Business Bloggers – More Patient with Readers than Senior Web Developers are with their Bosses!

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A recent Career Bliss survey about job satisfaction determined that (of all things!), thebliss 4th most hated job in the U.S. is senior web developer.

Well, when I discovered this story on yahoo.com, you could’vet knocked me over with a feather, as the old saying goes. First of all, as a professional ghost blogger and corporate blogging trainer, I often work with web designers and developers as part of a business’ marketing team. If those professionals were filled with hate towards their bosses, it wasn’t obvious to me.  I mean, if the Yahoo.com article had been talking about septic tank cleaning crews, I could understand them hating their work – but web developers? Furthermore, despite the varied aggravations that are a part of any career, I consider my own work life to be more blissful than not. Long story short, my curiosity was piqued.

What CareerBliss found is that senior developers reported a high degree of unhappiness in their jobs, attributable to a perception that their employers are unable to communicate coherently and lack an understanding of the technology! (My first reaction to this revelation was – “Duh! – isn’t that why they hired you?”) In short, there was a patience issue on the part of those IT specialists, who expected everyone to know the ins and outs of the latest technology, not realizing that lack of knowledge on the part of their employers represented their own job security!

Blog content writers understand this very issue of a “knowledge disconnect”, specifically the one between the business owner and the blog reader, and use that “disconnect” to the advantage of their business owner clients. In fact, searchers arrive at a business’ SEO marketing blog precisely because there are things those readers don’t understand and which they may not have the time to learn – they’re looking for someone who does know and who does understand, and whom they can trust to help them solve whatever problem they’re facing.  Those readers need to see corporate blog content that oozes patience with readers’ (read potential clients’) lack of technical knowledge in that field.

Perhaps because I’ve spent so many years as a teacher, seminar speaker, and columnist, I see the opportunity to bridge the gap between consumers’ knowledge and the advanced expertise of professionals and entrepreneurs as a source of win-win “bliss” for all parties concerned.

Corny as it might sound to a senior web developer, providing blog writing services and giving ‘voice” to business owners’ love for what they do – I rate that pretty high on the happiness scale!


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Business Blogs of “How”

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chili peppersSometimes it’s OK for business blog writing to elicit a “Well, how about that!” response; it needn’t always be “How do I get some of that?” 

In other words, while one obvious motivation behind any SEO marketing blog is converting lookers into buyers, not always, as I caution both business owners and those offering them business blogging help, is it possible to “have them at ‘Hello!’”.

Sometimes, though, you can “have them at ‘how’’“, by providing unusual facts that arouse curiosity about your subject, along with information readers can put to immediate use. Unusual and useful are both good components for business blog content, as I assure attendees at corporate blogging training sessions.

The Time for Kids’ “Book of How” is made up entirely of such information tidbits that can be used by blog content writers as lead-ins for talking about their particular way of doing business or creating a product or service.

 “How Do Chili Peppers Make Your Mouth Burn?”, for example,  offers the type of interesting material an Indianapolis blog writer might include in a restaurant blog, as a lead-in to explaining how that restaurant caters to customers who prefer very spicy cuisine, as well as to those who prefer tamer fare.

“How is Chocolate Made?” illustrates a good blog content lead-in for a candy company or bakery, while “How Does a Toilet Flush Away Waste?” might form the lead-in for a blog post offered on a plumber’s website..

During the process of helping new Say It For You corporate blogging clients, I often find that, during the planning stages for the blog, the business owners voice a concern that if they “give away too much information for free”, the prospects will go away and do it themselves, or, armed with the information, shop for the same product or service on the basis of price alone!

What is so important to convey is that the opposite is usually the case – interesting and useful business blog content is a great way to demonstrate business owners’ knowledge and experience in their field. Blog writing for business is one way to ”have them at ‘how’”!


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Bad-Blog Behaviors to Avoid in Blogging for Business

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eye rollingGallop found that no single factor more clearly predicts the productivity of an employee than the relationship with his direct supervisor, explains professional trainer Marlene Chism.

Since my goal in corporate blogging training is to help companies initiate productive relationships with customers and clients, I thought Chism’s list of “bad-boss” behaviors to avoid might prove very useful to blog content writers as they smooth the path for online searchers who are considering using their companies’ products and services.

Leadership No-no: Multi-tasking – Focus on and be present to the person in front of you.

I’d point out two things to Indianapolis blog writers about focus:

  1. The most effective individual blog posts have a razor-sharp focus on one, and only one, aspect of the business or on one opinion or attitude the business owner has about current happenings in his/her field.
  2. So much information has been put out there in the form of corporate blogging for business that it becomes essential for blog content writers to focus on a target audience,  The loud-and-clear needs to be that you understand them, you serve their specific needs, and that you’re targeting them.

Leadership No-no: Eye-rolling – You’re showing you don’t respect the other person and come across as superior or snobbish.

