Don’t Do The Done-To-Death In Your Business Blog

If you’re job hunting today, says The Savvy Networker‘s Liz Ryan, you can’t afford to let done-to-death, boilerplate language sink your resume like a boat anchor.  Ryan advises "killing" timeworn, massively overused resume phrases such as:

  • Results-oriented professional
  • Excellent team player
  • Superior communication skills
  • Savvy business professional

Ryan recommends replacing those with individualized, specific narratives about ways you solved problems creatively in the past.
 
Since, according to Compendium Blogware CEO Chris Baggott, "Blogging is the hub of all your social media activities," it stands to reason you can’t afford to use done-to-death, boilerplate, overused advertising copy in your blog content, the likes of:

  • Devoted to customer service
  • Skilled technicians
  • Competitive pricing
  • Convenient location.

Instead, my advice as a trainer for business blogging would be to adapt Ryan’s resume advice to blogging, "killing" those canned phrases, specifically highlighting how your business is unique, and giving examples of ways you helped customers and clients solve problems.

Blog posts can engage readers by debunking myths and offering information designed to elicit a "What do you know!" response. Humorous speaker Todd Hunt’s newsletter taught me something I hadn’t known:

A CD from a stage show is not a sound track.  It’s a cast album.
 (Soundtracks are from movies.)

How does providing this tidbit help Hunt promote his speaking and book-writing business?  Hunt’s topic for corporate presentations is improved communications using precise, correct English.
     
A second tactic for positioning yourself as a go-to guy or gal in your field is to "teach" in your blog posts, comparing unfamiliar, industry-specific information with something the average online reader knows and understands. Igloo Books uses that technique in teaching children about animals:

      The saltwater crocodile grows up to 20 feet long. That’s about twice as long as a speedboat.

Business blog posts need to be more – much, much more – than mere online directories, providing "competitive advantage and helpful information for consumers", says Compendium. Business bloggers need to replace "boilerplate" with "concrete, visual stories that bring your power to life."

 

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“Parent” Comments Don’t Need To Pose A Problem For Business Bloggers

“What’s the biggest problem Facebookers are confronting?” asks Scott Harris in Reader’s Digest. Parents signing up, he says.  Since his mom befriended him on Facebook, Harris laments, his status updates read:
 

  • Scott is making good, well-informed decisions.
  • Scott is going to bed at a very reasonable hour.
  • Scott is making large, regular contributions to his savings account.
  • Scott is drinking only on occasion, and even then, it’s just one or two.

If “Scott Harris” were the name of a business, an appliance repair company, for example, Mom-like comments on the Scott Harris blog might read:

  • The Scott Harris Appliance Repair technician came to my house at 5 AM to fix my washing machine. 
  • Scott Harris Appliance Repair employs only experienced, skilled technicians who know how to repair all brands of appliances.
  • My telephone conversation with the scheduling representative from Scott Harris Appliance Repair was friendly, quick, and efficient.

(“I only wish…” is probably your first thought. Getting any sort of conversation going through comments on your business blog posts is a challenge, and getting the sort of devoted parent-like testimonials even more so. )

Comments are actually more likely to be either negative or posted to promote the commenter’s business rather than yours.  That’s because visitors to your blog are on a mission – to find a product, service, or information – and are little interested in chat.  Often it’s the disgruntled customers who are most likely to vent through blog comments. According to Roger Nunley of Customer Care Institute, though, that could turn into a positive for your company.  Quickly responding to complaints or dissatisfaction will make customers even more loyal than those who have not complained, Nunley emphasizes.

Business blogging is ideal for quick reaction time. As Kyle Lacy of Brandswag explains, social media, including blogs, help business owners control their message and exercise damage control.  Depending on the situation, he advises, the conversation can be taken offline or dealt with through a direct response in the blog.

If you’re unwilling to get wet, you won’t be able to enjoy swimming, as my grandma used to say. If your blog isn’t “out there”, you won’t get negative comments, to be sure, but neither will you be able to use your business blog to attract online customers and clients! 

 

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Blogging, Social Media, And Email – Marketing’s Three Musketeers

The other day I read something really thought-provoking about how email, social media, and blogging relate to each other when it comes to attracting business. Regular readers of this Say It For You blog will recall that I advise business bloggers to read ten articles or other blogs for every blog post they write, and I try to follow my own advice on that score. Chad Richards, Social Program Manager at Firebelly Marketing obviously follows that advice as well, because he shared a comment he’d read during the past week by social media maven CT Moore.

Moore had made the point that "search isn’t great for creating awareness of something that people don’t know exist.  With search, users have to request it." Social media, then, Moore went on to explain, is better for creating the initial awareness.  Once that awareness is raised, he says, search is good for reaching users who are already aware, but who want to learn more and become more engaged.

After sharing Moore’s observations, Chad Richards ended by reassuring his own readers that he wasn’t bashing email, only sharing his own observation that email works best when it is integrated with social media.

