I was flattered when friends Tracie and Greg Mrakich included me among the recipients of their email list of “Puns for Those With a Slightly Higher IQ”. A couple of the cutest, I thought were:

• Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.
• Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.
• A lot of money is tainted – T’ain’t yours and t’ain’t mine.

The one pun I’ve chosen to discuss with all blog content writers, though, is more than just funny – it contains some wisdom that can really improve corporate blogging for business:

“He had a photographic memory that was never developed.”

Most business owners can think of quite a number of things they want to convey about their products, their professional services, their industry, and their customer service standards. Still, I’ve found over the years of being a business blogging trainer, business owners’ biggest fear seems to be running out of blog content writing ideas.

That’s why Tracie and Greg’s pun jumped out at me. It’s not, I realized, that business owners (or thefreelance blog writers they employ) don’t have enough ideas – it’s that those ideas need to be developed! In other words, it’s possible to continue to write about the same few central themes, yet continually develop those themes into fresh, interesting, and engaging content.

If you’ve built a business, it’s likely no one has knowledge of its ins and outs as “photographic” as yours.  The basic purpose behind your business blog writing doesn’t change over time – it’s to tell your story.  One post at a time, corporate blogging for business informs readers what you have (your products), what you do (the services you provide), and what you know (your experience and expertise).

The most effective kind of blogging for business, though, goes further and develops and expands on those basic themes. What are some of the best ways to take your photographic knowledge of your field and present that information in fresh new ways?

• “Learn around.” Ideas are everywhere – conversations, magazines, radio, bulletin boards – ask yourself how you can use remarks and observations you hear and read to clarify to readers what you do and how you do it. Quoting experts in your field and linking to blogs written by others shows blog visitors you keep current.
  
• Become a teacher rather than a “teller”. Imagine you’re tutoring the slowest students in your class, helping them grasp some aspect of your business. What diagrams can you use to illustrate your points? What comparisons might you use?
  
• Use stories in the news. Find articles that can help you explain the way you do business or your particular processes of manufacture or of client service.
• Use metaphors.  Writers developing blog content in Indianapolis, for example, might choose comparisons with car racing. You might use the new traffic “roundabouts” to explain how your company takes the hassle out of ordering and shipping.  Metaphors help “develop” pictures in blog visitors’ minds of how they’ll feel using your company to solve their problems.

Freelance blog writers can start with the basic blog content, then add breadth and depth by developing the “photographically memorized” facts!

“Congo is bigger than it looks,” Mental Floss Magazine informs readers.  “Although it looks pretty small on a Mercator map, Congo is the world’s 12th largest nation.”

As a professional ghost blogger, I must say I liked this article – a lot.  First of all, not only did it present all sorts of interesting information on the topic (the Democratic Republic of Congo), but information most readers wouldn’t be likely to know.  In similar vein, I tell blog content writers that including what I dub “startling statistics” makes the material more engaging.

“Most Americans don’t know it,” the article continues, “but they own precious slivers of Congo in their laptops, cell phones, and iPods.” (Tantulum stores electricity in digital cameras, and Blackberrys use tungsten to vibrate; Congo is the world’s leading source for each of these minerals.) A generous sprinkling of fascinating trivia keeps blog content writing fresh, I teach in corporate blogging training sessions.

“The country has only 300 miles of paved roads.” Using little-known background details in SEO marketing blogs is a great way to establish authority while capturing searchers’ interest.

But, I advise Indianapolis blog writers, be sure to include information that is actionable. For example, the Mental Floss article taught me something I plan to keep in mind when shopping for electronics:

In 2010, the U.S. government passed a law requiring American companies to disclose whether their products contain minerals from rebel-controlled mines (rife with violent crime and child labor).  Consumers, I learned, can choose not to buy products that don’t say “conflict mineral-free”.

What I liked best about the Congo feature story was one of its sub-titles: “Congo is bigger than it looks.” Corporate blogging might be described in precisely the same terms.
Business blog writing is short by definition, offering just enough to convey to the reader that he/she’s come to the right place. On the other hand, what can be done is to offer different kinds of information in different blog posts. In a way, each time you post (or have your professional ghost blogger post), you’re adding to the overall power of the blog.  Individual blog posts are little, but blogs – they’re a LOT bigger and more powerful than they look!