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The 8 Worst Mistakes in Blogging for Business

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Multiethnic businesspeople sleeping during a seminar in conference room

Reading Paul Sloane’s list of “The Eight Worst Mistakes Made By Keynote Speakers”, I couldn’t help thinking these are probably the same mistakes made all too often by business blog content writers. Just as Sloane warns speakers “Be sure not to make these mistakes”, I’d like to use this Say It For You blog post to issue the same caution to blog writers.

A weak start.
“The first impression that you make on the stage is very important.  It should be positive and animated.”
Once the online visitor has actually landed on your blog, it takes a “pow opening line” to fan that flicker of interest into a flame. That line might consist of a bold assertion or an anomaly (a statement that, at first glance, doesn’t appear to fit).

Over-use of PowerPoint.
“Many speakers load up their presentation with too many slides containing too many words.”
Web surfers have a painfully short attention span, so it’s important to exercise portion control in the length of paragraphs, titles, and entire blog posts. Single visuals can add interest and evoke emotion.

No clear message.
Often speakers try to cover too much ground…There are many different messages but there is no clear theme.”
Business blogging is ideal for using the Power of One. Focus readers’ attention on one theme in each blog post, with one clear Call to Action.

No human interest.
“Many talks are crammed full of facts, data, charts, and statistics…People relate to stories about people.”
The stories content writers in Indianapolis tell in their SEO marketing blog have the power to forge that emotional connection between company and potential customer.

Lack of enthusiasm.
“Your job is to inform and entertain….Try to include some humour or something interesting and unusual, but keep it relevant to the topic.”
Two of the four P’s of business blogging are Passion and Personality.  Blog posts are ideal for communicating the unique personality and core beliefs of the business owner. No doubt about it – enthusiasm sells. And, when it comes to blogging for business, enthusiasm spreads – to searchers, search engines, and right back home to YOU!

Too much Me and not enough You.
“A big mistake is to make the talk about you, your company, your issues, and your achievements….You have to make the talk about them.”
That same concept applies to blogging for business, I’m convinced.  Each claim a content writer puts into a corporate blog needs to be put into context for the reader, so that the claim not only is true, but feels true to online visitors.

No rehearsal.
“Check all the equipment on stage and be familiar with all the logistics.”
Above all, I teach bloggers – don’t confuse the online readers. Don’t overwhelm them with technical jargon. Then, don’t make navigating your blog site a mystery.  Have clear Calls to Action and links that lead directly to where they should.

Overrunning on time.
“Event organizers and audiences do not appreciate a speaker who overruns his allotted time.”
Longer content, if focused and well-organized and engaging, is still appropriate.  Instead of shortening, tighten your writing and make each sentence and phrase count.

Blog content writers – Be sure to steer clear of the 8 mistakes!

 

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What-Good-Does-That-Do-Me Blog marketing

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multi coloured gems

I think I could write an entire chapter in a content marketing textbook based on the ShaneCo radio commercial about diamond jewelry. I’d name it “What-Good-Does-That-Do-Me Blog Marketing”.

You see, in his “You’ve got a friend in the diamond business” commercials, Tom Shane often mentions the fact that he goes directly to Bangkok to seek out the most beautiful colored diamonds. (So far, nothing new or revolutionary about that – most companies’ commercials mention special value propositions, things that set the sponsoring company apart from its competitors.) Only problem is, potential customers are left wondering “So what?”, mentally tuning in to Radio WIIFM –  you know, What’s In It For Me?

Shane’s right on top of that one, answering the question even before it’s asked: Bangkok, Thailand is the world center for colored gemstones he explains.  And so he, as an authority on sapphires and other colored gemstones, personally travels there throughout the year to personally hand-select every stone. As if that weren’t enough, Shane goes on to explain, he then has many of the stones recut to maximize their value and beauty. That’s what’s in it for the customer about Shane’s trips to Bangkok, he makes clear.

For blogs to be effective, they must serve as positioning statements. The visit has to conclude with readers understanding not only what your value proposition is, but exactly why that should make any difference to them. Blog content writers need to remember this reality: Prospects are always mentally posing the “What’s In It For Me?” question. What’s the benefit in this for ME? How will MY interests be protected and served if I choose to do business with you or become your client or patient? What will you do to keep ME “safe” from risk?

But, even in a face-to-face selling situation, buyers rarely completely and accurately articulate all their concerns. True, our blog readers went online searching for answers to questions and solutions for dilemmas they’re facing. Still, I believe, blog writing for business will succeed only if two things are apparent to readers, and in the order presented here:

  • It’s clear you (the business owner or professional practitioner) understand online searchers’ concerns and needs
  • You and your staff have the experience, the information, the products, and the services to solve exactly those problems and meet precisely those needs.

The third ingredient, though –whether we’re dealing with a radio commercial or a blog post, has to be answering –  EVEN BEFORE IT’S ASKED –  this question:

If YOU go to Bangkok, what good does that do ME?

