Posts

All You Have to Do is Blog

/0 Comments/in , , , /by


According to the 1-800-GOT-JUNK commercial, when you want something removed from your home or yard, “All you have to do is point” As a blog content writer, I love that commercial.

“Persuasive ads are advertisements designed to elicit a desired action,” Mary Lister writes in Wordstream. Ad campaigns for products or services are designed to communicate two main ideas:

  1. Problems your product or service solves
  2. Ways your product or service does that better/quicker/cheaper than that of your competitors.

Confession – for me as a consumer, there’s always been a third piece. I’m not handy. And, since I don’t know how to assemble, much less fix, mechanical devices or pieces of furniture, I’m always looking for what’s going to be required of me in the process of achieving a solution to my problem or fulfilling my need.

The 1-800-GOT-JUNK motto must have been made for people like me. Right up front, they’re assuring me that they will handle the issue, do the dirty work, figure it out. All I have to do is identify the problem.

All business owners and practitioners have products and services to sell. But sometimes, the marketing and advertising skips over the convenience factor.

A little over ten years ago, an editorial cartoon in the Indianapolis Business Journal showed a harried lady returning a gadget to a merchant’s Returns window. “It’s not that I don’t like the product,” she said – “I just can’t get it out of the package!”

  • Yes, you understand your target audience and the specific problems they’re facing.
  • Yes, your product or service provides a way to solve those problems.
  • Yes, your product/service compares favorably to others on the market.
  • Yes, but…but…but, just how much effort am I going to need to expend to “get it out of the package”?

Put yourself in the shoes of your online visitors:

How easy is it for them to navigate your website? Follow your Calls to Action? Set up an appointment with you? Pick up the phone and call if they choose to? (Is your phone number clearly displayed on the page?)

How easy is it going to be for a prospect to: get started on that program you’re touting? Start on the diet plan? Install the app or get the device to function?

Let them know – “all you have to do is…….._!

Borrowing the line from 1-800-GOT-JUNK, blog marketers’ new mantra might well be this:

All you have to do is blog!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

In Blogging, Clarity Depends on Contrasts

/0 Comments/in /by

blog selling
The following true story, shared in Daniel Pink’s book To Sell is Human, involves a blind man sitting on a bench in Central Park with a can for contributions labeled “I’m blind”. With the addition of only 4 words, an ad exec realized, the sign would move more people to put money in the can. When the sign stated “It is springtime, but I am blind”, people were able to feel pity – here they were, enjoying the gorgeous spring day, while this poor blind man was totally unable to savor its beauty….

“One aspect of contemporary society is that people are stimulus-rich and context-poor,” Pink explains. They don’t know what the information means. By contrasting the experience of the passersby with that of the blind man asking for change, viewers saw the man’s situation in perspective.

In the book Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely talks about the importance of comparing one thing with another. People want to make their own decisions and own them, Ariely believes. For that reason, he advises, if you want to sell Product A, you must create an Option B, so that customers feel they are choosing A because it contrasts favorably with B.

In blog content writing, with the goal being engaging online visitors’ interest, we can create contrast between analytical content and emotional content, toggling back and forth among It helps to remember that most people are only interested if what you do fits with what they need or want; otherwise they are not interested. You must tell readers, not only how your product or service can benefit them, but how you can do it better or differently than others who do what you do.

The blind man in Daniel Pink’s story needed help creating a Unique Selling Proposition. In carving out your own USP, make sure your message tells visitors not only who you are and what you do, but why you’re different from other providers – and why that difference should matter to them.

In other words, in begging or blogging,  clarity depends on contrasts!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Picking an Outfit – for an Interview or a Blog Post

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by


“We all make judgments about the people we come into contact with within the first few minutes of meeting them,” ZipRecruiter observes in IndyStar. “In fact, we tend to assume that people who dress well are more competent, even if they aren’t.”

Interesting, I thought. Two pieces of the how-to-pick-a-job-interview-outfit advice ZipRecruiter offers can be easily adapted to business blog content writing…After all, as content writers, our goal is to make a good impression on visitors to our – or our clients’ – websites..

Observe others
To get a sense of how you might want to present yourself, do some people-watching. For each person that passes, write down the first adjective that comes to mind – professional, confident, stylish. Decide which words you’d like to be associated with and mirror that look.

Business blogging is one way we have of “talking about ourselves”, and we need to make sure we use words in ways that give readers the right impression. One way to “see” ourselves from the point of view of visitors is to visit others’ websites, including those of competitors. Is the “vibe” welcoming and empathetic? Brash? Don’t copy, simply get a sense of how different websites appeal to visitors, and emulate the tone that seems to best reflect the impression you’d like to make on visitors to your site.

