Blogging for Business in Gentler Phrasing

/0 Comments/in /by

bitchy boss“Should Environmental Messages Be So Assertive?” was the question raised by researchers for a study published in the Journal of Marketing.  

Since, as a freelance blog writer and corporate blogging trainer, I’m part of each client company’s marketing team, I find my membership in the American Marketing Association very helpful, and often find information in their journal that can be of help to all Indianapolis blog writers.

“Environmental communications often contain assertive commands, even though research in consumer behavior, psycholinguistics, and communications has repeatedly shown that gentler phrasing is more effective when seeking consumer compliance,” this particular article begins.

In any kind of writing, the “tone” of the piece influences how great (or how little) an effect it will have on readers. When it comes to SEO marketing blogs, establishing exactly the right “tone” is crucial.  With the purpose of blogging for business being to cultivate relationships with potential customers, patrons, and clients, anyone providing blog writing services needs to “get it right” and “get” what messages are likely to be turn-offs to the target audience.  

“Many environment/social-related issues are forcefully promoted through assertive slogans such as ‘Use only what you need’ and ‘Stop talking, Start Planting’, I learned. Yet research strongly suggests that assertively phrased requests typically decrease compliance with the message, compared with less assertive phrasing, such as “Please be considerate and recycle.”

“Assertiveness interacts with consumers’ drive for freedom in a counter-persuasive manner”, conclude authors Kronrod, Grinstein, and Wathieu.

Talk about a piece of information blog content writers need to hear! If blog writing for business is about anything, it’s being informative and persuasive, and gentler phrasing can be one of our secrets to success.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Okay, Okay Not Okay Enough in Business Blogging

/0 Comments/in /by

Besides being innovative and funny, the Progresso Soup ads are onto something,
I think, that needs to be top of mind for Indianapolis blog writers. The commerciallosing weight with Progresso Soup teaches us to tailor our message to those people who won’t be saying “O-kay” in a bored tone of voice.

I confess that I really love all the Progresso Soup ads.  Since I’m a writer of SEO marketing blogs and a corporate blogging trainer, there’s one that really hit me between the eyes. This lady calls a Progresso chef to express her delight that she’s lost weight and now fits into her old jeans.  Each time she tries to tell him how excited she is about this, the chef merely replies “O-kay” in a bored way, like “So what?” – he doesn’t get it. Finally the caller says “Is there a woman I can talk to?”

My point is that anyone who does blog content writing needs to accept that not every reader who arrives at your business blog is going to “get it”.  In corporate blog posts, you target a particular audience and work to address their needs. As time passes, you continually hone your content in light of your own deepening understanding of what makes that group of people “tick”.

Before I write a Say It For You blog post, I noodle around the Internet for info and comments, and, in this one instance, I was thinking about Progresso.  I found a blog post that reinforced my point about not every reader “getting” it. This blog was posted by a lady who absolutely hates the very same Progresso ad I’ve been praising. She says it “grinds her gears” “How $-%-^-&-0-* (don’t read her post if you hate bad language) depressing that the commercial lets us know, in no uncertain terms, that men don’t have to go through dieting hell to achieve anything…”

Progresso hadn’t started their wonderful ad series yet, but four years ago I was talking about the same “getting it” idea in a Say It For You post about the Alice Cooper rock band.  When the band decided to have a man dressed in tattered women’s clothing and makeup, their motto was “If the parents hate it, the kids will love it.”

Narrow down your target market, I advise business owners in corporate blogging training
sessions.  Figure out what you have that those people want and need. Then speak to that audience through your blog. If the “wrong” readers hate your business blog, or just say “O-kay. O-kay.” in a bored kind of voice – that’s OK! The right readers will love it!


Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Give “Em a Statue and an Apology in Your Business Blog

/0 Comments/in /by

trust repair and damage controlThe best comic strips have lessons to teach freelance blog writers, I’ve found. One of last week’s Dilbert strips shows the company lawyer offering to settle employee Wally’s discrimination claim against the corporation for a whopping billion dollars.  "Plus a statue and an apology," adds Wally, not satisfied to be compensated with money alone.

Fact is, too many SEO marketing blogs focus on appealing to consumers’ greed.  In the long run, however, as I try to bring out in corporate blogging training sessions, the success of any business blog will depend on engaging the interest of the right kind of customer, the kind that buys for the right reasons and who remains loyal.

