Use Guest Bloggers for Bad-Deal-or-Bargain Business Blog Posts

Every industry or profession can be approached in different ways, and blog content writing for a business or professional practice is the perfect way to offer a “bi-partisan” presentation of the issues.

As a trainer in corporate blog writing, I know how crucial it is to differentiate yourself and clarify the special “slant” you have and your position on the issues faced by your industry or profession. I’ve gone so far as to tell new bloggers. “Blog more what you believe than what you do.”

An article that appeared two weeks ago in the Indianapolis Star called “A Bad Deal or a Bargain?” reminded me just how important it is in blog writing to express points of view in addition to offering product and service information.

The Star piece was addressing the debate about the Indiana Gasification Project, which would construct a plant in the southern part of the state to convert coal into “synthetic gas”. The newspaper page was divided down the middle. On the left side, Steven Francis of the Sierra Club and Ed Gerardot of the Indiana Community Action Assn. were making the point that a coal-to-gas plant would hurt ratepayers. On the right, Mark Lubbers, project director of the gasification company, discussed reasons why building the new plant makes sense.

I think the same effect could be achieved in blogging for a business or practice by having a guest blogger explain her point of view, then having the “host” blogger tell her side of the story.

Now, I’ve always taught that reading competitors' blog posts is a great form of market research for business owners launching their own blogging strategy.  Even repeating what established bloggers have said (of course in each case properly attributing the material to its source) forces "newbies" to think about what they might add to the discussion.

But today I’m talking about using your blog to present opinions on industry or professional issues.  Rather than you summarizing what others may think, or the way competitors have chosen to handle the problems, why not invite some of the actual “thought competitors” to express their ideas on your blog site?

In providing blog marketing services to my Say It For You clients, I try to keep in mind the rule Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham shared with Oprah: Always remember to write for people at least as smart as you are.

Why not use corporate blog writing to put conflicting views about a particular subject (your guest blogger’s view and your own) out there and let smart readers judge for themselves?