I’m-Not-A-Doctor-But…Blogging

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Blogger Gad Saad ("Homo Consumerus") gets annoyed when celebrities offer unfounded opinions on matters of science and medicine, I read in Psychology Today. Saad, himself a psychologist at Concordia University in Montreal, claims to be a perfectionist when he does research, and has little patience for uninformed pontification.
 
From Gwyneth Paltrow’s warning that shampoo causes cancer in children, to Madonna using "Kabbalah fluid" to neutralize radiation in a Ukranian lake, Saad ridicules what he sees as egotistical interventions in matters best left to experts.  Confucius had the right idea, Saad exclaims ("When you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it is knowledge").

I found a sharply different approach in Ted Demopoulos’ preface to his book "What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging And Podcasting".  What amazes Demopoulos, he says, is finding expertise in unexpected places. 

With billions of words being released into the blogsphere as you read this post, there’s an almost unimaginable quantity of information on every imaginable topic, all circulating online.  Inevitably, some of that information goes from blog to blog, with one blogger contradicting, praising, or restating other bloggers’ notions.  (No wonder they’re referred to as "viral" blogs!) Saad’s perception of legions of incompletely researched – or completely un-researched – opinions in print is hardly without basis.

So, how can you showcase your expertise, your passion, and your products and services without making outrageous claims?  Blog what you know, your own experience with real customers and clients and ways your products and services helped solve problems.  Phrases such as "I think", "seems to me", "I saw", "I learned" can take some of the "claim" out of the content while letting you introduce yourself to your visitors.

OK, so you’re not a scientist or a doctor.  Still, there are searchers out there who need you and what you have to offer. If your blog posts are educational and informative but don’t hit searchers over the head with a sales pitch, your business blog can be just what the doctor ordered!

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Blogging For Introverts

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"Bragging is repulsive to introverts," says Nancy Ancowitz in Psychology Today. 
But effective self-promoting – that’s different, she says.  "It’s finding the overlap between what you have and what your audience wants."

Ancowitz might have been referring to blogging, which is the essence of self-promoting for business owners – minus the bragging.  After all, what is search engine optimization if not finding the points of overlap between what you, the businessowner do, what you know about, what you sell, and what searchers want?

Two of the coping tips Psychology Today offers introverts are good ideas, I think, for reticent business bloggers stuck for content ideas:

             Host: When we host, we get to be seen as a go-to person, and we don’t have to reach out as much.

Use some of your blog posts to highlight interesting ideas and information you find on others’ posts, "introducing" those bloggers to your readers.  Your comments highlight your own expertise, while you play gracious blog "host"!

            Say Hi: Remain visible to your boss and colleagues by regularly exchanging niceties 
                         and sharing with them.

There are several ways to apply that excellent advice to blogs. After quoting someone in your post, commenting favorably on their insights, then adding some of your own, post a comment directly on their blogsite or send an email message explaining you’ve just quoted them in your own blog.  Include a link to the post that "stars" them!

"Introverts", remarks Psychology Today, " are more inclined to rely on writing and often excel at it."  How cool is that for business blogging?

 

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“I Have A Business Blog Because….” How Would You Complete The Sentence?

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As part of the marketing team for each of my professional ghost-blogging clients, I’m always paying attention to ads, billboards, and promotions that I can relate to blogs.  One advertisement for KinderCare Learning Centers caught my eye the other day, because it asked readers to complete a sentence:

I went to school to become a teacher because….

1. I love to learn
2. I love to teach
3. I love children
4. I want to make a difference in the world
5. All of the above

Business owners, I find, start blogs (or have me start one for them) for different reasons, too. I not only spend lots of time planning, researching, and writing blog posts, I spend a great deal of time discussing business blogging, particularly with entrepreneurs who’ve heard about blogging but aren’t completely sold on the strategy.

One of my own favorites among bloggers is Seth Godin, and he’s noticed the same thing about the variety of motivations business people have for getting into any new activity, blogging included.  There are four types of people in the world, Godin remarks. 

Some people want to do things because those things are interesting.  Some people want to do things because everyone else is doing those things.  Some people are too satisfied, too scared, too shy, or too lazy to do anything.  And then, says Godin, some people want to do things because those things work!

