Simplifying the Complex in Business Blog Posts

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“It’s tempting to want to explain everything. It’s also hard to know what to throw out,” observes Dane of digital  accomplice.com. Dane is talking about video, but the same simplify-the-complex is certainly a guideline for all of us business blog content writers. Of course, with blog posts far less expensive to produce than videos, it’s somewhat simpler to focus on just one aspect of a topic and then come back and fill in other information in later posts.

Some products and services are, without question, more challenging to explain. “If, after your thirty-second elevator pitch, the person you’re speaking with still has ten more clarifying questions, says Jeune Ortiz of future-ink.com, you probably have a complex product or service.

Ortiz has some good suggestions for blog content writers when it comes to presenting the complex in a way that converts lookers into buyers.

Use What They Know.
Compare the old solution to your new solution to show improvements. Using your blog to offer answers to you’ve heard from customers in the past can help business blog readers relate to the new information.

Let Customers Explain It.
“Stories that illustrate how your product or solution was used successfully can do a lot to help a newcomer understand how it might also improve their life,” says Ortiz. “Customers don’t want to feel like they are being told a brand story.  They want to tell themselves the story”, say the authors of “Tips and Traps for Marketing Your Business”.
Don’t Scare Your Visitors.                                                                                                                                                                   Technical words can overwhelm your visitors. If you have policies, disclaimers, or warranties, add that to the footer, never in the main content. I train newbie blog content writers that going light on jargon and technical terms without “dumbing down” the material shows respect for the readers’ intellect – and for their time.

Tell Them How to Get Started.
The product is complicated enough – don’t make getting started a mystery, advises Ortiz.  Simplify the navigation and have clear Calls to Action.

As we bloggers have learned, simplifying the complex pays dividends for business owners and professionals every time!

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“White House Down” Ties Back to Tiebacks in Blogging

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Tie-backs are reverse transitions, explains Annelle Altman of blogspot.com, talking to novel writers.  The author drops hints about the plot and what may come in the future, and then later “ties back” to that hint. Looked at from the “other end”, a tie-back is a news writing device that refreshes readers’ memory about events that were talked about earlier in the piece.

As a corporate blogging trainer, the way I teach tie-backing is this: The opening line of a blog post is the one that assures readers they’ve come to the right place (and search engines that they’ve made a good match!). The opening line is also the one that presents a question, a problem, a startling statistic, or a gutsy, challenging statement.
At the end of the post there’s a finishing flourish that relates back to the opening statement, re-emphasizing to the reader the one main idea you were stressing in that post..

I was given a new appreciation of the power of tie-backs while watching a rerun of the movie “White House Down” the other day. The hero of the film is a Capitol policeman who’s in the doghouse with his ex-wife and teenage daughter, because he’s missed the daughter’s flag-waving demonstration at the high school.  After a heavily armed group of paramilitary invaders bombs the White House and attempts to take over the presidency, the daughter saves the day by waving the flag with the presidential seal to signal their location to rescuers.

For me, that tie-back got its power from the fact that it made me think. I needed to recall that minute detail about the flag-waving that the dad had missed and then realize the irony of the all-important flag-waving  toward the end of the film.  I once heard humorist Dick Wolfsie explain that, in order for a joke to be funny, the person listening to the joke has to figure things out.  I think it’s the same with tie-backs..

In blogging for business, at the end of the post, give your readers the satisfaction of figuring out the tie-back!

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“Why Can’t…?” Blogging for Business

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“Why can’t I use my cell phone on an airplane?” ask the editors of Mental Floss: the Book. (Note to argumentative readers of this Say It For You blog: The FCC is considering lifting the in-flight cell phone ban.)

Nobody likes to be told “You can’t…”, but explaining the reasoning behind the “Can’t” has a remarkably calming effect. Whenever we business blog writers can debunk and demystify information for our readers, that helps establish our (or our client’s) expertise and even enhances the business’ or the practice’s likeability quotient. 

The real reason, (I learned courtesy of Mental Floss editors), authorities don’t want us flipping open our mobile phones, is that mid-flight cell phone use impacts cell phone service on the ground. Calls made while we’re moving through the friendly skies at 550 mph. would connect with multiple towers at once, eating up much valuable space on the circuit. 

See? Don’t you feel better knowing the reasoning behind the rule? There’s only one problem here – even though most readers spend lots more time on the ground than in the air, when they are flying, their concern is with their own convenience.  Having learned the reasoning behind the in-flight cell phone ban, readers are still left with the “So, WIIFM?” question (What’s In It For Me?).

“Why-Can’t…?” blog writing as a marketing tactic  will succeed only to the extent readers know what’s in it for them. The USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) in a product or service might include, as Jane Sheeba points out:

  • High efficiency
  • Time saving
  • Cost savings
  • Low maintenance
  • Support availability
  • Guarantees or warranties

If, as a blog content writer, you’re using the Why-Can’t…? card, be prepared to address readers’ concerns about why this particular product or service is a good idea for them.

In other words, start with the “Why-Can’t..? but continue on to the “You CAN…”!

 

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Blogging the Specialness

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“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?)

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Help Business Blog Readers Jump to the Right Conclusions

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“With 1.5 crimes per citizen, Vatican City has the highest crime rate in the world.” Is that statement factual?  Indeed. Without further explanation, though, the sentence is highly misleading. As Mental Floss: the Book explains, “It’s not that the cardinals are donning masks and repeatedly robbing the bank. It’s the massive crowds of tourists that make Vatican City a pickpocket’s paradise.”

We business bloggers are nothing if not interpreters. Effective blog posts must go from information-dispensing to offering the business owner’s (or the professional’s, or the organizational executive’s) unique perspective on issues related to the search topic.

One use of corporate blog content writing is putting your own “spin” on any messages the public might be receiving about your industry – or about you – from competitors or critics. Sometimes negative perceptions arise from inaccurate press statements, but often, accurate information, incompletely explained (such as the fact about the Vatican City crime rate), causes negative perceptions.  Blogs are a way for business owners to exercise a degree of control over myths and misunderstandings.

In today’s world, readers are subjected to an overload of “spin”, and often mistrust the information they’re provided.  In my work as a corporate blogging trainer, I stress that as business owners and professional practitioners craft their messages, it’s important to use “honest” spin. The challenge is to debunk negative first impressions, so that what we convey to clients and customers (and to the online searchers who are our prospects) needs to alleviate mistrust and create confidence.

Business blogs help readers jump to the right conclusions!

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