On-the-Dot Business Blogging

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I love getting Todd Hunt’s e-newsletter about "Communication Bleeps and Blunders in Business".  Besides being good for a chuckle, these pieces invariably contain valuable tips that relate to business blogging.

Does it really matter whether your punctuation is correct in a business blog?  After all, as Compendium Blogware’s CEO Chris Baggott points out, blogging for business is about instant customer gratification. But that is precisely why punctuation matters so much – if online readers can’t get the gist of what you’re saying, they’ll simply click away.

To illustrate the point that punctuation matters, Todd Hunt brings back a 2004 humorous piece by reporter Jeff Rubin about a love letter written to John from Gloria.
 
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is all about.  You are generous, kind, thoughtful.  People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior.  You have ruined me for other men.  I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart.  I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours? 
Gloria

Now, with all words the same and only the punctuation changed, the entire tone of the letter is transformed.

Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is.  All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people who are not like you.  Admit to being useless and inferior.  You have ruined me.  For other men I yearn. For you I have no feelings whatsoever.  When we’re apart I can be forever happy.  Will you let me be? Yours,
Gloria

As a professional ghost blogger and business blogging trainer, I cannot tell you how often I hear the argument about blogs being more informal and more conversational in tone than websites.  The conclusion drawn is that punctuation and spelling don’t matter in bloging.  That’s a mistake.  "It’s a mistake because it confounds readers’ expectations," says wordstogoodeffect.com. "Anything that puzzles the reader… or brings them up short – even for just a second…interferes with their smooth reading and understanding of the text."

I couldn’t agree more.  After all, isn’t understanding and engagement what we’re trying to accomplish in our business blogs?

 

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Here’s-Why Business Blogging

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It’s obvious the creators of the public service radio announcements I keep hearing understand an important principle of business blogging. Posing the question "So why should you care?" they proceeded to remove all doubt in listeners’ minds as to the answers: A better-educated population translates into less taxpayer money being spent fighting crime, while higher incomes translate into increased spending, boosting the economy.

As a business blogging trainer, I’m always teaching about the impact passion has.  Your blog must demonstrate to readers that, in you, they’ve found "the real deal." The other side of that, though, is neglected at business owners’ peril:

Readers must buy into the idea that your solution is something they should care about, and on which they should take action – now!

Going back to education, the Education Pays project consisted of a ten-month pilot campaign to use marketing for conveying positive messages about the benefits of education.  An even larger campaign by the National PTA and the Ad Council was designed to increase awareness of the importance of parents’ involvement in education. In each case, the thrust of the campaign was to have listeners, readers, and billboard viewers understand the answer to the question "So, why should I care?"

The job of each business blog post  is to, both directly and indirectly, answer that very question in the minds of online searchers. If they know why they should care, it’s an easy task to show them what actions to take next.

The Ad Council, by way of background, has been the leading resource of public servicing advertising in the U.S. for more than sixty years.  For a campaign to be selected by the Ad Council, it must fit three criteria:

  • Issue must be of significant importance
  • Issue must be of national scope
  • Issue must be applicable to all Americans

Business blogs do not need to satisfy the second and third of those standards, because your business might be targeting a certain geographic area only, or a certain demographic only. What business blogs must accomplish, however, is to bring out the importance of the problem or the need, and of the particular solution your business or professional practice has to offer.

You might say the entire purpose of a blog post is to explain the "Here’s why you should care"!



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Varying the Layout of the CTA’s in your Blog

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Today I’m completing the challenge I set for myself earlier this week, to create three blog posts inspired by a single issue of the Saturday Evening Post.  The third page I selected is actually an advertisement for a device called the Exerciser 2000 Elite. I chose this particular page because of the unusual way in which it’s laid out. 

First of all, I noticed, the whole top two thirds of the page consists of feedback, with no fewer than seven testimonials from users and doctors, the likes of:

“I have had such lower back pain…..”

“Little did I know when I ordered the Exercise 2000 Elite….”

“I am 76 years old, heavy, stiff with arthritis…”

“I am 97 years old and have edema in my left foot and leg…”

“After using the Exerciser 2000 Elite two times a day….”

 

Next, alongside a photo of the Exerciser device itself, I counted fully four different Calls to Action:

  • Factory Direct Price
     
  • Use code B400 to order
     
  • Call 1 800 ……………
     
  • To view product video visit www.clarkenterprises2000.com
     
  • Save on reconditioned units when available (link)

According to Hubspot, a call to action is an image or text that tells your readers what action they should be taking next on your site…."An effective CTA", explains Hubspot, "equals more leads and conversions for you."

