Defined Petals in Corporate Blog Writing

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“Did you know that…?” can be four winning words when starting a conversation – or beginning a business blog post. 

After all, when a business owner (or a professional ghost blogger writing on her behalf) shares a little-known fact about an everyday thing, not only does that showcase the business owner’s expertise, it can bridge gaps and break down barriers. 
 

Why? Tidbits are “neutral ground”, and readers tend to drop their resistance and their fear of “being sold”.

In corporate blogging training sessions, I encourage Indianapolis blog writers to use etymology, (the history of words), to offer interesting information relating to their industry. A florist, for example, could take a tip from Richard Lederer’s piece in the Mensa Bulletin about the anthology of flowery words.

As a homeowner, for example, I’ve looked upon dandelions as weeds. Still, I was fascinated to learn (there’s the “Did you know that…” effect again) the English used to call the yellow, shaggy plant a “lion’s tooth” because of its jagged, pointy leaves.  The French translated “lion’s tooth” into “dent-de-lion”, which, said with an English accent, becomes “dandelion”!

Internet vocabulary has evolved with such speed, its etymology is on steroids. One tidbit I’m fond of sharing with Say It For You clients is (did you know that…?) before the term “web log” became “blog”, writers would refer to their work as “zines”? Today, there are kittyblogs, anonoblogs (anonymous), miliblogs (military), kittyblogs (about cats), and even splogs (spam blogs).

Etymology impacts SEO marketing blogs in more ways than one. As an Indiana blogger working to help clients "win search", I realize that not only may online readers not know the name of my clients’ business, they may not even know the correct terminology for the product or the specialized service they need! All those readers can do is describe the desired result, or resort to “kadigans” such as thing-a-ma-bob or whatchamacallit.

Business blog content writers can anticipate that very problem, working from back (the history and etymology of business terms) to front (the end results that buyers can anticipate).
 

 

 

 

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It’s OK, Indianapolis Bloggers – Tell ‘Em Everything You Told ‘Em a Long Time Ago

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 Whether you’re trying to get your home ready to sell or trying to get a start on corporate blog writing for your business, you’re sure to hear a lot of advice about keeping things “fresh” and “new”. 

Well, paint and flowers may do it for curb appeal, but, when it comes to business blogging, it’s not so easy, is it? In corporate blogging training sessions, I'm constantly hearing that the biggest challenge business owners face is sustaining their SEO marketing blogs over long periods of time.

I couldn’t help relating that dilemma to a humorous Reader’s Digest anecdote I came across the other day:

 My 85-year-old uncle and his wife were sitting quietly in their living room, each in their matching recliners.  After a while, my aunt asked, “How come you never  talk to me anymore?” My uncle replied, “I told you everything I know a long time ago!”

“A simple technique to update the look of your shop is to move things around,” says Karen Lee, “captain” at EcoEtsy. “Take a few items that are hidden away on page 4 of your listings and move them up to the front page….Shift items from the bottom of the page up to the top. Tweak descriptions,” Lee advises. “Seasons change, and so do trends…  Every so often, ensure descriptions are up to date and relevant for shoppers.”

 Indianapolis blog content writers can use the same tactic by calling attention in a business blog to “old” information that hasn’t been highlighted for awhile, reminding readers of an “old” point, but presenting it in a new light.

While building a loyal reader following is a result to be desired, most Say It for You corporate blogging clients, particularly in the early to middle stages of a business blogging initiative, want business blogging help focused on two business goals:  Getting “found” and getting their cash register to ring. That translates into content that is not pnly interesting and engaging, but which immediately conveys the message to online searchers “You’ve come to the right place”, then offers them alternative Calls to Action.

Two of the “8 Tips for Improving Your Memory” offered by PsychCentral’s Editor-in-Chief John Grohol are worth passing along to Indianapolis blog content writers:

“The more senses you involve, the more strong a memory becomes.” Basic information about your business, material you’ve presented again and again in earlier business blog posts, can assume new power when you relate that content to different sounds, sights, or smells.


“Organize it.” Presenting material you’ve discussed before, but organizing it differently, can make a big difference.  Some formats to try:

  • Question /answer
     
  • Alphabetized lists and glossaries
     
  • Surveys
     
  • Relating to news items

Sometimes, after months and years of composing content, we business blog writers can feel like that elderly uncle in the Readers’ Digest anecdote –we’re told them everything we know a long time ago. But by adding a few new items, rearranging some old ones, and staying alert to changing vocabulary and trends, we can keep our blogs fresh and new, never running out of things we just can’t wait to say! 
 


 

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Business Blog Writing – We Make the Power That Makes the Beer

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Super Bowl Ad Tracker calls it “an ode to the significance of manufacturing”, referring to GE’s commercial, set in a New York pub, in which a worker proudly exclaims, “We make the power that makes the beer.”

I liked the piece, too, and for some of the same reasons Ad Tracker mentions. For one thing, as a professional ghost blogger, I can see a number of parallels between creating that kind of engaging TV spot and corporate blog writing.

“The nod”:
Included in the GE “ode”, there’s a “nod”, notes Dale Buss of Ad Tracker, meaning a nod to Bud Light, official beer of the NFL. In similar vein, blog content writing verbalizes the positive aspects of a business.  Unlike traditional advertising copy, though, blogs take a softer, more “advertorial” approach, with just a “nod” towards the business’ recent accomplishment and its products and services.

