New Blog Content Ideas Straight From The Vintage Store

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Tucked inside the Murphy Building in Indianapolis is a vintage clothing store called IndySwank, and tucked inside the Indianapolis Star account of an interview with IndySwank’s owner are some great content ideas for business blogs.

Business bloggers often confide they have trouble continually coming up with fresh ideas for their blog posts and finding news ways to talk about the products and services they offer. The IndySunday Interviews Someone You Should Know article poses eight questions answered by Jennifer Rice Von Deylen, owner of IndySwank.  As a professional ghost blogger and business blogging trainer, I realized that answering those very questions could make for terrific blog content for any business.

HOW DO YOU GET THE STOCK FOR YOUR STORE?
If your business sells products, where do those products originate?  Do you create them? What sources have you chosen and why? Talking about your product allows you to showcase your own expertise in your field, your own outlook, and the ways in which your product is unique in the marketplace.

HOW DID YOU NAME THE STORE?
Rice Von Deylen explains that “swank” means really, really cool, adding her opinion that “We don’t take enough pride in who we are.” What does the name of your product and of your business say about the outcomes you hope to bring to customers?

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
In what facet of your industry have you chosen to focus your business efforts? Why?  How does the way you run the business make you different from your competitors?  In other words, what’s your style?  Rice Von Deylen’s answer to the question: “Urban.  I still try to be sexy and attractive, but not like Britany Spears.” Use your blog posts to help readers get the feeling they know the “you” in your business!

HOW CAN PEOPLE DISCOVER THEIR OWN STYLE?
Offer information in your blog posts that helps readers gain knowledge.  Customers who feel well-informed feel empowered to make buying decisions! Don’t for a moment be afraid of making your blogsite the “go to” place for information in your field.

Jennifer Rice Von Deylen's advice is perfect for business owners trying to promote their products and services through blog marketing: “For direction, take what you’re comfortable with and try to exaggerate it.”

I find it hard to imagine any better way to arrive at your own “signature style” for your business blog posts!

 

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Who’s Blogging About Your Blog Topic?

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I almost didn’t go to see the movie “Nine”. The Indianapolis Star gave the film only two stars, quoting Roger Moore’s review in the Orlando Sentinel: “How can a movie starring six Academy Award-winning actors be such a bore?”  

Thank goodness, I caught that interview of the “Nine” cast on “Larry King Live”.  King said the film was wonderful, and, after hearing the actors share their experiences, I knew this was going to be a very special film I absolutely needed to see. (It was – I’d see it again!)

No need to worry – I’m not about to change the topic of this Say It For You blog from creating content for successful blog marketing into movie reviews!  What I am trying to express is that readers can be influenced in favor of or against something with relative ease.  It’s important that you know what is being said by other bloggers on your business topic, or even what might be posted about your business in particular.

I’m really talking about something bigger than just finding and controlling any negative reviews about your company’s product or service., Consistently combing the blogosphere to see what’s being said that relates to you is a great idea, no doubt, and your business blog posts are tools that allow you to put your own “spin” on any messages the public might be receiving from competitors or critics.

I’m talking about more than using analytics to track your blogs most popular posts and who’s reading your blog, although tracking and measuring results is a terrific tool to help you keep making the blog more and more effective as a marketing tactic for your business.

I just don’t want you, or anybody, to miss your “movie” the way I almost missed seeing “Nine”. I want you to go beyond the question I always pose to new Say It For You business blogging clients “Would you find you?” to become the in-depth interviewer Larry King was for me.

Once searchers have read your blog post, no matter what any other blogger or newspaper columnist was saying on your subject, they’re going to know your company is one they absolutely need to get to know!

 

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Business Blogs: Rated “S” For “Someone”!

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Parents may be reassured by finding a video game rate “E” (for everyone), but that’s certainly not the best rating for business blogs. In order for blog posts to be effective as part of a business marketing plan, the content of the blog must be targeted towards a specific audience.

Web searchers are on a fact-finding mission, looking for information about what you do, what you sell, and what you know about.  The specific key words and phrases in the title and in the body of the blog post help the search engine direct those searchers to your blog.

Since blogging for business is a “pull marketing” tactic, the more targeted the content and the title can be, the narrower the “rating”, and the better chance your blog has of “getting found”.

