Business Blogs Take a Lesson From Elementary School

Remember Show and Tell back in grade school?  There was pedagogic science behind the practice, but it all boiled down to the fact that we absorb information better when it comes to us in more than one form.

While business blogging is usually not meant purely to educate readers, bloggers can take a lesson from those old show-and-tell sessions.

"Better headlines have been proven to increase readership and response by as much as 700%," advertising and marketing commentator Michel Fortin points out, adding that photos and graphics near the headline are even better.

Adding video to blog posts is a powerful way to engage readers’ attention, but simple clip art and photos can also serve to focus on a key points in each post  Just the other day, leafing through the October issue of Health.com magazine, I came across an intriguing title: "The 5 Germiest Places in Your Life".  The five include phones, soap dispensers, computer keyboards and mouse pads, lobby-level elevator buttons, and lastly, shopping cart handles.  Thinking about it now, I realize that as a visual learner, it was the line drawing of a shopping cart that focused my attention on the title of the article.

Fortin suggests livening up business copy with before-and-after shots, photos of products, and even photos of the business team. The picture makes the words come alive for the reader. But, as a business blogging trainer, I would hasten to add that the words can pull their own weight when it comes to making friends and influencing people. Perhaps the best words come from satisfied customer "friends", so, wherever possible, include case studies and testimonials in your business blog posts.

You might say it’s good to go back to the future, taking a lesson from elementary school show-and-tell strategy!