Putting Blog Readers in Possession of the Truth

/0 Comments/in , /by


Blog content writing was unheard of when philosophers Aristotle and Confucious, or even John Locke, were alive, but it’s interesting how very apropos their sayings are today:

“The great art of learning is to understand but little at a time.” (Locke)
It’s easy to become overwhelmed, these days, by the sheet amount of information available to us on any given subject. Blogs offer information in bite-sized pieces. In creating bog content, we need to exercise “portion control” in the length of paragraphs, of blog titles and of entire blog posts, focusing on one central idea in each post.

“It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of the truth.” (Locke)
I’m a firm believer that myth debunking is a great use for corporate blogs.  That’s because in the natural course of doing business, misunderstandings about a product or service often surface in the form of customer questions and comments. Addressing misinformation in a company’s blog shines light on the owner’s special expertise, besides offering information that is valuable to readers. De-mystifying matters can make your blog into a “go-to” source for readers seeking information in your field. On the other hand, people generally don’t like to have their assertions and assumptions challenged, so even as you’re debunking, do it in a way that respects readers’ desire for new, little-know information.

“Even while they teach, men learn.” (Seneca the Younger)
At Say It For You, I call this the “training benefit”, meaning that when you blog, you are constantly providing yourself with training about ways to talk effectively about your products and services.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” (Aristotle)
Every time you write a blog post, it’s one more indexed page on your website, plus it’s a cue to the search engines that your website is active and they should be checking in frequently to see what content you’ve published.

“It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” (Confucius)
Whether your blog posts are composed by you as the business owner or professional practitioner or by a content writer, the key is to continue to implement your plan until it becomes totally part of your new way of life and work.

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blog Stuff I Can Be Proud of In 2019

/0 Comments/in , , /by

blogging principles

There are 5 things Darren Rowse of ProBlogger wishes he’d known earlier about writing content for a blog. My list (of things I wish I’d known) would be much, much longer than that, I realize. Still, looking back at 2019, I’m proud to say that in this 12th year of writing this Say It For You blog, I did remember to incorporate some of those five blogging “axioms”.

The Power of Titles

“The title has the ability make or break a blog post. It impacts how (and if) it’s found….and is vital in whether people actually read what you have to say.” Of the 101 blog posts I created during the calendar year, each had a unique and original title.

The viral nature of Lists
“I find that when writing the same content as a list that you write as an essay, the list will almost always get more attention.” While I wrote few pure “listicles”, I incorporated numbered or bullet-pointed lists in fully half of the 2019 posts.

The importance of being original
“People are drawn to others who speak their mind, who have something unique to say.” One important way in which Say It For You stresses originality is by taking on one client per type per market, avoiding conflicts of interest and creating original content focused exclusively on that client’s business or profession.

The Value of Well Formatted Content
“Online readers tend to scan content, and visual clues in your posts draw the eye to important points.” Dividing the content into sections headed by bold titles (as I’ve done here) helps readers follow the logic of the blog, even if they do not fully read every word in every section.

The Impact of a Good Image
“Images have the power to communicate in ways that words cannot.” Every Say It For You post was headed by, or incorporated, an image.

For every writer, there’s room for improvement, and, in 2020, that’s what we aim to do. The mission hasn’t changed – create content that is accurate, current, consistent and dependable, based on understanding each client’s business, or practice.

Meanwhile, allow me my brief moment to look back and be proud. Happy NewYear!.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

What’s in a Name When Blogging For Business

/0 Comments/in , /by

 

Richard Lederer, author of the book the Joy of Names, has a vested interest in his subject: his own name, he reveals means “powerful estate ruler leather worker”. But, “Must a name mean something?” (as Alice asks Humpty Dumpty).”Of course it must!” is Dumpty’s reply.

In writing to promote a business or practice, using stories about names and nicknames makes for engaging content. In fact, it’s an excellent idea to share anecdotes about people on the team who have earned a complimentary sobriquet.

Just this week, paging through a special edition of People Magazine devoted to The stars of Food Network, I noticed several examples:

  • Bobby Flay is “the elder statsman of Food Network”.
  • Ina Garten is “the ultimate hostess”.
  • Valerie Bernelli is “hot in the kitchen”.
  • Duff Goldman is “the designated baker”.
  • Guy Fiere is “mayor of Flavortown”
  • Alton Brown is “the geek of gastronomy”

As fellow blogger Michael Fortin reminds content writers, getting personal is a huge element in the success of business blogs. Sharing this type of fond moniker, along with an anecdote, adds interest to blog posts. Did you know that Alton Brown once invented a turkey derrick with ropes, pulleys, and a ladder, to facilitate safe and accurate fryer of a Thanksgiving bird?

Storytelling has the power to move from lifeless to life-filled copy, Luana Spinetti writes in webhostingsecreatreveals.net.

The following poem by Charles Delint (included on page 11 of the Lederer book) sums up the astounding power of names and the stories behind those names:

A name can’t begin to encompass the sum of all of her parts,
But that’s the magic of names, isn’t it?
That the complex, contradictory individuals we are
can be called up complete and whole
In another mind through the simple sorcery of a name.

As the People Magazine Food Network issue demonstrates, blending 6 cups of the power of names with 6 cups of intriguing anecdotes and – you’ve got some very delicious business blog content!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Good Luck/ Bad Luck Blog Comments

/0 Comments/in , , /by

handling blog comments

Often, when we’re setting up a new blog for a business owner or professional practitioner, the topic of comments comes up.  Should readers be invited to post comments?  Initially at least, most Say It For You clients are afraid to allow for comments on their blog.  Why? They fear those comments might be negative or critical.

When, just the other day, I received my copy of Steve & Jack’s Home News (from my friend Steve Rupp, the Keller-Williams real estate consultant), I thought about this dilemma of whether it’s good to allow readers to comment on your business blog.  The newsletter started out with a story called “Good Luck, Bad Luck.” This farmer’s stallion runs off, and neighbors comment on what bad luck that was.  Farmer says, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?” A series of bad/good events follows: The stallion returns with a herd of wild mare; the farmer’s son, while training one of the mares, is thrown off the horse and breaks his leg.  Because of the broken leg, soldiers do not seize this son for military service. The moral of the story is that all luck, both good and bad is fleeting.

Same thing with blog comments:  Blogs need to be available not only for reading, but for acting and interacting. Just the way that even bad reviews help ticket sales for plays, even when a posts a negative or critical comment about your product or service, you’re still getting “bang for your blog” from the search engines.

The “bad luck” side of the coin, of course, is that spam comment attacks tend to plague newly created blog pages.  That spam typically shows itself in three forms:

  1. Total nonsense, with links to sites the writer is promoting
  2. Totally unrelated to the topic of the blog
  3. Blatant advertising for web services

There is no definitive way to stop SPAM comments as Jeremy Politt of the ITeam admits. There are a few steps business owners and practitioners can take when setting up the blog platform, including:

  • Don’t automatically accept comments – reserve the right to review them and decide whether to publish them. (This is how I handle comments on this Say It For You blog.)
  • Include a “Captcha” so that readers must prove they’re human, not a digital SPAM machine gun.

Like the stallion running off and the farmer’s son’s broken leg, negative comments on a business blog are “good luck, bad luck – who knows?

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail