Enuf Is Enuf In Blogs

/0 Comments/in /by

When it comes to spelling, we Americans appear to fall into four camps.  First we have the functionally illiterate (around 30 million of us) who lack basic writing skills, with spelling being the least of the problems.  At the opposite end we have the reformers, the ones lobbying Congress to simplify English spelling.  (At spelling bee sites, you’ll see reformers carrying signs with slogans such as ‘I’m thru with through”, or “Enuf is Enuf, but ‘enough is too much!”   A third group just doesn’t care, devoting no thought to spelling issues.  The last, and apparently the largest group, may not be spelling experts, but they admire and celebrate spelling mastery (if producing and attending movies, plays, and TV programs about spelling bee heroes is any indication). As a ghost blogger whose stock in trade is words, I was fascinated to learn that a Broadway musical I’d attended last year, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”,  ran for more than 1100 performances around the country.

Whatever your position on spelling, that reformer sign motto is worth remembering when it comes to your company blogs.  Blog audiences are scanners, not readers, by and large.  As your ghost blogger, I need to make your blog serve as your invitation to come on in (to your website) and join the party.  The blog offers just enough information to entice the searcher to visit the website to find out more.  I’m nono spelling reformer, but I know a great line when I see one.  When it comes to corporate blogging, enuf is enuf!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

What Goes On In Blogs Must Go Up

/0 Comments/in /by

In an earlier blog, ” From Meat To Mustard”, I explained that as a professional writer, I take pleasure in nicely turned phrases.  Since words are the tools of my trade as a ghost blogger, I’m a bit more aware than the average Jill of how writers and speakers use words.  So, whether I’m reading a novel or a news magazine, listening to a talk show or to a weather report, I always have a sharp eye and ear out for ways in which ideas are given impact through the choice of words. In the April’s Washington Monthly Magazine, editor Charles Peters comments on various political doings.  He mentions a government-wide problem of people at the top not knowing what’s going on down below.  Peters explains that in an organization, and specifically in our national government bureaucracy, bad news tends to be buried. “No one wants to tell bad news to the next fellow up the ladder, for fear that….his or her career will suffer”.  It’s the title of this little section of the editorial page that I found so fascinating: “What Goes On Must Go Up”.  First of all, in just six small words, Peters is able to capture the essence of a monumental problem prevalent in large organizations. He “hits the nail on the head”. Since ghost blogging is never far from my mind, once I started thinking about those six words, I saw that they could contain a valuable lesson about business blogs.  In an organization, stuff is “going on” all the time. But nothing changes so long as nothing “goes up” to a level where there’s some call to action and where there’s someone with power to make the change.  In a way, the situation is the same with a business blog.  A lot can be going on – lots of good information and content, posted frequently, well-written, relevant – it’s all great. But absolutely nothing is going to happen unless your blog has some “call to action”.  Your potential customer needs to progress to your website, and the blog has to have created an urgency – something the reader now wants to do, to get, or to find out more about. In short, not much will be going on unless the customer is going up to the next step in the process of doing business with you.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blogs And Podiums – Choose Yours Wisely

/0 Comments/in /by

Talk about traffic congestion – you wouldn’t believe how many folks are venturing into the blogosphere.  Millions of people are putting ideas and information out on the World Wide Web, often just to share knowledge and give others the benefit of their opinions.  But if you’re a business owner, you’re probably using your blog as part of your marketing campaign.  The only reason you’re establishing a blog is to attract new business to your website.  Your blog is your podium – you get to showcase your business so customers will want you to be the one to provide them with the product or the service they need.

The other day, In BusinessWeek magazine, I read a short piece called “Choose Your Podium Wisely”. The article talked about the fact that top corporate executives get lots of speaking invitations, so many that they need to choose which engagements to accept.  A consulting firm named Burson-Marsteller took a survey of CEO’s to see how they measured “return on investment” for a speech. Was the speech rewarding because it brought in business leads?  Did it attract new talent to the CEO’s firm? Did the speech build the company’s reputation?

The consultant’s rule for executives planning speaking engagements is actually a perfect fit for business bloggers: Keep a specific goal in mind.  Then find the audience most likely to deliver that benefit to your company!

As a ghost blogger, I find this rule to be absolutely essential to keep in mind when I’m doing planning with business owners. Before your blog can be used as an effective tool, you need to focus in on one specific goal.  Who are your target customers or clients? What approach would have the most appeal to that segment of your market?  Will the emphasis be on your product or on special service and expertise?  Pick one primary area of focus – don’t try to do everything in one blog.  In other words, choose your blog “podium” wisely.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

What Women, Men, and Search Engines Want

/0 Comments/in /by

The majority of women, myself included, are not overly interested in what other women want.  Unlike the majority of my female peers, on the other hand, I’m only slightly interested in what men, as a gender, want.  (I’ll hasten to add that the wants of certain men important in my life do occupy a high spot on my priority list.) But, gender matters aside, as a member of a small but rapidly growing cadre of ghost bloggers, I’m absolutely fascinated with learning what search engines want. I’m referring to the likes of Google, MSN, and Yahoo, and giving those search engines what they want is the whole idea behind business blogging.

The other day I caught a cute article in Entertainment Weekly that discussed the fact that men are embracing their feminine side in romantic comedy movies these days.  The article was titled “Guys Are The New Girls”. The piece ends with a wry question: “What do women – and men – want out of a man?”

Apparently, the answer to that question is still the subject of much debate.  By contrast, (happily for me as a professional ghost blogger), what search engines want is rather clear – to deliver relevant content to online searchers.

What determines how relevant content is?  Well, two ingredients are important for sure – recency and frequency. That’s exactly why once-in-a-while blogging just doesn’t do the trick, even if it’s high-quality stuff.  To satisfy a search engine, your blog material must be updated frequently, and I mean very frequently.  It seems that when it comes to blogging for business, search engines are saying, “Never mind what you’ve done. What have you done for me lately?”

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Ghost Writers In The Sky

/0 Comments/in /by

I can’t believe how far back ghostwriting goes – who knew?  We’re all used to today’s celebrities, CEO’s, and public figures who can’t spare the time to write their own books or speeches, and who hire ghostwriters.  (In fact, publishing companies sometimes purposely associate a book with a well known person to make it more marketable.)  As a professional ghost blogger, I am an avid reader about all forms and styles of ghost writing.  The more I read, the more interesting material I uncover.

Composer Wolfgang Mozart, I learned, was paid to ghostwrite music for wealthy patrons.  Come to think about it, that fact was brought out in the movie “Amadeus”.

An absolutely fascinating tidbit I just learned is that romance novelist V.C. Andrews’ estate hired a ghostwriter.  The assignment: to continue writing novels in Andrews’ style after her death!  The readers just didn’t want there to ever be a final chapter, I guess…

It’s fun to learn about all these things, but blogging is much more in the here and now.  The mission of a ghost blogger like me is to market your business.  Your business blog performs a very practical and very important function:  it helps customers find your business.  And they find it, not in the sky, but right here on the Web.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail