In Business Blogs, Keep the Downbeat Upbeat

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Orchestra conductor
In blogging for business, the last thing you’d want to be is “downbeat”. (One dictionary definition of “downbeat” is pessimistic, gloomy, negative, and fatalistic.). On the other hand, “downbeat” might be the very effect I want to achieve in order set the mood for my blog post. (The word “downbeat” is a musical term referring to the opening bars of the music, in which the composer sets the mood for the concerto to come.)

The equivalent in blog writing of an orchestra’s downbeat (the conductor’s baton is raised while a hush falls over the audience, then comes down to start the music) is the opening sentence of each post.

From a search engine optimization standpoint, of course, I want to use keyword phrases in the title and in the first sentence, because that helps search engines match my content with the search terms online readers use. Even more important, though, it’s imperative to make the first ten words of any post count.

“Great opening sentences are critical when you’re writing for the internet, where readers have the attention span of fruit flies,” John Hargrave of Mediashower.com says, citing a survey done by Microsoft of more than 2 billion page views, and found that users spend ten seconds on an average Web page On the other hand, the longer you retain them, researchers learned, the more likely they are to stay. At Media Shower, Hargrave says, “we train our writers to spend more time on the opening sentence than any other part of the article.”

Wayne Schmidt agrees. “Whether a story’s fifty words long or a hundred thousand, the most important passage is the opening paragraph. In the few seconds it takes to read it, most readers decide if finishing the tale is worth their time.” Start with a sentence that makes the reader ask a question, Schmidt suggests. (People hate unanswered questions.) It doesn’t have to be a literal question, just something that piques the reader’s curiosity.

Another approach for the “downbeat” is a “tease”, Michael Pollack suggests, withholding a key piece of information till later in the piece so the reader is compelled to keep reading. “What if I said that every TV network, movie, blog, book, and other forms of media use this same tactic?” Writing something that goes against the status quo or conflicts with conventional wisdom is another way to get attention, Pollack points out.

In business blogs, it’s downright important to keep the downbeat upbeat!

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It’s Been Said Before, and That’s OK in Blogging for Business

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“Good writing doesn’t get hung up on what’s been said before,” advises Ann Handley in Everybody Writes. “Rather it elects to simply say it better.”

That piece of advice, I believe, applies not only to what others have written on your topic, but to what you’ve had to say in earlier blog posts. In corporate blogging training sessions, I often explain that it’s perfect OK – in fact a good idea – to repeat themes you’ve already covered in former posts, adding a layer of new information or a new insight each time.

Rather than asking yourself, each time you’re preparing to blog, whether you’ve already covered that material and how long ago, I teach newbie content providers to plan around key themes. Then, what you’re doing in any one post, I explain, is filling in new details, examples, and illustrations.

And when it comes to writing on topics that others have already written about, remember that ideas are not “copyrightable”. As one writer put it, “You are absolutely free to use someone else’s idea as a jumping-off point for your own expression.”

One interesting thing I’ve discovered over the past ten years of writing Say It For You blogs and offering business blogging help to others, is that blogging forces business owners and professional practitioners to verbalize the positive aspects of their own products and services.  Those “training benefits” are not lost to those who hire freelance content like me to be their voice. That’s because the very process of choosing themes, sharing strategies, and planning for content creation involves both owner and writer.

When that synergy is created, something much better than OK happens, resulting in nothing less than great blogging for business!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Still More About Words to use in Blogging for Business

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Words have power text on notepad
It’s the one lesson blog content writers can never afford to forget – the right words are our business blogging power tools. Sure, images (pictures, video clips, infographics) have power of their own.  But never forget that, in blogging, words matter, as Jennifer Olney of bealeader.com points out. Words are art, Olney emphasizes, and, as bloggers, we must “convey our message in words so that we can be understood without distraction”.

“Blogging has become the best possible way to leverage your online presence and gain traction with Internet searches performed by your potential clients.”(No surprise there, but what I did find surprising is the source of the remark – none other than the National Association of Realtors!)

 “Using powerful phrases – the right words – when you communicate gives you the confidence that you’re communicating your best…What you say can make all the difference in how your customers view you and your company,” says Renee Evenson in “Powerful Phrases for Effective Customer Service.”  As blog content writers, we need to be conscious of the difference the right words can make in marketing our clients’ businesses or professional practices.