The entire process of online search is based on bringing searchers to the right place to find the precise kinds of information they need.

According to Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware, there are four qualities or variables that make blogs more successful than traditional websites in targeting and attracting the right kind of visitors: 

  • Content-rich
  • Specific
  • Relevant
  • Personal 

You’re writing a blog (or perhaps turning to a professional ghost writer like me for help) in hopes that searchers will not only read what you’ve written, but react favorably by becoming clients or customers. To achieve that outcome, advises blog consultant Mark White, “your knowledge  (of your target audience) needs to influence every aspect of your blog, including:

  • What your blog looks like
  • The content of the blog
  • The style of writing
  • The length and frequency of posts
  •  How you elicit comments and feedback

In short, your business blog should not be rated “E” because they were never intended for everyone.  “S” for SOMEONE is the best rating for business blogs!


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Top 5 Speaker Awards For Blogs

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Each year, Speakers Platform recognizes five top speakers.  These Top 5 awards are for excellence, which is measured several ways:

  • Expertise
  • Professionalism
  • Innovation
  • Client testimonials
  • Presentation skills

These same five quality "measuring sticks", it occurs to me, might be used in creating top-notch content for business blog posts.

1.  Expertise:
Corporate training company owner David Markowitz uses his blog to provide timely and useful information to people working in FDA-related industries.  By making his blog a "go-to" site for his target market, he provides proof he understands the needs of his target clients. Your blog is your way to showcase your own expertise, but also to showcase your website as the link to information from many authoritative sources.

2.  Professionalism:
Providing valuable information to readers in generous portions without being too "sales-ey" is one facet of acting professionally in business blogging. The way you link your blog to other websites is important to the way you are perceived as well.  While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery and all, always provide a link to the writer or source you’re quoting, or whose idea you’re using as a jumping off point for your own comments.

3.  Innovation:
Online searchers will undoubtedly have heard some of the information you’re providing before.  It’s your unique slant or innovative approach that’s likely to elicit that all-important "Never thought of it that way!" response.  Your blog post is a way to show readers that this is no cookie-cutter company they’re about to meet. I always advise clients to use their blog to provide information – particularly new information – related to their field.

4. Client testimonials:
Client success stories and testimonials can be turned into a success story for your blog.  Showing how you solved problems for clients in the past boosts your credibility with prospects.  Real life tales add interest to any piece of writing.

5.  Presentation skills:
The meat of the matter is always the content readers find in your blog post, but, just as presentation matters in a restaurant, an important part of the blog post is its presentation. The way you use language to make the text interesting, different, conversational, yet right "on point" will go a long way in engaging readers and assuring them they’ve come to exactly the right place to find what they need.

I remember one of my high school teachers posting a sign on our classroom wall, saying "Autograph your work with excellence!"

Before putting it out on the blogosphere, measure each of your blog posts by at least one of the Speakers Platform Top 5!

 

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Don’t Buy, Beg, Or Bug – Blog!

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Talk about an "in a nutshell" summary of a big topic in a few words!

Randy Kaipaniolo, commenting on David Meerman Scott’s explanation of social media marketing, brings it all together by naming four ways for businesses to gain attention:

You can BUY it (advertising)
You can BEG for it (media PR)
You can BUG people (sales)

or….(drumroll)

You can EARN it by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free!

(Kaipaniolo includes YouTube videos, research reports, photos, Twitter streams, Facebook pages, and ebooks in the "earn" category, but lets talk about creating and publishing something valuable through business blogs.)

You wouldn’t believe how many businesses are venturing into the blogosphere, with millions of people putting ideas and information out on the World Wide Web.  Some just want to share knowledge and give others the benefit of their opinions, but, if you’re a business owner, you’re using blogging as part of an ongoing marketing strategy.

Of course, a blog post is not an ad.  You’re providing valuable information, with a particular slant that showcases your expertise in your field, the special qualities of your products or services, and your core beliefs about how – and with whom – you aim to do business.

The furthest thing from "begging" or "bugging", your blog functions through "pull marketing".  Only those online searchers who already have an interest in what you sell, what you do, and what you know about will ever see your blog posts, and those are exactly the customers you want.

By offering a "content-tasting" on your blog, and doing that regularly and frequently, you’ll be earning the right to convert at least some "tasters" into buyers!

 

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