Six In A Fix For Blogs

"Five in a Fix", a popular regular feature in the Indianapolis Star, gives homemakers ideas for cranking out quick dinners with just a handful of ingredients. In just fifteen minutes, I learned, I can turn four ingredients and a dash of spice into a chicken-with- tequila-and-lime meal for four (low-calorie, too).

Beginners to business blogging often confide in me they have trouble coming up with new ideas to keep their content fresh. I thought it might help to post "Six In A Fix For Blogs" patterned after the Star‘s quick dinner recipe idea.

On the one hand, each business blog post needs to keep a sharp focus, so that searchers quickly confirm they’ve come to the right spot for the information, products, and solutions they need. On the other hand, you want your blog to stand out, to be unusually interesting, so those searchers will be intrigued and read more.

So here are my Six In A Fix ideas so you don’t break rhythm in your business blog: 

#1 Debunking a myth
 
What’s a false impression people have that relates to your field or your product?

Educating your blog readers gives you chance to demonstrate your expertise.

The Bankruptcy Indiana blog debunks the common bankruptcy myth that if you’re married, both spouses must file bankruptcy.

#2  Tie-in to the news

Is there a front-page news story that has to do with a problem your company knows how to handle?

Recent Indiana headlines about the Environmental Protection Agency checking the indoor air quality in a Pittsboro elementary school gave Airflow Breeze a chance to showcase their attic booster fans and heat register boosters that help circulate the air inside your home.

#3  True life story

Tell the tale of a problem one of your clients or customers faced (names and exact details can be disguised) and how you came to the rescue.

Executive Speech coach Jean Palmer Heck tells a wonderful story about a mid-level manager who attended one of her Real-Impact training sessions "Imagine my surprise," she said, when he stood up to give his first speech and started sweating so badly that it dripped off his forehead like a sprinkler!"  Palmer Heck goes on to tell how that gentleman went on to win the "Most Improved" award!

#4  Startling statistic

Even if it’s not quite on the level of a Ripley’s Believe it or Not, quoting a statistic shows why you’re passionate about helping people in this situation.

Ron Sukenick, a business relationship strategies coach, tells us an important statistic:  Studies have shown that our knowledge and experience in our chosen field (the things Intelligence quotient or IQ measures) account for only 15% of success in the workplace.  The other 85% relates to people skills (measured by Personality Quotient or PQ.  That’s why, Ron points out, we need to reach beyond networking to connection, minding our PQ’s!

#5  Unlikely comparison

To help capture interest, put "ingredients" together that don’t seem to match, kind of like tequila and cumin in the chicken recipe.

 In one Say It For You blog post, I compared riders of segways, (the two-wheeled personal transportation devices that take riders directly where they want to go), to searchers on the web "navigating" to a business’ blog because of its relevancy to the topic they’re asking about.
#6  Famous people

6. Famous People

Relate a celebrity story to show how your service or product might have come in handy to solve the problem. 

A blog about SpeakAssured™, a bioceutical product that helps calm fear of public speaking, told the story of Barbra Streisand.  After forgetting the words to a song at a concert in New York in 1967, Streisand’s presentation phobia prevented her from singing in public until 1994! The blog post goes on to explain that one big component in the fear of public speaking is the worry of forgetting your train of thought. (SpeakAssured™, the blog goes on to say, helps enhance focus and memory.)

Need a "starter" for a business blog post?  Pull out Six In A Fix and you’ll be on your way!