Easy Martha Stewart-Inspired Updates for Blog Content

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

 

“To invigorate the look of old china on your table,” Martha Stewart advises on the “Easy Updates” page of her latest Living magazine issue, “identify common shapes and details to weave through the new elements.” Stewart suggests three specific updating techniques:

  1. Add new patterns.
  2. Play up one color.
  3. Mix mod materials.

Along with antique tableware, blog content can benefit from updating, as we teach at Say It For You, and each of Martha’s tips can serve as a guide for giving a bygone blog post a freshening-up. After all, as Richard Harding Davis so aptly remarked, “The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way, or an old thing in an old way.”

Add New Patterns
“Stick to the colors of your old china to keep the table cohesive, but mix in a serving piece with another motif that compliments it.” In composing blog content, it’s a good idea to repeat themes already covered in former posts, but the trick is to change the pattern by a) adding new information and b) using a different format – listicle, Q&A, comparison, etc.

 

Play Up One Color
“Choose a shade from your pattern that you want to highlight, and let it fly in accent pieces like linens or glasses.” In a blog post or series, link new information to themes you’ve emphasized in former posts, “coloring” new concepts or information by referring to concepts you’ve introduced months or even years ago. As Martha Stewart suggests, the old and new are unified through “color”.

 

Mix Mod Materials
“Elevate older porcelain with glass, wood, metal, or ceramic items that add texture and dimension to your table,” Finding word combinations that resonate with blog readers is a big part of the challenge involved in blog content writing. Since there is a definite generational factor involved in language, knowing your target audience is key. In different posts, therefore, you can alternate a friendly, even humorous tone with a professional, authoritative one.

 

In table settings or in blog content writing, invigorate the look of the old “china” with new patterns and colors.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blog to Put Objects into the Conversation

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

 

 

 

 

“Florist Larry Becker and architect Roger Crowley are educators as much as antiquarians,” Martha Stewart writes about the two men who, last year, opened an antique shop in Hopewell, New Jersey called Welbourne Robinson. Crowley describes his partner’s artistic instincts in putting together collages by saying “Larry puts objects into conversation with one another.” In turn, Crowley strives for a “balance of lightness and heaviness” in his own floral arrangements.

When it comes to blogging for business, different “objects”, or types of posts, can present a pleasing and informative overall impression. James Parsons of contentpowered.com. for example, has determined that there are as many as12 primary types of blog content that can be juxtaposed or “collaged”, including press releases, personal content, news content, local content, roundups, and evergreen posts.

Shaun Pinney of Hubspot likens blog posts to cooking, describing:

  • Raisin Bran posts (basic, everyday posts that are educational)
  • Spinach posts (healthy and thoughtful establishing you as a thought leader)
  • Roasts – big projects with extra research r analysis
  • Chocolate Cake posts – humor t diversify your blog
  • Tobasco – controversial statements and opinion pieces

    At Say It For You, I’m always on the lookout for different “templates”, not in the sense of platform graphics, but in terms of formats for presenting information about any business or professional practice. Here are just a few possible “templates”:

    How-to Post
    This type of post aims to teach the reader something, taking them through a step-by-step process. Variations include “How I _____and How You Can, Too.” And “Why ____ Matters and How To Do it”.

  • List Post
    The list post offers readers a selection of ideas, tips, suggestions, or resources.
  • Review Post
    Review posts offer an informed opinion about a particular product or service.
  • OpEd Opinion Post
    This post states a point of view about a particular topic (the blog author can then add his or her own commentary.)
  • Interview Post
    The author interviews a client, an employee, or an outside source.

One way to put these different “objects into conversation with one another” is to refer back and forth among different posts through internal linking. In fact, Neil Patel advises, “Your old posts are the key to growing your blog.”

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Lists Are a Good Fit for Blogs – Once in a While

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Of all the types of list-style blog posts you could write, the “curated list’ is probably the easiest, Virtasktic.com explains, because “it is more about researching and trying to find content from others than about writing your content from scratch”. Still, curated lists require thought and care, and need to be structured in a way that makes it easy for your readers to consume.

That lists in general are a good fit for blogs is actually something I stress in corporate blogging training sessions.  By most accounts, search engines like lists and bullet points.  Even more important, I’ve found over the years at Say It For You, lists help keep readers – and writers – on track.

Interestingly, I came across two different lists, both listing resource programs available to Indiana residents.

  1. The first of these is on the state’s website, Indiana.gov, and offers a comprehensive list of assistance programs including food and clothing, mental health & addiction, health care, housing & utility assistance, children and family, tax assistance and education, employment.
  2. The second list, also abut resources, appeared in the Indianapolis Business Journal‘s promotional supplement “IN Career Ready. This list is focused on assistance programs in only the area of education. However the title does not make that clear (it’s titled “Free Money from the State of Indiana”.

Each of these two lists would be highly useful for readers searching for information about Indiana assistance programs. There is no attempt to editorialize, advise, or even organize the information in a new way. Each list is simply an organized collection of information.

In marketing a business or practice, organizing relevant and useful information in list form, geared towards the needs of your target audience can be very useful to readers. As in the two examples I found, the lists might be of resources for further information, tactics to try, or alternatives for solving a particular problem. Unlike the case with the IBJ supplement, the title must make very clear precisely what readers will find in the list. “Listicles help present a large amount of information in small, easy-to-scan, numbered sections,” explains Neil Patel.

