Turning Trivia into Business Blogging Treasure – Part III

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Inspired by the wonderful trivia book, The Book of the Bizarre, this week’s Say It For You blog posts are devoted to suggestions on ways to use the “freaky facts and strange stories” author Varla Ventura presents to freshen up blog content writing.

What’s the point of using trivia in business blogs?

  • To help explain what problems can be solved using that business' products and services
  • For defining basic terminology
  • For putting modern-day statistics into perspective
  • To spark curiosity about your subject
  • To explain why the business owner or practitioner chooses to operate in a certain way

Some favorite examples from the book:

Ventura lists among the “weirdest”, yet still on the books, laws in the world:

  • No bees are allowed to fly in Kirkland, Illinois
  • Elephants can’t drink beer in Natchez, Mississippi
  • Catching sharks is not allowed in Oklahoma
  • It is illegal to orally ingest duck dander in nine American states
  • Frogs may not croak after 11PM in Memphis, Tennessee

How could bloggers for a law practice use this material to capture interest.  These two attorney sites, each emphasizing the importance of keeping up with all the new laws, could benefit from incorporating those humorous examples.

“We all need to keep up with the new bankruptcy laws in Indiana and with recent judges' decisions in bankruptcy courts around the country."

“Tax lawyers need to keep up with all new developments in both the law and the economy as a whole. This is especially important for a young lawyer, who needs to build expertise. The law is always changing,” explains Chambers Associates.

 The anecdote, I teach new blog content writers, would serve as the “attention grabber”, leading to a discussion of how the advice, services, and products offered by that business or practice help improve the lives of its clients and customers.

Realtor blogs could certainly make good use of Idaho’s “Ghost in the Attic” statute. The provision, enacted in 1998, explains Ventura, states that neither a home’s seller nor the seller’s broker is obligated to disclose that a property may be haunted.

”The whole point of having the blog is to demonstrate to prospective clients that I am knowledgeable, and to build trust — which isn’t easy over the Internet,” says real estate blogger Teresa Boardman.”When I meet with prospective clients, they sometimes quote my blog posts. I know they are paying attention.”

Whether you’re a funeral director, a realtor, or a professional blog content writer, we know at Say It For You, trivia is no trivial matter!

 

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Turning Trivia into Business Blogging Treasure – Part II

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This week’s Say It For You blog posts are inspired by the wonderful trivia book, The Book of the Bizarre, and to suggestions on ways to use the “freaky facts and strange stories” author Varla Ventura presents in it.

As I reminded blog readers earlier this week, stocking up on ideas for future blog posts isn’t all about trivia. The tidbit, though, can be the jumping off point for explaining what problems can be solved using that business' products and services, for defining basic terminology, and for putting modern-day statistics into perspective.

Just two of my favorite examples from the book:

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, stories circulated in the press about premature burial. Physicians were not particularly skilled at telling the difference between the dead and the unconscious, and burials happened fast (due to the heat and the absence of preserving chemicals). The Batteson Revival Device consisted of a small church bell attached to the lid of the coffin and connected to a cord strapped to the deceased’s hand.  If you woke up in a coffin, you could ring the bell and get rescued. Inventor John Batteson, Ventura explains, was made wealthy with that device.

 What kind of business blog might make use of this tale? Well, I’d suggest to freelance blog content writers, how about a patent law firm?   A funeral home might use that story to to discuss viewings, and so might educational institutions offering studies in mortuary science. The anecdote itself would serve as the “attention grabber”, leading to a discussion of ways the advice, services, and products offered by that business or practice help improve the lives of its clients and customers.

Speaking of funerals and mortuaries, the “A Tisket, a Tasket” was another little chapter in Ventura’s book that caught my eye: “The words ‘coffin’ and ‘casket’ are common substituted for one another, but they mean different things. A coffin is defined as a box or chest for burying a corpse and is generally wedge-shaped and simple.  A casket is almost always rectangular and fancier than a coffin.  In the fifteenth century, a casket was used to store jewels.”

Trivia needn’t be trivial. OMG Facts informs us that the issue with many coffins and caskets is that apart from not decomposing, they can be toxic from the finish and glue that hold them together, contaminating the ground. A business blog might include this information to promote a funeral company’s “green burial” practices.

Whatever the nature of the business or practice for which you’re blogging, my point is, start collecting trivia, and then find your own way to turn it into business blogging treasure!.

 

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Turning Trivia into Business Blogging Treasure – Part I

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A very good habit for those of us who provide business blogging assistance is to keep an “idea folder”. This could be an actual paper folder which we stuff with newspaper and magazine clippings, a notebook kept in a purse or pocket, or a digital file on a phone or tablet. Since I train freelance blog content writers to "learn around", the material they save up in that folder can help them keep the blog posts they write engaging for readers.

