Blog Testimonials are Egg McMuffins!

Just as shoppers are presented with lots of choices while browsing at the mall, Internet browsers have lots of choices about which sites to "enter".  If your "store window" doesn’t do it for them, they’ll be quickly moving on to your neighbors’ stores.  That’s why advertising blogger Michel Fortin stresses the importance of headlines in ads and in business blogs.

So, OK, you get them to come on in and check out your blog. What keeps those "shoppers" from turning around and walking right back out into the mall?  Your blog content. Obviously, It’s got to be on the mark – recent, relevant, and on point with whatever motivated the search.  We’ve all been there, done that – or gone away and not done that, as the case may be!

I think the Egg McMuffin story illustrates how testimonials in your blog can make the difference between engaging online readers – or losing them before you have the chance to even start the conversation.  Mental Floss Magazine’s "Egg McMuffin: Born of McLovin’" explains that back in 1972, Herb Peterson, who ran a McDonald’s in Santa Barbara, California, loved eggs Benedict.  Peterson created the Egg McMuffin (grilled Canadian bacon on a steamed egg over a slice of American cheese squeezed into an English muffin) and got scolded for serving it without authorization from McDonald’s executives. Even McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc thought the idea was crazy.

(Here’s the part I think is so relevant for bloggers:
"But, when Kroc saw how much customers liked the new sandwich he changed his mind."

In other words, stories about customer satisfaction turned around the skeptical attitude of the executive nay-sayers. That’s precisely the reason it’s so important to use customer satisfaction stories as content for your business blog. No ad copy, no claims, no statistics can ever wield the power of "people just like them" praising the product or service.

Testimonials go a long way in answering the five why’s:

• Why this reader (is a good fit for your product or service)?
• Why you the business owner?
• Why this offer?
• Why now?
• Why this price? 

Whatever your "Egg McMuffin" is, be sure to showcase its fans in your blog!