OPA for Blog Content Writing – C

With gifting on my mind this holiday week, I thought it would be a good time for some re-gifting.

After all, if Other People’s Money can be used to take advantage of business opportunities even when we lack the financial resources of our own, why not use the same principle in blog content creation? With that in mind, all this week, I’ve been sharing pieces of Other People’s Advice that I think might help companies and professional practices produce high quality business blogs.

Stories stick in people’s minds more readily than straight messaging.  The best reps not only use stories, they make sure prospects see themselves as the protagonists, advises Emma Snider of Hubspot. “The word ‘imagine’ can be helpful in this aim,” Snider says. “Suddenly, the prospect isn’t just hearing about a better future enabled through a new product or service – they’re actually picturing themselves living it.”

Another aspect of engaging readers, Snider suggests, is using sensory language:  “see”, “show”, “hear”, “tackle”. “Think about how the words you use relate to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic triggers,” Snider adds.

Skillful public speakers work on appealing to all four main learning styles, novamind.com points out:

• For Visual listeners, they use words such as “clear”, crystal”, “focus”, “picture”, “watch”, “reveal”.
• For Auditory listeners, they use words such as “rings a bell,” “resonate”, “harmonize”, “silence”.
• For Kinesthetic listeners, they use words such as “catch on”, “grasp”, “get a handle on”, “tap into”.
• For Auditory listeners, they use words such as “change:, “understand”, “decide”, “consider”.

Adjusting our style for different kinds of target readers is also a core “commandment” for us blog content writers. To communicate with an action-oriented person, for example we should state our best recommendations, rather than offering many alternatives. By contrast, if the reader is a process-oriented person, it’s important to include options and alternatives along with the pros and cons of each.

Even after the holiday season is over, consider re-gifting Other People’s Advice.  The beauty of it is, you can use the advice yourself AND share the benefit with others!