In Corporate Blog Content Writing, When You’re Finished, It’s Business

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Writer’s Digest’s N.M. Kelby offers advice for novelists that Indianapolis blog content writers can certainly use. “When you write a book, it’s art,” says Kelby. “When you’re finished, it’s business.  Never confuse the two,” he adds.

In training newbie bloggers, I like to say that business blogging uses both science and art. Proper use of keyword phrases to enhance Search Engine Optimization is the "science" part the equation; writing interesting and relevant content for the blog post themselves is where the "art" comes in. In fact, the reason ghost blog writing is so fascinating a profession for me is that very combination of art and science.

After having offered business blogging assistance to hundreds of different businesses and practices, I’ve found that, in the most effective blog posts, the science and art are intertwined. In great posts, keyword phrases have been incorporated in the text in an unobtrusive and natural way, readers’ attention is focused only on the message.

When it comes to the business of blogging, Watch This. Listen Up. Click Here
authors David Verklin and Bernice Kanner explain how the business side of blogging works:

Advertisers choose and bid for keyword terms that bring up their ads
 next to search results, paying Google only when a web surfer clicks
 on their ad. Since both the advertisers and Google are making money,
the system continues. The true drivers of its (Google’s) ad bounty are
AdWords and AdSense,” the authors explain. 

Meanwhile, we business bloggers provide the smorgasbord of content that keeps those visitors coming, all the while driving traffic to our respective business web sites.
 

“Business is about sales, sales, and sales, and it makes you jumpy. You’ll never tame your beast,” Kelby cautions, “if you write wondering how many books you can sell.” In a way, that warning applies to us blog content writers as well.  To engage readers, we need to focus on conveying the passion we have for our business or profession (or, in the case of professional ghost bloggers, focus on conveying what energizes our clients). Once that’s accomplished, though, we need to stay keenly aware that the bottom line of business blogging is reached when the cash register rings with an online buyer at the other end of the transaction!

Being effective online using SEO marketing blogs can be tricky, because doing business means a whole lot more than just getting found. When you write a book, it’s art, Kelby says.  When you write a blog, it’s art and science.  In the case of either novels or business blog writing, when you’re finished, it had better be business!

 

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From Idea to Page in Corporate Blogging for Business

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“Nothing is more exciting than the promise of a story in your head, but in order to get it on the page you need to figure out exactly what you need to make it work,” says N.M. Kerby in Writer’s Digest.  Beginning with the protagonist is one of those steps (see Monday’s Say It For You blog), but another is “announcing the stakes.”

Kerby’s article was targeted towards aspiring novelists, but, as a corporate blogging trainer, I found a lot that applies to SEO marketing blog writing.

“Great prose will go a long way – about 2,500 words, more or less,” he observes.  “After that, even the most literary readers want to know why they’re reading.”

When I’m offering corporate blogging training sessions to business owners and their employees, or talking to freelance blog content writers, I’m telling them the same thing. Needless to say, there’s no 2,500-word “window” of time to “get indicative” and capture readers’ attention – 25 seconds is more like it!

And, just as novel readers have selected that particular book after having read the blurb and perhaps a bio of the author, online readers who arrive at your business blog are there because they’re interested in your topic. Your task is to keep them engaged with valuable, personal, and relevant information, beginning with the “downbeat”, (which is my term for the first sentence of each post).

“If where you’re going (with your book) doesn’t match where you were going when you set out, focus on better defining those areas before you go any further.”

With business blog content being so much shorter than novels, planning and focus become even more important – and, to some extent, trickier to accomplish. Before ever sitting down at their computers, freelance blog content writers have lots to do in terms of planning. The general themes, or “leitmotifs” have (ideally) been chosen when the blog was first created; now a single focus within one of those themes should be singled out for today’s post.

Great blog posts will go a long way – about 400 words, more or less.  Long before that, however, even the most dedicated online readers want to know why they’re reading!

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Beginning With the Protagonist in Blogging for Business

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“Always begin with your protagonist,” advises N.M. Kelby in Writer’s Digest Novel Writing. “The readers need to discover who the hero is and why they should root for him….Introduce your protagonist, either directly or indirectly, within the first 300 words.”

With business blog content “servings” typically not much larger than 300-500 words apiece, SEO marketing blog writers need to move that piece of advice up a few notches, to the first sentence or two of each post.

According to humor speaker and coach Bill Stainton, the first five minutes of any talk must be indicative of what the audience can expect. The audience will go along with any number of different approaches, he explains, but they want to know “the deal”.

