:
Your blog can make clear where you fall price-wise in your market and why your business has chosen that pricing niche.

You may not need a big excuse to give someone an MCL gift card, but only blog believers become buyers!