No Newsspeak for Your Blog, Please!

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Randy Michaels could have made an excellent blog trainer, but the CEO of the Tribune is far too busy training his news anchors not to use newspeak.

We bloggers for business tend to be preoccupied with words we should be using (those keyword phrases that help our blogs get found by the search engines), but Michaels has come up with a list of words and phrases to avoid. With the idea of delivering news in a down-to-earth, conversational manner, he trains his newsmen and women to pretend they are "speaking knowledgeably to one person".  By NOT using what he calls "newspeak", they enhance their reputation as communicators, he teaches.

What a great standard for blog-writing for business, I thought while reading the article. Write copy that reads as if you (or your ghost blogger) were sitting down talking to readers one at a time. (The expression "all of you" is near the top of Michaels’ no-no list; others include "flee", "seek" "aftermath", "alleged", "area residents", "at this point in time", and "behind closed doors").

One question I pose to business owners prior to beginning a corporate blogging project is this: "If you had only 8-10 words to describe why you’re passionate about what you sell, what you know about, and the services you provide to clients, what would those words be?" (If you’re really being passionate, you’re probably using words from Michael’s approved list!)

In Personal Branding with Social Media, Spinweb CEO Michael Reynolds wrote something that really connects with Randy Michael’s rules about using conversational language:

"People want to do business with people they like and trust.  All the business branding in the world will not close a sale if the prospect does not like and trust the person with whom he is doing business….Social media allows us to deliver those trust factors," concludes Michael Reynolds.

Next time you’re composing a blog post for your business – shoot for the one-on-one style!

 

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An Honest Trick for Blogs

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The bucket on the left contains sand.  The other bucket contains an identical amount of rice.  With my eyes closed, I bet I can tell you which bucket holds the sand without touching the bucket or any of its contents. How is the trick done?

A professional ghost blogger and blog trainer, I’m in the business of blog posts, not buckets.  But this simple riddle from David J. Bodycombe’s book Mind Benders illustrates a very simple technique for engaging interest in a blog, and doing that in the very first sentence of each blog post.

Keep in mind that I, before reading the riddle, had never faced this precise dilemma of learning which of two buckets contained sand.  Even so, I found myself wanting to figure out the answer. In a blog post, of course, the question or dilemma would be related to the topic the online searcher was looking for, describing a problem that reader had probably faced or was facing right then. That means the technique of posing a question at the start of the blog post would be even more effective at engaging readers’ interest!

  • "Just prior to leaving for a week’s summer vacation, John wanted to completely turn off the air conditioning in his home.  His wife Judy, disagreed, saying they’d save more money by turning the thermostat up to 80 degrees, so that the A/C wouldn’t be working so hard. Who was right?"
     
  • Which is less damaging, foreclosure or bankruptcy?
     
  • Is club soda or cold water better for dabbing on a food stain on your clothes?
     
  • Is keeping the windows closed all summer a good idea for allergy sufferers, or should fresh air be allowed to circulate every few days?

The "trick" is to pose a question to arouse curiosity or debate, then "weigh in" on the question to demonstrate two things:  You understand your readers’ problems, and you know the answers to this kind of common dilemma or question.

The simple two-step blogging process involves:

1. Opening with a poser.

2. "Closing" (the deal) with valuable insights and information to demonstrate searchers have come to the right place for the products, services, and information they need!

 

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“Oh, By the Way!”s for Your Business Blog

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Employee benefits professional Mel Schlesinger believes in the power of four little words.  Writing in Employee Benefit Advisor, Schlesinger recommends a simple technique: After a prospect or client has agreed to move forward with a purchase, adding an "Oh, by the way…" to describe an add-on service or product feature can make a big difference in sales.

As a professional ghost blogger and blog trainer, I’m always talking about focus. Each blog post needs to emphasize and illustrate one – and, ideally, only one – key concept.  That said, can business bloggers use Schlesinger’s four little word idea? Make that a definite "yes".

  • For a dental office blog post with information about veneers, an OBTW might say, "For a list of foods that can discolor new veneers, click here."
     
  • For a travel agency blog post about packing smart, an OBTW might say "Don’t forget trip insurance."

You can lead to your By The Way item with a link to another page, an offer of a down-loadable white paper, or simply tell readers to watch for information on that other product or service in your next blog post.

