OPA for Blog Content Writing – B

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Even if we lack the financial resources to take advantage of business opportunities, exclamation pointexplains Michael Lechter of PowerHomeBiz.com – OPM (using Other People’s Money) makes moving forward possible.

This week’s Say It For You Blog posts follow a similar theme, except the resources involve other people’s advice, or OPA. I’m sharing pieces of pieces of advice that can help companies and professional practices move forward in creating high quality blog content.

Lou Hoffman of Ishmael’s Corner reminds us that effective writing “shows” the reader as opposed to “telling” the reader. But showing takes more words than telling, warns Scribophile, because you’re adding detailed images, sensory information, and dramatized action. In fact Scribophile says, every writer has a choice between composing words in a way that is unique and vivid or in a way that is basic and fact-focused.

Demonstrating that any one product or service, any one business or professional practice is special – well, you might say that’s nothing less than the job description for any freelance content writer of business blogs! The supreme challenge for us writers, of course, is to stress the “specialness” without turning the posts into blatant sales pitches.

In the world of online marketing, let’s face it, it’s tough to be unique, given the absolute ocean of information out there for readers on any given topic. My conclusion is that the uniqueness we should strive for in blog marketing has more to do with perspective than presentation.

What I mean is that bloggers for business now need to go beyond providing information and become “thought drivers”. Whether it’s business-to-business blog writing or business-to-consumer blog writing, the content itself needs to use opinion to clarify what differentiates that business, that professional practice, or that organization from its peers. In other words, blog posts will go from information-dispensing to offering the business owner’s (or the professional’s, or the organizational executive’s) unique perspective on issues related to the search topic.

I’m taking the OPA (in this case Scribphile’s) advice about composing words in unique ways one step further – business bloggers need to compose thoughts in unique ways!

 

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Blog Writers’ Opening Lines have a Big Job to Do

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Curiosity concept“The first words of a novel can be enough to set the tone for the whole book,” explain the editors of The Book of Random Oddities.

Some of the most famous first lines quoted in the book include:

  • All children, except one, grow up”.  (“Peter and Wendy”)
  • Marley was dead, to begin with.”  (“A Christmas Carol”)
  • “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times (“A Tale of Two Cities”)
  • “Call me Ishmael.” (“Moby Dick”)

Each one of those four openers arouses our curiosity. (Who is the child who never grows up? Why is the fact Marley is dead only a fact to begin with? How can the times be both the best and the worst?  Why should we call him Ishmael – is that really his name?)

But, unlike novelists, can we blog content writers afford to be that enigmatic in order to arouse curiosity?  We know how essential for us to assure readers that they’ve come to the right place to find the information that satisfies the needs that brought them online to find answers – otherwise they’ll bounce away from our site before we get to share our thoughts!  What I call “pow opening lines” are great, but if we fail at showing how that “pow” answers readers’ needs, we won’t be given the chance to tell them the “how” (how what we have to offer will better their lives in some way).

One solution comes in the form of “Huh?” blog titles or opening lines.  “Huh”s need subtitles to make clear what our post is going to be about. The “Huh” startles and arouses curiosity; the subtitles or second sentences clarify what the focus will be.

The “Call me Ishmael” line introduces the narrator of the piece. Although the central figure of “Moby Dick” is Captain Ahab, readers are going to be told the story by Ishmael. The same literary device might be useful for a business blog post, so that readers understand who’s talking. “Call me Jeffrey. Before I started my Slimbo exercise program, I weighed 345 pounds and could hardly walk around the block.”

“Marley was dead, to begin with.”  The same format might be used in a blog post for home remodeling company. “My kitchen was cramped, to begin with.”

The point for business bloggers: As with a novel, in blogging, the title and opening line will set the tone for your entire post. Arousing interest and curiosity is much to be desired, but be quick to clarify where you’re going with the content of the post.

Blog posts’ opening lines set the tone and arouse curiosity, but it’s best not to sustain the mystery for very long.

 

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Tying In to Other People’s News in Your Own Business Blog – C

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Tying into OPN (Other People’s News) is the theme of this week’s Say It For You blog posts. As blog content writers, of course, Bwe can always use new ideas for presenting information to readers about our company, our practice, or our industry.

Reading the daily newspaper, I teach, is just one of many strategies for blog content development. Both news and feature items can spark ideas for blog posts, while positioning your blog as the place to find interesting and valuable information. You may actually cite material from the newspaper story, relating it to new developments in your own industry, or simply use the articles as “triggers” that remind you of areas you might not have covered thoroughly in prior blog posts.

In the particular issue of the Indianapolis Star I used for this week’s blogwriting exercise, “Family ties to Panama Canal history” tells the story of Carmel, Indiana residents John Hawks and son Frank Hawks, descendants of John Frank Stevens, a chief engineer of the Panama Canal. The story chronicles the royal reception the Hawks were given when they visited Panama this past August.

As a Star reader, I loved the way reporter Michael Auslen connected the present-day Hoosier family to the milestone engineering project from the past. As a corporate blogging trainer, I couldn’t help thinking that any business can trace its connections to the history of its industry or profession.

Merely by gathering information on our topic and presenting it as part of our blog, we’re providing a valuable service, but to go the next step, we must ensure that each blog post connects the people running the business or practice to the people using the products and services. “Tracing the chain” by bringing readers back to the beginnings of the enterprise and sharing how someone’s idea turned into a business or professional reality makes for powerful blog content.

When we’re “stuck”, experiencing “blogger’s block”, Other People’s News can become just the nudge we need!

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Tying In to Other People’s News in Your Own Business Blog – B

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NewsYou – or your blog content writer – can draw attention to your doings by tying in to OPN (other people’s news), right out of the daily newspaper. This week, in fact, I’m using all three Say It For You posts to take my readers through the exercise of playing off current news and feature items from the paper (I used just one saved issue of the Indianapolis Star) to spark business blog content ideas.

“Carmel Kroger closing for major renovation”, reads the IndyStar headline. Often, business blog posts can be used for a similar purpose – announcing some news about the company or the professional practice – an expansion, a new product line, a new service being offered, or a special sale or promotion. But, of course, not every week will there be something new to announce for each business or practice.. That’s where I advise blog writers to make use of OPN, Other People’s News, as a jumping-off point for writing about their own business.

For example, the Carmel Kroger story mentions that, during the remodeling, operations will be moved into an adjacent building and continue operating according to their normal schedule. I can see the blog writer for an office moving and storage company referring to this Star article, commenting on ways they help their customers reduce “downtime” during a change of location.  Office remodelers and architects can also make use of the Kroger story to offer options to consider in upgrading business sites and retail establishments. When the new Kroger facility is finished, Indianapolis Star readers are told, there will be a food bistro featuring sushi – sushi bars and restaurants can use this news item to showcase the growing popularity of sushi in our city – in the process drawing attention to their own menu offerings!

Reading the daily newspaper is just one of many strategies for blog content development, but it is certainly a good way to spark ideas for blog posts, all the while positioning your blog as the place to find interesting and valuable information.

Tying in to Other People’s News can be a productive exercise in writing business blog posts!

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Tying In to Other People’s News in Your Own Business Blog – A

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Using blog posts to share company news and announcements makes a lot of sense. But, even if, in any givenemployment news week, you can’t find anything especially newsworthy about your own business or practice, you or your favorite blog content writer can draw attention to your doings by tying in to OPN (other people’s news), right out of the daily newspaper.

In fact, professional ghost bloggers like me are always on the alert for news items in each of our clients’ fields that we can use to spark ideas for blog posts. This week, just to challenge myself, I scanned a saved Indianapolis Star. I’m going to use all three of this week’s Say It For You posts to take my readers through the exercise of playing off current news and feature items from the paper to spark business blog content ideas.

A feature story in the “Retro Indy” section pointed out that the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra debuted at Shortridge High School n 1930, later moving to Clowes Hall, and then to the downtown Circle Theatre in 1984.

This one history “nugget” alone might be used for blog content by any one of the 20 different eateries within walking distance of the (now Hilbert) Circle Theatre, not to mention the jewelers, candy shops, telephone stores, and gift shops in the neighborhood.

And just how, you as a blog content writer might ask, would I advise using that material for blog marketing purposes?

  • Review the history of your own business. How did the founders of your business or professional practice (or you yourself) come to locate in the heart of downtown?
  • How has being located so close to the Circle Theatre helped you?
  • What changes have taken place in the downtown since you’ve been in business or in practice here?
  • What are you most proud of about downtown Indianapolis?

Reading the daily newspaper is just one of many strategies for blog content development, but it is a way of preparing blog posts that capture online searchers’ interest by blending “ingredients” that don’t seem to match (in this case the history of the ISO and the history of your own business), and by demonstrating that you’re more than just a business person or practitioner – you’re part of your readers’ community!

Tying in to OPN can be a good idea for developing variety in business blog posts!

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