Of course, as Neil Patel points out, you can also use “competitive intelligence” to gain insight into which keywords are helping your competitors’ rankings online.

Strike a pose
In the right outfit, you’re more likely to “strike a power pose” and put your best foot forward. Look for fashion at affordable prices or reach out to a friend or family member who can lend you an outfit.

In blog marketing, as I teach at Say It For You, the visual elements are as important as the content itself. The main message of a blog is delivered in words, of course. Where visuals come in, whether they’re in the form of “clip art”, photos, graphs, charts, or even videos, is to add interest and evoke emotion. You should take pride in your blog’s appearance, ease of navigation, and correct grammar.

Whether for a job interview or a blog post – it’s important to pick an outfit!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Create Tension in Blogging for Business

/0 Comments/in , , /by

“Even a small amount of tension in your writing can move it from flat to fascinating,” Mary-Kate Mackey tells writers in Write Better Right Now. Just as bending a flat metal rule into an arc, she advises, think “arc” in setting up questions in readers’ minds. In a well-written paragraph, each sentence launches from the last, with paragraphs positioned along the larger arc of the whole piece.

Because our Say It For You team focuses its writing on blog marketing, I particularly appreciate one marketing example Mackey offered. The assignment – a travel agency pitching the town of Lily Pond, Arkansas.

The first version lacks tension:
“The small town of Lily Pond offers much for anyone willing to leave the interstate.” That’s a yawn, Mackey says – lots of places have lots of amenities to offer.

A better version, one with tension:
“FUN THIS WAY – That sign doesn’t exist on the interstate exist for Highway 58. But it should.”

Richard Anderson’e Powerful Writing Skills makes the same point about conveying a sense of enthusiasm through your writing. “Don’t be satisfied with putting down data and results or observations and opinions,” Anderson says.“ Find a way to make this information meaningful to your reader.”

But, really, can that be done? Can we, over months and years, continue to “have something to say” related to our field, keeping our blog posts relevant over long periods of time without losing reader excitement and engagement?  The answer (extraordinarily simple, yet extraordinarily difficult): We have to keep learning, constantly adding to our own body of knowledge – about our industry or professional field (and in the case of our content writing team, about those of our clients).

One interesting parallel is found in ballroom dancing, my own beloved hobby over the years. “Dancing would be impossible without a certain amount of tension,” explains danceforums.com. “In time and with practice you will learn to match your leader’s arm tension: when it’s relaxed you will be relaxed, when he is increasing his tension, you will fill it, you’ll match it, and you’ll know he’s up to something,” an instructor explains to females..

In blogging for business, a simple arc gets readers to want to know – What’s the consequence of this tension? What is the business owner or practitioner leading me to? What’s at the end of the arc?

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

In Blogging for Business, Great Questions are Those the Audience Used to Know

/0 Comments/in , , , /by


“Creating the perfect quiz is an art form,” Breathe Magazine authors explain. In a virtual quiz, they point out, “Great questions are those that the audience used to know and will strain to remember.” That way, rather than being frustrated, giving up and clicking away, audience members will stay engaged and be able to venture an educated guess. A good question should:

  1. Inform
  2. Educate
  3. Entertain

Even if they don’t know enough to even guess the answer, participants will be glad they learned the information after they’ve learned the answer, Breathe advises.

In corporate blogging training sessions, I’m sometimes asked whether quizzes are a good strategy for business blogging. The answer is yes, and for several different reasons. Blog readers tend to be curious creatures and, as a longtime Indianapolis blog content writer, I’ve found that “self-tests” tend to engage readers and help them relate in a more personal way to information presented in a blog.

Breathe’s advice about entertaining an audience is especially important in business blogs. One concern I hear a lot from business owners or professional practitioners is that sooner or later, they’ll run out of things to say in their marketing blog posts.  “I’ve already covered my products and services on my website – what else is left to say?” is the question. Paradoxically, effective business blogging is centered around the repeated use of keyword phrases and key themes! One of the biggest challenges in blogging for business over long periods of time is keeping the content fresh. Quizzes constitute a way to vary the menu.

It’s not only the effort needed to remember information learned long ago that engages readers – they love “straining” to understand information about themselves. Over the years at Say It For You, I’ve found that “self-tests” tend to engage readers and help them relate in a more personal way to the information presented in a marketing blog.

There’s yet another advantage to quizzes, I’ve learned. People are looking to their advisors for more than just information; they need perspective. In blog content writing, we provide information to searchers, but they also need guidance as to what they can do about those facts, and ways in which the information can make a difference to them.

The quiz, test, or survey engages online readers’ curiosity.  The next step is “nudging” them towards a point of view – or a course of action!

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail