The 8 Worst Mistakes in Blogging for Business

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Reading Paul Sloane’s list of “The Eight Worst Mistakes Made By Keynote Speakers”, I couldn’t help thinking these are probably the same mistakes made all too often by business blog content writers. Just as Sloane warns speakers “Be sure not to make these mistakes”, I’d like to use this Say It For You blog post to issue the same caution to blog writers.

A weak start.
“The first impression that you make on the stage is very important.  It should be positive and animated.”
Once the online visitor has actually landed on your blog, it takes a “pow opening line” to fan that flicker of interest into a flame. That line might consist of a bold assertion or an anomaly (a statement that, at first glance, doesn’t appear to fit).

Over-use of PowerPoint.
“Many speakers load up their presentation with too many slides containing too many words.”
Web surfers have a painfully short attention span, so it’s important to exercise portion control in the length of paragraphs, titles, and entire blog posts. Single visuals can add interest and evoke emotion.

No clear message.
Often speakers try to cover too much ground…There are many different messages but there is no clear theme.”
Business blogging is ideal for using the Power of One. Focus readers’ attention on one theme in each blog post, with one clear Call to Action.

No human interest.
“Many talks are crammed full of facts, data, charts, and statistics…People relate to stories about people.”
The stories content writers in Indianapolis tell in their SEO marketing blog have the power to forge that emotional connection between company and potential customer.

Lack of enthusiasm.
“Your job is to inform and entertain….Try to include some humour or something interesting and unusual, but keep it relevant to the topic.”
Two of the four P’s of business blogging are Passion and Personality.  Blog posts are ideal for communicating the unique personality and core beliefs of the business owner. No doubt about it – enthusiasm sells. And, when it comes to blogging for business, enthusiasm spreads – to searchers, search engines, and right back home to YOU!

Too much Me and not enough You.
“A big mistake is to make the talk about you, your company, your issues, and your achievements….You have to make the talk about them.”
That same concept applies to blogging for business, I’m convinced.  Each claim a content writer puts into a corporate blog needs to be put into context for the reader, so that the claim not only is true, but feels true to online visitors.

No rehearsal.
“Check all the equipment on stage and be familiar with all the logistics.”
Above all, I teach bloggers – don’t confuse the online readers. Don’t overwhelm them with technical jargon. Then, don’t make navigating your blog site a mystery.  Have clear Calls to Action and links that lead directly to where they should.

Overrunning on time.
“Event organizers and audiences do not appreciate a speaker who overruns his allotted time.”
Longer content, if focused and well-organized and engaging, is still appropriate.  Instead of shortening, tighten your writing and make each sentence and phrase count.

Blog content writers – Be sure to steer clear of the 8 mistakes!

 

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Words You Never Use in Blogging for Business

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“It’s more important than ever before to be mindful not just of what your company says to customers online, but HOW it is said as well,” asserts Jay Baer, author of Hug Your Haters. “Minor shifts in words choice can mean the difference between a great customer interaction and an unruly, offended mob.” There are three categories of potential trouble, Baer explains:

  1. words that lack humility
  2. words that diminish the customer
  3. words of argument and avoidance

Baer’s words certainly apply to the work we do as business blog content writers, as we try to create great online interactions with customers and prospects.

One word Baer believes lacks humility is “our”. Bair thinks that word implies that the speaker (or writer, in this case) is speaking on behalf of the collective business.  “We” and “our” lack humanity and the personal touch, Baer says, advising customer service people to use “I” and “me”.

When it comes to business blog content writing, I don’t mind the word “our”, because it’s part of first person writing. I’ve always preferred first and second person writing in business blog posts over third person “reporting”, because I believe people tend to buy when they see themselves in the picture and when they can relate emotionally to the person bringing them the message.

I absolutely agree that the customer or prospect must never feel diminished. While mythbusting is one important function business blog posts can serve, writers should never imply that readers are unable to fully grasp the information or that they have been easily misled in the past. “The word “misunderstanding”, Baer says, is often used as a polite way of saying “you didn’t listen or read well enough.”

Addressing misinformation in a company’s blog shines light on the owner’s special expertise, besides offering information that is valuable to readers. Still, a certain level of anger might arise at having one’s beliefs challenged, so it’s important to throw readers a “bone” by offering some intriguing information that nobody could reasonably have been expected to know. The customer, as Baer explains, may have been completely wrong, but “proving” that is no way to win a friend.

Words to never use in blogs are words that boast, diminish, argue, and avoid!

 

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Don’t Let Your Blog Leave the Wrong “Effect”

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“For all the changes to the algorithm Google goes through,” a blog content writer recently assured readers, “only a handful are significant and will effect your ranking – if even that.” Uh-oh – didn’t you mean “affect your ranking”?

The verb “effect” means “to cause to come into being” or “to bring about. “When you are tempted to use “effect” as a verb, ask yourself if the phrase ‘bring about’ makes sense in its place,” explains getitwriteonline.