“Good ideas are crucial to the success of freelance writers and all creative types. But you have to do more than generate good ideas: you have to get those ideas out of your brain and into some system to save them. Only then can you evaluate those ideas and pick the best for implementation,” says blogger John Soares.

I came across the most wonderful little book of trivia, and decided on the spot to devote this week’s Say it For You blog posts to suggestions on ways to use the “freaky facts and strange stories” author Varla Ventura presents in it.

Of course, stocking up on ideas for future blog posts isn’t all about trivia, as I explain to newbie blog content writers . You want to be perceived as a subject matter expert offering usable information and insights. The basics would include explaining what problems can be solved using that business' products and services, defining basic terminology, and offering statistics showing that many others have faced the same issue as the one concerning the current reader.

Example #1:  Benjamin Franklin died of complications from sitting in front of an open window, Ventura informs us. In every season, Franklin would arise every morning and sit for half an hour in front of an open window.  At age 84, he developed an abscess in his lungs, which his doctor blamed on that fresh-air habit.

What kind of business blog might make use of this story? A healthcare practitioner, for one (perhaps a sinus and allergy physician). A vendor of health food or nutritional supplements. An air purification company. The anecdote might serve as the “attention grabber”, opening the path for a discussion of the way the advice, service, and products offered by that business or practice can help improve the lives of its clients and customers.

Example #2: Queen Christina of Sweden, who ruled in the 1600’s, was absolutely terrified of fleas.  She commissioned the construction of a tine cannon for her bedroom, which would fire tiny cannonballs at the pesky critters.

For whom might a blog content writer include such a story to add interest to a blog post? How about a pest control company? A veterinarian answering questions about fleas?

As John Soares observes, “The best way to have a good idea? Have lots of ideas.” Whatever your business or practice, trivia can be turned into business blogging treasure.

 

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The #1 Sales Coaching and Business Blogging Blunder

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As a business blogging trainer, I fancy myself something of a coach. Plus, over a decades-long financial services career, I’d been through my share of sales coaching sessions.  For both those reasons, the title on the latest enewsletter from Propelis Consulting was an attention grabber for me. Could it be that telling vs. asking is the biggest blunder we blog content writers need to avoid as well?

While each Sales Manager will have his or her personal coaching style, Mark Thacker, principal at Propelis, believes the top mistake Sales Managers make when coaching Sales Reps is that they tell instead of ask.

“Telling” is a highly directive and subservient form of communication that makes salespeople feel like robots and produces mediocre performers.  Instead, Propelis recommends,  the Sales Manager must develop the skill of asking thoughtful and thought-provoking questions. The goal is to help salespeople develop their ability to self-direct and solve their own problems.

How can that sales training insight apply to the content business owners and professional practitioners offer their online readers?

  • We can get readers to ask themselves the question about how the information we’re presenting applies to their situation. The goal is to guide clients to decisions, but even as we business content writers suggest specific outcomes, we acknowledge it is the client’s decision, not ours.
     
  • We can offer facts and data. Online searchers arrive at your blog on a fact-finding mission, looking for information about what you do, what you sell, and what you know about. Give them the information they came to find – and quickly. The tone should assume that rational buyers trusts they have complete information will translate that into action.

Whether you’re a business or practice owner or a freelance blog content writer, ask yourself?  Are you telling instead of asking?
 

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Numbers Tell the Story in Blogging for Business

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“If you haven’t already heard, blogging is big (like really big – tyrannosaurus rex big),” says Jordan White in the Inbound Marketing Blog. At Say it For You, we know that, but White’s enthusiasm bears sharing with readers and especially with the new Indiana blog content writers I train.

The numbers White compiled from BlogHer, Hubspot, and MyMarketingDept tell an impressive tale, to be sure:

  • 81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs.
  • Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links.
  • In 2013, 128 million people in the U.S. are blog readers.
  • 61% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from a blog.

What can you achieve with a blog?  Attract new customers, engage existing customers, connect with journalists and with potential new hires, to name a few, says Lee Olden of Toprank. To realize those goals, though, takes some effort, Olden explains.  You must understand your audience, prepare keyword lists, grow social networks to promote your content, and above all, share useful content.

There’s a dark side when numbers get big: “When I started doing it, there wasn’t nearly as much news,” observes Neil Hughes of the Apple blog. “Now everybody is in a rush to be first, and nobody is really concerned about being accurate.”

Blogging can be big business for small business, but authenticity and accuracy are what will add value and provide utility, Emily Ferrar reminds blog content writing wannabes.

Numbers do tell the story in blogging for business.  The bottom line about  it is this: the numbers are there to be had, but only when you create content that engages numbers of people.
 

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