Opinion Piece Blogging For Business

“Cat blogs are blogs for and by and about the person blogging. A cat blog is about your cat and your dating travails and your boss and whatever you feel like sharing in your public diary,” explains marketing guru Seth Godin.

When Say It For You was started five years ago, it was certainly not with cat blogs in mind. I and my blog writing services clients in Indianapolis were interested in what Godin had termed viral blogs. Why write viral blogs? “The blogger is investing time and energy in order to get her ideas out there. Why?” Godin answers: “ To get consulting work, to find new customers for a business or to make it easier for existing customers to feel good about staying.”

I think of business blog writing as a kind of matchmaking service, an efficient, pleasant way to help my business owner and professional practitioner clients “meet strangers”, hopefully converting at least some of those into friends and customers.

Through the search engine optimization process, potential customers searching online for your type of product or service get to your blog. Then, when they read the very relevant information you've provided there, these buyers go to your website, and decide to do business with your company. I explain at corporate blogging training sessions.

 
Well, just the other day, I happened upon a http://www.corporatebloggingtips.com/blog post composed by Doug Karr, founder of the Marketing Technology Blog and co-author of one of my corporate blogging training session “bibles”, Corporate Blogging for Dummies. Karr’s title is “We Should Stop Saying Influential When We Mean Popular”.  Not only was this post based on a very interesting premise, it reminded me of the importance of including opinion in SEO marketing blogs.
 

“If you want people to see your stuff…, says Karr, “go for popularity.  If you want a lot of people to buy your stuff…go for influence.” Influencers don’t have millions of social media followers and fans and they’re not famous. What influencers have done is gain trust and build relationships.

I agree, and I liked reading the way Karr made the distinction. But as someone involved full time with online content writing, I realized I was being reminded of a really important point, one all freelance blog writers and business owners need to keep in mind. Whether it’s business-to-business blog writing or business to consumer blog writing, the blog content itself needs to use opinion to clarify what differentiates that business, that professional practice, or that organization from its peers.

There’s a saying that comes to mind:  There’s a big difference between having to say something and having something to say.”

When working with business owners to arrive at the right tone and the right emphasis for their business blogs, I begin by challenging the owner of the business or professional practice with the following question: "If you had only eight to ten words to describe why you're passionate about what you sell, what you know, and what you do, what would those words be?

When online readers find a blog, one question they need answered is “Who lives here?” Providing information about products and services may be the popular way to write corporate blog posts,but in terms of achieving Influencer status – that takes opinion!