Blog Like a Fundraising Round

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One of the all-time best pieces of advice for blog content writers that I’ve heard comes from an unlikely source – corporate startup fundraising consultant Kristen Copper, CEO of Startup Ladies. “A round is a cycle of fundraising that clearly defines the amount of money being raised and how it will be used within a defined time,” Cooper explains

It’s important for business owners and freelance blog content writers to remember that the title and the actual blog post content must be congruent, so that readers find the kind of information they’ve been led to expect. It’s all well and good to use keyword phrases in blog titles in order to win online search, but the blog post must deliver on that implied promise, by providing content that is on topic and on target for the search terms.

Blog content writers face a challenge when it comes to clearly defining readers’ expectations. Analytics can offer after-the-fact clues (how long readers remain on the page, who many of them click through to website landing pages, email us, or sign up for an RSS, but it is our job to communicate clearly the extent to which our product or service can be expected to deliver results within a clearly defined time period.

On another note, Cooper mentions the importance of a “lead investor”, a person or group working directly with the founder of a company. The “lead” not only makes a substantial initial investment in the company, but makes introductions and connections, putting their own name behind the fundraising effort. The parallel in blog marketing is testimonials.

Client testimonials can boost credibility in two ways: Customer success stories help prospects decide to do business with you. At the same time, the process of writing or posting the recommendation or even being interviewed for a testimonial reinforces the commitment of the “lead customers” themselves..

In blogging for business, content writers can use the model of a fundraising round, clearly defining expectations and using “lead customers”.

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Blogging Your Pull Quote

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In graphic design, a key phrase or sentence is sometimes “pulled” from an article and placed in a larger print in a box on the page. The “pull quote” is used to draw interest, but also gives readers a a “preview” of the thesis to be proven or at least discussed in the article.

In a recent issue of Health Magazine, the article “The Digital-Era Brain” (a discussion of whether the Internet is eroding our memory) features the following pull-quote, printed in bold: “In one study, a group of students said they spent 20 percent of class time texting, playing games, and checking social media”. A second article discussing the USA Memory Championship, titled “Battle of the Big Brains”, features the following pull quote: “Though the brain accounts for only 2 percent of the body’s mass, it uses up a fifth of all the oxygen we breathe and burns a quarter of our glucose.”

In blog posts, both titles and images can serve as “pull quotes”.

“Pull quote” titles

When it comes to blogging for business, titles matter, and for two basic reasons: a) Keywords and phrases help search engines make the match between online searchers’ needs and what your business or professional practice has to offer. b) Exactly like the pull quote on the magazine page, the idea is to “pull” in readers by engaging their interest.

If the title is phrased as a question, asking readers if they’re grappling with an issue or a need that you not only know about, but which you’re accustomed to helping solve – that’s perfect as a pull quote tactic.

“Pull quote” images

Adding images to blog posts has been shown to increase readership. In fact, consumers have been shown to be more likely to consider or contact a business when an image appears in search results. What we’ve found at Say It For You, interestingly, is that commercial images, or “clip art”, which don’t depict the actual products, customers, or colleagues of that business or practice, work particularly well as interest “pullers”, capturing the main concept that will be articulated in the post.

In a very basic sense, blog posts themselves function as “pull quotes”. In fact, one of the most important reasons blogs have a distinct advantage over the more static website copy is that each post draws visitors’ focus to just one story, one aspect of the business, practice, or product, precisely in the manner that a pull quote draws attention to just one main concept embodied in the full article.

Use blogging as a set of pull quotes for your website offerings!

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Blog About Your Roots, Favorite Materials, and Clever Hacks

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While I spend very little time crafting candles or crocheting cushions, I absolutely loved Taryn Mohrman’s article “Let’s Get Crafty” in the March issue of Woman’s Day, presented in honor of National Crafting Month (who knew?).

Taryn’s introductory piece had three parts:

My crafting roots – When she was little, her dad encouraged her to re-imagine and re-create., encouraging her love of design.
Favorite material – spray paint.
Clever hack – She uses shellac primer and sealer before spray painting, so that her projects last much longer.

As head of a team of blog content writers at Say It For You, I realized that Taryn Mohrman had used several of the blogging “hacks” we teach content writers:

First person business blog writing – it shows the people behind the posts, revealing the personality of the business owner, practitioner, or the team standing ready to serve customers.

Sharing personal background – People tend to buy when can they relate emotionally to the person bringing them the message.

Stating an opinion (favorite material) – Whether you’re blogging to promote a business, a professional practice, or a nonprofit organization, you should share your opinion or slant.

Offering a specific practical tip or trick to help readers do what they want to do, but faster, better, and more easily. Mohrman includes a simple recipe for a scrub – sugar coconut oil, and gel food coloring..

Other articles included in this Woman’s Day issue illustrate other blog post approaches and “clever hacks”:

Toni Lipse answers the question “What’s the difference?” (between crocheting and. Knitting). In creating content for marketing blogs, we need to keep in mind that people are online searching for answers to questions they have and for solutions for dilemmas they’re facing. But searchers haven’t always formulated their questions, and so what I suggest is that we do that for them in our content. .

A testimonial by Nancy Landrum explains how crafting helped her battle depression after being widowed twice and losing her eldest son. Customer testimonials in blogs are a powerful form of social proof; readers are more likely to follow the actions others have already taken.

Whether you’re getting crafty with spray paint or with words, make sure to share some clever hacks – and, even more important – a glimpse into your own roots, favorites, and opinions!

While I spend very little time crafting candles or crocheting cushions, I absolutely loved Taryn Mohrman’s article “Let’s Get Crafty” in the March issue of Woman’s Day, presented in honor of National Crafting Month (who knew?).

