OPA for Blog Content Writing – A

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Illustration of an Isolated BarcodeIt’s a principle used by many to build financial success – OPM. The idea: we’re not limited by our own resources, because we can use Other People’s Money. Even if we lack the financial resources to take advantage of business opportunities, explains Michael Lechter of PowerHomeBiz.com , OPM makes moving forward possible.

I like to use that same principle in blogging for business, except the resources involve other people’s advice, or OPA. This week, all three of my Say It For You blog posts will share pieces of advice that can help companies and professional practices move forward in creating high quality blog content.

“Reading from a screen is more tiring and therefore about 25% slower than reading from paper,” points out Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net. That’s why, Rowse stresses, it’s so important in writing blog content for business, to make it scannable.

Simple formatting clues, such as bolding, underlining, and bullet points, can go a long way in the scannability department, Rowse goes on to explain, and he suggests placing pictures close to the content they’re meant to illustrate. “Don’t feel you have to fill up every inch of your screen,” he cautions.  Instead, he advises, create spaces because those tend to draw readers’ eyes.

Rowse makes a point that I’ve often stressed in business blogging training sessions, which is to get to the core topic early in the post. “Don’t bury your points,” is how he puts it.  I tell newbie blog content writers that “your most important task is, as early on as possible in the content of each blog post, to convey the message to those searchers that they’ve come to the right place for the products and information they need”.

Rowse is very honest in his remarks to bloggers: offering scannable stuff is good, he explains, but hardly good enough. Another factor to consider when thinking about good content, he says, is whether it’s unique. He sees blogs every day, he admits, that have very “useful” content, but which nobody reads because there is so much of that same information to be found in other places.

Today’s takeaway piece of OPM – strive for scannable AND unique!

 

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Why-Don’t-YOU-Do-It Blog Writing

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Microphone on standWe’re all used to today’s celebrities, CEOs, and public figures who can’t spare the time to write their own books or speeches, and who hire ghostwriters. As a professional ghost blogger, I’ve become an avid reader on forms and styles of ghost writing.  “Ghosts” are behind everything, I keep learning – from classical and country music to the most popular mystery and romance novels.

The current issue of The Nostalgia Digest, a wonderful periodical I came across at the bookstore, has a story about oldtime radio show “This is New York” featuring the character Archie, bartender at Duffy’s Tavern. Reading the piece, I was reminded of the old, yet ongoing debate about who should be writing content for business blogs.  Should it be the owners of the business or practice, or a hired content creator (a “ghost”)?

Producer Ed Gardner wanted a guy to talk New Yorkese, and who would sound like a bum, not a gentleman.  He kept auditioning people, but was never happy – the accent wasn’t right or the timing would be off.  Someone in the control booth said, “Hey, Ed, why don’t you do it?” “And, by golly, he did,” relates Nostalgia writer Martin Grams, Jr.   “He filled a picture of the character (Archie) with his timing and his voice.”

So what’s the reason business owners and professional practitioners don’t “do it” when it comes to blog writing? They lack the time, the discipline, or the writing skills to do it themselves.  But can an outsider ever do “Archie” as well as the bar owner? Yes, if….. is the answer. As with any promotional materials created for a business by outside professionals, I caution owners, your blog must be in harmony with your style, your approach to your customers and your niche within your industry or field of expertise.

Over my years of working with hundreds of Say It For You client companies and practices, I found that those clients knew that writing blogs in their area of expertise was going to be a great idea for them, yet not very many of them felt they could take the time to compose and post content on a regular basis.  Still, just as Ed Gardner needed a guy to talk New Yorkese, we freelance content writers need to talk the language of each client’s target customers market , and we need to do it in the way that each owner or practitioner would if he “did it himself”!

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Be a Scholar, Not a Driver, When it Comes to Blog Citations

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“Cite” is a verb derived from the Latin citare, meaning to put in motion orp summon, explain the editors of The Book of Random Oddities.

To cite can mean to quote someone or someone else’s work. It can also mean naming someone in a court summons or giving them a parking ticket.  So, as Random Oddities editors point out, scholars like to be cited; drivers don’t.