Heartstring pulling:
Unlike just about every other major Super Bowl advertiser Buss explains, GE didn’t plan to use humor, but “to pull at our heartstrings instead”. That same idea is expressed by mRelevance, who see blog content writing as a chance for business owners to be real humans, not hiding “behind a slick corporate website”.

In fact, before providing business blogging assistance to any new Say It For You client, I always perform a “reality check” in the form of the following question: “If you had only 8-10 words to describe why you’re passionate about what you do, what you know, and what you sell – what would those words be?”

“Our goal with the ads was to show the pride and passion GE employees have for the products they make,” GE’s spokesperson shared with brandchannel. As blog content writers soon learn, one very important reason behind writing for business is to express that pride and passion is real time.

What about SEO marketing through blogs? Unlike giant GE, who could count of millions of Super Bowl viewers being there to discover their message, local business owners depend on blog content writers in Indianapolis to help them win search.

In the TopRank online marketing blog, Lee Olden summarizes the results of a recent survey of business owners for whom blogs are part of their search engine optimization efforts.

  • 87% successfully increased SEO as a direct result of blogging.
  • 54% began to see SEO benefits from blogging earlier than expected (0-3 months).

Still, as I caution in corporate blogging training sessions, blogs are not magical, guaranteed search engine ranking magnets. In fact, blog content writing should be considered just one element in an overall traditional/online marketing strategy.  In an Indianapolis pub or networking meeting, we corporate blog writers might borrow a boast from that GE worker: 

We make the power that makes the online marketing strategy!
 

 

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Easy Business Blogging – Your Dental Assistant Could Do It In Her Sleep!

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A common refrain they hear from their Australian dentist advisees, Dental Web Strategies admits – It’s really hard to find enough time to blog on a regular basis.

At Say It For You, we know. Business blog writing is hard work.  It seems everyone acknowledges the important role SEO marketing blogs play, but in the real world, 80% of business blogs end up neglected or even totally abandoned. 

Actually, most business owners can think of quite a number of things they want to tell the world about their products, their professional services, and their customer service efforts.  Somehow, in the execution stage, though, inspiration appears to run dry;  the need for business blogging assistance becomes all too apparent.

Dental Web’s suggestion is one that business owner bloggers and professionals blogging to promote their practices need to hear: Answer a common question.   This is so easy, says Dental Web, “your dental assistant could do it in her sleep”. The question might be one dental patients really ask on a regular basis, they add, or “something you find yourself explaining anyway”.

Common explanations make for easy-to-access content, Dental Web emphasizes to its dentist members. Since dental assistants hear the doctors using that content all the time with patients, they can repeat it verbatim.

A related suggestion for “solving the content crisis” comes from Compendium Blogware CEO Chris Baggott.  Baggott, however, suggests “mining” emails sent to customers and newsletter material as fodder for blog content writing. Email, he observes, tends to live in a different “silo” from blogs, so that much wonderful content created by company employees goes forever unindexed by search engines.

Over my years as a professional ghost blogger, I’ve found that business owners and professionals have many stories to tell.  They want to – and need to – share the benefits of their products and services, the history of their business and their own journey, news of importance to customers, how-to information, and their own perspective on trends in their field. Lack of running out of content ideas may be their biggest fear, but it’s actually lack of time that sabotages so many business blogging efforts. That’s precisely the point at which freelance content writers can come to the rescue of all that wonderful content “hiding” in emails, newsletters – and owners’ and dental assistants’ minds! 
 

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Business Blogging When You Don’t Have an Opinion

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“The type of insight and expertise that a blog can demonstrate is far more useful than any PR pitch you could post,” explains fellow blogger Erica Swallow.  Swallow stresses that blogs should be “repositories of analysis and opinions provided by a company’s fine employees”.

 Those of us who offer business blogging services agree.  When blogging for business reveals your unique “slant” or philosophy within in your field, potential customers and clients feel they know who you are, not merely what you do, and they are far more likely to want to be associated with you.

For that very reason, one important facet of my job as professional ghost blogger is to “interview” business owner and professional practitioner clients, eliciting each one’s very individualized thoughts. In a way, I’ve concluded, SEO marketing blogs are just extended, serialized interviews, with the reader learning from the blog posts about the  culture and “personality” of a business or practice.

But, what if the business owner or practitioner hasn’t yet formed an opinion on some important topic?  In that case, Swallow suggests taking polls and reporting on the results. And, as I teach Indianapolis blog content writers, it’s valuable to readers when you clarify and put into perspective both sides of a thorny issue within your industry or profession.

Marketing guru Seth Godin speaks of “cat blogs”, describing them as “personal and idiosyncratic”, written for purposes of self-expression or to gain converts to an opinion or cause.  And, while the type of corporate blogging for business I and my Say It For You writers produce fall within the category Godin dubs “viral blogs”, a little bit of “cat” goes a long way in “humanizing” those blogs and making them more engaging for readers.

“When consumers get helpful information from an authoritative source that has a human face, they are more likely to come back and purchase from that source,” says InteractMedia.com.

For all of the five years of Say It For You’s existence, before offering business blogging help to any company or practice, I've asked the owner or practitioner to answer a question:  If you had only eight to ten words to tell me why you’re passionate about what you do, what would those words be?”  It’s not uncommon for my clients to discover, in the course of being interviewed, that  they do have important opinions to express through blogging for business, after all!

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