Business Blogging – And I Should Care About This WHY?

Sometimes we role play, my career mentees and I.  At Butler University College of Business, where I serve as an Executive Career Mentor, one of my functions is helping students prepare resumes and train for job interviews.

One favorite technique I use is to instruct students to imagine me as a rather hard-boiled Human Resources manager at XXZ Corporation.  I’ve just scanned dozens upon dozens of resumes; this is my ninth interview of the day – I’ve seen and heard it all!  Then imagine, I tell the students, that my reaction to every statement on your resume, every statement you make in your interview, is “So I should care about this  WHY?”

Be sure the things you choose to say, I caution career mentees, whether on your resume or in your interview, aren’t about what you’ve done or about what you want, but about what they need. Don’t just tell me you spent the summer of ’08 working in a local store. Tell me how you saved your employer money, time, and hassle. Tell me how you streamlined procedures, how you raised more money for a charity, how you promoted the cause or addressed a long-standing problem for your employer. In other words, tell me why I should care about what you’re telling me!

As an “Executive Blogging Mentor”, I would have precisely the same advice to offer business owners and professionals launching a business blogging tactic as part of their overall business marketing strategy. Offer information about what you sell, what you do, and what you know about, of course.  That’s one thing business blog posts are all about.

Bottom line, though, it’s about them, the readers, and their needs. Share how you solved problems for customers or clients in the past.  Share special insights searchers might not have heard anyone else express in just that way.

For your blog to function as an effective marketing tool, imagine searchers who’ve clicked on your blog post asking themselves the question: “So I should care about this WHY?”