Single-Topic Publications and Ghost Blogs: Sisters Under the Skin

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Don’t eschew specialty magazines, is Don Vaughan‘s advice to writers looking for assignments. You don’t have to be a subject matter expert to write on specialty topics, he says – all you need is an innovative idea specific to the topic.

At Say It For You, we agree. Since our blogging clients are guaranteed exclusivity in their marketplace, we often find ourselves writing content on topics in which we’ve no prior experience or training. I couldn’t help chortling at Vaughan’s remark about the Portable Restroom Operator publication, which has been “chugging along since 2008”. (One might wonder, Vaughan observes, what there would be left to write about after two or three issues on the subject of toilets!)

Most specialty magazines, Vaughn explains, are eager to receive pitches from skilled writers with intriguing ideas that:

  1. touch on unexplained aspects of the magazine’s them
  2. offer new approaches to frequently reported topics

Specific tactics that Vaughan recommends for non-specialist magazine writers can be useful for blog writers:

  • profiles of innovators in the field
  • aspects of the topic’s history
  • reflections on important anniversaries of the industry (or, in the case of blogs, of the company or practice)
  • new product reviews
  • profiles of prominent people who have benefitted from the product or service you offer
  • news about developments in the industry

“On rare occasions,” Vaughan observes, “good story ideas may arise from not being knowledgeable about the publications’ topic (bloggers, read “client’s topic”). He shares the story of one writer who broke into writing for Guns and Ammo Magazine with a pitch about the first and only time he’d ever shot a gun. Human interest stories can be a source of out-of-the-box story ideas, showing how professionals addressed a very ordinary situation.

In blogging, as in writing for specialty magazines, creativity and intention count more than technical expertise!

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Blogs are About Value, Not Pricing

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An article in Mental Floss magazine about a 300 year-old Stradivarious violin reminded me of an ongoing discussion having to do with whether product or service pricing should be mentioned in blog content….

In discussing the upcoming auction of the Strad, author James Stewart makes some salient observations about pricing and how it relates to value. Factors that add to the value of this particular violin include:

  • the fame of the violin maker family
  • the identity of former owners of the instrument (Seider taught violin to Albert Einstein using this violin)
  • the association with the 1930’s filming of The Wizard of Oz at MGM Studios

Due to this combination of value-enhancing factors, it’s estimated that the violin might fetch $15 to $20 million in the upcoming auction.

“Today’s consumer is bombarded with advertisements in all media, direct mail offers, and telemarketing offers,” observes Dr. Richard Murphy of Jacksonville, University. “There are numerous factors involved when we begin to discuss the issues of value, cost and price. The value of anything is perceived by the customer, not the manufacturer or the vendor.” A Forbes article mentions one of Warren Buffett’s most famous quotes: “Price is what you pay; value is what you get.”

One question facing blog marketers is whether prices should be mentioned at all in the content. Ten years ago, Marcus Sheridan of social media examiner.com observed that, instead of addressing the No. 1 consumer question up front, business owners often decided to wait until a later stage of the sales process. “People like to know how much stuff costs,” Sheridan warned.

At Say It For You, we don’t think price is the No. 1 consumer question on the minds of web searchers who land on our clients’ blog posts. Instead, what your business blog writing needs to do is answer questions, offer perspective and thought leadership, while giving searchers a “feel” for the desired outcomes of using your products and services.

Think about it: When you visit an online shopping site, or even when you go into a local store to buy something, often all you can see are products on the shelf (or, in the case of an online visit, pictures of products) with names and prices.  Too often, there’s nobody to talk to and no other information available, (there may be customer reviews online).

At our content writing company, here’s how we view the issue of “putting price first”: Buyers want more than just product and service descriptions and prices. Blog content writing is about introducing readers to business owners, explaining the owners’ specialty or niche within their field, their special “philosophy” about their area of practice or their industry, and their unique approach to providing client services.

Blogs are about value, not pricing!

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Sharing Secrets Makes for Good Blog Marketing

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“Knowing the meaning of the three-digit code printed on every egg carton can help you choose a fresher product,” TasteofHome explains. You might think the best way to pick a carton is by checking the grade, size, and expiration date, but Kelsay Mulvery shares a “secret” – look for the Julian date.

Meanwhile, Michele Debczak of Mental Floss magazine, has a “secret” to share with readers as well: The tags or twist ties on bread are color-coded by day of the week, so grocery stores know how long a product’s been sitting on the shelf.

“Some manufacturers claim unrealistically small serving sizes to reduce the amount of calories they have to list on the nutrition label,” coach.nine.com reveals.

These three selections illustrate an important point about blog content writing: Sharing secrets makes for good blog marketing, but those secrets need to be useful to readers. “Find out what they struggle with, and what would make the biggest difference to their bottom line,” wisely advises Rich Brooks on creative-copywriter.net. A powerful secret-sharing manual for magicians, Roberto Giobbi’s Sharing Secrets book teaches “52 powerful concepts that let you learn, practice, and perform them.”

