A LASSI Assessment for Business Blogging

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ExamDid you know that our ability to learn can be diagnosed?

The LASSI (Learning and Study Strategies Inventory) is an 80-item assessment based on the theory that success in learning relies on thoughts, behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs.  What’s the purpose of the assessment? The LASSI, developed at the University of Texas, gives students feedback, so they can focus on improving their  knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and skills.

The aspect of LASSI that was so fascinating to me as a trainer in the field of business blogging was its three components: Skill, Will, and Self-regulation.

Skill
One key skill the LASSI looks for is information processing, including selecting main ideas.

As I think about that, before the reader ever sees our blog content, we writers need to have exercised skill in selecting the main idea we want to present.
A repeating theme in my corporate blogging training sessions is focus. Each blog post should emphasize one story, one idea, one aspect of the business or practice. If the writer has exercised that very key skill of selecting a main idea, it will be that much easier for the “student” (consumer of the blog material) to focus and get the point.

Will
This component of strategic learning has to do with attitude and motivation, with diligence and self-discipline.

In fact, in the early years of my company Say It For You, I talked about the “drill sergeant discipline” needed by blog content writers and about the fact that the main key to business blogging success was going to be simply keeping on task.

Self-regulation
An important part of the self-regulation component of strategic learning is time management. The LASSI scale measures how well student do in managing their time and maintaining concentration.

Couldn’t help recalling the Say It For You video I’d recorded about time management for blogs. Allowing 120 minutes total per blog post, I explained, I’d allocate 40 for research and “reading around”, learning others’ opinions on your topic and gathering information.  50 minutes should be used, I advised, for the actual writing and editing of the business blog, with 10 minutes for finding photos, charts, and clip art for illustrating your points, and 20 minutes for the actual posting on the site.

What might a LASSI assessment tell YOU about achieving greater business blogging success?

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Blogging to Tell Them What to Think About

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Thinking manHara Estroff Marano, writing in Psychology Today, says she won’t tell you what to think, but will tell you what to think about.  While in this article the psychologist is offering food for thought in the sphere of dating and self-motivation, I couldn’t help but love that line of hers, realizing how very apropos it is for us business blog content writers.

In fact, a point I often stress in corporate blogging training sessions – whether you’re blogging for a business, for a professional practice, or for a nonprofit organization, is this: you need to voice an opinion, a slant, on the information you’re serving up for readers. In other words, blog posts, to be effective, can’t be just compilations; you can’t just “aggregate” other people’s stuff and make that be your entire blog presence.

On the other hand, if you, as a business owner or professional practitioner, try telling people what to think, that’s a surefire way to lose friends and customers in a hurry. Yes, your blog is your “podium”, meaning you get to showcase your business so customers will want you to be the one to provide them with the product or the service they need. But they need to arrive at that point as a result of their own thinking.  Dr. Marano hit the nail on the head – don’t tell readers what to think; give them all the facts they need to think about.

How can blogs help potential clients and customers make better, sometimes complex, decisions?

  • By suggesting questions readers can ask themselves while choosing among many options. (Do they want ease of use? Current functionality? Future capabilities?)
  • By “mapping”, meaning showing how choices are related to consequences.  How much sooner will your mortgage get paid off if you add $100 each month to your payment. How should the prospect feel about the purchase (Relief? Trust? Premier status?)
  • By offering easy ways to make choices, so that the decisions are not pressure-packed.

You might say the art of blogging consists of In supplying facts, and then putting those facts in context.  As bloggers, we’re giving them the raw materials to think about, but we need to go one step further, demonstrating why those facts matter, suggesting ways readers can use the information for their own benefit.

To the woman concerned that the man she’s been dating has been legally separated for the past twenty years, Marano suggests, “Could it be that your online friend values clinging to the comfort of the status quo?”

What can you give your blog readers to think about?

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Nostalgic Blog Wisdom

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The “Nostalgia Digest” reminded me of the important role “history” old rag doll with heart lollipopplays in blog content writing for business. The story about Raggedy Ann finally being accepted into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2002 called my attention to these toys, and in fact, got me thinking about toys in general.

Raggedy Ann creator Johnny Gruelle’s daughter, I learned, was deathly ill.  Looking for something to brighten her spirits, Gruelle came across an old rag doll which his grandmother had made.  Gruelle added two shiny shoe-button eyes, and painted a nose, brows, and mouth.  For the name, Gruelle took inspiration from two stories written by family friend James Whitcomb Riley”: “Little Orphant Annie” and “The Raggedy Man”.

Years later, Gruelle acquired a patent and, in 1924, began manufacturing dolls to be used as store window displays, in addition to producing Raggedy Ann books.

Posting blogs with history-of-our-company background stories can have a humanizing effect, engaging readers and creating feelings of empathy and admiration for the business owners or professional practitioners who overcame adversity.

Wayne Klatt’s article “Straight from the Heart” in Nostalgia Digest offers a perspective: “Two dolls with perpetually cheerful expressions might seem out of place in a world dominated by battery-powered toys and startlingly realistic video games.  But Raggedy Ann and Andy were never about competing.  They remain as they always were: a creation that was not made as a commercial calculation, but as a gesture of love to a little girl who deserved it.”

All too often, I find, there’s an overload of information and an under-serving of perspective. As a corporate blogging trainer, I remind newbie writers that there’s no lack of sources available to our readers. In our blogs, therefore, we need to go beyond presenting facts, statistics, features and benefits, and broadcast a firm stance.

The background story of Raggedy Ann has power, but that’s all the more true because Klatt is helping us see that story in a certain way. The personal sentiment adds authenticity and sincerity, making the material that much more engaging.

Nostalgia is no no-no in blogging for business!

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Got a Snowclone for Your Business Blog?

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Book of Random Oddities“Snowclones are fill-in-the blank clichés, references or patterns,” explain the editors of The Book of Random Oddities. (A faithful buyer of “Not Your Daughter’s Jeans”, I had nevertheless not thought of that brand name as a snowclone.)

As a blog content writer, needless to say, I’m constantly on the prowl for expressions that help online readers feel a connection with my clients’ businesses and professional practices. Snowclones such as “X is the new Y”, imply that some new thing has now become more popular or more stylish or more effective than something that used to be the “in” thing.

The snowclone can be flattering to the reader (think “40 is the new 30”), and can reinforce the benefits of the activity discussed in the blog (“knitting is the new yoga” alludes to the relaxing effect of a yarn-related hobby).

Used effectively in a blog post, the snowclone can come across as providing valuable information, helping readers keep up with the latest developments in the field, and, of course, promoting the benefits of the product or service offered in that business or practice.

Sometimes snowclones come from famous quotes, such as “I X, therefore I am”, or “To X or not to X”. We’ve all heard the “a few X short of a Y” as disparaging descriptions of less-than-intelligent individuals – (“A few cards short of a deck”).

Point is, anything that can add variety to your business blog posts, assuming it’s in good taste, is a positive.  Sometimes the variety comes from the information itself, but sometimes, the variety is in the language used.  Snowclones offer a way to connect with your readers through popular culture, along with a sprinkling of wit.

Got a snowclone for your business blog?

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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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