Blogging to Readers of Both Sexes

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"His, her, or they?" is the touchy question on which fellow Mensa member Steve Merchant weighs in. "What strategies can be used to avoid gender bias without making language stilted? Does it matter?" asks Merchant.

Thanks for bringing this up, Steve.  Bloggers, including, I’ve found, business bloggers, appear to share the belief that being sticklers about correct spelling and grammar is superfluous. Blog posts are more casual than websites, the argument goes, and should be written in conversational tone.

It probably comes as no surprise that I don’t agree with that view. Putting our businesses’ best feet forward in our blogs, however casual and conversational their tone, means avoiding language that distracts readers from our message –  even if some of those readers happen to be eighth grade English teachers!

In this month’s issue of The Mind, Merchant quotes rules from Words and Type, a respected book in the publishing business:

  • It is convenient to use "his" when both sexes are referred to.                             Each student must give me his choice before tomorrow noon.
  • If you are a feminist writer or writing for feminist readers, it is wise to use the more cumbersome "his or her".                                                                                         Each student must give me his or her choice before tomorrow noon.

The most common solution, and, according to Steve Merchant, the best compromise, is this: Make the original noun plural. 
Students must give me their choices before tomorrow noon.

Out of curiosity, I revisited some random blog posts from two of my favorite fellow bloggers to see how they handle the gender-in-blog-writing challenge.

From Seth Godin’s Check-in, Chicken:

"Another way, probably a better one, is to have each member of the team announce what they’re afraid of."

Rather than the awkward "have each member of the team announce what he or she is afraid of", or, worse, risk being accused by feminists of the sexism by having "each member of the team announce what he’s afraid of", Godin incorrectly uses "they" tp modify "each member". Steve Merchant would advise Godin to use the plural noun members, who could then (correctly) announce what they’re afraid of!

From Roundpeg’s blog:

"Every now and then we have are lucky enough to bring on a new client who has a good idea of what they want…". "Has" is obviously a mismatch with "they", but Taylor, too, wanted to avoid the awkward "he or she" in referring to the new client (singular). 

Steve Merchant’s solution would fit nicely here: "Every now and then we are lucky enough to bring on new clients who have a good idea of what they want."

Does any of this matter to readers (to him or her?) Well, for bloggers trying to avoid distracting readers with awkward sentences, it should!

 

 

 

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Blog Post Titles That Don’t Bait and Switch

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Not to belabor the obvious, but the first thing online readers will see on your blog post is its title;  largely based on that title, those readers are going to make the decision to read further – or hightail it away.  For that reason among many, what words to use in each blog post title is a decision that could prove far more important than you might think.

Titles need to do at least three key “jobs”:

  • Engage and entice readers
     
  • Offer an overview of the topic of the post
     
  • Incorporate keyword phrases to help search engines index your blog

In their new book, Corporate Blogging For Dummies, Doug Karr and Chantelle Flannery suggest using titles for case studies that are results-driven.  “Using numerical results adds that extra punch,” they explain. The book also emphasizes the importance of using keyword phrases at or close to the beginning of each blog post title.

In the course of the constant skimming, scanning, and reading I do to keep the content fresh in these Say It For You blogs, I came upon a really interesting piece about actress Elizabeth Banks.  Born Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell, the actress decided to change her name to "something short and sweet and a little WASP-y, because I wanted to advertise exactly what I was." 

In fact, Banks has hit on an important point business bloggers need to remember: It’s all well and good to use keyword phrases in blog titles, but the post needs to deliver on that implied promise.  In other words, advertise exactly what you are.  In an old routine that struck me as particularly funny, Jerry Seinfeld said that, as an airline passenger, he didn’t need to hear introductions or announcements from the pilot.  "Just end up where it says on the ticket is all I ask," he quipped.

It may be the title that draws the attention of online readers (quite possibly preceded by that of the search engine mechanism), but you need to make sure your readers arrive where it says on the "ticket" which is your title.  Nobody likes a bait-and-switch!

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Business Blogging To Appeal To Deal Seekers and Enthusiasts

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Marketing seems to go in cycles, remarks Morgan Stewart in a Media Post Publications article.
“We bounce back and forth between…left-brain marketing focused on analytics and segmentation, and right-brain marketing focused on the creative.”  Both types of marketing are needed, concludes Steward. "Left-brain marketing narrows target audiences. Creative pulls people into your message.  Creative gets people talking.  But the same creative doesn’t appeal to everyone.”

Bloggers for business need to pay attention to Morgan Stewart’s take on consumers, who, he claims, fall into two categories:

Deal Seekers: 
(These people go online in search of bargains and discounts on products and services they already know and use.)
In blogging aimed at deal-seekers, focus on the cost-effectiveness of your product or services.  How does dealing with your business save them time and money? Do you have a time-sensitive special “deal” or offer?

Enthusaists:
(These people go online seeking information to support their hobbies, interests, and beliefs.)
Blogs aimed at this audience might focus on environmentally-friendly products and practices, natural ingredients in foodstuffs and skin care products, safety, responsible finances, and business ethics. Specialty items and services appeal to enthusiasts, as well as creative packaging, color and shape of items. 

The blog post’s layout and appearance can itself be targeted towards either the deal seeker (charts, graphs, statistics might figure prominently on the page) or the enthusiast (creative layout, photos, images, color used for added appeal).

“Regardless of what social media tools consumers are using,” (says Stewart, referring to fellow marketing professionals) “our real job is to give them something worth talking about.”

As a professional ghost blogger and blogging trainer, I couldn’t agree more when it comes to blogging for business!

 

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Blogs Can Be Both Mundane and Magical

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One of the 12 Things Good Bosses Believe is that "My success – and that of my people – depends largely on being the master of obvious and mundane things, not of magical, obscure, or breakthrough ideas or methods."

Perhaps one of the things good bloggers should believe is that success depends largely on mixing the obvious and mundane with the magical and the obscure.

Business bloggers’ core belief, of course, should be (as Hat Trick Associates puts it), "An active blog is absolutely VITAL to establishing a strong web presence for your company or brand."

Having accepted that basic premise, bloggers for business must become masters of certain mundane tasks:

  • Posting frequently: "The more frequently your content appears and mentions the keywords and phrases, the better your chances of getting found and read", explain Doug Karr and Chantelle Flannery in their new book Corporate Blogging for Dummies.
     
  • Focusing on one idea per blog post
     
  • Measuring results

Once the mundane has achieved habit status, bloggers for business can turn to the magical, coming at their message from unusual angles in order to engage the interest and curiosity of online readers and establish emotional connections with them.  Bloggers should look to elicit at least one these possible reader reactions to the content:

"Aha!"  (Blog post content has demonstrated to readers that they’ve come to exactly the right place for what they need.)

"Aah…"  (Readers heave a sigh of relief that a solution to their problem exists and that caring people are there to assist."

"I didn’t know that!" (Blog has demonstrated business owner’s expertise and professionalism and provided valuable and actionable information.)

As a professional ghost blogger and blogging trainer, one of the 12 things I believe is this:
The most effective blog posts – the ones that win hearts and customers as well as winning search – somehow manage to combine the mundane and the magical!

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Business Blog Ghostwriting Revealed

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Alisa Bowman, like me, is a ghost, but in her case, she writes books. Actually, she helps write books, as she explains in her blog post "Ghostwriting Revealed", because it takes a lot of different people to write and publish a book.  The book’s author, Bowman explains, serves as director, the one who hires key people and gives them direction on what needs to be done.  These key people might include a graphic designer, a photographer, a researcher, a copy editor, a proof reader, a sales team, and a publicity team, each dedicating specialized professional expertise to getting the book out to the public. In the end, sums up Ms. Bowman, the author gets all the glory.

So, why is a ghostwriter brought in to be part of the team?

  • "The author has a great idea for a book, but doesn’t have time to write it."  This is the principal reason so many business owners hire ghost bloggers to post content on behalf of their business.
  • "The author has lots of credibility, but writing is not one of his or her strong suits."      Many business owners and professional practitioners know their business and their clients, but don’t feel confident expressing their thoughts in writing.
  • "The author got 20,000 words into the book and then ran out of things to say."                                                                                   20,000 words is the equivalent of about two months of a three-post-per week blog and many business owners run out of things to say a lot sooner than that!
  • The author thought he/she wrote great book, but the publishing house does not agree.  Someone like me is brought in to help author publisher meet in the middle."  Blogs don’t need publishers’ approval.  The parallel here is that the blog hasn’t been generating traffic, and so a professional blogger is brought in to help make the blogging more effective.

When we want a new house, we hire other people to build it, to decorate it, to landscape our lawns, paint our walls, and install carpeting and bathroom tiles.  We generally get the credit for having a lovely home, explains Bowman.  "That’s because most people understand that, to be done right, such work requires a unique set of skills and talents".

Couldn’t have written the case for professional ghostblogging it better myself!

 

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