Taryn’s introductory piece had three parts:

  1. My crafting roots – When she was little, her dad encouraged her to re-imagine and re-create., encouraging her love of design.
  2. Favorite material – spray paint.
  3. Clever hack – She uses shellac primer and sealer before spray painting, so that her projects last much longer.

As head of a team of blog content writers at Say It For You, I realized that Taryn Mohrman had used several of the blogging “hacks” we teach content writers:

  1. First person business blog writing – it shows the people behind the posts, revealing the personality of the business owner, practitioner, or the team standing ready to serve customers.
  2. Sharing personal background – People tend to buy when can they relate emotionally to the person bringing them the message.
  3. Stating an opinion (your favorite “material”) – Whether you’re blogging to promote a business, a professional practice, or a nonprofit organization, you should share your opinion or slant.
  4. Offering a specific practical tip or trick to help readers do what they want to do, but faster, better, and more easily. Mohrman includes a simple recipe for a scrub – sugar coconut oil, and gel food coloring..

Other articles included in this Woman’s Day issue illustrate other blog post approaches and “clever hacks”:

  • Toni Lipse answers the question “What’s the difference?” (between crocheting and. Knitting). In creating content for marketing blogs, we need to keep in mind that people are online searching for answers to questions they have and for solutions for dilemmas they’re facing. But searchers haven’t always formulated their questions, and so what I suggest is that we do that for them in our content.
  • A testimonial by Nancy Landrum explains how crafting helped her battle depression after being widowed twice and losing her eldest son. Customer testimonials in blogs are a powerful form of social proof; readers are more likely to follow the actions others have already taken.

Whether you’re getting crafty with spray paint or with words, make sure to share some clever hacks – and, even more important – a glimpse into your own roots, favorites, and opinions!

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Blogging About What They Said, Not What You Heard

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“Anyone can say, ‘I heard”; only a journalist can say ‘They said'”, explains Amelia Dieter McClure in the Indianapolis Business Journal, emphasizing the commitment to the truth as the core tenet of a journalist.

While blog marketing is not journalism in the true sense of the term, commitment to the truth should take two forms in blog posts, we teach at Say It For You:

  1. Using data to back up claims
  2. Properly attributing ideas, images, and text that come from others’ work.

“The best content marketers aren’t afraid to share,” Corey Wainwright of Hubspot explains. (By giving credit in a hyperlink, not only am I giving Wainwright credit for the quote, I’m linking to the Hubspot website where his blog post appears.

With literally trillions of words being added daily to the World Wide Web, the Internet has become the largest repository of information in human history. Blogging for business has become a rapidly growing part of this information swell, and (inadvertently or on purpose) there’s undoubtedly a lot of “borrowing” going on.

As an occasional high school and college level English tutor, I teach my students to avoid plagiarism by properly attributing statements to their proper authors.  The blogging equivalent of citations is links. There are actually rewards to be gained in this arena for doing the “right and proper thing”: Electronic links enhance search engine rankings for your blog by creating back-and-forth online “traffic”.

There’s a second aspect to “truth-in-blogging” when it comes to claims. Most business blog posts make claims.  The claims may be understated, exaggerated, or exactly on the money, but still – a claim is a claim. The problem is, often blog visitors don’t know how to “digest” the claims you’ve “served up”.  They simply don’t have any basis for comparison, not being as expert as you are in your field. What I’m getting at is that every claim needs to be put into context, so that it not only is true, but so that it feels true to your online visitors. Readers must be shown how that claim has the potential to help them with their problem or need!

Anyone can blog about “what “they heard” or “what they think” or “what they claim”, but the best business blog writers are committed to the truth.

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Blog Genres: Take Your Choice – Carefully

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Your choice of genres may be very different depending on who you’re writing for and point you want to make,” the authors of Everything You Need to Ace English Language Arts in One Big Fat Notebook explain. “Different genres alter the focus of the topic.” The journalism genre, for example, puts the most important facts first, leaving out all personal opinions or personal history of the author. The memoir genre, in contrast, focuses on the memories of an individual and does not refer to research.

Since blog content writing is, by definition, nonfiction, authors can follow several of the guidelines in the Notebook:

  • using research (old newspaper articles, interviews, eyewitness accounts)
  • including charts, graphs, and photos
  • skillfully using both explicit and implicit evidence

In a non-fiction text, Notebook authors explain, explicit evidence is actually stated. Implicit evidence, on the other hand, involves conclusions readers draw from the text. In order to “steer” readers to arrive at certain conclusions, “choosing the BEST evidence from all the evidence is crucial, in order to get the point across quickly and convincingly”. In fact, “choosing evidence” is a foundational aspect of blog content creation. At Say it For You, we teach that, in addition to having a focused topic for each blog post, writers must have a specific audience in mind, choosing the best evidence for that target audience.

“Every author writes with a purpose in mind,” the Notebook states. “In opinion pieces, it is an established fact that the authors have a purpose and are trying to convince the reader of something.” Still, a good writer knows that not everybody agrees, and therefore includes counterclaims or counterarguments.” When it comes to blog marketing, visitors will be subjecting your content to an “acid test”, judging whether this site is the “real deal”. That’s where presenting “evidence” in the form of facts and figures comes in.

Some “tried and true” blog genres include:     

  • advice
  • collections and top lists
  • reviews
  • predictions
  • motivation
  • trouble-shooting
  • interviews
  • how-to
  • editorial
  • personal reflection

Whichever the genre of choice, a central idea is the most importance element in any piece of writing, Notebook authors remind us. Around that central idea, the content of any piece can be constructed. As blog content writers, we can take our genres, but it’s important to do that carefully!

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