Indianapolis blog writers, particularly those providing content for SEO marketing blogs, need to read what Tim Altom has to say in the Indianapolis Business Journal on the subject of Groupon deals.

“Want hordes of new customers battering down your doors and filling your lobby?” he asks.  “Groupon says it can get you there.” “ Even Groupon’s proponents sing its praises only warily, and its critics can be scathing in their condemnation,” Altom adds, going on to describe the way a Groupon deal is structured and to share some of the best and worst results clients have been reporting..

As a professional ghost blogger who offers business blogging help to various corporations, I have to say there are best and worst results to report about corporate blogging for business, too.

At least a part of the motivation for companies hiring freelance blog writers is the same as the motivation for offering Groupon deals – wanting those hordes of new customers to batter down the doors.  And, in theory, corporate blogging is one way to get you there. ”Blogs are very powerful in terms of search engine optimization, explains webbequity.com, describing several reasons that’s true:

• Blog content demonstrates thought leadership more than vendor websites, and therefore search engines give more authority to blogs.
• Blog content is updated much more frequently than commercial website content, providing an advantage in real-time search results.
• Due to the informational rather than promotional nature of the content, blog posts are more likely to draw links from news stories and articles. I advise blog writers to “prime the pump” by writing guest posts on other people’s blogs and to invite others to write guest posts on theirs.

So what are the negatives, I’m often asked in corporate blogging training sessions? and why do results vary so much for both Groupon and in writing for business?
“Groupon can pull them in,” explains Tim Altom, “but you have to close the rest of the retention deal yourself.” 

Similarly, searchers looking for information, help, products, and services are drawn to your SEO marketing blog, but there are several things that need to be put into place – smooth navigation to and around your website, capturing of email addresses, and a system of follow-up to convert some of those searchers into customers.
 
“Savvy merchants are adopting Groupon as only part of a bigger strategy for catching new business and encouraging returns,” concludes Altom.

Blogging for business works exactly the same way!

While Milo Frank’s ideas on painting word pictures and finding a common language with your audience were the stuff of Monday’s Say It For You wordsmithing ideas for blog content writers, today let’s return to another of my favorite authors – Malcom Gladwell.

Since I offer business blogging help and am always on the alert for interesting information that can help freelance blog writers appeal to online readers, I loved learning about the Jack Tinker advertising agency.  I was fascinated to hear that it was the Tinker agency that came up with the name Riviera for Buick’s luxury car, the name Accutron for Bulova’s quartz watch, and the name for Oasis cigarettes.  All these choices were based on the kind of psychological research that was a Tinker speciality.

The one Gladwell anecdote that really stood out for me as a professional ghost blogger, relates to Tinker researcher Herta Herzog.  In the middle of discussing new approaches for Alka Seltzer commercials, Herzog said, “You show a hand dropping an Alka-Seltzer  into a glass of water.  Why not show the hand dropping TWO?  You’ll double sales.” And, explains Gladwell, that’s exactly what happened!

All of us involved in providing business blogging services need to keep that Alka Seltzer strategy firmly in mind.  For one thing, the story demonstrates the power of images, reminding us how important it is for us to incorporate photos, video, and even clip art into our SEO marketing blogs.

Even more important in blogging for business is putting your products and services in context for the online visitor.  How will I use the product?  How much will I use? How often? Where? What will it look like?  How will I feel?

In business blog writing, then, painting the picture is only Step #1.  What comes next is putting the reader into the picture!