Beginning a Business Blog Post In Medias Res

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Duckling lying between two rabbits against white backgroundThere are four different ways to begin a novel, explains author Cheri Laser, with a less commonly used choice of the four, yet a favorite of hers, being “In Medias Res”, meaning “into the middle of things”.

An in medias res novel, Laser adds, introduces the characters and the conflicts at the mid-point or at the conclusion, then flashes back to catch up. The concept? Intrigue the reader, then jump back to an earlier, quieter part of the story to deliver the information readers need to understand the conflict.

Business blog content writers know the importance of intriguing and engaging readers, and of doing it right away. At Say It For You, I emphasize how big a deal it can be to get the “pow opening line” right. In SEO-conscious marketing blogs, of course, it may be the keyword phrases in the title that start the job of getting the blog found. But once a visitor has actually landed, though, it takes a great opener to fan that flicker of interest into a flame.

For today’s online searchers, that flicker-to-flame process is condensed, to say the least. “Every day, you fight a battle, competing with the internet, emails, texting and voicemail. “  Kimberly Yuhl of SteamFeed quotes a quite startling word quota from Statistic Brain: The average attention span in 2013 was 8 seconds. If the average adult listens to or reads one word per second, that gives us eight words to capture our readers’ attention.  “They had better be some powerful words,” advises Yuhl.

Darren Rowse of Problogger suggests starting with a question as one way to engage readers: Did you know….? How do you….? What’s one of the most common problems that…..? Do you want to learn how to…? Have you ever…? Do you ever wonder if…?

Another form of in medias res beginnings for business blogs is what Hector Cuevas calls the “shock and awe approach”, which involves starting posts by ”disagreeing with what is commonly accepted as the norm”. This, Cuevas suggests, “builds an instant sense of curiosity and brings up questions that your readers need answered.” The caution, he adds, is that your content needs to clearly explain your point of view.

For your next business blog post, consider starting in media res!

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A Writing Prompt Challenge for Business Bloggers

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How do you “ignite your creativity engine” and “fuel your inspiration”? Glowing light bulb in row of switched off ones on yellow. Front view

Writers’ Digest advises novelists to use story starters or writing prompts. And while as blog content writers, we aren’t dealing in fiction, at least some of the 52 prompts suggested by Brian Klems and Cris Freese could conceivably pump up the creativity level of our content marketing.

In fact, I challenge readers of this Say It For You blog to write in ideas about how they’d go about using one of these prompts in one of their own posts.

My own favorites from among the Writers’ Digest prompts:

  • “You return home from work to find a ‘Dear John’ letter on your table.  Oddly, it’s from a FUTURE romantic relationship.  What does the letter say?”

(Couldn’t professional service providers use this? In what ways might the blog reader’s future relationship with you either succeed or fail? Paint a picture of what it’s like being a client or patient in your service or practice.)

  • “You’re trying to read the morning newspaper when your cat begins pawing at your leg.  You brush him away, but he jumps on the table and begins meowing.  Final, the cat speaks.  What does he say?”

Successful business blog writing reminds online searchers of the annoyances and frustrations they are have in dealing with their present service providers, and that you and your staff have the experience, the information, the products, and the services to solve exactly those problems and meet precisely those needs.

  • “At work, you’ve been getting a Post-it note on your desk every morning that reads, ‘Why did you do it?’ You’ve talked to your boss, the night cleaning crew and your co-workers, but no one seems to know who’s putting the note there or why.  You decide to work through the night in hopes of catching the person.”

In many marketing blogs, the blog content writers focus on appealing to consumers’ fear.  To appeal to a better kind of customer – the kind that buys for the right reasons and then remains loyal, I train writers to appeal to readers’ better nature and focus on the problem-solving aspects of the offered products and services.

Ask yourself:  Could writing prompts pump up the creativity level of my blog?

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Business Blogging Helps Friends See What You Enjoy

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“Each year, the largest performing arts conference in the world draws artists from around the globe to New York Midtown Hilton Towers in Manhattan. …you can enjoy the newest ideas in theatre, dance and music,” explains my friend and fellow blogger Thaddeus Rex. “But, please,” he warns, “Don’t plan to eat in the area.”  Why? “Food in this hood winds up extremely expensive and excessively lame.”

Rex’ blog post, which begins on this negative note, carries two positive benefits for readers:

A valuable tip:
“Walk just a few blocks west of 54th and 6th to 9th or 10th Avenue, and you get twice the quality for half the cost.”

In blogging for business, it’s important to proactively interpret information in ways that are not only understandable, but usable by readers. Engaging? Fresh? Relevant? Unique?  Those are all qualities to strive for in blog content writing. But offering basic, immediately usable information is a very compelling way to welcome prospects who are meeting you through your blog.

