It Can’t Wow ‘Em If You Can’t Use It!

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A friend who collects anecdotes shares an interesting one, probably not true, but one which illustrates a useful point…

65 years ago, the story goes, Carnation Milk offered a $5,000 prize for the best slogan submitted in the form of a rhyme beginning "Carnation Milk is best of all…."

A little old lady from Wisconsin, who’d worked on her family’s dairy form since early childhood, was awarded $2,000. The Carnation Milk rep said to the lady, "Carnation loved your entry, even though we will not be able to use it."

(Hold that thought and your question for a moment….)

Fellow blogger Matthew Stibbs, director and co-founder of Heart Internet web hosting in the UK, comments that "A company blog can be one of the trickiest forms of marketing." However, the company blog has to be one people will actually read, he adds.   It also needs to be one that doesn’t offend readers. 

In "Why Do Educated People Use Bad Words?", the editors of the New York Times point out that while public language in America is becoming less restrained, racist, sexist, and homophobic remarks are even less tolerated today than a generation ago.

For me as a business blogging trainer, the rule is quite simple:  If something you write is likely to offend at all – leave that part out and find a different way to convey your idea.  After all, why distract online visitors’ attention from the business message you’re going to all this effort to promote?

(Now, back to the jingle our little old lady from Wisconsin wrote (remember, this is supposed to have happened almost fifty years ago…)

 

    Carnation milk is best of all

    No tits to pull, no hay to haul

    No buckets to wash, no s–t to pitch

    Just poke a hole in the son-of-a-b—–!

Word to wise business bloggers: Don’t let it all hang out in your blog…exercise good taste. 

(If they can’t use it, they won’tl be giving you $2,000 before clicking away to a different website!)

 

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It Should Be Your Equitation AND Your Pleasure To Blog For Business!

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There are two aspects to winning medals in a horse show, I’ve learned – equitation and pleasure.  "Pleasure" refers to the horse itself – its posture, its control, and its looks, while "equitation" refers to the skill and the posture of the rider.

For example, RaraEquus.com advises equestrian contestants to "keep your head up, shoulders back, and try not to give your horse verbal cues if you can avoid it."

There are a couple of "cues" for business bloggers in all this, I think.  Although it’s not a judge you’re trying to impress and engage, but online visitors, there are definitely two aspects to what visitors find after clicking on your blog post:

  • The "equitation" part has to do with your blog content – is the post well-written, engaging, relevant, and to the point?  Does the blog content clearly demonstrate your expertise in your field and the special advantages you offer clients compared with your competition? One of the ways your readers will "judge" you is by your skill (your "equitation") in providing valuable, readable content.
     
  • The "pleasure" part has to do with the blog site itself.  Is it a "pleasure" to look at your site?  Is it colorful, appropriate in style to your brand?  Is it organized rather than "cluttered"?  Is the site easy to navigate, with links that are easy to follow? Are there too many "special effects", too many photos, too much Flash technology, or is everything in modest proportion and in good taste?  Is the overall impression that of a well-run company with a clear mission?

A second RaraEquus.com tip to horse show contestants can be apropos for bloggers: "A judge would rather see a balanced horse with an even gait do a large circle (which is easier) than a horse get unbalanced and break gait doing a smaller one."

A tip for business bloggers might be in the same vein: Keep your blog messages simple and focused, concentrating on what you know and do well, offering information you think is most important for readers to know. Don’t overpromise, don’t be elaborate. You love this online "contest", and that shows.  It’s obvious you have confidence that blogging is what allows you to attract new customers who are hungry for exactly the services and products you have to offer.

Keep your "balance" by maintaining a consistent pattern of posting blogs about your business!

 

 

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Blog To Say Hello

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I’m always talking about what a good idea it is to use blogs for busting myths.  Myth-busting makes for engaging content, plus it offers the chance to showcase your knowledge and professional expertise.  So long as you use myth busting in your corporate blog to actually showcase (as opposed to showing off, or "showing up" your readers’ lack of knowledge), I highly recommend the strategy.

A favorite myth-busting read of mine is The Book of General Ignorance.  One wonderful chapter is about the word "hello", which we all assume is the word used to answer the phone ever since the phone was invented.  Not true, I learned. Alexander Graham Bell used the nautical "Ahoy!" to answer the phone, while early telephone operators used to ask "Are you there?"  In fact, the word "hello" wasn’t used as a greeting even for in-person encounters until Thomas Edison started to tinker with the phone while inventing the phonograph.

Edison discovered that the word "halloo", which was used to call hounds, could be heard from further away than most other sounds.  Eventually, Edison’s frequent repetition of "halloo" into his primitive phonograph spread to co-workers and from there became common usage.

