“There’s no legal definition of a meteorologist, so anybody can call him – or herself one and get away with it.” That’s just one of the “13 Things Your TV Weatherman Won’t Tell You” in Reader’s Digest.

Things-your-whoever-won’t-tell-you is a useful format for SEO marketing blogs.  Michele Crouch, the author of the Readers’ Digest piece, advises readers, “Try to get your weather from someone certified by the American Meteorological Society.” As a corporate blogging trainer, I’d call that “selling by contrast”, in which blog  content writers direct blog visitors’ attention to the business owner’s or professional practitioner’s special expertise and credentials.

“The dewpoint – not the relative humidity – is the best measure of how humid it feels outside”, we learn. Interesting information tidbits like this can be used in blog content to engage readers’ attention.  In fact, it’s just this sort of information that gets “favorited” and forwarded by readers to friends and relatives.

Blog content that gives readers an “inside peek” into the workings of a business or practice is effective in forging a relationship with potential clients and customers.  “In many cases,” Reader’s Digest confides, “the meteorologist is the highest-paid person on the broadcast…That’s probably why the stations with the best weather people usually have the best ratings.” That’s precisely the sort of “inside scoop” designed to elicit an “I didn’t know that!” response from blog visitors.

“Being human means being effective in business blog writing.  People want to do business with people, and people have failings. “Our long-range forecasts aren’t very accurate.  We’re quite good at one to three days out and decent five to seven days out,” admits Crouch on behalf of her self and her fellow meteorologists.

In Creating Buzz With Blogs, veteran business technology consultant Ted Demopoulos explains, "Blogs create buzz because people will feel like they know you, and people like to do business with people they know." 

“Don’t take a shower during a thunderstorm,” warns Crouch. “You can get struck by lightning due to metal plumbing, which conducts electricity.” People getting “scared” into action is an important topic in marketing, including SEO marketing blogs. Specifically, business owners and those providing blog writing services need to weigh the effectiveness of fear tactics in galvanizing customers into action.

In business blog writing, while it’s important to appeal to readers’ need to avoid pain, (electrocution in the bathtub, for example!) you’re more likely to “win friends and influence people” in your blog posts by giving searchers a “feel” for the relief and comfort they’ll gain after using your products and services.

In SEO marketing blogs, one technique corporate blog content writers can use to engage readers is building a blog post around an unlikely comparison in order to explain an aspect of their business or professional practice. For one thing, suggesting a totally new way of using your product or service, an “off-the wall” comparison may open up new possibilities for that potential customer to do business with you.

Given the short attention span of the typical web searcher, putting elements together that, on the surface, don’t seem related can be a good teaching tool.

But, to avoid “over-seasoning the meal”, corporate blog content writers need to be careful and avoid overstretching those comparisons.
 
Mental Floss Magazine writer Adam Raymond understands the challenge of explaining highly complicated and even abstract concepts, and his way of using kitchen items to help get those concepts across could be of business blogging help, I imagine.
 

• The “Big Bang Theory” of our universe’s origins is like baking a blueberry muffin.  (As the batter’s temperature rises, the muffin expands and the blueberries, representing the planets and stars, grow further apart.)
   
• The philosophy of Existentialism, which holds that individuals are responsible for giving their own life meaning, is explained with ketchup.  (Ketchup is used as an ingredient or as a topping for other foods, but it must find meaning in its own existence.)

My corporate blogging training question is this: What process or product that you employ in your business or profession can be explained using a kitchen item?

Is Raymond overstretching with his metaphors? Similes are simpler to use in corporate blogging for business, as we can see from a second Mental Floss article dealing with oversized vegetables.  Had Meghan Healy instructed readers how to cultivate 65-pound melons, that wouldn’t have been nearly as engaging as her title “How to Grow a Cantaloupe the Size of a 4th Grader.”

 Online searchers almost certainly lack expert knowledge in your field. That makes it difficult for them to judge if your prices are fair, how experienced you are relative to your peers, and where you “place” in the big “scheme” of products and services. Is your business “small”? Compared to what? In what ways is “small” better for this particular service or product? Is your approach to your field different from most others? Is that good?

Use everyday terms to explain complicated concepts in blog writing for business!