An insight:
“These businesses have learned the secret of differentiating via location.  They know they don’t have to be best in the world.  They only have to be best on the block. Once people are up on their feet, walking around, they get hungry….They assume high price means high quality.  And many never know the difference.”

Smart blog content writers know that there is no lack of sources where readers can find information on our subject.  But readers don’t want to do that – they want our help making sense out of the ocean of information out there. They want our guidance arriving at insights that will help them understand and use all that information.

Many consumers (those who assume a burger with a high price is a burger of high quality) never know the difference. “But YOU know the power of energy,” Thaddeus tells his blog readers. “YOU discern quality with a steady eye and are willing to work for it”.

Does your business blog help your new friends (your online visitors) see what you enjoy?

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Don’t Notch the Bedpost in your Business Blog Post – Yet!

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“Most branding activities are just well-catalogued brag sheets“, according to marketing speaker Bruce Turkel (whom I had the pleasure of meeting at our National Speakers of Indiana chapter a few months ago). And while these “bedpost notches such as credentials, accomplishments, satisfied clients, etc., may please your grandmother, he says, they don’t interest anyone who’s not already thinking about hiring you.

Reading that advice, I couldn’t help being thankful. To a certain extent, we blog content writers are able to put our business owner and professional practitioner clients in a more advantageous position as they meet prospects. After all, readers who arrive at a business blog have already “drunk the Kool-Aid”. They already have an interest in the topic and are ready to receive the information, the services, and the products our clients have to offer.

Having said that, our task is to keep those visitors engaged with valuable, personal, and relevant information.  Bedpost notching is important, enumerating the business’ or the practice’s special areas of expertise, years of experience, and success filling customers’ needs. To be sure, we don’t have a very long “window” to accomplish that task, really just a couple of seconds. That’s where Bruce Turkel’s “simple but not easy” recommendation comes in.

Build an “all about them” brand, he says. Speak to your clients’ wants and needs and not your own. Turkel offers two examples of that new paradigm thinking (in the context of how professional speaker should promote themselves):

Don’t:      “Roger McFlintock is the leading expert on underwater basket weaving.”
Do:          “Underwater basket weaving can change your life.”

Don’t:      ”Ellie Dabooter has spent the last 15 years teaching leadership skills”.
Do:          “Leadership is the single most important skill you can use to improve your
business. Ellie Dabooter is singularly qualified to lead you there.”

As a corporate blogging trainer, I wholeheartedly agree. Any piece of marketing material can be tweaked to put the emphasis where it belongs – on the buyer or user. In terms of online marketing, the What’s-In-It-For-Them paradigm shift is particularly relevant for blog posts.

Don’t notch the bedpost – yet. Sure, those online visitors found you because they’re already interested in your type of product or service.  Your first order of business, though, is confirming the importance of the subject matter in terms of the difference it can make in their lives!

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Bad Business Bloggers of the World, Untie!

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By his own description, Richard Lederer is a verbivore.  Fans refer to him as the “poster godfather of good grammar”.  Lederer is able to laugh about common grammar mistakes writers make. Myself, I have a harder time suppressing my anger, particularly when it comes to bad grammar and incorrect spelling sins committed by blog content writers.

True (as I’m fond of mentioning in corporate blogging training sessions), the language used in blogging can be – in fact should be – more conversational than the stuff you might find in a company’s brochures or on their website’s “About” page, so that, depending on the target audience, blog writers are OK bending grammar rules by a bit.

But, as Richard Lederer reminds us (albeit with a smile), some of the crimes committed against our precious English language are definitely not on the OK list. “Every time you make a typo,” Lederer writes, “the errorists win.”

Copyblogger’s Brian Clark explains that while bloggers try to write the way people speak, there are certain mistakes that detract from your credibility, including four mix-ups:

  • Your vs. You’re
  • It’s vs. Its
  • There vs. Their
  • Affect vs. Effect

Gini Dietrich on American Express’ Open Forum worries that creators of customer-target content’s worry about the grammar police (I proudly sport my badge) can create writer’s block. The most important thing, she says it to “get the writing out of you. It can always be fixed to perfection later.” Still, Dietrich says, if you can learn to avoid basic errors (she mentions Brian Clark’s items of your/you’re, they’re/there, then adds the total no-no “irregardless), you’re off to a good start.

HubSpots’s Ginny Soskey adds a few errors to the watch list, breaking the news that
“alot” is simply not a word, and cautioning writers to use “who”, not “that” when referring to a person: “Ginny is a blogger who likes ice cream.”

Judging from the search results when I Google “grammar and spelling mistakes in blogging”, everybody seems to be conscious of the problem. Still, the more I keep reminding blog content writers in Indianapolis how important it is to be fastidious using our language, the more examples of sloppiness seem to stare me in the face whenever I surf.

“Bad spellers of the world, untie!” quips Richard Lederer.  Professional ghost bloggers of the world, unite!” is all I have to say! Are you going to stand there and let those errorists win?

 

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