A few months back in my Say It For You blogs, I gave myself the challenge of finding three ideas for blog posts in a single issue of a popular magazine.  A couple of my fellow bloggers took me up on the Magazine Challenge, and some dozen very creative SEO marketing blog posts were born.

The idea behind the challenge was to combat “writer’s block”.  In corporate blogging training sessions, I found that blog content writers’ biggest fear is running out of ideas after weeks, months, and even years of sustaining a blog. The thought was that, as you browsed through whatever magazine you’d chosen, you’d find things that, on the surface, were unrelated to your business, but which would trigger ideas about your business, suggesting new ways to explain what you sell, what you know, what you believe, and what you know how to do. (In my case as a professional ghost blogger, the same technique works in finding novel ideas to explain my clients’ businesses.)

That was in August, and I just finished reading through an issue of Natural Health Magazine that makes me want to take the challenge all over again. So, once again, I’m inviting Indianapolis blog writers to try the Magazine Challenge along with me.

The simple rules, just as a reminder are these: Come up with three different blog post ideas, all based on titles or articles or illustrations out of a single issue of a magazine of your choice.  If you have your own business blog, simply email me a link to your site.  Or, email me your blog post(s) and I’ll publish it on Say It For You as a guest post.

Natural Health interviewed Krysten Ritter, ABC-TV and movie actress, using the star’s answers to reinforce lessons about healthy living. “Ritter reveals her cherished causes, favorite foods and why sleep is a top priority.” Ritter recalls growing up on a Pennsylvania cattle farm, explaining that she tries to support local farmers and eat organic food. She reads scripts while on the treadmill, and tries “to be realistic about my fitness goals.”

The lesson here for freelance blog content writers, I think, is that, while the message about exercise and diet is undeniably same-old, same-old, the reader’s interest is captured because it’s a celebrity saying these things, not a fitness facility owner or health food store proprietor.

The “Top 5 tips for healthy living” are not just any “top 5 tips”, they are Krysten Ritter’s tips, with the cachet factor increasing accordingly.

Anyone providing business blogging services can freshen up warnings, tips, alerts, and news by going on a “star search”.  The famous may not be counted among your clientele, but what well-known person is known for using your type of product or service? Wouldn’t adding a few drops of “star dust” add some glow to your business blog writing?

Busy writing for business in my Say It For You home office desk the other evening, I was interrupted by a phone call, which led to my having a “conversation” with a recording. The purpose of the call, I quickly learned, was to survey Indiana residents on the topic of the upcoming election, specifically concerning the role federal judges play in politics.

While the call started out as a nuisance, in retrospect I’m glad I made time for that ten-minute survey, shedding my professional ghost blogger’s “hat” and putting on my voter’s “cap” in order to participate.  The exercise actually reinforced some of the things I teach in corporate blogging training sessions about generating business using SEO marketing blogs.

The survey began with general questions:  Did I believe in voting in every election, most, or only some? Did I consider primaries to be important? 
 
Strange, this talking to a recording (Given a choice, I’ll always press “O” to get the live operator). But, never having gone through this particular kind of telephone survey process before, I realized I liked the very idea of being asked, in great detail, for my opinions! I made a note to myself to remind business owner clients and freelance blog writers that allowing comments in corporate blogging for business is a good idea if for no other reason than to engage readers!

The survey continued with questions about age range, gender, even race. As we progressed, though, it became increasingly apparent that the “agenda” related to the appointment of federal judges.  Which did I believe to be the primary responsibility of a federal judge – fairness and impartiality or upholding the Constitution?

So, in what way can all of this be of business blogging help?  In any selling situation (and blog marketing is no different), buyers shy away from sellers who employ strong-arm tactics.  This causes some providers to go to the other extreme, pretending they are offering nothing but useful, free information. Selling? Not at our company!

Taking the telephone survey actually did provide me with some valuable, free information about the appointment of federal judges and how their positions relate to which party wins an election. True, the further into the survey we got, the more apparent the “hidden” agenda became. But the point I want to make here is that it was OK!  The fact that the survey creators had a point of view to sell worked just fine for me. That same process will work just fine for content writers in Indianapolis who are offering business blogging assistance to business owners who want to make their cash registers ring!

When online readers click on a blog post or on a website, they’re perfectly aware of the fact that the providers of the information have an “agenda” and are out to do business.  But as long as the material they’re being offered by the blog content writer (whether that’s the business owner, an employee, or a ghost blogger) is valuable and well written, relevant to their search, they’re perfectly fine realizing the company would like to have them as a customer!

"Sales momentum," as Craig Davidson defines it in Employee Benefit Adviser, is "the process of creating and maintaining excitement in a buyer with the goal of making a sale." I’m the richer for having taken the telephone survey, with a much greater appreciation for the role of federal judges and the importance of how they’re appointment.

Whether your corporate blog posts lead to an immediate conversion or, for now, merely result in a better-informed readers – you can count your corporate blog writing as a winner!