“Effect” was the wrong verb, but several other excerpts from that same multi-contributor advice blog demonstrated the use of the wrong pronoun:

  1. No one is going to trust you to deliver quality products and services if your company can’t even manage their own public image. “Company” is singular; the text should read “can’t even manage its own public image”. 
  2. Once you understand who your customer is, it is easier to define in a few simple sentences what makes your company uniquely qualified to solve their problem. “Customer” is singular. This should read “his/her problem”. 
  3. Any professional worth their salt has an account on LinkedIn, which in essence is an online resume. Any professional is singular; “worth his/her salt” would be correct.  If this is awkward, change the subject to “professionals”. 
  4. Ask a designer why they are so enamored of ampersands and they may get a few words in before muttering they don’t know why. A designer is so enamored.

But, hey, does it really matter, you may ask? Readers probably understood what those bloggers meant to say, and perhaps none even caught the blog writers’ mistaken word choices.

Everyone who knows me at all well is familiar with my near-maniacal preoccupation with proper language usage. Informal and conversational as business blog writing might be, I constantly stress to  business blog content writers – or those providing business blogging services – how important it is to check for “spinach-in-the-teeth” bloopers in their content.

Christina Wang of Shutterstock.com  agrees with me that it’s important to pay attention to grammar.. “No matter where you work or what you do, everyone needs to know how to write effectively for business these days,” she says.

Don’t let your blog leave the wrong effect!

 

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Blog What Should Have Been in the Box

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Talk about an “I-wish-I-had-thought-of-that” concept! I absolutely love the name O’Reilly Media® gave its series of manuals by David Pogue: “The Missing Manual® – the Book that Should Have Been in the Box”. The now-120 book series covers tech for amateurs topics such as iPhone use, Quickbooks, Windows10, Photos for Mac – an almost exhaustive list of how –to guides.

Precisely such a “how to” concept can be invaluable for us blog content writers.  Why? Our biggest challenge is providing valuable information to readers while avoiding any hint of “hard sell”. Offering tips and helpful hints to consumers (stuff that may not have occurred to them but which helps them get the most out of the products and services they own or might purchase) may well strike the perfect note.

So what if you’re trying to promote a business or practice but don’t consider yourself an “expert” on all aspects of your field? In a recent issue of AARP magazine, I found an article that uses a “kill-two-birds-with-one-stone” approach to offering helpful hints.  I think that approach could work really well in blogging to promote a business or professional practice.

The AARP article is titled “Great ways to save: tips from 20 experts that can save you thousands of dollars.”  Wow! That gets readers’ attention – useful information coming to them not from any sponsor or vendor, but from twenty experts.  What’s more, the authors have done all the work, collecting all this wisdom and serving it up for readers’ convenience. How would you as a business owner or practitioner use this strategy? Aggregate!

Aggregate? How? Find complementary businesses or practices and ask the owners for tips they can offer your readers (or simply cite their blogs, giving them credit for the ideas). Carpet cleaners can share information from allergists, pet care professionals and realtors. Restaurant owners can offer information gathered from etiquette advisors or food stores. Whatever the products and services, readers will be interested in information that helps them gain maximum advantage from buying and using them.

Blog what should have been in the box!

 

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Blogging for Those Wandering the Stacks

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Searching the Library

“I’ve discovered that searching the Internet doesn’t necessarily get you only to the thing that you were looking for,” observes Vinton Cerf, VP at Google and a “father of the internet”. “Maybe this is like wandering around the stacks in the library and pulling the book next to the one you were looking for, and discovering there was something interesting there.” Cerf says.

Funny, I’ve pondered the same phenomenon about Internet search myself. As I and my Say It For You writers work on blogging strategy with our business owner and professional practitioner clients, we’re looking to use as many key words and phrases as possible that specifically relate to the audience each business is trying to attract.  Actually, we’re trying to satisfy two “masters”, the search engines and the searchers.  We know both of those are looking for the same thing – fresh, frequently changing, and very relevant content that has to do with the subject.

The way I picture it, there’s a boxing competition with two rings and two matches going on at the same time. There’s the PPC (Pay Per Click) and Sponsored Link side, which is where businesses have bought space.  In PPC, every time someone clicks on the link, the business owner pays a fee to the search engine company.

The other “ring”, organic search, is where I and all the other bloggers and writers operate. We’ve chosen organic search, my clients and I (although some businesses also employ PPC as part of their marketing strategy), not only because it offers free placement, but because more than 90% of the action (the clicks) take place on the organic portion of the search engine results page.

Every once in a while, though, just as Cerf pointed out, there’s a “disconnect” between what the searcher wanted and what he or she actually finds.  If this happens with your blog, even though it’s not one of your target customers that clicks on the blog link, it’s not necessarily bad news.  That kind of “mistake” on the part of a reader (like pulling the book next to the one you were looking for in the library) can even result in you converting a searcher-gone-astray into a buyer. I call this “accidental organic donating“.

So, I tell blog content writers and clients, don’t for a moment worry that head of yours about accidental organic donations – just murmur a quiet “Thank you” to the search engine for the miscue!

 

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