The beauty of the OBTW technique, Schlesinger points out, is in its simplicity. "If you try to discuss the second product during the presentation of your proposal, you risk clouding the issue and having the entire proposal ignored…By adding an ‘Oh, by the way’ after the decision has been made to move forward with you, you make it a very simple decision for the prospect."

Keeping the primary focus is even more important in blogs, because online searchers tend to be scanners rather than readers.  The truth is, many will not ever get far enough into your post to even notice the OBTW part. 

For those who do, though, you can use the four little words to let them know you have lots more helpful information, products, and services to fill their needs.

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Close the Gap with “Gapper” Blog Titles!

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Some headlines convey a potential benefit; others convey a problem. Gappers, though, says advertising maven Michel Fortin, make people want to close the gap between the two, so they keep reading.  Headlines, he adds, can be newsy, sensational, controversial, intriguing, or inspiring, but "all that matters is that headlines get readers to keep reading".
In fact, Fortin compares headlines to resumes, which are not meant to land a job, but to land an interview.  "Headlines are the ads for the ad copy," he teaches.

Two Fortin tips on "gappers" are excellent advice for business bloggers, I find:

  • Adding a negative situation to the headline is effective, because it appeals to more dominant emotions of readers.  It’s more powerful, Fortin tells plastic surgeons, to ask, "Suffering from wrinkles?" than "Do you have wrinkles?" Rather than saying "Lose 40 pounds in 6 weeks!", it would be more powerful to say "Shed 40 pounds of disease-causing fat in just 6 weeks!"

In other words, think of a negative situation that is now present, or one that will be without your product or service, and write your headline about it.  That draws readers into the copy of the blog post, where you explain how they can close the gap between the bad situation and the solution. 

  • Start the headline with a verb, painting as vivid a picture as possible, advises Fortin.  "Zoom Past the Confusion" is a much better headline than "Get More Clarity!"  Rather than saying "Poor Fiscal Management Leads to Financial Woes", he says, try "Don’t Let Poor Fiscal Management Suck Money From Your Bottom Line!".

As a professional ghost blogger and blogging trainer, I think Fortin’s onto something with the "gapper" idea.  After all, SEO and keyword phrases get searchers to your blog.  The first thing they see on the Google (or Bing, etc.) page is – your title. Now you’ve got to pass readers’ "So what? What’s In It For Me?" test. 

Headlines that make people want to close the gap between:

  • Where they are & where they would like to be
  • The problem & the solution
  • The puzzle or dilemma & the answer

 – those are gappers!

(With profuse apologies to the late President Reagan, each time you write a blog, tell yourself – this one’s for the Gapper!)

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Getting Found – Even By Accident – is Good For Business Bloggers!

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A tiny chapter in the Book of General Ignorance illustrates a big idea for business bloggers – posting content with an eye for "getting found" by online searchers. Answering the question "How did Nome, Alaska get its name?", authors John Lloyd and John Michenson explain it was by mistake!

As a professional ghost blogger and blogging trainer, I found the first thing that resonated with me about that little chapter is that it's a myth-buster.  Myth-busting is a great way to generate content for your business blog – it's fun, it's informational, it's engaging, and it gives you a chance to showcase your own expertise in your field.

As with any other business strategy, myth-busting works best when done with a certain degree of finesse.  Remember, the idea is never to showcase the readers' ignorance or to "make them wrong" (so that they'll know they need your expert services).  Quite the contrary – you want a reader that feels "in the know", armed and ready to make intelligent choices.

There's a second reason, though, that I love the Nome story – it's a prime example of what I've nicknamed an "accidental organic donor". See, the story of Nome goes back to the 1850's, when an officer on a British ship noted the existence of a prominent point of land in Alaska.  In his notes on the manuscript map, the officer scribbled "Name?" (a reminder to look up the name later).  But when the document was being copied and the map of Alaska was being updated, a cartographer misread the note and wrote it in as Cape Nome (instead of "name"), and Nome it's been ever since!

In other words, sometimes there's a disconnect between what the online searcher originally  wanted and what he or she accidentally finds.  When that "accident" turns out to bring a new reader to your blog, (and if your content engages that reader's interest, the mistake can result in your converting a mistake into a customer!

 

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