 

 

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What Does it Take to be a Sophisticated Blog Marketer?

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arrogant blond sexy girl. red dressThe original meaning of the word “sophisticated” was quite different from the way we think of it today, author Bill Brohough teaches in The Gloomy Truth Behind the Words You Use .  To “sophisticate” something was to adulterate it by mixing it with something inferior, so being sophisticated meant the opposite of genuine.

When it comes to online marketing – even using the description “sophisticated” as we understand that word today (meaning cultured and refined) –  what qualities set that level of marketing apart? “What is a ‘sophisticated marketer’, anyway?” asks Alex Rynne of LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions blog, gathering responses from various marketers.

Some different “takes” on the question include:

  • one who focuses on results over marketing tactics and activities
  • one whose marketing is not elitist and complicated
  • someone who takes both old and new marketing techniques and executes them in a calculated hybrid of strategies
  • one who delivers the right kind of information to buyers across the entire customer lifecycle.
  • one who questions each premise and considers alternatives

To sell a product or service, you must market it differently depending on what stage of sophistication your market is in at the time, Todd Brown shares in his blog post “The Greatest Marketing Lesson I Ever Learned.”

Often, sophistication means simplification, I teach newbie Indianapolis blog content writers. Matching our writing to our intended audience is part of the challenge we business blog content writers face. After all, we’re not in this to entertain ourselves – we’re out to retain the clients and customers we serve and bring in new ones, so we try to use words and sentences to which our target readers can relate.

 

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More About Using Skeletons to Bring Life to Your Blog

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In the delightful little book Unfortunate English: The Gloomy Truth Behind the Words You Use, you can find a treasure chest of fun ideas for livening up business blog posts. Author Bill Brohough alerts readers to the fact that many of the words we use daily used to have very war-related, sexually oriented, or even disgusting meanings.

Last week in this Say It For You blog, I suggested several ways in which that collection of verbal “skeletons” which Brohough put together can be used to enliven blog marketing content for different types of businesses and professional practices,. skeletonThose word “skeletons” can be use, I explained:

  • to define basic terminology or give basic information to readers
  • to explain why this practitioner or business owner chooses to operate in a certain way:

After all, every business blogger faces the challenge of creating material about the same subject over long periods of time, and anything we can use to deepen and broaden and generally “freshen up” the topic tends to be a good thing.

Two words we’re used to seeing in marketing content, terms used to describe everything from clothing to home décor to autos, for example, are “sophisticated” and “luxury”.  Today, Brohough points out, if you call something or someone “sophisticated”, you mean cultured and refined.  The original meaning of the word was quite different.  To “sophisticate” something was to adulterate it by mixing it with something inferior, and being sophisticated meant the opposite of genuine. The word “luxury”, Brohough adds, has a similarly shady past. The Old French word meant “indulging in abundance”, lacking in taste, or even lecherous.

In corporate blog writing, the target audience dictates the nature of the content, including the writing tone and style, the length of the posts, which keyword phrases to include, and what the Calls to Action will be.  But, even with all those preparations made and research done,  writers need to maintain a full content “quiver” (with the arrows pointing in the right direction!).

Trivia such as those in Unfortunate English can add a dash of humor and a whole lot of new interest to business blog marketing content!

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Does Your Blog Have Skeletons in its Verbal Closet?

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unfortunate-english-book

You’ll find skeletons in verbal closets, Bill Brohough says, and he devotes an entire book to helping us do just that in Unfortunate English: The Gloomy Truth Behind the Words You Use. Brohough alerts readers to the “improprieties, disgusting notions, licentiousness, and other foul thoughts” we speak daily without realizing it.

  • I love “reading around and learning around”, as I call it, and advise all blog content writers to do the same. Ideas are all over the place, all of the time, but we’ve got to see and hear those ideas, learning everywhere and from everyone, making connections between our own experience and knowledge and Other People’s Wisdom.  There are several ways in which I think Brohough’s collection of verbal “skeletons” and his caution to writers about using words can be used to improve blog marketing content for different types of businesses:1.  to define basic terminology or give basic information to readers: The expression “caught red-handed”, Brohough explains, originated in the 1400’s and meant caught with blood on one’s hands. Another speculation, he says, is that the term traces back to 800 B.C., when guilt or innocence was tested by putting the accused’s hand on a red-hot axehead.

A nutrition company or health practitioner might use this piece of trivia to discuss the importance of including various colors of food in the diet, so as to include different phytonutrients advising blog readers to include strawberries as a source of folic acid and cherries which are high in fiber..

2. to explain why this practitioner or business owner chooses to operate in a certain way: A printer or web designer might discuss the way red brings text and images to the foreground, and stimulates buying decisions.  A fashion clothing business or professional makeup salon might offer advice on using red accessories as an accent color for basic black or brown business suits..

As bloggers, we face the challenge of churning out creative writing over extended periods of time, and word “histories”offer fresh ways to approach our subject.

It’s worth searching your blog “closet” for skeletons!

 

 

 

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