Don’t Have it Today? Don’t Write it Today in Your Business Blog!

A funny anecdote I read in Reader’s Digest makes a point blog content writers need to remember.

I’d just sat down at a Manhattan diner when I noticed schav on the menu.  I ordered some.
"We don’t have it today," said the waitress.
"Oh, you have it only on certain days?" I asked.
"No, we never have it."
I was confused.  "Then, why is it on the menu?"
"Well," she said with a shrug.  "Some people like it."

Corporate blogging for business is about what you do have – what you do sell, what you do know, and about what you do well.  Unfortunately, I’ve see blog writers in Indianapolis and elsewhere try to "fatten up" their "menu" of website and blog content by ranging far afield from the core mission of their business.

Promoting a public speaking business, for example?  Better, in your SEO marketing blog, to list two or three main speaking topics than a smorgasbord of twenty topics.

Far be it from me, of course, to imply in Say It For You corporate blog training sessions, that being a generalist in your field is undesirable or less marketable than being a specialist.  It’s simply that the more focused the business blog writing, the more effective it’s likely to be in terms of eliciting response and action from readers.

Jakob Neilson, who offers guidelines for Web content usability, says that the actual information on any web page is the design component with the highest impact of website profitability. A second teacher of good writing,Matt Duffy, guides content writers on a similar track: "Above all," he says, "writing should make sense."  Corporate blog writing will make the most sense to readers if it’s focused around central themes – core beliefs of the business owners, and cor products and services offered by that business.

In blog content writing for business, or on menus in restaurants, don’t talk about schav if you don’t serve schav!