Should Business Bloggers Be Treadmill Walkers or Toshers?

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If we freelance content writers were living back in the 18th century, we might be making our living as toshers or treadmill walkers, both common occupations at the time, rather than by blogging for business.

Reading Mental Floss Magazine’s latest issue, I learned that treadmill walkers trudged all day to mill grain, while toshers wandered through sewers looking for trinkets.

Considering the sheer discipline needed to maintain an SEO marketing blog week after week, month after month, ex-treadmillers might actually be very well suited for corporate blog writing.  “What qualities make for a great ghost blogger? Drill sergeant discipline, for one,” I wrote five years ago, explaining that web rankings are based at least partially on frequency of posting new content.

But same-old, same-old isn’t going to go any further than treadmills (not even in terms of attracting readers through search engine optimization, as the now more sophisticated search engine algorithms judge content by relevance and response along with recency).

Of course, sheer repetition of what-we-sell, what-we-do, what-we-know content won’t go very far in terms of engaging the interest of any who do land on a business’ or practice’s blog page, I’d recommend bloggers focus on “toshing” their way to the top.

“Trinkets” likely to be of business blogging help include:

  • interesting pieces of information on topics related to your business (or, if you’re a freelance blog content writer,  related to the client’s business). If you can provide information most readers wouldn’t be likely to know, so much the better.
     
  • “startling statistics” are important in blogging for business, because that information helps engage online readers’ interest.
     
  • anecdotes relating to the business owners and hardships they overcame in establishing the business


Back in the 18th century, the trick to being a top-notch tosher was sifting out or shloshing out the garbage and rescuing the treasure.  A successful blog marketing strategy involves much sifting and sorting as well.  Then, it’s crucial for writers to create a clear thought path – from those fascinating tidbits in your business blog writing to the benefits online readers stand to gain.

 

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In Blogging for Business, Keep So-Long-As Short!

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"If you plan to stay anywhere within your home remodeling budget," cautioned the interveiwee on a Destination DIY radio episode I heard just the other day, "stay away from 'so-long-as' extras."  "So-long-as-we're-fixing-up-the-kitchen-we-might-as-well-add-…." can turn out to be a very expensive train of thought, she explained.

"So-long-as" add-ons in blog content writing tend to get "expensive" in a different way.  Attempting to cover too much ground in a single blog post, we lose focus, straining our readers' attention span.
 

"One message per post" is the mantra I pass on to newbie Indianapolis blog writers.  In fact, because blog posts are updated so much more frequently, they have a distinct advantage over more "static" general website copy.  Each post, I teach in corporate blogging training sessions, should contain a razor-sharp focus on just one story, one idea, one aspect of  your business.  Other important things you want to discuss?  Save those for later blog posts, I tell them.

Still, I like the idea employee benefits professional Mel Schlesinger teaches salespeople – adding an "Oh, by the way…" to describe an add-on service or product feature.  In SEO blog marketing, you can lead to your "so-long-as" information with a link to another page, an offer of a down-loadable while paper, or by simply telling readers to watch for information on that other product or service in your next blog post.

Keeping the primary focus is crucial in business blog writing, though, because online searchers tend to be scanners rather than readers.  Truth is, many will not ever get far enough into your post to even notice the "so long as" part!

In Do-It-Yourself projects, "so-long-as" add-ons may not be a very smart idea from a budget standpoint.  In business blog writing, lack of focus can get uncomfortable costly as well.  But for readers who stick with you, you can use "so-long-as" add-ons to let them know you have lots more helpful information, products, and services to fill their needs.

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Killer-Stat Blogging for Business

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Say It For You is “going grizzly” this week, using the March 2013 issue of Backpacker magazine (no, I’m not a backpacker, but as part of the “reading around” I prescribe for all Indianapolis blog content writers, I “mine” different types of publications).

“Know Your Bears” compares and contrasts four ursine types: the black bear, the grirzzly, the polar bear, and the pizzly. Along with a one-paragraph physical description of each, readers are given information that includes height and weight, diet, and habitat.

The strength of this particular Backpacker offering, I found, lies in its organization. Seeing those four columns, each topped by an image of one of the bear types, helped me process the information easily.

In SEO marketing blogs we can use the same tactic to engage readers. In fact, one blog content “re-purposing” technique is to call attention in a business blog post to “old” information that we haven’t highlighted for awhile, but presenting it in a new light or in a new format.

Taking our example from the “Know Your Bears” piece, we can present material we’ve discussed before, but organize it differently, from both a concept point of view and in the visual presentation. Some formats to try might be:

  • Question /answer
     
  • Alphabetized lists and glossaries
     
  • Surveys
     
  • Tie-ins with current news items

The really powerful punch Backpacker adds to the height-and-weight and physical stats of each bear type is a “Killer Stat”.