Even allowing for the fact the Exercise 2000 Elite piece in Saturday Evening Post is an advertisement, not a blog, as a business blogging trainer, I like several things about the CTA’s in it.

  • There’s more than one.  Those ready to buy can do that right away. Those who need more information before making a decision can choose to pick up the phone.  There’s something for those not quite ready for even a phone conversation – they can choose to watch the video.
     
  • The CTA’s are in the text as well as in separate "boxes" in the bottom third of the page. In blog posts, I recommend having a link midway through the text.  If a reader feels ready to act or to find out more after reading only part of the blog post – that’s great – offer  her that opportunity!


    Vary the layout of your blog posts, experimenting with placing the CTA’s in different locations. As, Hubspot points out, "The whole website should be actionable!".


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Turning Statistics Into Stories in Your Business Blog

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Continuing with my challenge to myself to create three Say It For You blog posts inspired by one issue of Saturday Evening Post, I next found an advertorial for ancestry.com.  This title read “How the Barber of Baden Became the Barber of Manhattan.”

Like the mother and son featured in the Royal Jelly advertorial I wrote about in my last post, this one relies on a human interest story to engage readers and to demonstrate the value of the product (the product in this case being the documents accessible on ancestry.com’s genealogy website).

“We may never know if 29-year old Frederick Detering cried as he waved goodbye to his wife and three children from the deck of the Nederland as it departed for American in 1882.  But it couldn’t have been easy to leave them.”
(Below this intriguing introduction is a section of a page from the Nederland’s passenger list of 1882.)

“Yet less than a year later that same ship entered New York Harbor again, this time with Frederick’s young family aboard…”
(Below this is a page snippet from the Nederland’s passenger list from 1983.)

“Within a few years, Frederick and his family settled in and made a life for themselves in America.  And, on a summer day in 1888, the barber from Germany became an American.”
(Below this is part of a page view of Frederick’s petition for naturalization.)

What I think is so important for bloggers for business to understand is that it’s the developing story behind the documents that brings this advertorial to life.

(Imagine an ancestry.com ad listing the types of documents to be found on their website:

  • Ship passenger lists from 1800-present
  • Naturalization certificates

Informative? Yes.  Engaging? Not in the least.)

The ancestry.com piece concludes with two types of CTA (Call To Action).

1.  A special offer: 
Free access weekend.
Search millions of immigrant records, Labor Day weekend only!
Blog posts are excellent vehicles for promoting special offers and events.

2.  An emotional appeal:

“Three records can tell so much about one life.  And there are billions of other records at ancestry.com, ready to tell your family’s stories, too.”
That would have made a great ending sentence for a blog post, light-years more effective than a mere “Call us at 1 800 ——–.

Wherever possible, turn statistics into stories for your blog!

 

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For Whom Has Your Business Blog Been Amazing?

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In the “Learning Around For Your Blog” series of posts I published this summer, I challenged readers to look for blog marketing ideas everywhere, from bulletin boards to books, from TV and radio shows to magazines, even drawing inspiration from wisdom learned from grandparents.

This week, I dared myself to rise to that challenge. Browsing the shelves at the Glendale branch of the public library, I came upon the latest issue of the Saturday Evening Post.  My challenge to myself: create three new Say It For You posts about blog marketing for business, using that magazine as my inspiration.

Starting out, a Royal Jelly advertorial caught my attention. The headline: “This Family Has Discovered Something So Amazing, It Has Influenced Tens of Thousands of People’s Lives!”

Looked at from my vantage point as a business blogging trainer, that long, boastful title is effective only because of its first two words “This family”. 

Had the title read “Amazing Discovery Has Influenced Tens of Thousands of Lives”, it would have been mere hype and hawking. It’s the family aspect that makes the Royal Jelly claim engaging and real, introducing us to two real people:

“Madelaine – Almost 30 years ago, as a young mother with two small children, I found myself physically drained.  Caring for my family was nearly impossible….Then, one day a friend told me about…..”

“Jason – As a young boy, I watched my Mom struggle with her energy level…It was hard for me and my sister Lori – we wanted a Mom like everyone else had – fun and energetic!…”

The lesson here for business bloggers: In blog titles, and in the blog posts themselves, it has to be about a “someone” or about “someones”.  Your products and services can’t be amazing in the abstract. As you blog about what you offer and how, never forget the who.

For whom has your business been amazing?

 

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