Customers and clients talk to each other. “Research generally supports the claim that WOM (word of mouth marketing) can be more influential than print sources,”  An essential part of business blog marketing, I’m convinced, is “putting words in blog readers’ mouths”, helping them feel knowledgeable and in control in discussing the buying choices they’ve made with friends, neighbors and family.

“Building a successful word of mouth marketing machine is a dream for nearly every small business,” explains Chelsea Segal of Targetwise. “Word of mouth is about making your product and customer service so incredible that people can’t help but talk about it.”  Segal advises combing through what’s being said about you on various social media channels.  As blog content writers, we should look for congruence between the words customers use and the words we use to describe the product or service.

The words we use in our blog content, the words our clients use in talking to us and to others about us – it’s all about words.  The right ones are our business blog marketing power tools!

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Magic Marketing Words to Use in Blogging for Business

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Hand drill
Certain words and phrases are time-tested to boost response and conversion rates, vertical response.com explains. Those “magic” words include “free”, “value”, “guaranteed”, “amazing”, “easy”, “discover”, “new”, “proven”, and “secret”.

Since your marketing message is often the very first contact between you and a potential customer, it’s important to nail that first impression, adds Brandon Redlinger of kissmetrics. Since people make buying decisions with emotion and then justify those decisions with logic, your message must use psychological triggers to elicit a feeling in the reader’s mind.

Every time someone in your target audience reads your primary marketing message, you want to create an implicit question that follows your statement – “How do you do that?”  Rather than describing your business or profession by its title or category (plumber, dentist, tutor, hardware merchant), think mission statement, describing how you help customers.  Instead of “XYZ is the largest recruiting firm in the Midwest”, try “At XYZ, we help customers find better paying jobs that they love.”

There are four simple rules to help blog marketers choose words for a persuasive post, explains Henneke of enchantingmarketing.com. Pick:

  • words your readers use
  • precise words
  • sensory words
  • relevant words

There are bland words, which should be avoided, Henneke adds:

  • Chewy and tasteless words (really, actually, very) that slow down the reader without adding meaning
  • Stale words (ultimate, amazing, awesome) that have lost meaning over time
  • Doughy words (them, there, is, was, are) no longer flavorsome
  • Low nutrition words (good, nice, bad, successful, effective) whose meaning is weak

Cut out unnecessary words, advises Kayla Izard of resoundcreative.com, listing examples that include:

  • essentially
  • really
  • due to the fact
  • past history
  • for all intents and purposes
  • in terms of

Remember, the right words are our business blogging power tools!

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The Right Words – Business Blogging Power Tools

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Cordless power tools, isolated on a white background
It’s too bad that in the course of doing business, we get so tied up in making a good, marketable product and in serving our customers’ needs, we often forget how much help the right words can be. In fact, when it comes to web-based communication, words, along with images are our only tools. As a blog content writer, not only do I derive special pleasure in nicely turned phrases, I consider those “word tidbits” to be business blogging power tools.

Use “I did” phrases, not. “I am” phrases
Just as on a resume or in a job interview, employers want to see strong action words that highlight specific accomplishments rather than titles, a blog should focus on how the business or professional practice has been able to deliver value to customers and clients. In composing the blog content, think “we achieved”, “we improved”, “we created”.

Avoid zipping points
Zipping points, according to witty public radio host Michael Feldman, are over-used phrases he believes should be kept inside our heads and never allowed to escape our lips – or pens! Avoid once-popular expressions such as “going forward” and “low-hanging fruit”, or “game-changer”.

Use keyword phrases effectively
Proper use of keyword phrases to enhance Search Engine Optimization is the “science” part of the blogging equation. But avoid “stuffing” by keeping the percentage of keywords in the text below 5% of total content, incorporating the keywords in the text in an unobtrusive and natural way to that readers’ attention is focused only on the message.

Use words to put statistics into perspective
Using numbers in blog post titles is a great way to set expectations for a post. But where the words come in, I believe, is that one of the primary functions blogs serve is putting statistics into perspective, so that readers are given the answer to the “So what?” and “So, what’s in-it-for-me” questions.

Words you never use in blogging for business
There are three categories of potential trouble in choosing words, asserts Jay Baer, author of Hug Your Haters:  words that lack humility, words that diminish the customer, and words of argument and avoidance.  As business blog content writers, of course, we’re trying to create great online interactions with customers and prospects, so Baer’s advice is particularly apropos.

The right words are our business blogging power tools!

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