In blog marketing, accentuate the practical, we teach content writers at Say It For You. Go ahead and teach readers “secrets” of how to do what they want to do better, faster, and more economically. Since people like helping one another, offer “secrets” most likely to be shared at the dinner table, across a tennis net, or on the green. Through blog content, business owners and owners and professional practitioners can package their expertise into “secrets”, allowing readers to learn about and value them along with the nuggets of wisdom they’re sharing.

“After all, people are not coming to your blog just to acquire knowledge. They’re dropping by to visit you,” Dean Rieck observes in copyblogger.com. That means revealing a little about yourself, he adds. Most people reveal secrets to those they like and trust, as Jack Schafer, PhD. explains in Psychology Today. In sharing “secrets” in your blog, you’re demonstrating that you like and trust your readers, making it all the more likely they will like and trust you.

Sharing secrets makes for good blog marketing

 

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Blog Genres: Take Your Choice – Carefully

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Your choice of genres may be very different depending on who you’re writing for and point you want to make,” the authors of Everything You Need to Ace English Language Arts in One Big Fat Notebook explain. “Different genres alter the focus of the topic.” The journalism genre, for example, puts the most important facts first, leaving out all personal opinions or personal history of the author. The memoir genre, in contrast, focuses on the memories of an individual and does not refer to research.

Since blog content writing is, by definition, nonfiction, authors can follow several of the guidelines in the Notebook:

  • using research (old newspaper articles, interviews, eyewitness accounts)
  • including charts, graphs, and photos
  • skillfully using both explicit and implicit evidence

In a non-fiction text, Notebook authors explain, explicit evidence is actually stated. Implicit evidence, on the other hand, involves conclusions readers draw from the text. In order to “steer” readers to arrive at certain conclusions, “choosing the BEST evidence from all the evidence is crucial, in order to get the point across quickly and convincingly”. In fact, “choosing evidence” is a foundational aspect of blog content creation. At Say it For You, we teach that, in addition to having a focused topic for each blog post, writers must have a specific audience in mind, choosing the best evidence for that target audience.

“Every author writes with a purpose in mind,” the Notebook states. “In opinion pieces, it is an established fact that the authors have a purpose and are trying to convince the reader of something.” Still, a good writer knows that not everybody agrees, and therefore includes counterclaims or counterarguments.” When it comes to blog marketing, visitors will be subjecting your content to an “acid test”, judging whether this site is the “real deal”. That’s where presenting “evidence” in the form of facts and figures comes in.

Some “tried and true” blog genres include:     

  • advice
  • collections and top lists
  • reviews
  • predictions
  • motivation
  • trouble-shooting
  • interviews
  • how-to
  • editorial
  • personal reflection

Whichever the genre of choice, a central idea is the most importance element in any piece of writing, Notebook authors remind us. Around that central idea, the content of any piece can be constructed. As blog content writers, we can take our genres, but it’s important to do that carefully!

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The Long and Short of Blog Sentences

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“This is one of the most helpful pieces of social media I’ve seen. It’s not a meme. It’s a grammar lesson”, Jeremy Ross Miller commented on a LinkedIn post by David Plough, advising writers to “make music” by using a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Readers’ ears demand variety Plough explains. Short and medium sentences should be used with the greatest frequency. Only sometimes, when he is certain the reader is rested, will Plough engage him with a sentence of considerable length, one that “burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, sounds that say listen to this, it is important”.

Like Miller, I appreciated this gorgeously written “music lesson”, particularly the advice about long and short sentences. In the blog content writing world, of course, the long/short debate is never-ending.

Opinions about long and short in blogging

Jasmine Gorden of Lean Labs cites just a handful:

  • Medium – The ideal length of a blog post is seven minutes or 1,600 words.
  • SERPIQ – Top three Google results are between 2,350 and 2,500 words.
  • Neil Patel – Posts of at least 1,500 words earn the best SEO and social sharing results.
  • Write Practice – posts of 275 words are best for eliciting comments.

At Say It For You, we consider ourselves “done” composing a particular post if:

  1. we’ve covered at least one aspect of the topic in depth
  2. we’ve offered more value than the competition
  3. we’ve incorporated high-quality visuals
  4. we’ve verified our research and facts

Does length matter in business blog post titles?
The most effective length for any one blog post title is as long as it takes to signal to online searchers that “right here” is where they will get answers. I teach the importance of keeping a very specific focus within each post. Describing that focus dictates the title’s length.

Length and brevity – both tools in blog post sentences
As a general rule, we bloggers need to keep our sentences not only short, but active. Sentences in the active voice have energy and directness. Blog content writing needs to be personal and conversational, not terse. Don’t just be short; be sweet, is the mantra at Say It For You.

Mr. Plough, your LinkedIn post was an inspiration. In just a few short paragraphs, you definitely made sounds that said “Listen to this, it is important”.

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