For me, one of the most interesting aspects of my work as a ghost blogger has to do with the discussions I have with business owners about the right tone and right emphasis for their blog posts.  The very process of talking about the business brand and the best way to get the message across to readers quite often turns out to be a process of self-discover for the owner! It’s as if the business brand is being re-invented as we go!

So, whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur with a long-running business blog, or a newbie entrepreneur, try your hand at completing the sentence below:

I blog because…

 

  • Blogging helps me bring my message to my niche market.  
  • Blogging’s the latest "thing" and I don’t want to be left behind.
  • Everybody seems to be doing it.
  • I want my business to get found online.
  • I can reach potential customers whom I would never meet any other way.
  • Blogging is just one tactic in my overall marketing plan, but I want to take advantage of every opportunity to help my business.
  • All of the above????

     

 

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Reading Plus Writing Equals Blogging

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We were given two ears and only one mouth." That reminder seems to pop up in every business etiquette or sales training seminar.  The message is a simple one: we would do well to use these organs proportionately, devoting twice the effort to listening as to speaking.

There’s some listening that needs to take place before beginning your blog, as I emphasized last week, in the process of scoping out your blogging niche, in order to target your blog posts to people who need your products and services the most – and the ones most likely to purchase those from you.

We understand the 2:1 ears/mouth listening:talking ratio, but today I want to mention another organ ratio: eyes and hands. The metaphor here, I believe, is that, in order to create a valuable ongoing blog for your business, it’s going to take equal parts reading and writing.  As HomeSchoolBlogging.com‘s Karen Braun explains, "Blogging requires a commitment of time…Your blog should be a reference point for those seeking advice and opinions in your field."

Now, there’s a noble business blogging goal, I thought, reading those words.  At the same time, I reasoned, that "go-to industry authority" status isn’t going to happen without a business owner spending at least as much time reading (as symbolized by the eyes) as writing (symbolized by the hands).  As Braun brings out, "There are things to learn from bloggers who’ve been doing it for awhile."

I’ve been doing it for awhile, but still, when I’m ghost-blogging for a business, I need to keep up on what others are saying on the topic, on what’s in the news, and about what problems and questions have been surfacing that relate to what my client sells and what it does for its clients.  At least half the time that goes into creating a post is reading/research/thinking time.  The writing part can flow only after prep time is complete.

Two-to-one seems to be the smart rule for selling, with two ears to gather information and one mouth to give voice to conclusions based on what’s been heard.   In blogging, it’s two to two.  Reading (magazines, books, newspapers, other blogs), at least as much as writing, is what makes for blog posts that are worth readers’ time and attention.

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Bloggers: When In Doubt – Debunk!

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It takes seven years to digest swallowed gum (Not! That’s just one of those lingering misconceptions one hears.)  According to Mental Floss Magazine, “Despite what you heard on the playground, the gum you swallow doesn’t exactly linger in your gut.” In fact, Mental Floss goes on to explain, your gum shoots through your system towards the “exit” at the same speed as other foods.

For newbie business bloggers at a loss for content ideas, debunking a myth about your industry is a great place to begin. Here’s why: In the normal course of doing business, you’ve probably run up against misunderstandings about a product you sell or a service you provide. 

Not only is addressing misinformation in your company blog interesting to readers, it highlights your own special expertise and knowledge. With doubts reassured, many readers are more comfortable trying out your product or service. What’s more, if you make it a habit to debunk myths in your blog posts, that in itself can go a long way towards making your blog a “go-to” place when people need information relating to your industry or profession.

One myth about blkogging itself is that it’s simply a fad. Truth: The Pew Internet Project estimates that almost 32 million Americans read blogs regularly.

Speaking of big numbers, a second blog-related myth I hear a lot is that you need many visitors and many RSS subscribers to be successful in blogging for business. I love what blogger Rich Brooks has to say about that one: “Search engines deliver over 73% of our traffic, and over 85% of that traffic comes from first-time visitors.” 

Well, then, what is the secret of blog success?  “What we need to do is capture these names by making them an offer they can’t refuse,” answers Brooks, dispensing with overblown claims about the importance of comments with a terse: “Comments aren’t clients.”

If there’s something new in your industry, don’t let your readers find out about it somewhere else, advises HomeschoolBlogger.com’s Karen Braun. I agree.  And, if there’s a persistent myth out there about anything you sell or anything you do, your blog should be the place to go tfor the truth, the whole truth, and nothing "bust"!

 

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