Business Blogs – Where Marketing Initiatives Converge

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“For an unlikely selfie, visit the Four Corners Monument, the only point in the United States where four states converge,” suggests Alison Caporino in “A Quirky Tour of the U.S.A.”. The monument itself is in Arizona, she explains, but Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet at that spot as well.

Since, at Say It For You, we eat and breathe blogging for business, I hope you’ll indulge my using the Four Corners Monument as a metaphor for content marketing through blogs. I’ve done a lot of thinking about how email, social media, websites, and blogging relate to each other when it comes to attracting and retaining customers and clients.

In fact, I like to describe blogging, social media, and email as the “Three Musketeers” of online marketing, with blogging being the hub (like the Arizona location of the monument). The blog is where you think through and then put together the words to add fresh content about your business. From there, you encourage “convergence” with different social media audiences.

What’s so amazing about blogging, remarks Brian Clark of Copyblogger,  is the fact that “anyone willing to put in the work can become a media producer/personality without speaking a word to anyone in the existing media power centers of Los Angeles, New York, et al”.

“Your own site (on your own domain),” he continues, “is simply the best way to publish new media content. And social media news and networking sites are the ways that your content gets exposure.”

And how, exactly, can blog content writers help that exposure happen? In small chunks, suggests Mark Scott of socialmediatoday.com. “Instead of writing huge descriptions or copy-pasting whole paragraphs on Facebook, use small attention-grabbing snippets from the post, backlinking to the full blog post.” Scott reminds business owners to use their personal brand to promote posts by commenting on related blogs.

Not to ignore the obvious – let your existing clients and customers and all your business friends know about the birth of your blog.  Add the blog’s URL to flyers, business cards, and to your website. Email an excerpt from a favorite post to a select group of clients and business contacts.

Blogging can easily become the Four Corners Monument for marketing your business or professional practice!

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Fireworks for Business Blogs

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Hard to imagine Fourth of July celebrations without fireworks, but, until two weeks ago, I hadn’t known about the “biggest and best fireworks blog in the world,” Epic Fireworks.

The Epic Fireworks blog is big, all right, with literally hundreds of categories and thousands of blog posts.  Since today is July 4th, I spent some time analyzing the Epic post titled “4th July or Independence Day”.

As a corporate blogging trainer, I give kudos to Epic  blog author Paul Singh for incorporating:

Interesting facts:

  • “The oldest established July 4th celebrations which have continued without interruption have been held in Bristol, Rhoda Island since 1777.”
  • “Macy’s Fireworks have been held since 1976.  In 2009, in recognition of the route taken by Henry Hudson in 1609, the fireworks were moved from their usual site over the East River to the Hudson.”

Online readers have a natural curiosity, particularly when you offer information related to a query they’ve already typed into a search bar.  That’s why little-known facts and statistics make for good business blog fodder.  Important for bloggers to remember, though: use each tidbit as a jumping-off point to explain some unique aspect of your own products or services!

Illustrations and images:

Each fact was attached to an image.

The main message of a blog is delivered in words, of course.  Where visuals come in, whether they’re in the form of “clup art”, photos, graphs, charts, or even videos, is to add interest and evoke emotion.  People absorb information better when it is served up in more than one form.

Frequency:

I’d come upon the Epic blog just two weeks ago, June 23, to be exact. The latest post had been June 22; the ones before that were posted on June 20, June 17, and June 16. 

Momentum in the online rankings race comes from frequency of posting blogs and from building up longevity by consistently posting content on the Web over long periods of time.

Navigation ease:

At the bottom of each blog page were two arrows, one leading to “older entries”, the other to “newer entries”.  The page had a search bar and a Calls to Action section allowing readers to buy Epic fireworks online, subscribe to the blog via RSS feed, or follow Epic on Twitter.

The point I want to stress to content writers in Indianapolis is simply this: The easier it is for searchers to navigate your site, the easier it will be for them to engage and transact.

Hard to imagine Fourth of July celebrations without fireworks.  Hard to imagine a better modeal for newbie blog content writers to follow that Paul Singh’s fireworks blog!

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Wait-Wait-Don’t-Tell-Me Business Blogs

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“Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!”, NPR’s weekly hour-long quiz program, is a favorite of mine.  I’m not the only one – the show has been enormously successful for years.

Since at Say It For You, we’re all about creating content that can engage readers, I asked myself just why the “”Wait Wait” content is so very engaging.  I concluded there are two main reasons for the program’s success:

  • Listeners get to be involved (by guessing the answers)
  •  Listeners don’t need to actually make a commitment (sitting in my car, I don’t worry that anyone will kow I’ve selected the wrong response)

So, what’s the takeaway for us blog content writers?

