Does Their Blog Import Its Orange Joice?

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Nowadays, apparently, it's OK (or at least legal) to knock a competitor by name.  "Tropicana imports some of its orange juice," the Florida's Natural announcer hastens to inform TV audiences in no uncertain terms.  Leaving nothing to implication, he follows up with a question, "So why would you ever choose anything but Florida's Natural?"

Blogs for business bear little resemblance to TV commercials, being closer to advertorials than straight-up ads, but there's a lesson to be learned here.  Although one possible approach in a business blog is to compare your products and services to others', demonstrating how your company is different in a positive way, as a professional ghost blogger and blog content development trainer, I recommend steering clear of Florida Natural's Tropicana-knocking tactic.

On its website, Florida Natural takes a better approach, using the provocatively simple question "Where does your juice come from?" to lead into a discussion of buying USA-grown fruit products. 

Your company blog posts can get the job done with similar subtlety, using the "Power of We".  Try sentences beginning with "At _____(your company name), WE offer…………….  WE believe that……..    WE value.  Rather than starting with a negative in mind, devaluing other companies' products and services, stress the positives about you and yours.

Do THEY do a poor job at cosmetic dentistry? Use dangerous chemicals in their cleansers? Understaff customer service lines? Import ingredients? Maybe.  But leave all that to implication, why don't you?

Online searchers found YOU!  Reassure them they've come to a place where "nice guys and gals" live, people who play nice with competitors and customers alike.

Whatever you import – don't export negativity, is my advice!

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Blog So They’ll Know It’s Not Just Them!

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If tomato sauce turned one of your food containers orange, you’re not alone, Good Housekeeping assures readers.  The solution?  "Add Cascade Plastic Booster to your dishwasher to bring your plasticware back to its original hue."

In similar vein, theGood Housekeeping "You Mean It’s Not Just Me?" offers solutions to all manner of predicaments, from silverware losing its luster, reeking gymbags, or the lice your kids brought home from school.

What a perfect template that "Not Just Me" template could be, I can’t help thinking, when it comes to creating business blog posts!

  1. Assure searchers they’re not alone in their dilemma or need.  Au contraire – their situation is common and eminently fixable! Most important, hasten to assure searchers, you’ve solved these precise problems for customers and clients many times before – piece of cake!
  2. Tell readers how the fix is to be accomplished, liberally sprinkling the advice with hints of how your products and services play into the solution.
  3. Mix "we-can-do-that" with "it’s-not-just-you".
  4. Simmer over low heat.

Voila! You’ve got yourself an extremely effective "advertorial" business blog!

 

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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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