Citation plays an important part of my work as a blogger. With literally trillions of words being added to the Internet every day, anyone with access to a computer or cell phone can add content of their own at any time. Chances of content duplication are, of course, very high. And, while blogs are more casual and conversational than scholarly works, the fact is, people read blogs to get information. Readers have every right to know where that information comes from, so that they can judge its reliability.

I’m especially sensitive to that because of my work as an Executive Career Mentor at Butler University College of Business and an English Tutor at Ivy Tech Community College.  Plagiarism (passing off someone else’s work as one’s own) is a big, bad word on college campuses, as it should be. Students are taught to use citations and reference pages to show where they got their information.  That way, they avoid plagiarism by properly attributing statements to their proper authors.

In your own work, I teach blog content writers, you can “curate” – gather and present – information from many sources that you believe will be relevant and helpful to your readers. How do you give credit to the sources of your information? The blogging equivalent of citations is links.  So even if you’re putting your own unique twist on the topic, link to websites from which you got some of your original information or news.

Honesty, as they say, is its own reward.  But, when it comes to the Internet, there are practical benefits along with the psychic ones.  Electronic links have the potential to enhance search engine rankings, as you create back-and-forth digital ties with other professionals.

Be a scholar, not a driver, when it comes to blog citations!

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Got a Snowclone for Your Business Blog?

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Book of Random Oddities“Snowclones are fill-in-the blank clichés, references or patterns,” explain the editors of The Book of Random Oddities. (A faithful buyer of “Not Your Daughter’s Jeans”, I had nevertheless not thought of that brand name as a snowclone.)

As a blog content writer, needless to say, I’m constantly on the prowl for expressions that help online readers feel a connection with my clients’ businesses and professional practices. Snowclones such as “X is the new Y”, imply that some new thing has now become more popular or more stylish or more effective than something that used to be the “in” thing.

The snowclone can be flattering to the reader (think “40 is the new 30”), and can reinforce the benefits of the activity discussed in the blog (“knitting is the new yoga” alludes to the relaxing effect of a yarn-related hobby).

Used effectively in a blog post, the snowclone can come across as providing valuable information, helping readers keep up with the latest developments in the field, and, of course, promoting the benefits of the product or service offered in that business or practice.

Sometimes snowclones come from famous quotes, such as “I X, therefore I am”, or “To X or not to X”. We’ve all heard the “a few X short of a Y” as disparaging descriptions of less-than-intelligent individuals – (“A few cards short of a deck”).

Point is, anything that can add variety to your business blog posts, assuming it’s in good taste, is a positive.  Sometimes the variety comes from the information itself, but sometimes, the variety is in the language used.  Snowclones offer a way to connect with your readers through popular culture, along with a sprinkling of wit.

Got a snowclone for your business blog?

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Tying In to Other People’s News in Your Own Business Blog – B

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NewsYou – or your blog content writer – can draw attention to your doings by tying in to OPN (other people’s news), right out of the daily newspaper. This week, in fact, I’m using all three Say It For You posts to take my readers through the exercise of playing off current news and feature items from the paper (I used just one saved issue of the Indianapolis Star) to spark business blog content ideas.

“Carmel Kroger closing for major renovation”, reads the IndyStar headline. Often, business blog posts can be used for a similar purpose – announcing some news about the company or the professional practice – an expansion, a new product line, a new service being offered, or a special sale or promotion. But, of course, not every week will there be something new to announce for each business or practice.. That’s where I advise blog writers to make use of OPN, Other People’s News, as a jumping-off point for writing about their own business.

For example, the Carmel Kroger story mentions that, during the remodeling, operations will be moved into an adjacent building and continue operating according to their normal schedule. I can see the blog writer for an office moving and storage company referring to this Star article, commenting on ways they help their customers reduce “downtime” during a change of location.  Office remodelers and architects can also make use of the Kroger story to offer options to consider in upgrading business sites and retail establishments. When the new Kroger facility is finished, Indianapolis Star readers are told, there will be a food bistro featuring sushi – sushi bars and restaurants can use this news item to showcase the growing popularity of sushi in our city – in the process drawing attention to their own menu offerings!

Reading the daily newspaper is just one of many strategies for blog content development, but it is certainly a good way to spark ideas for blog posts, all the while positioning your blog as the place to find interesting and valuable information.

Tying in to Other People’s News can be a productive exercise in writing business blog posts!

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