5-Question Blogging for Business

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“Someone asked me a good question today about my business,” recalls executive man with question on white. Isolated 3D imagecoach Kim Stoneking.  “Fortunately,” he adds “I was prepared with an answer. The request from the prospect was, “Tell me five things that make you different from your competitors.” Because Kim had thought about that question and was prepared with a response, he was able to impress the prospective client. Kim’s challenge to his readers was to come up with that list of five for their own organizations.

I think the challenge posed to us as us business blog content writers goes one step further than that.  Not only must we (or the business owners and practitioners who’ve hired us to tell their stories) be prepared with the response to that 5-differentiator question, we need to offer the response before that question is ever asked!

And, whether the answer is five things or three or ten, online searchers need to learn the “whats” and the “whys”. Just what do you do, just what do you make, just what do you sell that sets you apart from your competitors, and just why would any of those differences matter to this prospect? You might go so far as to say that the essential purpose of a blog is to provide a forum for business owners and practitioners to answer those “what” and “why” questions.

There’s one caveat, though, I teach corporate blog content writers.. While you want to compare your products and services to others’, it must be done in a positive way. Your company blog posts can get the job done with subtlety, using the “Power of We”.  Try sentences beginning with “At _____(your company name), WE offer…………….  WE believe that……..    WE value.  Rather than devaluing other companies’ products and services, stress the positives about you and yours.

Don’t wait for someone to ask you that good question about your business – tell your readers and prospects the things that make you different from your competitors, and do it in a positive way!

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Helpful Hint Blog Writing

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hints and tipsHitting precisely the right “advertorial” note is the big challenge in corporate blog writing.  In fact, one point I’ve consistently stressed in these Say It For You blog content writing tutorials is how important it is to provide valuable information to readers, while avoiding any hint of “hard sell”.  Well, providing tips and help hints may very well be the perfect tactic for accomplishing that very goal.  

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.

I noticed that the “Great ways to save” article was about money management; the tips were collected from a money coach, a chief information officers, the fashion director for Men’s Health magazine, and a positive living expert.

OK, so as a business blog writing trainer, how would I advise adapting that helpful-hint/curation strategy to you business or practice?

Find complementary businesses or practices.  Ask the owners (or cite their blogs) for tips they can offer your readers.  Pet care professionals can share tips from carpet cleaning pros – or the reverse! If you’re a carpet cleaning pro, you can share tips from allergists as well.  If you’re an insurance advisor, offer tips from car dealers about accident prevention.

Of course, you’re going to want to add some tips of your own.  A realtor’s blog might offer tips for buying a house.  A restaurant’s blog might offer hints on tipping etiquette or the temperature of “rare”, “medium” and “well-done” steaks. Whatever the product or service, readers will be hungry for information that helps them gain maximum advantage for buying and using it.

Helpful hint blog writing can be very useful to your business or practice!

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Trying for Incomplete in Blogging for Business

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one piece of a whole“In blogging, it’s important to blog about a particular topic without being complete,” says Lou Dubois in Inc. “If it’s conversational as a blog is supposed to be, you get a chance to say one thing or one idea, and then it’s your customer’s turn to talk or respond.”

“Successful bloggers are focused on their audience and readers as they move out from behind the podium,” says Liz Strauss. “They come in with a beginner’s mind and aren’t afraid to say ‘I’m learning’ as they talk to others and improve.”

That “beginner’s mind” thing really struck a chord with me.  Nine-plus years ago, when I was an experienced writer but very new to blogging, I would attend seminars, read blogs and books about blog content writing and then share that material with readers even as I was learning it myself. (And that, as Paul Harvey used to say, is “the rest of the story” of the Say It For You blog.)

The idea of blogging about your topic (your business or practice) without being complete is an important one on several counts:

  • You cover one aspect of the topic, then link to another blog content writer’s comments about the subject you’re covering, showing that you stay in touch with others in your industry or profession.
  • You leave room to cover other aspects of the topic in future blog posts.
  • Your readers are “learning along with you,” rather like a travel agent who’s experiencing a location for the first time, along with her group.
  • Readers have reason to “put in their two cents”.

