Blogging To The Five Why’s

Fellow blogger Michel Fortin says he’s a big fan of reasons-why advertising. "Good, successful copy," Fortin adds, "tells the reader why right up front."  (If you don’t, he warns, they’re left wondering why you left that information out!)

Fortin’s alluding to ad copy, but the same five why’s he mentions can serve as great guidelines for using proof in your business blog posts to build belief in your services and products.

Buyers (and I’m extending this to apply to online searchers who’ve found themselves at your blog) want to know five different types of reasons:

Why you (the reader)
Your copy should qualify the reader for the offer you’re making.  Why did you target this particular market (the one represented by this potential buyer)?

Why me (the author)
"Credentialization is an important element in copy," says Fortin. In the case of business blogs, the "me" is the business or the professional practitioner (or the ghost blogger as his or her voice). What is our expertise and experience?  Why do we care?

Why this (the offer)
What are the specific solutions you provide? Why is your product or service designed in the particular and unique way you describe?

Why now (the urgency)
What reasons can you offer the reader to act now – (missing out on something important, preventing further damage, expected scarcity of the product, etc.)?

Why this price (the value)
Your blog can make clear where you fall price-wise in your market and why your business has chosen that pricing niche. 

Answering the "why’s" overcomes buyers’ natural skepticism, and blog posts are the perfect tool to use for going beyond the "telling" and the "selling" to the "proving". As I’ve said before, only blog believers become website buyers.