Innie and Outie Blogging for Business

"As a writer, you spend much of your writing time alone," says Mary McCauley Smith of Absolute Write. "You may have thought this peculiarity went hand-in-hand with the writer's life, but perhaps it runs deeper than that.  Maybe you are an 'innie'," she suggests, referring to the Myers-Briggs preference for introversion.

Sorry, Ms. Smith, but no; actually,  my Meyers-Briggs "errs" strongly on the extrovert side. You made me think, though: Are there more "introverted" and more "extroverted" styles in blog content writing?

Introverts and extroverts differ from each other in three ways, Smith explains, and each of these traits affects your writing life.
 

• Energy usage – Introverts are energy conservers.  Extroverts are energy users.
   
• Response to stimulation –  The noise and hustle of the world can overwhelm an introvert, while extroverts are thrilled by a variety of stimuli.
   
• Approach to knowledge – Introverts like a narrow, in-depth focus.  Extroverts prefer to collect a wider base of data.

In my profession of corporate blogging trainer, I work with business  owners and professionals, with their employees, and with Indianapolis freelance copywriters to create blog content, often for SEO marketing blogs.  While I confess I hadn't been viewing any of these writers in terms of their Myers-Briggs preferences, now that I think about it, I agree with Byron Walsh, author of "The Upside of Being an Introvert". After studying introverted leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Mother teresa, and extroverts Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs, Marie Antoinette, and Winston Churchill, Walsh concluded "it takes both kinds to make history".

I think effective blog writing takes both kinds, too.  Consider research, for example.  You could make phone calls, talk to experts, visit different stores and facilities, interview customers for testimonials, or…you could rely on Internet research to glean most of the information you need.

With the practice of writing blog pposts for others becoming increasingly common in the corporate and professional worlds, whose Myers-Briggs preference is reflected in the content?  It depends…on the target audience, and on the business owner or professional practitioner who's being "introduced" through the blog.
 

Five years ago, in crafting the mission statement for Say It For You, I wrote the following:

"A ghost must use her 'third ear',  not only hearing what you want to say, but picking up on your unique style of saying it.  That way, the ghost can speak your message in your 'voice', to your customers.  A good ghost blogger should not, herself, be seen OR heard!"