The “beginner’s mind” template might appear at first to be a direct contradiction to a piece of advice I often offer to clients and blog content writers, which is to establish themselves as thought  leaders in their field.

Actually, there’s no contradiction.  As business owners or professional practitioners (or perhaps as the blog content writers for those clients), we need to come across as “real”.  Yes, we have knowhow and experience to share, but, along with our readers, we learn something new every day.

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Everyday Business Blog Writing – Every Day

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“When we communicate, customers understand.  And when they understand, they buy,” asserts humorist Todd Hunt. What’sHappiness concept. your biggest challenge every day? Communication probably tops the list, because everybody messes it up — and we’re hilarious!
I was fortunate enough to meet Todd Hunt in person a few years ago at a National Speakers Association of Indiana meeting, and his monthly e-newsletter always contains wisdom I can share with Indiana blog content writers.

Grammarist.com explains one nicety of grammar that Todd Hunt talks about in his latest issue:  Everyday is an adjective used to describe things that occur every day, or are ordinary or commonplace.  In the two-word phrase “every day”, the adjective “every” modifies the noun “day”. For example, every day you eat breakfast. You brush your teeth every day. These are everyday activities. When you’re not sure which one to use, try replacing the word with “each day”. If that makes sense, you want the two-word form “every day”.

Todd Hunt explains the difference in a different way:

“Every day” answers the question “When?”  Office hours are 9am-9pm every day.
“Everyday” answers the question “What kind?”  The everyday low price is $10.99.  What kind of pricing? Everyday.

The point of the discussion, as I explain when training newbie bloggers, is not to turn yourselves into grammar Nazis,, but to ensure that readers understand precisely what you meant to say. The goal for us content creators, after all, is to communicate so that customers understand.

We aim to make our everyday business blogwriting engaging – every day!

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Dealing With the Downside in Business Blogs

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businessman graphIt’s always instructive for me to observe different ways information is presented to readers. That’s especially true if the subject matter is “sensitive”.

Of course, in business blogs, it would be wonderful if everything were positive and all we needed to do was write about positive developments in our business or practice, about all the benefits that come from using our products and services, and about the flawless customer service which we’ve, without exception, provided.  And, of course, that’s not the way the world works, is it?

I was thinking about that the other day when I came across a guide sheet my college mentor colleagues and I had been given to educate us on ways to advise disabled students applying for internships and permanent employment.  The tutorial was called Disclosing Your Disability in three Steps.

I think all of us blog content writers can take a real lesson from that approach to putting a positive emphasis even when honestly disclosing not-so-positive information.

Step 1: Prepare to disclose.
Consider your strengths and challenges. To the extent you’re comfortable, the employer will feel comfortable.  Consider timing – before the interview, after an offer is made, etc.  Plan in advance.

“Thou shalt never hide the facts,” writes Georgetown University professor Robert Bies in Forbes Magazine. When hidden facts become public, you’ll look worse.  But, adds Bies, find positives associated with the bad news, positives grounded in reality. Focus the readers’ attention on the way your company or practice has solved, or is solving the problem.

Step 2: Prepare a script.
Write down what you want to say.  Keep the language simple and avoid being too clinical or detailed.  Remember, the employer will be interested in whether you’ll show up, and whether you’ll be of value to the organization.

One very important use for business blog content writing is exercising control over the way the public perceives any negative developments. The blog is the place to correct any inaccurate press statements

Step 3: Disclose.
Be confident.  You will teach your prospective employer how to respond to your disability based upon the way YOU are handling disclosing it.  Stress your courage and motivation.

As a corporate blogging trainer, I know how crucial it is to convey to customers, as well as to the online searchers who are y our prospects, the kind of message that will alleviate mistrust and create confidence.

Blog posts are like interviews, and sometimes, we content writers need to courageously deal with the downside!

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