  • The average black bear encounter is about 21 times less likely to result in injury than one with a grizzly.
     
  • Over the last 15 years, 50% of fatal grizzly attacks in North America have ended with the bear feeding on the victim.
     
  • In Alaska and Canada combined, polar bears killed eight people in all of the 20th century.


Sometimes, after months and years of composing content, we business blog writers can feel we’ve told readers everything we know a long time ago. But by adding a few new items, re-organizing some old ones, and using some startling “killer statistics”, we can keep our blogs fresh and new!

 

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Ease-the-Pain-and-Prevent Blogging for Business

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The latest issue of Backpacker magazine turned out to hold a more-than-ample supply of ideas for us freelance blog writers in Indianapolis to use, and this week I’m focusing my Say It For You blog posts on a few of the most interesting Backpacker March 2013 articles.  

The “Troubleshoot This” section of this month’s magazine talks about snowblindness, explaining that the condition results from sunburned corneas. The article is divided into two sections: “Ease the Pain” and “Prevent It”.

The “Ease the Pain” part quotes Antarctic expedition doctor Gavin Francis’ advice to cover eyelids with moist gauze and take Ibuprofen.  (Curating materials from various l and inviting readers to explore further can add content marketing value to your blog.)

The “Prevent It” section offers advice about wearing wraparound dark lenses with a VLT (visible light transmission) of 5-15% and using campfire ash below the eyes to reduce glare.

Corporate blog writing for business, it occurred to me as I read the piece, will succeed only if two things are apparent to readers, and in the order presented here:

  • It’s clear you (the business owner or professional practitioner) understand online searchers’ concerns and needs
     
  • You and your staff have the experience, the information, the products, and the services to solve exactly those problems and meet precisely those needs.

Backpack is following author Steven James’ advice to novelists: Put things readers care about in jeopardy; in an SEO marketing blog, start with the “threat” (in this case to eyesight), demonstrate that you have the solution. Only then should your blog content writing turn to the prevention side.

The flip side of this business blogging help tip bears mentioning. In too many business blogs designed to market a product or service, the content is meant to scare consumers, so they’ll be moved to do something about that fear – now!

As a corporate blogging trainer. I advise more of the middle ground I found in the Backpack article on snowblindness: Go ahead and identify ways in which something customers value could be in jeopardy, assuring searchers they’re not the only ones to find themselves in this predicament or having this need and showing them you've solved these precise problems for customers and clients many times before.

But then, so that every reader (even those not yet ready for your shopping cart) finds value in having visited your site, offer helpful, actionable “prevention” information.
 

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The-Truth-About Blogging for Business

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There’s something enticing about a title promising to “bare the truth”, especially when it concerns a topic on which we didn’t expect there to be any secrets to speak of.  The “Special Report” about (of all things) bears, in (of all places) Backpacker magazine made me think that Indiana blog content writers might make more frequent use of that truth-about-… technique.

The 12-page magazine article about grizzlies contained enough valuable and little-known ursine information to stock two dozen blog posts. But in corporate blogging training sessions, I stress the importance of keeping each post focused on only one aspect of a business or professional practice – one product or service, one guiding principle, etc.  

Yet the material was organized around three main themes, or, as I refer to them in this Say it For You blog (borrowing a phrase from classical music), leitmotifs. As we continue to write about our industries, our products, and our services, we’ll find ourselves repeating some key concepts. In fact, as I offer business blogging assistance, I’ll tell you that’s what you should be doing to keep your blogs focused and targeted. The variety comes from the details you fill in around those central themes, examples of ways the company’s products can be helpful, or examples of how the company helped solve various problems.

The 3 tactics in Truth About Bears include:

De-mystifying:
“Have the biggest predators in North American managed to survive unseen in North cascades National Park?  Cascades grizzlies barely hang on”, readers learn. “We pushed bears so deep into the wild that they have grim prospects for breeding, or even finding each other.”

Addressing misinformation in a company's blog shines light on the owner's special expertise, besides offering information that is valuable to readers. De-mystifying matters can make your blog into a "go-to" source for readers seeking information in your field.

Myth-busting:
Are bears always afraid of fire? Is it true that bears can’t climb trees? Are bears really unable to run downhill?

Myth debunking is a great use for corporate blog content. That's because in the natural course of doing business, misunderstandings about a product or service often surface in the form of customer questions and comments.

Offering actionable information:
Dream of seeing a bruin in the wild? No matter what part of the country you call home, “The Black Bear Finder” details where hikers should go for a bear-spotting hike within a day’s drive.

A Call to Action an image or text that tells your readers what action they should be taking next on your site. In fact, as a professional ghost blogger, I'd say the ultimate challenge blog content writers face is getting readers to "see" themselves using the products and services described in the blog posts and providing them with options for using the information you’ve provided.
 

How can you use "the-truth-abouts" in blogging for business?

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