Archive for category: the Say It For You blog

“Bad writing should go.”  Still, “using ‘loose’ instead of ‘lose’ doesn’t a bad article make,” is Deb’s opinion in freelancewritinggigs.com.

“It’s the writer’s responsibility to write well,” Deb adds, “and it’s the editor’s responsibility to edit.” While grammar and spelling errors make her pause, she explains, to her they are not deal breakers.

For my part, I’m not so sure.  In corporate blogging training sessions, where the business owners and professional practitioners largely serve as their own editors, I urge no-error erring on the side of caution.  Who knows?  That improperly used “loose” may be what “loses” your blog visitor. Why take a chance?

“The bulk of the responsibility belongs to the writer,” Deb continues.  “It’s the writer who should proofread several times before hitting ‘send’.” Maybe.  My years as a “developmental editor”, plus my work tutoring in the Ivy Tech Community College language lab have taught me how hard it is for us to catch our own errors.  After all, we’re focused on the ideas we’re trying to convey.

Remember that puzzle where the word “the” appears twice, once at the end of a line, then at the beginning of the next?  When you’re challenged to read the paragraph aloud, you invariably skip the second “the”.

The fact that it is so difficult to self-edit is the reason Say It For You has begun offering website and blog content copy editing along with our freelance blog content writing services.

Content writers in Indianapolis – take courage! If SEO marketing blogs are full of  relevant, engaging material, your use of “a lot” when you should have said “many”," substituting you’re" for "your", or misplacement of an apostrophe aren’t going to be deal breakers.

When verbal “push marketing” comes to shove, I guess I agree with Deb: “While there’s little excuse for publishing sloppy work, it happens, and it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to live.”

“Disconnects” are bad news in cell phone conversations and  for SEO marketing blogs, that’s for sure. Marketing strategist David Meerman Scott talks about the disconnect that happens when copywriters literally don’t know the products they’re talking about.

Meerman Scott was referring to marketing copywriting in general, but he’s touched on an issue that’s at the very core of  ghost blogging.

The website of one elegant resort and spa in Arizona, he points out, reads “At ____ Spa, one is not healed by the treatment… , but by the sensory bliss of the magical Sonoran Desert…..The rocks are engraved with the words: ranquility. Harmony. Peace.”

The reality, as Meerman Scott reveals, is that the outdoor music from the hotel swimming pool is piped through the same channels as the indoor music.  Spa personnel have no way of turning that loud and fast music down. 

Do the copywriters know this? Probably not, says Meerman Scott.  “My guess is they’re in some corporate office somewhere and have never visited the property. How can we trust marketing if there is a disconnect with reality?” He asks.

So, when it comes to using freelance blog content writers to market a company’s products and services, how could such a disconnect have been avoided?

“Using ghost bloggers may seem inauthentic at first, but it’s actually quite the opposite,” says local online marketer Michael Reynolds “Rather than painstakingly trying to craft articles that communicate the proper message, executives can now speak freely and comfortably during the ghost blog interview and know that their words will be crafted properly in the written form.”

Since providing blog writing services is one important aspect of what we do at Say It For You, we make sure the “connect” happens through repeated visits. An Indianapolis professional blog content writer will be matched with you, visiting your business and working hard to understand it completely.  Based on having been there,  your writer can create content for website pages, newsletters, emails, and blog posts. For Indiana-based businesses, the visits are in person; for out-of-state clients, the visits take the form of Skype, emails, and phone conversations.

(I’ll remind readers that, at Say It For You, we take on only one client per type of business per metropolitan area.  That’s our way of avoiding conflicts of interest and giving our best work to each client.) 

The answer to David Meerman Scott’s question “How can we trust marketing if there is a disconnect with reality?” is “You can’t.” Anyone claiming to provide quality business blogging assistance should know that.

After all, the goal of corporate blog writing is to help business owners and professional practitioners connect with online readers.  You can’t do that when there’s a “disconnect”!