Backward Blogging

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This month’s Hunt’s Headlines tip is a great reminder for content writers of every ilk: Read your copy backward. Huh? Reading backward forces you to focus on each individual word without the surrounding context, Hunt’s first boss taught him.

Even though we have access to a stockpile of online grammar and spelling tools, Clifford Chi of hubspot.com admits, typos are inevitable. Chi posts pics of juice bottles labeled “orignal” and a prescription label directing the patient to “take one capsule by mouth nightly 2 hours before ded.” Meanwhile, Gur Tirosh of historybyday.com shows us a “no enrty” sign, a banner touting a high school commited to high standards, and a street sotp warning message.

Big deal? Do content writers need to be overly concerned with bloopers in blog content? Michael Hyatt, author of Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, doesn’t think so. Blogs are not books, Hyatt reasons, and you can make corrections later and republish. At Say It For You, we tend to side with the view expressed by Brian Clark of copyblogger.com, who says that certain types of errors “can make you look dumb”.

Has the thinking changed? Are blog readers more likely to overlook typos and grammar errors? Hmm…Back in 2008, when the Say It For You content marketing company was in its infancy, I observed that Americans appear to fall into different camps when it comes to writing bloopers, ranging from the functionally illiterate to grammar-Nazi reformers. Although blog audiences tend to be scanners rather than readers,  I suggested that there will inevitably be those who notice bloopers and form a negative impression of the products and services you offer.

Can spelling and grammar mistakes make you seem more “human” to your blog readers, as one reader of the marketinginsidergroup.com blog suggested? Er….not really, is my take on that one – even back in 2017, I wrote that even though your blog is supposed to reveal the “real you”, and should be informal in tone, the “Real Me” has a very real opinion on the subject of grammar and spelling, convinced that customers like to buy from people who are in command of language tools.

Proofreading is as challenging as it is important, Mary Cullen writes in the instructionalsolutions.com blog. “It’s the final touches needed that ensure a business document is correct, consistent, and professional.” Cullen recommends taking a 24-hour break from the content before proofreading it, then reading it aloud to highlight awkward sentences.

Thanks, Todd Hunt, for reminding us content writers that it can be very forward-looking of us to proofread our blog posts backward!

 

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Your Blog Comes With Bragging Rights

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Yeah, it’s more than OK to brag on yourself in your blog. Remember, online visitors searching for a product or a service typically have no idea what it takes to do what you do and how much effort you put into acquiring the expertise you’re going to use to their benefit.

Hold on a moment – What I am not telling content writers to do is to “wave their credentials” around. What I do think needs to come across loud and clear in business blog writing is what preparation and effort it takes – on your part and on the part of your employees – to be able to deliver the expert advice, service, and products  customers can expect from you.

As a business owner in today’s click-it-yourself, do-it-yourself or hire-a-robot world, your content needs to demonstrate to online searchers that, in your field, you are smarter than Google Maps, or eHow, or Wikipedia. (A recent Digital Trends article criticized ChatGPT, saying that the chatbot has “limited knowledge of world events after 2021, and is prone to filling in replies with incorrect data if there is not enough information available on a subject.”)

Understanding your target market is different from just making assumptions about it. Instead, it’s about really trying to figure out its needs and motivations, squareup.com observes. “You should also consider who your customers are as people. What do they value? What is their lifestyle?”

Where “bragging rights” enter into the equation, we’ve learned at Say It For You, is that, in order for you to connect with those customers, the marketing content must make clear that you are part of their community and that therefore you share their concerns and needs.

Adboomadvertising.com agrees. “Don’t be modest, BRAG!! Bragging is vital for sales survival, so “brag about the results, and the value you were able to give clients who trusted you to handle their business.” Suggested tactics include:

  • case studies
  • testimonials
  • press clippings
  • awards and honors

In addition to all those “third-party” tactics, though, your blog content should provide readers with real insight into “what it took” and what keeps you and the people at your company or professional practice stay motivated to continue learning and serving. “It’s not bragging if it’s true,” says the rdwgroup. “Be confident but not conceited. Flaunt your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses.”

So, yeah, it’s more than OK to brag on yourself in your blog!

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Interviewing Questions for Blog Posts

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Interviews are a vital aspect of nonfiction writing, Don Vaughn explains in Writer’s Digest. and freelancers often turn to subject matter experts or to everyday people with unique experiences, perspective, or opinions. Vaughn suggests five key questions be posed to interviewees:

  1. What was your inspiration for…..?
  2. Why is your accomplishment important?
  3. What were the greatest challenges you faced?
  4. What do you get personally from your work?
  5. Who else would you suggest I talk to?

In a sense, blog posts might be viewed as “reverse” or “flip-flopped” interviews, with prospects interviewing the business, rather than the other way around. At Say It For You, we teach content writers that searchers are recruiting help, evaluating the content in light of their own needs. But, as a blog-content-writer-for-hire by business owners and professional practitioners, I’ve found that actually interviewing the founders or principals of a business or practice can make for very effective marketing content, often more compelling than the typical narrative text. How does that work? In a face-to-face (or online) interview with a business owner, executive, or professional practitioner, I capture their ideas and some of their words. I then add “framing” to the post with my own questions and introductions.

