People Pleasing Not Always a Good Thing for Content writers

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People pleasing involves not only putting other people’s needs first, but also toning down a strong message for something more palatable, coach Eric Kaufman explains in Real Leaders magazine. That’s not a good thing, he explains, because toning down one’s message limits our own decision-making and squanders our power.

 

While, as content marketers, our goal is to engage readers, that does not mean “pleasing” them by reiterating common assumptions and opinions, we’ve learned at Say It For You. In fact,  whether you’re writing content for a business, a professional practice, or a nonprofit organization, it’s essential to present an opinion, a slant, on the information you’re serving up for readers.

The style needn’t be harsh – after all, you’re out to nurture the relationships you’ve established and welcome new clients and customers to the business or practice, not “turn them off”.

Still, what I’ve learned over the years of creating blog content for dozens and dozens of clients in different industries and professions is that, in order to turn clients and customers “on”, we must incorporate one important ingredient – opinion. As influencers, we need a strong message to demonstrate, rather than squander, our clients’ power to be influencers.

When online readers find their way to blog content, one question they need answered is “Who lives here?” “What guidance is being offered as I face purchasing decisions?” Providing information about products and services, even aggregating information from other sources, can be useful – even “pleasing”   to readers, but in terms of achieving Influencer status – it takes opinion.

“Although being kind and helpful is generally a good thing, going too far to please others can leave you emotionally depleted, stressed, and anxious,” Kendra Cherry of VeryWellMind emphasizes.

 

In content marketing, while it’s important to tell readers what our clients can do for them, it’s even more important to show readers who those owners are!

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The Power of Op Ed Content Marketing

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A couple of weeks ago, at a meeting of our Financial Planning Association chapter, IU professor Greg Geisler* shared his opinion (proceeding to demonstrate why) that popular money guide Dave Ramsey’s advice to  recent graduates is absolutely wrong. (While Ramsey advocates getting rid of student debt before investing, Geisler shows why making monthly student loan repayments over the 10-25 years following graduation, all the while contributing to 401(k), health savings accounts, and Roth IRAs offers the potential for much greater wealth accumulation…)

*Geisler, Greg, and Bill Harden. 2023. “Maximizing Tax Alpha in both Accumulating and Decumulating Retirement Savings” Journal of Financial Service Professionals 77 (2): 46- 58.

One point I often stress to content writers is that whether you’re creating content for a business, a professional practice, or a nonprofit organization, you must demonstrate an opinion, a slant, on the information you’re serving up for readers.  Of course, you can aggregate other people’s insights, even succeeding in making your own website the “go-to” destination for information.  But, whether you’re creating business-to-business content or business to consumer marketing, 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, when online readers find your site, one question they need answered right away  is “Who lives here?” What do they think? How much depth of knowledge – and of opinion – am I going to find here? We must be influencers, I advise clients and blog content writers alike. 

In 10 Tips for Writing an Opinion Piece, Median.com advises starting with an attention-grabbing opening line that cuts to the heart of your key message. (At the FPA meeting, both the name Dave Ramsey and the hot topic of student loans drew immediate attention). Chris Anderson, head of TED Talks, tells speakers: “Don’t share the obvious.  Nobody want to print what everyone already knows…Argue the point and elucidate as only you can.”

 

 

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Writing About WIne and Other Difficult Content Tasks

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“Using words to describe wine is fraught with peril and leaves wine writers exposed to ridicule,” Gus Clemens writes in an article  I found reprinted in my Indianapolis Star the other day. “Writing about wine is like dancing about architecture,” he complains. Although many familiar terms about wine tastes and smells are delicious to imagine and easy to understand because we know them from the fruit we eat, other terms, such as “leather”, “granite” or “green bell pepper” sometimes make us ask, “Are they just making stuff up to appear superior?”

Interesting. Just a couple of months ago, I posted a piece on introducing “insider terminology” to blog readers. The point I was making is that, in content marketing, once you’ve established common ground, adding new vocabulary  or “in-words” actually adds value to readers’ visit, giving them a sense of being “in the know”.

Offering online readers more than a description, but an “experience” is, in fact, one of our biggest challenges as content writers. Our goal is, through what they see on the page, to give visitors a “taste” of the benefits and satisfactions they stand to enjoy when using your products or services. 

“Consumers are used to telling stories to themselves and telling stories to each other, and it’s just natural to buy stuff from someone who’s telling us a story,” observes Seth Godin in his book All Marketers Tell Stories. While effective stories have authenticity and an implied promise of satisfaction, they must also, he stresses, appeal to the senses rather than to logic

With readability being a critical yet often-overlooked aspect of writing (as StraightNorth.com explains, content  must be matched to the education and sophistication level of your intended audience. In the case of a wine vendor, is the content targeted towards experienced wine consumers or is it intended to draw in “newbie” enthusiasts?

Humanizing your marketing content is a way of bringing readers “backstage”, keeping the company or professional practice relatable. Building a story around the “leather” or “granite” element in the services and products you have to offer can mean turning information-gathering into an experience!

 

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Guest Post: 5 Best Ideas for Driving Organic Traffic through Blog Posts

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Are you wondering if blogging is actually worth it for your business? Blogs may seem time-consuming to create, especially for a small business owner, but they have shown to be extremely beneficial for driving traffic.

Why are blog posts important for online businesses?

Obviously, this article is all about encouraging more organic traffic through blog posts but what other benefits do blogs bring?

Firstly, the more articles your website has published, the more keywords you are likely to rank for. Increasing keyword ranking will contribute to your website’s SEO rankings and authority within your niche. With a blog, you’re able to address more questions and thoughts that your target audience is looking for and are therefore more likely to rank higher within their search results.

Secondly, blog posts are essential to the educational part of your funnel, the top entry level. People come to blogs for answers to their queries and will start pushing them through your funnel. Helping to create warm leads by getting them to sign up to your email list or explore and purchase your products and/or services.

Thirdly, unlike social media posts that have a short life span, results from blog posts can get better with age. Over time, your articles may attract more links, more shares, and gain higher SERP positions. Blogging will provide long-term results and ensure a continued flow of traffic, leads and potential sales.

This is only a touch on all of the potential benefits you will find from blogging. So, what are the best ways to start?

5 best ways to boost organic traffic with blog posts

1. Writing List Posts
Our first recommendation is to write list posts, exactly like the post you are reading right now. Want to know the specific data behind the success of list posts? In a recent study reported by Conductor, a global SEO agency, 36% of the participants noted that they were more likely to click on list posts and list headlines.

Here are some examples of good list headlines that are sure to increase traffic:

  •  10 ways for using the Pomodoro technique in everyday time-management
  •  3 open-source alternatives to Adobe Photoshop
  •  5 free workout programmes for busy people and their benefits

If you want to increase your search rankings, your list posts have to offer something unique and valuable. This is typically done by following these  recommendations:

  • Offering expert advice based on your personal experiences. Referring to existing case studies and data.
  • Sharing valuable anecdotes and tidbits relevant to your topic.
  •  Including practical recommendations addressing topical issues.

 

2. Sharing Third-Party Resources and Links
When blogging, it’s easy to see other bloggers as your rivals. This attitude, however, is destructive and unhealthy if you’re planning to blog professionally.

Collaborating with other bloggers is one of the most effective means of growing organic traffic and is a cornerstone of white-label link building. A great way to achieve this aim is by writing and curating a resource page.

A good resource page should do all of the below.
? Include links to respectable blogs, and third-party products and services.
? Disclose if you’re partnered with other blogs or are sponsored by the companies that you are linking to.
? Be topical; you should update your resource page at least once a month to keep track of the latest issues and provide value to your readers.
? Include your remarks and comments about the content you’re linking to.

Some platforms (e.g., Hubspot) are so large that their entire resources page only includes links to their own resources and tools. This is simply not feasible for smaller bloggers. Because of this, don’t worry if your resources page needs to link to other popular blogs. Other blogs are not out there to ‘steal’ your readers. Your readers will appreciate you trying to provide as much value as possible and will return to your blog for more. In addition, resource pages can be a great place to connect with other bloggers and perhaps gain links back to your blog and grow your rankings.

3. Writing Detailed Reviews
Let’s face it, everybody likes reading a good review. But what exactly should you review? Well, practically anything goes. Book reviews are incredibly popular right now as reading is seen as a highly prestigious and thoughtful hobby in a world that is overwhelmed by information. The average time spent reading books in the US has remained consistently around 15 minutes per day since 2014.

Other great review options are online platforms, tools and courses. Online learning is experiencing a huge boom right now due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, a lot of people simply don’t know what courses or online universities they should choose. You could (and should) become a very valuable guide in a rapidly expanding industry.

Reviews of products are also encouraged. There are always new and emerging products and brands within every niche. Product reviews will always have a place in blogging and gain organic traffic from the people looking specifically for reviews before purchasing anything. This can also easily lead to affiliate sales and sponsored review posts in the future.

If you want to write a captivating review, follow the below guidelines:

  • Include links to respectable sources of secondary data.
  • Clearly mark your own subjective opinions.
  • Don’t be afraid to share personal stories and anecdotes.
  • Always remain critical but don’t nitpick.

