Blogging the Specialness

“What makes No. 2 pencils so darn special?” ask the editors of Mental Floss: the Book, noting that “The No.2 is definitely No. 1 in the pencil market.

Answering the question of what makes ANY one product or service, ANY one business or professional practice special – well, that’s the job description for any freelance content writer of business blogs. In the case of the No. 2 pencil, the Mental Floss editors patiently explain, the medium weight graphite makes No. 2’s ideal for general writing.  (Harder pencils are used for drafting, softer for bowling scores).

As writers and researchers, we business bloggers are using own strengths to play to – and play up – the unique strengths of the business owner and professional clients who’ve hired us to give voice to their story. Make no mistake – it’s a challenge to stress “specialness” without engages in two practices Indianapolis Business Journal’s Tim Altom calls PowerPoint “sins’: Too much, and Too Self Conscious.

As fizzle.co so aptly puts it, nothing is a bigger turn-off than a blatant sales pitch. Yet, if you have a business, Corbett Barr points out, you have to sell products or services to earn revenue. But the best sales pitch, he says, is no pitch at all.  In fact, Barr explains, that’s what permission marketing (and blog content writing is a big component of permission marketing, along with search marketing and social media) is all about.

When you’re blogging, you’re talking to a friendly and interested audients about things that might help them (as opposed to forcing your message in front of people who are trying to avoid it, Barr continues. Let the useful and interesting information you offer to readers of your blog bring out the specialness of the product or service.

(Did you know, Nicolas-Jacques Conte created the number system for pencils back in the eighteenth century?)