Station WIIFM Blogging

"When you have the chance to speak to the buyer," advises Joe Takash in the September issue of Indy Magazine, "get to the point and remember that less is more."
(Isn’t that exactly what I advised at the beginning of this week in my blog post about "lazy lobsters"?)

Takash, founder of performance management firm Victory Consulting,  lists five trigger tips to turn a "No" client into a Yes" client, and every one of those tips is good advice when blogging for business.  Let’s look at just three of the trigger tips:

See yourself as a peer.
How you present yourself is stronger than any service or product you offer, says Takash.

This whole blog marketing thing is not really about the technicalities of search engine optimization, although that’s how the story begins. What I believe it is really about is providing those who find your site with a taste of what it would be like to have you working alongside them to help with their challenges and issues. So, whether you’re writing your own blogs or working with a professional ghost blogger like me, your blog posts are your way to say to each searcher "We can do this thing together!"

 
Do your homework.
You must know your buyers and who your competition is in serving those buyers, Takash advises.

You’ve got to get a handle on who’s playing in the same sandbox as you, and the first step in researching that is to get on Google or Bing and type in the phrases you think consumers might use.  See what – and who – comes to the top, and then read what they’ve got to say. There’s no quick or magic way around knowing your marketplace and then carving out your own niche, both online and off.

Speak in sound bites.
For every piece of information you write or speak about your own company and service, remember the client will ask "So what?"

Takash reminds his readers that "decision-makers want you to be brief".  Nowhere is that truer than online, so business bloggers need to write in benefits-focused, buyer-friendly language.

Your potential buyer wants to know about Radio Station WIIFM – What’s In It For ME.