4. Using a Keyword Ranking Tool
Two of the most widespread mistakes made by bloggers are failing to integrate new keywords into their posts and not getting rid of keywords that are no longer valuable. You’ve already made the same mistakes if you’ve done at least one of the following things:

  • Only use a single spreadsheet including all your keywords.
  • Do not check the keyword statistics for your older posts.
  • Do not use any third-party tools to monitor the rankings of your current keywords.

If you’ve recognised your blogging practices in the above list, then it’s time for a change. Luckily, two of the best keyword ranking tools that are available to bloggers are completely free.

  •  Ahrefs provides free monthly updates to its keyword database and can search keyword popularity across different domains. The tool also focuses on non-conventional metrics such as keyword difficulty and the estimated organic traffic provided by each new keyword
  • MOZ can be used to easily generate infographics about specific keywords and is a great daily tracker of keyword popularity.

Make a habit of spending at least 10-15 minutes per day to check the status of your keywords and update your SEO spreadsheets and documents. This is not only a great time management exercise but is practically a guarantee of achieving solid organic traffic figures.

5. Guest Posting Featuring Opinion Leaders
We’ve already discussed that bloggers become stronger by cooperating and writing extensive resource pages. The same principle also applies to guest posting and inviting opinion leaders to give valuable tips on a specific subject.

A good guest post:

  • is written by a well-known personality and includes the distinct features of this personality’s style.
  • offers a unique perspective on a topical issue (e.g., new updates to the Google algorithm).
  • credits all contributors and details why these people are considered experts in a given field.
  • includes links to the guest contributor’s other publications.

We know that guest posting might seem a bit scary. After all, you’re willingly relinquishing creative control to a person you might not have met before. Nonetheless, it’s a great way to grow traffic and increase the authority of your web page.

You can also provide high-quality, guest post content to other websites yourself. This helps to establish you and your business as an authority in your niche and can bring organic traffic from other blogs.

Another way to collaborate with opinion leaders is by creating interview-type posts or list of snippets from multiple personalities. The wealth of information in these posts can attract a lot of attention from potential visitors and links from other bloggers.

Conclusion:

In our opinion, the optimal time to start growing your organic traffic is right now. With the rise in teleworking and similar digital services, more and more people turn to bloggers to adapt to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. If you follow the above strategies, you’re sure to become a valid opinion leader in your own right and strongly grow your loyal following.

Author Bio
           

 Catherine Smith is an online Marketing Manager at PhD Centre, specializing in PhD thesis writing. She is passionate about researching and writing on various topics, including Education, Marketing, and Technology.

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Tidbits Add Interest and Strengthen Your Slant

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In this week’s Say It For You blog, I am focusing on fascinating knowledge tidbits from The Book of Bizarre Truths.  Including  interesting snippets of knowledge in blog content not only serves as an attention getter,  but can actually strengthen your “slant” on the topic your want to discuss with your readers.

In fact, I have a strong opinion about “slant”. When blogging for business reveals your unique philosophy, your “way of being” within your field, potential customers and clients feel they know who you are, not merely what you do, and they are far more likely to want to be associated with you. For that very reason, one important facet of my job as a professional ghost blogger is to “interview” business owner and professional practitioner clients, eliciting each one’s very individualized thoughts. But even if the format of a blog post isn’t interview-style question-answer, when we tell the story of a business or a practice to consumers, we “frame” that story a certain way.

That’s a good thing, because when online readers find a blog, one question they need answered is “Who lives here?” Providing information about products and services may be the popular way to write corporate blog posts, but in terms of achieving Influencer status – it takes opinion, we’ve learned at Say It For You. Darren Rowse of problogger.com agrees: “There are many factors that set great bloggers apart from the rest, but one that I’ve seen continually cropping up over the last few years is that they often have and are not afraid to express strong opinions,”

One big advantage of including information tidbits is that they “soften” the effect of the strong opinions business owner or practitioner might express in the blog, while at the same time helping to explain the reasoning behind the “slant”. For example, this tidbit about Henry J. Heinz could be perfect for several kinds of blogs: As Heinz was riding an elevated train in New York back in 1896, he noticed an advertisement for a shoe store offering 21 different styles of shoes. Captivated by that ad quantifying the product offering, Heinz decided on the now-famous “57 varieties” motto.  Any type of business  might  to refer to Heinz 57 in order to tout its own wide variety of products or services.  On the opposite side, a specialty boutique, a private school, or a country club might use this tidbit in a blog, suggesting the contrasting exclusivity of its offerings and its clientele.

Incorporating tidbits in content marketing can add interest while strengthening your slant!

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