“Do you have to be told never to re-gift promotional items?” asks regiftable.com.

Apparently one Chinese exchange student did need to be told. The student had given his American host, N.Y.Times columnist David Brooks, a gold tie as a thank-you gift.  The tie was one that had been handed out by Gov. Mitch Daniels during a trade mission to China, and the tie’s label proudly proclaimed that fact!

 

It’s not that re-gifting itself is a no-no, explains regiftable.com.  In fact, the practice is gaining in popularity. But, just as with corporate blogging for business, there are certain rules of the road that all re-gifters would do well to observe. As a corporate blogging trainer. I can see parallels between re-gifting and the practice of content curation in business blogging.

Regiftable.com advises asking “Is this going to work?”, re-gifting items only to people who are not likely to see the original giver.

When it comes to blog content writers in Indianapolis, I teach exactly the opposite approach.  When you link to someone else’s comments about the subject you’re covering, that reinforces your point and shows you’re in touch with others in your field.  But you must identify and link to the source you’re quoting, so that all the readers of your blog content DO “see” the original giver!

Regiftable.com cautions re-gifters to “always spring for a new card or gift tag”.

At Say It For You, we couldn’t agree more. Merely quoting others in your SEO marketing blog adds value in the sense of aggregating resources for the benefit of your readers. Still, that’s hardly enough; business blogging service providers need to add their own “spin” to the material based on their own business wisdom and expertise.

“Never feel guilty once you’ve done it,” advises regiftable.com.

Guilty?  Of course not!  By curating or “re-gifting” content, properly attributing that content to its source, then adding our own thoughtful commentary, we professional business bloggers demonstrate our own confidence. We have something special to offer within a very competitive business environment!
 

 

 “Boosting voter turnout could be as simple as making individuals see voting as part of who they are rather than as something they do,” writes Janelle Weaver in Scientific American Mind.

 

As a corporate blog marketing trainer, I was very interested to learn that this statement came as a result of a 2008 survey. Of registered voters asked the question, “How important is it to you to vote?" there was an actual 82% turnout at the polls.  Of those asked “How important is it to you to be a voter?” by contrast, there was a 96% turnout.

We freelance blog writers in Indianapolis need to pay attention to the conclusion published by Christopher Bryan of Stanford University about that 96%:

“We offered people the prospect of claiming a desirable
 identity,” he said. “That’s a very powerful thing.”

In offering business blogging assistance to business owners over the past five years, I’ve had many express hesitancy about being too “sales-y” or about appearing too self-serving in their SEO marketing blog. At the same time, of course, business owners require a return on their marketing investment dollars..

The sweet spot may lie in the creation of just the kind of “desirable identity” for customers to which researcher Bryan was alluding. First, I tell business owners, the blog content writing effort should aim to offer readers a feeling of what it would be like to have you working alongside them to help with their challenges and issues.

Even more important, though, is leading potential customers and clients to view themselves as part of the bigger picture your company is working to create – better health, more convenience, greater safety, financial security, or increased energy savings.

Writing for business should help you, as my friend and fellow marketing blogwriter Tony Fannin likes to say, “BE somebody to your clients!”