A couple of years ago, I remember, I commented on an advertorial in the Indianapolis Star supplement called “Why To Buy a Piano”.  The piece provided tips on the basic decisions facing piano buyers (digital vx. acoustic, upright vs. grand, used vs. new).  But the big thing about that advertorial was in the final paragraph: “You don’t have to make the ultimate piano decision the first time.”

Think about how reassuring that statement might be for a buyer (“They’re trying to help me, not sell me the most expensive instrument in the store.”)

Searchers on the web may be shopping for the products or services you offer, but may not be ready to make a commitment.  If, in your business blog, you can convey the idea that there are different levels of involvement possible, and that “ultimate decisions” need not be made the moment a potential client or customer “steps into” your website, visitors can be comfortable engaging with you.

The NPR blogging secret for business owners and professional practitioners: Offer valuable information and encourage “just looking” blog visitors who may be thinking, “Wait, wait, dont sell me…yet…”

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Nail Polish Remover for Business Blogs

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Ink-smudged laptop keys or floor tile? Haul out the nail polish remover, advises Alison Caporino in one of my favorite Reader’s Digest sections “Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things”.
https://www.overdrive.com/media/1581946/extraordinary-uses-for-ordinary-things

How-to ideas are always a good idea for business blog posts.  By teaching, rather than selling, I explain to blog content writers, business owners or professional practitioners can enhance their own value in the eyes of readers.

To me, this tactic is a blog marketing no-brainer.  But what so often happens is that I’ll be discussing blog content ideas with new Say It For You clients, and I’ll get a lot of pushback. The fear is that if they include “how-to” ideas in their blog,proprietors or practitioners will lose, rather than gain, customers and clients.  (Those readers won’t need them, is the worry.)
In the real world, I hasten to assure the fearful, things usually work the opposite way. Giving advice by sharing “recipes” and instructions is a great way to showcase your experience and expertise, and consumers who feel fairly informed might actually prove more willing to make buying decisions.
The “extraordinary” part of the blog content equation needs some further explanation, I realize. Like spices in cooking, less is more. Blogging about unusual ways your products or services have been applied in different situations is a good way to capture interest. (Remember the song “You Gotta Have a Gimmick” in “Gypsy”?) “

But in order for the stuff to be really useful to readers, your reason for including it in the blog posts has to be apparent. It’s best if the new information relates, not only to your topic, but to something with which readers are already familiar.

In other words, while it’s fine to include “extraordinary” information tidbits in your business blog posts, assuming the goal is winning click-throughs and acquiring customers, your main emphasis should be extraordinary solutions to ordinary needs.

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What Distinguishes Blogging From Other Social Media?

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Came across a very useful blog post the other day, written by Jeremiah Owyang of Social Media and titled “Understanding the difference between Forums, Blogs, and Social Networks”.

As a freelance blog content writer and corporate blogging trainer, I agree with Owyang that there’s a lot of confusion out there about what distinguishes blogs from other social networking tools.

Backtrack a bit: Social media, as defined by ESCP Europe Business School marketing professor Andreas Marcus, consists of “a group of Internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”

But, with so many platforms out there, it’s easy to get the tools mixed up, says Owyang. Forums, he explains, are like social mixers, where everyone mills about and discusses things with others. Social networks, in contrast, are like topic tables at a conference luncheon. People connect through common interests and share information.

Owyang compares blogs, on the other hand, to keynote speeches. (As a longtime member of the National Speakers Association, I can relate to that comparison.) The blogger is in control of the discussion, but allows questions and comments from the audience. Blogs, he adds, are journals often authored by one individual or by a team, used to talk with the marketplace.

Why do I find the Owyang blog post particularly informative for business owners and professional practitioners (and of course for us content writers telling their stories)?

 “It’s important to know the many different tools in your tool chest as every type of accessory fulfills a different need. Before you jump to tools, you should first understand who your community is, where they are, how they use social technologies, and most importantly, what they’re talking about.”

Yasmin Bendror of Marketing Matters sums up the topic in this potent paragraph:

 “It’s obvious that social media will continue to have a significant impact in 2014 on marketers and business owners: They now have the ability to reach out and communicate on a personal level with their target audience on a daily basis. This is a game changer for businesses engaging in marketing, sales, customer service and other business activities.

At Say It For You in Indianapolis, we couldn’t agree more!

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