“Just how big is the oil spill in the gulf?” read the Indianapolis Star article headline, going on to offer “a little mathematical context” to put the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe in perspective.

While there’s no really positive perspective on the oil spill, as a professional blogger for business and blogging trainer, I have a really positive perspective on the technique the Star journalist used to make matters clearer to its readers. Helping online searchers take your “measure” could be considered the main mission of each of your blog posts.

The Star used several unlikely comparisons concerning the oil spill’s first two months:

• The Mississippi River pours as much water into the Gulf of Mexico in 38 seconds as the BP oil leak in two months.

• The amount of oil spilled would fill 9200 average-sized living rooms.
   
• Were the oil to be poured into gallon milk jugs, the lined-up jugs would stretch 11,000 miles.
   
• Converted into gasoline, all the oil spilled in two months would be enough for all American drivers combined to travel for three hours and 43 minutes.
   
• Divided among all Americans, the oil would fill four soda cans for each person.

Online searchers may know what they need.  They may not know what to call that need. They almost certainly lack expert knowledge in your field. That makes it difficult for potential customers to know 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?

Remember, your website explains what products you offer, what services you provide, who the players are in your company, the geographic areas where you operate and what type of clients you have. The reader, though, may have difficulty translating all the data into the “Why-is-that-good-for-ME” terms.

How big is your big? How small is your small, how local your local, how fast your speed?. How special is your special way of serving customers?

How many average-sized living rooms will your customer satisfaction overflow fill?

 

The bucket on the left contains sand.  The other bucket contains an identical amount of rice.  With my eyes closed, I bet I can tell you which bucket holds the sand without touching the bucket or any of its contents. How is the trick done?

A professional ghost blogger and blog trainer, I’m in the business of blog posts, not buckets.  But this simple riddle from David J. Bodycombe’s book Mind Benders illustrates a very simple technique for engaging interest in a blog, and doing that in the very first sentence of each blog post.

Keep in mind that I, before reading the riddle, had never faced this precise dilemma of learning which of two buckets contained sand.  Even so, I found myself wanting to figure out the answer. In a blog post, of course, the question or dilemma would be related to the topic the online searcher was looking for, describing a problem that reader had probably faced or was facing right then. That means the technique of posing a question at the start of the blog post would be even more effective at engaging readers’ interest!

• "Just prior to leaving for a week’s summer vacation, John wanted to completely turn off the air conditioning in his home.  His wife Judy, disagreed, saying they’d save more money by turning the thermostat up to 80 degrees, so that the A/C wouldn’t be working so hard. Who was right?"
   
• Which is less damaging, foreclosure or bankruptcy?
   
• Is club soda or cold water better for dabbing on a food stain on your clothes?
   
• Is keeping the windows closed all summer a good idea for allergy sufferers, or should fresh air be allowed to circulate every few days?

The "trick" is to pose a question to arouse curiosity or debate, then "weigh in" on the question to demonstrate two things:  You understand your readers’ problems, and you know the answers to this kind of common dilemma or question.

The simple two-step blogging process involves:

1. Opening with a poser.

2. "Closing" (the deal) with valuable insights and information to demonstrate searchers have come to the right place for the products, services, and information they need!