Interviewing subject experts will give your content depth, credibility, and perspective, explains Dawn Wolfe of thesimonsgroup.com. For one thing, industry experts are in a better position to make a topic meaningful for non-insiders. As a side benefit, Wolfe suggest, the experts you interview are more likely to share the content with their own networks, increasing your reach. In fact, Wolfe recommends providing interviewees with “teaser copy” they can post to their own social channels, making sure to include relevant hashtags. Wolfe has practical suggestions for locating subject matter experts to interview, suggesting analysts, authors, consultants, government agency and nonprofit personnel, universities and professional associations.

The STAR method of conducting a “behavioral” interview has become quite popular, The interviewee is asked to describe a Situation they were in, a Task they needed t accomplish, the Actions they took, and the Results. But, whatever format our Say It For You content writers select for an interview with a SME (subject matter expert), the goal is to elicit new insights into the subject matter. Whether it’s business-to-business blog writing or business to consumer blog writing, the blog content itself needs to contain opinion and insight, not only information and products.

 

 

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Blogging the Whys, Whats, and Talking Points

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Carmel Rotary and the City of Carmel, I learned from the Carmel Monthly magazine, are preparing to host the Deputy Mayor of Cortona Italy, Carmel’s new sister city. As part of an “authentically Italian experience”, titled Arte d’Italia, Attesti, a world-renowned pianist, will perform at the Palladium and at the Carmichael.

Exciting cultural news, but as a content marketer, I was quite impressed with the way writer Janelle Morrison presented that news, including the three elements that need to be included in blog posts designed to inform readers about new developments in a business or practice:

The Whys
The typical website explains what products and services the company offers, who the “players” are and in what geographical area they operate. The better websites give at least a taste of the corporate culture and some of the owners’ core beliefs. But, as we stress at Say It For You, it’s left to the continuously renewed business blog writing, though, to present new developments, as well as giving readers a deeper perspective with which to process the information and show why it’s important. The first part of the Carmel Monthly article explains the various ways, according to Mayor Brainard, any city that is a member of Sister Cities International benefits in terms of international goodwill, student educational exchanges, and expanded business relationships.

The Whats
Morrison then went on to detail the “whats”, meaning the details of the upcoming plans, representing opportunities to “showcase some of Carmel’s finest and most beautiful venues and organizations”. Hotel Carmichael’s Chef Jason Crouch have curated “an amazing menu focused on the rich culinary influence found in this region of Italy”. Carmel Symphony Orchestra Artistic Director Janna Hymes worked via Zoom with Attesti to design a whole new program featuring Italian and American pieces. In blogging for business, it’s simply not enough to provide even very potentially valuable information to online searchers who’ve landed on a company’s corporate blog. The facts (the “whats”) need to be “translated” into relational, emotional terms that compel reaction – and action – in readers.

The Talking Points
Prepare talking points for each interview, is the advice offered by Sally Cates to financial advisors in Financial Planning Magazine. Business bloggers need to prepare talking points as well, curating and properly attributing materials from different sources to support the points and add value for readers. Some of the powerful talking points included in the Carmel Monthly piece are these: Music is a universal language. Mayor Attesti explained that the Italian legislation, more restrictive than that of the U.S., makes approaching sponsors for cultural activities a challenge; he hopes to learn about economic sustainability of cultural initiatives. On the other hand, he hopes to suggest ways to increase tourism and cultural life in Carmel.

In blogging for business, all three elements are important for success – the whys, the whats, and the talking points!

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There Are More Than One Boy-Meets-Girl Blogging Arcs

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“At its very heart, I believe that there is only one story arc in the world,” writes Sonali Dev. “There’s a character in an uncomfortable situation and they must find a way to resolve it.” The narrative arc refers to the structure and shape of a story, the sequence of occurrences in the plot. A good arc is vital if you want to engage your readers from start to finish, advises reedsy.com. Boy meets girl, boy fails girl, boy gets girl again is one classic example, the author says. Adding complexity to a basic story arc is part of what differentiates one story from another, even when they’re ostensibly dealing with the same ideas.

In fact, in creating blog content at Say It For You, we often use a softer version of the “hurt and rescue” story arc author D. Forbes Ley suggests salespeople use to close deals – identifying ways in something valued by readers might be in jeopardy, and then emphasizing two points::

  1. The business owner or professional practitioner understands readers’ concerns and needs.
  2. The business owners or practitioner has the experience, information, products and services to solve exactly those problems and meet precisely those needs.

Using those two points as basic content building blocks, there are a number of ways bloggers can follow Sonali Dev’s advice and “add complexity” to the story arc:

  • debunk a “myth” or false impression relating to your field
  • tie the content to a front-page news story having to do with a problem your company or practice helps solve
  • share a true story
  • use statistics to prove the extent of the problem
  • relate a celebrity story that illustrates the problem – or the solution you propose

Whichever of these “arc” tactics you select for any one blog post, a tip offered by Writer’s Digest contributor Estelle Erasmas should be kept in mind: “Focus on one specific point in time rather than on an entire life story.” Yes, your readers may in fact be seeking a way out of an uncomfortable situation, but might also be in search of information on how to perform a certain task, or looking to satisfy their curiosity on a particular subject.

There are more than one boy-meets-girl blogging arcs!

 

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