Blogging for business, of course, is part of "search", which means being introduced to strangers (you don’t know their name; they don’t know yours) because the solution you describe in your blog appears to be a good match for the needs those online searchers expressed. As Chris Baggott, CEO of Compendium Blogware notes, "The Internet has now surpassed the print yellow pages and newspapers as the primary local resource for consumers looking for products and services."

Since, as a professional ghost blogger and business blogging trainer, I become part of each client” marketing team, I like to describe blogging, social media, and email as the "Three Musketeers" of the business’ online marketing.  Blogging is the hub, as Baggott puts it, because that’s where you’re adding fresh content about your business, using the keyword phrases that lubricate the search process.  

Moore was right about searchers having to want what you sell, what you do, and what you know in order to be directed to your blog site. However, when you think about it, the same holds true for Twitter and other social media (you receive social media "awareness alerts" based on whom you’ve chosen to befriend and on which groups you’ve chosen to join). To me, then, marketing often begins with someone finding your blog. (Their awareness might have been created through a Tweet or LinkedIn or Facebook "lead", or they might have simply keyed a description of their need into a search engine.) Later, once a client relationship has been established, email (again, along with social media) is going to be useful for staying in touch.

Remember the motto of the Three Musketeers,Athos, Porthos, and Aramis? "All for one and one for all".  With the Three Musketeers of online marketing – blogging, social media, and email – it works the same way!

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Blogging To The Five Why’s

Fellow blogger Michel Fortin says he’s a big fan of reasons-why advertising. "Good, successful copy," Fortin adds, "tells the reader why right up front."  (If you don’t, he warns, they’re left wondering why you left that information out!)

Fortin’s alluding to ad copy, but the same five why’s he mentions can serve as great guidelines for using proof in your business blog posts to build belief in your services and products.

Buyers (and I’m extending this to apply to online searchers who’ve found themselves at your blog) want to know five different types of reasons:

Why you (the reader)
Your copy should qualify the reader for the offer you’re making.  Why did you target this particular market (the one represented by this potential buyer)?

Why me (the author)
"Credentialization is an important element in copy," says Fortin. In the case of business blogs, the "me" is the business or the professional practitioner (or the ghost blogger as his or her voice). What is our expertise and experience?  Why do we care?

Why this (the offer)
What are the specific solutions you provide? Why is your product or service designed in the particular and unique way you describe?

Why now (the urgency)
What reasons can you offer the reader to act now – (missing out on something important, preventing further damage, expected scarcity of the product, etc.)?

Why this price (the value)
Your blog can make clear where you fall price-wise in your market and why your business has chosen that pricing niche. 

Answering the "why’s" overcomes buyers’ natural skepticism, and blog posts are the perfect tool to use for going beyond the "telling" and the "selling" to the "proving". As I’ve said before, only blog believers become website buyers.

 

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In Business Blogging, Don’t Be Shy – Be Specific!

For the article "Tips From The Inside", Inc. Magazine interviewed the purchasing agents of several mega-corporations, asking how each preferred to be sold to by suppliers and vendors.  I was fascinated by the answers, realizing that every one of those tips should be helpful for business bloggers in converting online searchers to customers and clients.

Three of the agents stressed the importance of vendors gaining an understanding the needs of their companies before making the "pitch":

From Valero Energy:
"It adds some credibility when you’ve invested time researching Valero and learning what role you might play in it."

From Intuit:
"Show you understand what our pain points are and then try to address those."

From Coca-Cola:
"The first time we hear from you should not be at bid time.  ..Come in, spend the time with us…"

Researching and understanding your target market is one of the ABC’s of all selling, and blogging to a target market is crucial to success in engaging readers.  Read, read, read is my best advice as a professional blogger and business blogging trainer. From local business newspapers to your competitors’ blog posts – it all helps hone your own message.

From Dell:
"We always tell people that, if they want to compete, they need to support customers regardless of geographic location."

One observation that I read in a white paper from Compendium Blogware really stuck in my mind. CEO Chris Baggott explained that, at the end of the day, all search is local.  In other words, each customer needs to find value "where they are" (both geographically and in terms of their unique needs). From an SEO standpoint, one tip Baggott offers bloggers is to, whenever possible, mention locations in page titles. "Location is one of the most important signals your blog provides to a "crawler", he explains.

From Northrup Grumman:
"Be as specific as possible when describing what you can do for us.  Don’t be shy.  If you have a capability, highlight that capability."

One concern business owners express to me is they don’t want to come across as boastful or self-serving in their blog. At the same time, it’s crucial for the blog posts to outline compelling reasons for prospects to work with them rather than with the competition. Being very specific and highlighting your unique capabilities (whether in the realm of above-and-beyond service, the product itself, experience, or specialized expertise) – being specific is a way to let the facts do the boasting!

 

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