Translated into blog writing for business, what this means to me is that when readers arrive at your business blog, it’s because they already have an interest in your topic and are ready to receive the information, the services, and the products you have to offer. But, from the get-go, it’s up to you to assure them that they’ve come to precisely the right place to get what they’re after.

From an indexing standpoint, of course, by using keyword phrases in the title and in the very first sentence of a blog post, you’re providing clues to the search engines to help them “match” your material with online searchers’ queries.

Aside from that compelling technical motivation for introducing the focus of each blog post early on, we Indianapolis business bloggers can learn a lot from what Writer’s Digest has to say about readers, online or off. “Your readers should know exactly where they are… Establish time and place.  They have to trust that you are in control of the story.”

The tight focus on one, and only one, aspect of your business or profession, one service, one product type or feature, begins with the writer.  Posing the question, “Who will be the protagonist today?” is the perfect prelude to writing sharp, engaging, reader-compelling blog posts.

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Jargon as Jump-Starter in Corporate Blogging for Business

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“Jargon is here, and it’s not going anywhere,” observe four professors at the University of North Carolina, adding that, in its most positive light, jargon can be seen as professional, efficient shorthand.

But what about using jargon in blog writing for business? One thought I have from the point of view of a corporate blogging trainer is that commonly used phrases and terms can be used as a way of establishing common ground with a select audience of readers, an important goal in SEO blog marketing..

Jargon, though, is a handle-with-care writing technique.  In face-to-face conversation, as Roundpeg points out, rather than admit they don’t know what you mean, people might just nod knowingly.  To avoid this effect, blogger Lorraine Ball suggests, introduce jargon by saying “You probably already know this, but….”.Of course, in corporate blogging, online readers won’t be doing any nodding – they are far more likely to click away, impatient to find the information they need without any navigational or terminology hassle.

In corporate blogging training sessions, once you’ve established that common ground, reinforcing to readers that they’ve come to the right place, I stress how important it is to add lesser-known bits of information on your subject. This serves several purposes:

  • positioning the business owner or professional practitioner as an expert in the field
  • adding value to this “visit” for the reader
  • increasing readers’ sense of being part of a group of like-minded customers

For example, here’s a piece of lesser-known information that I can share with Say It For You readers:

The word “jargon” itself comes from a 14th century word for “twittering of birds”. Jargonauts, who like to study jargon, argue that no deceit is intended – jargon simply makes communication easier within a group of people.

Then, towards the end of the post, the blog content writer can allude to the jargon term again, giving the impression of “collusion” with the reader because they share this tidbit of knowledge. That, in turn, needs to lead to some call to action on the part of the blog visitor.  In other words, the jargon needs to be a jump-starter for the next step!

 

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Indianapolis Blog Content Writers Can Take Tips From a TV Movie

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Around professional blog content writers’ circles, there’s much talk about fresh content.  The word “fresh” seems to imply “new” material, and I couldn’t help reflecting on that after seeing an old TV movie the other evening about Marie Antoinette.

On the surface of it, historical film making in general seems the very antithesis of fresh content-centered blog writing for business. Given the legendary short attention span of online readers and the modern what-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitude so prevalent in business, you’d think the very last place freelance blog content writers would look for business blogging help would be a historical TV movie.  After all, as a viewer, I knew how the story would end before it began!

Why, then, did I find “Marie Antoinette” so riveting?  Why did I hang on every word of dialogue, waiting for what I knew had long ago already taken place?

There was a simple answer, I realized.  It wasn’t about the material itself being “fresh”; it was about the “fresh“ point of view. Sure, in high school and college I had studied the events leading up to the French Revolution, but I’d never experienced those events through Marie Antoinette’s eyes.

That insight reinforced something I’ve spoken about many times in corporate blogging training sessions:  Readers may know some or all of the information you’re presenting in your business blog, but they need your help putting that information in perspective.  In fact, that’s where blogging for business tends to be at its finest, helping searchers with more than just finding information, but helping them understand its meaning and significance.

Well-told historical fiction, explains Jennie Lundquist of teacher.scholastic.com,

  • Portrays character realistically, folding in facts
  • Provides accurate information through illustrations
  • Avoids myths and stereotypes

Neither “Marie Antoinette” nor corporate blogging for business deals in pure fiction, what the two have in common is perspective.  The film made me think about the facts  in a new way. Corporate blog writing needs to help readers answer these questions:

  • Who are the business owners or professionals providing this information?
  • Can I trust the accuracy of the information?
  • What should this mean for me?
  •  What are some choices I have?

The lesson for us Indianapolis business blog content writers is clear.  “Fresh” doesn’t have to mean “new” facts.  If our content is “fresh” in that it offers a new perspective on familiar information, we have a chance at have our online readers finding value in our every word.

 

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