Halloo, bloggers for business! Just as that word was used to call attention (originally of hounds and ferrymen), the function of each business blog post is to call online readers’ attention to a particular aspect of your business.

Working diligently in his Menlo Park laboratory, Thomas Edison discovered that, when he shouted "Halloo!" into the phonograph, a steel point was created on the telegraph paper. When he ran the paper back over that steel point, the machine responded "Halloo!".

As a professional ghost blogger and blog trainer, that’s a "point" I want to emphasize: What makes a business blog work is the response it elicits.  As bloggers, we need to lead off by putting our message onto the "telegraph paper" (the Web). What has to happen next, though, is that we "hear" our online readers saying "Halloo!" in return, commenting on our blog posts, and responding to our Calls to Action.

 

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Keeping “Up” in Your Business Blog

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Funny how many of the habits I try so hard to teach my Career Development mentees at Butler College of Business are the same habits that make for long-term success in blogging for business…

It’s a Butler COB tradition to serve pizza at the meeting when we career mentors meet our freshmen mentees for the first time.  Back in 2006, I composed a handout for that meeting, a good-business-habits list called "Pizza Slices For the Business-Minded"; I’ve used that handout every fall at my freshman orientation.

As a business blogging trainer, I’m finding that a list of good blog marketing practices would have at least four items in common with that Pizza Slices list:

  • Speak Up – Practice introducing yourself confidently and clearly in any situation.

    Your corporate blog is designed to introduce what you have to offer to new customers of the right kind (those who have the need, who will appreciate your services and products, and who have the ability to purchase). You have only a few seconds to capture online visitors’ attention by introducing yourself confidently and clearly.

  • Keep Up – When you promise to do something for someone, do it in timely fashion.  Another aspect of Keeping up is maintaining your stamina to keep up with a demanding schedule.

    An important lesson for corporate bloggers to remember: It’s all well and good to use keyword phrases in blog titles in order to win search, but the blog post must deliver on that implied promise, by providing content that is on topic and on target for the search terms.

  • Read Up – Resolve to read at least one book about business and businesspeople every two months in addition to required reading.  Jot down valuable ideas to put into practice and pitfalls to avoid.

    One of the things I emphasize in my blog training courses is that in, order to create a valuable ongoing blog for your business, it’s going to take equal parts reading and writing. You need to know what others are saying about your topic, what’s in the news that’s relevant to your industry, and what problems or issues might have come to light related to your field.

  • Own Up – A true mark of a professional is recognizing that everyone makes mistakes.  Be first to admit any errors in judgment you make and try to make things right.  Learn something from every person and every encounter, and – every mistake!     

    Corporate blogs offer a mechanism for business owners to be pro-active in the face of any negative development.  Respond promptly and straightforwardly to any negative comments posted to your blog. Use your blog to correctng inaccurate press statement.  Above all, admit to any mistakes or misunderstandings and tell exactly what you plan to do in the future to avoid recurrences.  

    I end the Pizza Slices list with a promise to mentees:

    If you will start now to put the "pizza slices" into practice, you can BUCKLE UP for a great career!

Bloggers, if you will keep up with posting content, you can buckle up for some great results!

 

 

 

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The Power of One in Business Blogging

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One of the "Seven Deadly Sins of Website Copy", says fellow blogger Michel Fortin, is lacking a clear call to action.  The offsetting good habit, he explains, is focusing on the "power of one". As I was reading about the three aspects of what Fortin means by "One" , I couldn’t help thinking how relevant these are to business blogging.

One message:
"If your copy tells too many irrelevant stories, you will lose your prospects’ attention and interest."

It’s here that blog posts have a distinct advantage over the more static website copy.  Each post can have a razor-sharp focus on just one story, one idea, one aspect of your business.  Other important things you want to discuss?  Save those for later blog posts!

One audience:
"If your copy tries to be everything to everyone (and is too generic or too complex), you will lose your prospects completely." Fortin advises creating a "perfect prospect profile" by listing all the qualities you find in your most profitable and accessible market.

Blogging can have several different purposes, but make no mistake – blogging for business is marketing.  As a professional ghost blogger, I consider myself part of each client company’s marketing team.  The more focused out efforts are on connecting with a narrowly defined target audience, the more successful the blog will be in converting prospects to clients and customers.

One outcome:
"If you ask your prospects to do many things (other than buy then or whatever action you want them to take), you will lose sales.  Provide clear instructions on where and how to take the next step."

Business blogging is ideal for using the Power of One .As bloggers, we’ve got to focus on creating engaging blog content that focuses readers’ attention on what we have to offer and the steps they need to take to get some!

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