The typical website explains what products and services the company offices, the geographical area in which it operates, and who the players are. In offering business blogging assistance, I explain that the blog is there to flesh out the intangibles, to express those things that make a company stand out from its peers.  The SEO marketing blog helped bring readers to the blog, but now the content must address the unspoken questions

  • So, is that any different from all the others?
  • So, is that good for me?

The skill in providing blog writing services  lies in answering those questions while yet allowing readers to feel they’re being given valid information and then being encouraged to draw their own conclusions.

Leadership No-no: Justifying mistakes – You have a higher rank and have to play a higher game, not shifting blame but taking responsibility.

With it being such an easy matter to add new material on the blog, business owners can exercise control over the way the public perceives any negative developments.  In fact, a business blog is the ideal vehicle for correcting any inaccurate press statements.  But, rather than justifying mistakes, by remaining current and involved, blog content writers can help the business directly confront whatever is happening, take responsibility, and explain what new measures have been put into place to avoid such mistakes in the future.( In a situation involving only one individual, the conversation can be continued “offline”.)

Fixing these no-no behaviors can pay big dividends, Chism explains, building a more loyal and engaged workforce for any leader. For business owners or for those they’ve hired to provide business blogging services, learning to avoid these bad-blog behaviors can help build a more loyal and engaged readership.



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Come Back and See Us in our Corporate Business Blog!

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Author and seminar leader Peter J. Fogel lists “Top 10 Ways to Motivate People to Buy Frombusiness invite Your Website”. In this article Fogel was addressing the needs of professional speakers, but as someone who offers blog writing services and corporate blogging training, I couldn’t help thinking how valuable much of his advice could be for blog content writers.

“Research shows that, by improving the headline (of your sales copy), you can boost sales by as much as 50 percent.”
In SEO marketing blogs, titles have a double importance.  Titles make searchers want to learn more of what you have to say, telling them they’ve come to the right place for the information, products, or services they need.  From the standpoint of search engine optimization, asblog maven Ted Demopoulos puts it, “Search engines assume that if text is in the blog title, it’s important.”

“Consumers buy benefits, not features. For example, a car that goes from zero to 60 in eight seconds is a feature.  The fact that it allows you to merge into traffic swiftly and safely is a benefit.” Most business blog posts make claims.  The claims may be understated, exaggerated, or exactly right, but readers don’t know how to put those facts or those claims into context.  In fact, the No.1 job of Indianapolis bloggers, I’m fond of repeating during corporate blogging training sessions, is illustrating how any product or service a business has to offer has the potential to help readers with THEIR problems or needs or help fulfill their wishes and dreams..

“Remind visitors to come back and visit. People usually don’t buy the first time they visit a website..” Well-written, engaging material in your blog makes readers want to come back for more, or, through an RSS, have you “come to them”. Whether the business owner is composing blogs or using business blogging assistance, the goal, of course, is to establish a connection with online readers. The more sustained that connection, of course, the greater chance for turning seekers into customers and clients.

“It’s the little things that count in boosting your online conversion,” Fogel reminds us. In fact, blogging for business is all about little things done frequently over time.

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Whisper it From Your Corporate Blog – I am Different!

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You must learn how to differentiate yourself, advises friend and online marketing consultant Phil Steele, stressing that it’s not good enough for a small business owner toshout it from the rooftop claim “better service”, since everyone says this.

Steele’s specifically referring to having an effective website, but we blog content writers can continually enhance the process of differentiating by providing fresh, new content in a company’s SEO marketing blog.  How does that accomplish differentiation in the mind of readers?  Blog content is the ideal vehicle for further explanation, more details, updates, stories, and for expressing owners’ beliefs about what’s most important to them in serving clients and customers.

In “Shout It From the Rooftops”, Phil Steele has hit on the most important point of all, which is that before any marketing message can be formulated about the competitive advantage any business has, business owner themselves need to arrive at an understanding of what those  competitive advantages are! Freelance business blog writers can be of greatest service to their business owner clients by helping them do just that.

"Around here," (business owners must ask themselves), "do we…

  • Do things faster?
  • Do things at a lower cost?
  • Do things with fewer errors?
  • Provide a more engaging experience? (How?)

When I offer corporate blogging help to business owners and employees, though, I caution against crossing the fine line between exercising “bragging rights” and bragging. Even when corporate blog content is focused on the competitive advantages your business has, it has to be about THEM, not about you and your business. In fact, during corporate blogging training sessions I explain, you can “shout it from the rooftops”, to use Steele’s metaphor, but until your content is centered around the needs of the readers, they’re simply not going to “hear”!

“Once these competitive differentiators are defined,” Steele goes on to say, “you’ll need to package and promote them in a distinctive way that lets website visitors not only know that you can solve their problem, but you have a competitive edge over those who offer similar products or services.”

The beautiful thing, I would add, about the frequent providing of new content in blogging for business, is you won’t need to shout – you can “whisper” your sharply defined differentiator message, getting the message across over time.

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