A second very important function corporate blog posts can serve relates to damage control. "Every agency, no matter how well managed, local or multi-national, will have to deal with dissatisfied and even angry customers from time to time," points out sales expect Colleen Francis of engageselling.com. Blog content writing can be the best instrument for offering "statues and apologies", as compared to, say, email or letters.  Why is that?

  • Timeliness: Business blog material can be immediately created, published, and updated (as compared to the typical corporate website).
  • Public acknowledgement: A blog post is "public", which means the company’s owners are recognizing the customers’ complaint or concern in front of other people, which can give the apology more weight.

One truth I learned about angry customers from the late Jerry R. Wilson, who preceded me as president of the National Speakers’ Association of Indiana back in the mid 1980’s, was that angry customers want to heard and recognized, not just "made whole" financially.  They want their pride restored, Jerry taught me, not just their money back!

A money-back guarantee is good as far as it goes, but at Say It For You, I teach Indianapolis blog writers to help business owners offer angry customers a statue and an apology!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Business Blogging Leaplings

/0 Comments/in /by

It’s always great to add that little extra “something” in order to stand out from the crowd, and SEO marketing blogs are no exception. And, with this being a leap year, it’s a particularly appropriate time to discuss how including extra tidbits of information can add value in corporate blog writing.leap year

In blogging for business, is it worth the effort of digging up curious and little-known facts related to your business or Industry?  Make that a big “Oh, yes”!  Readers’ interest is piqued, you’re positioned as an expert in your field, and you’re rewarded with precious extra moments of precious attention.

Mental Floss magazine writers, masters at serving up tidbits and busting myths (both highly effective tools for freelance blog writers), talk about leaplings, kids born on February 29th.

  • Kids can have their pick between February 28th and March 1 for parties and presents.
  • For Social Security, the birthday is treated as Feb. 28th.
  • Some states make leaplings wait until March 1 to apply for a driver’s license.

As part of corporate blogging training for business owners, I recommend presenting little-known statistics about the history of your industry, the number of people experiencing the problems you help solve, or unexpected applications for your product and service.  You want to evoke an “I didn’t know that!” response in your readers.

“Leaplings”, or unusual bits of information can be myth busters in themselves.  If there are false impressions people seem to have about your industry or product, statistics show how things really are.  If you want to demonstrate how widespread a problem is, statistics can be of great business blogging help.

For anyone offering business blogging services, blog content “leaplings” can help add that little extra “something” that means a lot!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Take a Blog-Writing Tip from 10 Notable Deaths

/0 Comments/in /by

Elizabeth TaylorThe obituary section of the news is not a place freelance blog content writers would normally go for ideas. Still, there’s something worth noting in articles such as “10 Notable Deaths” by Associated Press – the reporters manage to drill down to the essence of each person’s accomplishments.

As a ghost blogger in Indianapolis, when I offer business blogging assistance, I often refer to blogs as the sound bites of the Internet. In short segments, business owners convey to readers the essence of their accomplishments.  Corporate blog writing means telling readers about the essence of your special knowledge, insights, and beliefs, as well as about the products or services you offer.

In using “10 Notable Deaths” as a model of condensed writing for business, I’d point out that the AP reporter used only 16 words to describe Andy Rooney, 26 for Betty Ford, and 19 for Jack Kevorkian. Still, I found, the obits were hardly impersonal or dispassionate; each managed to evoke a larger portrait, with a taste of the “style” of each notable person.

Elizabeth Taylor is described as “the violet-eyed American film goddess whose sultry screen persona, stormy personal life and enduring fame and glamour made her one of the last of the classic movie starts and a template for modern celebrity.”

Kim Jong IL’s obit lists him as “North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic leader, whose iron rule and nuclear ambitions dominated world security fears for more than a decade.”

In corporate blogging training sessions I explain that it’s not enough in business blog writing to offer information about the subject.  The information needs to be put into a framework, into context, so that readers can see why it’s relevant to them and to the subject.

Elizabeth Taylor “became a template or model of film celebrity. Jong IL’s nuclear efforts “dominated world fears”. Kevorkian was the “defiant proponent of doctor-assisted suicide”.

Indianapolis bloggers, take a tip from the 10 Notable Deaths.  Online searchers know what they need, but they lack expertise in your industry.  They need your help drilling down to the essence of what you know, what you do, and how you can be of benefit to them.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail