Readers Remember Helpful Hints

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Sometimes a concept just keeps slapping you in the face with how true it is…. I’d been writing about offering helpful how-to hints as a way of engaging visitors to your blog. Find complementary businesses or practices, I advised, asking those business owners or practitioners for tips they can offer for you to pass along to your readers. The best tips and hints, I added, are related to some a topic currently trending in the news, especially one affecting your industry.

Just the other day, in the course of attending virtual networking meetings, I heard two wonderful examples of helpful hints.

First, fellow InfoConnect2 member Jim Badger (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbadger/)  explained that, because COVID-19 has caused to many people to meet virtually rather than in person, the logo imprint on the apparel should be put on the collar or high up on the shoulder of the jacket or shirt, so that it will be visible within in the frameword of the Zoom image

  • Hours later, in a Happy Networking virtual room, Samuel Brown, CEO of PacketEx in South Carolina (https://www.linkedin.com/in/packetex/) offered a helpful tip about computers and cell phones. Should we turn those off every night? Yes, Brown explained. It’s not because the phone or PC or Mac needs to rest (those machines are made to run, he said.) Turning off the devices allows them to perform automated tasks, including combating viruses, he explained.
  • At Say It For You, we teach that everything about your blog should be tailor-made for your ideal customer’s needs and preferences. The content is there to raise readers’ awareness of solutions and to educate them about products or tactics they perhaps hadn’t considered. With all that having been said, how do you get your business or practice remembered?

Well, the “logo” has to be high enough on the garment so it gets seen on the Zoom image. The advice has to solve a real problem and be implementable.

Try jogging your blog visitors’ memories with your own “in the now”, “in the know”, trend-related, practical, helpful hints!.

 

 

 

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How to Hug Customers in Your Blog

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“It’s not location, location, location,’ Jack Mitchell writes in Hug Your Customers. “It’s service, service, service.” Sure, a decent location with reasonable traffic, convenient to get to, and more than adequate parking – will do just fine if you learn to ‘hug” your customers. Personalized attention to customers is the proven way to achieve sales results, is the thesis of Mitchell’s book, based on Mitchell’s Family of Stores’ clothing and jewelry business.

Since the first publication of his book, the author admits, much has changed, with the most significant of those changes being the growth of Internet sales for all industries. One thing that has not changed, Mitchell, claims, is the need to deliver personalized customer service. People still yearn for at least a smile and a thank-you from an actual human being, he says. Actually, people do more than merely yearn when it comes to personal service – research shows that customers are willing to pay more for a product if they receive better customer service during and after a purchase.

At our content marketing company, we absolutely agree. The challenge we blog content writers take on is translating those “smiles” and “thank-you’s” into digital messaging. As part of the business blogging assistance I offer through Say It For You, I’m always talking to business owners about their customer service.  The challenge is – EVERY business says it offers superior customer service! (Has any of us ever read an ad or a blog that does NOT tout its superior customer service?)  It’s not enough to say it – you have to specifically illustrate ways in which your company’s customer service exceeds the norm.

There’s more. Personalized service includes teaching customers new skills, and some blog posts can take the form of actually tutorials and step-by-step instructions. Stories of all kinds –help personalize a business blog. Even if a professional writer is composing the content, true-story material increases engagement by readers with the business or practice. Case studies are particularly effective in creating interest, because they are relatable and “real”.

In Journalism 101 class, we were taught to “put a face on the issue” by beginning the article with a human example  A case study takes that personalization even further, chronicling a customer or client who had a problem or need, and taking readers through the various stages of using the product or service to solve that problem. What were some of the issues that arose along the way? What new insights were gained through that experience, on the part of both the business and the customer?

You might not think of simplifying your website navigation as another way to “hug” customers, but it absolutely is. Marketing blogs are all about getting found,, but now they’ve found you, both both the content of your blog posts and the navigation paths on the blog site had better be easy, calling for fewer keystrokes and less confusion.

When writing content for your own blog or when planning content with the individuals you’ve hired for business blogging assistance, keep in mind that online readers might decide at any point that they’re ready to learn more, that they have a question to ask, or that they’re ready to take advantage of your products and services.  Make the process feel like a smile and and a hug!

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Blog Reader Checklist

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blog checklists

“Restaurants have a lot on their plate to keep diners safe this winter,” Kelsey Ogletree observes in the AARP Bulletin. We all know the basics already, Ogletree admits: staff wearing masks, hand sanitizer clearly available, special setups for takeout. “But what else can you do,” she asks readers, to make sure the venue is doing all it can to protect you?

The AARP restaurant safety checklist serves as an excellent example for blog content writers, because it provides actionable advice in a well-organized format:

  • Check the restroom (clean?)
  • Check the menus (disposable? QR code-based?)
  • Check servers’ hands (gloved?)
  • Check the kitchen (masked cooks? gloves donned before plating food?)
  • Check certifications (ServSafe Dining Commitment?)
  • Check the website and social media (does it detail safety measures?)

Offering readers this list of restaurant safety checks is hardly likely to make those readers decide to do-it-themselves (meaning stay home and cook).Oddly enough, the chance of inspiring readers to do it themselves seems to be a concern of many business owners and professional practitioners when it comes to blog marketing.

Blog content writing, I believe, is at its best on the middle ground between over-simplification and mastery. In reading business blogs about a product or service, online searchers want to:

  • find out what they’ll get if they buy
  • discover whether the product is a good match for their needs
  • gain perspective about how the pricing and the quality stacks up against the competition

Of course, in the AARP article, the author is not trying to market any one restaurant, and is coming at the subject from the readers’ point of view. As content marketers, on the other hand, even while offering useful advice to readers, we are representing a particular business or practice. Still, the goal is to present the business or practice in a very personal, rather than a transactional way. As we present advice on how to best use the product or service, the tone should be one of “sharing” a useful insight or tip, rather than “handing down” advice.

Your unique selling proposition or USP must be unique, with an emphasis on something competitors cannot claim or have not chosen to emphasize. One way to “lead” readers towards a judgment in your favor is an AARP-style checklist of things to look for when shopping for the most satisfying solutions to their own needs.

Can you think of a useful checklist leading directly to your own USP?

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Blog Marketing and Job-Seeking – Sisters Under the Skin

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Today’s post was contributed by guest Ruth Sternberg, a coach who helps mid-career professionals more effectively convey their value to employers and entrepreneurs capture more market share with clearer branded materials. She can be reached at Ruth@confidentcareersearch.com .
You can also connect with her at https://www.linkedin.com/in/navcoach/.

 

 

Congratulations! You have started your own business. You have courage. You have a mission. But how do you know your product or service will sell?

This is the driving question for all entrepreneurs. The same question causes job seekers stress as they hit “send” and wait for a reaction to an application submission. Most of us, whether we are working for ourselves or looking for a job, go about answering the question backwards. We assume that our idea is great, and that our skills speak for themselves. Friends and family have said so. We are sure everyone else will agree, so we adopt the “build it and they will come” philosophy.

We might hit it out of the park, as in the movie Field of Dreams. But will the stadium be empty? Selling anything, whether it be your skills, a product, or your consulting services, requires an understanding of what your customer—or in the case of a job seeker, the employer— needs. It sounds obvious. But in the age of social media and instant gratification, it’s not so simple. Today’s consumers are sophisticated. They don’t take promises at face value. Companies do not hire candidates just because they have the required technical skills.

Today’s “buyer” wants validation. It can be customer reviews, your LinkedIn recommendations, the quantifiable proof you give on your resume, or your social media posts. Top marketing voice Mark Schaefer, author of Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins, points out that marketing a product requires a competitive advantage. To sell successfully, you must identify an unmet need and then build your message around that. Most companies confuse “what they sell” with “what the customer actually buys.” A tech company might have a great product. But the customers are really buying the great customer service. Starbucks doesn’t sell coffee; it sells community.

A job candidate might have all the right training and degrees, but hiring managers are really buying the ability to identify and solve problems, get along with different kinds of team members, and grow profits. Think about it: When an ad pops up in your Facebook feed, or when you are perusing Amazon or looking for a roofing contractor, do you just click “buy” without proof that you won’t waste your money?

Today’s consumer faces hundreds of choices and needs some way of differentiating one service provider (or job candidate) from all the others on the market. Here’s what you must do if you want to differentiate yourself in a competitive market:

Identify your customer. Who will make the decision to buy? Is it a mom? A CEO? A hiring manager? What do they prefer? What are their characteristics? What does the hiring company specialize in? What problems does it solve? What decisions does it face?

Figure out where your customer (or hiring manager) is. Is it on Facebook? Reddit? An industry website? Twitter? Maybe your customer supports a certain cause and is part of a Meetup or Facebook group talking about that. Are industry leaders members of a professional organization? Is there a Zoom event that will attract people in your industry? Are you on LinkedIn? Show up where your customer is and contribute to the conversation to find out what you need to deliver.

Decipher what makes you relevant to the buyer. Great service? Commitment to supporting certain values? Have you solved significant problems for your previous employers? What are they? Research the targets. Read articles, websites, and ask insiders.

Determine how to deliver your message of relevance. Content can sell, whether it’s video, social media content, or other avenues. Job seekers know they need a great resume. They also need fully keyword-optimized LinkedIn profiles. Check your marketing materials. Are they addressing the customers’ chief concerns? Create ways to engage! Will you write a cover letter? Post a LinkedIn article? Get seen and noticed!

Measure and adjust. Collect sales data. Look at your social media metrics. Who’s following you? Are they engaging with you? Job seekers: Document your progress as you apply for roles, noting whom they’ve talked with and what responses they received.

Winning the sale or the job offer is not magic. It is not instant or simple. But if you are struggling with your strategy, these tips should get you started down the right path.

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Put Some First-Person Impact in Your Business Blog

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“You thought I was just brewed leaves and nothing more, but I’m the most consumed drink in the world next to water. I have launched ships and started wars, and I helped birth your country.” So begins a three page article by Kate Lowenstein and Daniel Gritzer about the history of tea.

We know what it feels like to be human and write from the perspective of a human. But, what does it feel like to be a shoe or a pencil or a dictionary? The point of view in a story, is “the narrator’s position in the description of events,” explains Pamela Hodges in thewrwitepractice.com. 

Looking for unconventional, potentially striking ways to explore what it means to be human in your writing?  It may seem counterintuitive, but personification—ascribing human qualities to inanimate objects—can open new avenues to plumb the depths of human experience, writes Katherin Quevedo of the Science Fiction Writers of America.

Whether you’re representing an inanimate object or a very human business owner or professional practitioner, first person writing has a certain power. Admittedly, nobody likes people who speak of nothing but themselves, but in blog marketing, I stress first person writing because of its one enormous advantage – it shows the people behind the posts, revealing the personality of the person or the team standing ready to serve customers.

  • “At —— Dry Cleaners, we believe….”
  • “At ——— Heating & Air, we always…..”
  • “Despite the widely held belief that….., I’m convinced that……”

In blogging, of course, different posts serve different purposes. First person (“I”, “I’m”,” we”, “we’re” packs emotional punch. Second person pronouns (“you”, “your”, and “you’re”) can be a good fit for how-to blog posts, while third person (“he”, “she”, “they”) pronouns may be the choice for news items.

Whether you as owner or practitioner are doing the writing or using the services of a blog content writer, your perspective can be provided only by you, in first person, straight to the readers:  In the blogosphere, the more personal, the better.

On the other hand, all content writing for marketing blogs needs to be based on the “you”s who are the targeted readers, and about their wants and needs. Bottom line? Keeping your target audience (the “you”) in mind, put some first person impact in your business blog!

 

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