Are list blogs meant to be an “instead of”? Of course not! For instance, listicles cannot…

  • allow your audience to know, like, and trust you
  • offer soft sales messages in value-added content
  • build community
  • highlight the specific needs fears, and wants of your target audience
  • offer opinion and thought leadership

But, when it comes to sheer utility and convenience – list blogs just can’t be beat!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Listicles Make Life Simple for Blog Content Writers and Blog Readers

/0 Comments/in , , /by


The AAA Crossroads Magazine knows a good listicle when they see one. In “How to Make Travel Count”, TV host Samantha Brown lists five tips plus one “bonus tip” for getting the most out of even the shortest travel experience.

  • Tip #1: Take a walk.
  • Tip #2: Explore the side streets.
  • Tip #3: Create a ritual.
  • Tip #4 Talk to people.
  • Tip #5: Identify the emotional value.
  • Bonus tip: Put the map away, put down the phone, and just go down street because you think they look good.

Each one of these titles heads up a paragraph explaining how to use that tip. Not only does that visually organize the page in an attractive way, it makes the information easy to digest.

Still, in the online world, Caroline Forsey writes in hubspot.com, the list post (otherwise known as a listicle) commonly gets a bad name. In fact, she admits, “you can easily drown in a sea of particularly low-quality low-value listicles”. Nevertheless, Forsey explains, readers love listicles – for a number of reasons:

  • They are easy to scan.
  • They outline specifically what the reader will learn in the post.
  • Complex content is broker into bite-sized pieces.
  • Readers can skip to sections most applicable t them.

Listicles feed into our brain’s drive to categorize information and give us a sense of satisfaction when we correctly predict patterns, Neil Patel points out, citing a study out of Ohio State University showing how humans try to detect patterns in their environment.

To avoid adding to the “bad name” side of listicles, Toman of checkflow.io advises, don’t add more points just to fill up your list. Add interesting details to each item (Samantha Brown’s article is the perfect example). In order to make your angle unique, read what the competition is saying on the subject, then write from a personal perspective. “Going for a walk is the very first thing that I do at any destination,” Samantha writes.

I noticed that, even though it’s a listicle, Samantha Brown writes in first and second person, using the pronouns “I” and “we” and “you” throughout her piece. “I know what you’re thinking – Enjoy the mundane?” “I feel that talking to people is something that has been slowly going missing from our daily lives.” In blog marketing, I stress first person writing because of its one enormous advantage – it shows the people behind the posts, revealing the personality of the person or the team standing ready to serve customers.

At Say It For You, our content writers are always seeking to vary the ways we present information on a single topic in many different ways. Not only are we on the lookout for different “templates” in terms of platform graphics, but different formats for presenting information about any business or professional practice.

Listicles, when done well, make life simpler for both blog content writers and their readers.

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blog Posts and Comic Strips – Sisters Under the Skin

/0 Comments/in /by

blog's 3-part structure

In offering corporate blogging training, one rule of thumb I often emphasize is focusing on just one idea in each blog post. Not only does this lend more punch to the post, it helps the blog content writer concentrate all his/her efforts around that one focal point.

When it comes to condensing, comic strip creators do it best, I’m convinced. Three comic strips in one Friday’s issue of the Indianapolis Star are perfect models. Each strip had only three “frames”. In the first, the stage is set with a situation, dilemma, question, or problem. The second box develops the idea, and the third ends with a “summary” closing line.

Blondie:
Did you lecture Alexander about being out past curfew?
Yes.
Then he lectured me for staying up so late!

Wizard of Id
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your hat?
Oh, really? Here!
A mullet? The 80s were the best time for wizards.

Snuffy Smith
How come Sheriff Tait don’t have a deputy?
Well, he likes to think he’s so darn capable he just don’t need one.
That job obviously gives him wa-a-ay too much time to think!

Mutts
As the great cat wizard, I can see into the future.
How does it look?
Empty, for now.

When it comes to blogging, we at Say It For You firmly believe in the Power of One. A business blog post, the concept is, should impart one new idea or call for a single action. Focused on one thing, your post has greater impact, since people are bombarded with many messages each day. Respecting readers’ time produces better results for your business.

Problem-solution essays are a common requirement for high school and college students, grabmyessay.com explains. The essay identifies a problem and discusses a solution, convincing the readers to address the problem as soon as possible. The problem-solution essay, like any other essay, too, should end with a conclusion, restating the problem and containing a call to action that encourages the readers to take part in the proposed solution or to look for alternative solutions.

Although blogs use a much greater number of words than comic strips (and possible far fewer words than writing instructors often require of their students), it’s possible to incorporate that comic-strip “three-frame construct” in each post:

  1. The “pow” opening section presents a question, a problem, a startling statistic, or a gutsy, challenging statement.
  2. The middle section develops the thought, brings in supporting materials and valuable information.
  3. At the end of the post, you do a “tie-back” to that opener, a finishing flourish.

    At Say It For You, we like to think of blog posts and comic strips as sisters under the skin!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail