Seeds for Blog Post Titles or Song Lyrics

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Notes“Reading around” the web with song lyrics on my Say It For You mind this week, I discovered the most interesting website out of the UK called The Song Name Generator, promising me that I could write my own song lyrics in less than a minute. The system was based on categories (free style, love song, ballad, rap, Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, for example) and “key words” (which I was asked to supply).

To generate a song name, I was asked to select:

  • A singular noun (I chose “sofa”)
  • A plural noun  (I chose “tables)
  • An adjective (I chose “stylish”)
  • A personal name (I chose “Rhoda”)
  • A place (I chose “Indianapolis”)
  • A present tense verb (I chose “writing”)
  • An artist (I chose “Justin Bieber”)

Based on those elements, here are some of the titles they suggested for my song:

“Give Me Your Tables”
“Another Sofa in the Wall”
“Amazing Rhoda” (Yes!!)
“Have You Met Rhoda?”
“Writing Forever”
“Like a Stylish Sofa”

Amusing stuff, wouldn’t you agree? But on a serious note, we business blog content writers might borrow a line from this playbook. Business bloggers often confide they have trouble continually coming up with fresh ideas for their blog posts and finding new ways to talk about the products and services they offer. And, it’s a fact – business blogging is no sprint.  A long-term, drawn-out effort is required in order to “build equity” in keyword phrases, gather a following, and gain – and sustain – online rankings.

From both my work as a professional ghost blogger these last nine years and my work as a blog writing trainer, I know how challenging that can be. Just like the software template that generates song lyrics in a minute, we writers need to create for ourselves a mental template that uses idea “seeds” to generate content.

As Tevye (from Fiddler on the Roof) would agree, it isn’t easy scratching out a pleasant tune. When I train business owners and employees to create blog content, I like to emphasize that at least half the time that goes into creating a blog post is reading/research/thinking time!

Start “seeding” your mental template now!

 

 

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Getting “On the Air” with Business Blog Post Writing

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Radio carRadio commercials have a lot to tell us about blog content writing, I find. That’s why all three of this week’s Say It For You posts are based around drive-time commercials I heard recently.

The “Men’s Health Minute” on WIBC, for example, is itself a sort of blog. One spot is about colon health, another about prostate health, a third about sleep health. There are episodes about skin and about stress.  They’re all short (one minute), they’re all informative, and they all relate to the same recurring “leitmotif” of men’s health, and all are “brought to you” by Community Westview Hospital.

Leitmotif means “leading theme” in German.  In music, “the leitmotif is heard whenever the composer wants the idea of a certain character, place, or concept to come across,” explains Chloe Rhodes in A Certain “Je Ne Sais Quoi”.

Effective business blog posts are centered around key themes, too, just like the recurring musical phrases that connect the different movements of a symphony.  As you continue to write about your industry, your products, and your services, you’ll naturally find yourself repeating some key ideas, adding more detail, opinion, and story around each.

The second big positive about the Community Westview WIBC ads is that they’re not ads; they are informational rather than sales-ey, hitting precisely the note that business owners, practitioners should be aiming for.

Using business blogs to offer readers valuable information is the best way to attract and retain readers. Online searchers arrive at our business blogs needing to know how to find products and services, how to do something, how to solve very specific problems. Providing value before any “ask” takes place makes for smart radio commercials – and smart business blog content writing!

Get your business blog content writing “on the air” with online searchers!
 

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Getting Readers to Ask the Five Whys

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Until they can justify the return on investment from building a training program, most companies generally do nothing, observesfive Eric Ries in his business book “The Lean Startup”.  Instead of going all-out, business owners opt to do nothing.

Individual consumers generally make the same “inaction” choice when faced with the overwhelming amount of information available on any product or service. As business blog content writers, I think we can take advantage of Ries’ advice about getting buyers to ask the five whys.

“When confronted with a problem, have you ever stopped and asked why five times?” Ries asks. Doing just that will allow a business to make small, incremental investments rather than risking one big decision. Repeating “why” five times helps uncover a root problem, Ries says, so that the steps needed to correct that problem are proportionate and less expensive. (The Toyota system has been built on this business practice, Ries notes.)

How all of this relates to business blog content writing has to do with the CTAs, the Calls to Action we use in our posts. The “danger” is that our target readers will have been so overwhelmed with information that they will make the “inaction choice”. The “five whys”-type solution:

  • Have more than one CTA. Those ready to buy should be able to do that right away. Incremental buys need to be offered. Those readers who need more information before making a decision should be able to pick up the phone and easily reach a knowledgeable rep. For those not quite ready for even a phone conversation – perhaps the blog can include a brief video they can watch.
  • The CTAs themselves can be scattered through the text, as well as in separate “boxes” at 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 that opportunity!

In blogging about your business or practice, get readers to ask why five times – WHY has their current service or product not proven satisfying? WHY do they still have that problem? Only after they’ve gone through that thinking process will readers be ready to hear that you and your staff have the experience and information they need, plus the familiarity with the newest and most effective solutions available.

 

 

 

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Truths and Trivia for Business Bloggers

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I love “reading around and learning around”, as I call it, and advise all blog content writers to do the same. Ideas are all overlaser pointer the place, all of the time, but we’ve got to see and hear those ideas, learning everywhere and from everyone, making connections between our own experience and knowledge and Other People’s Wisdom. 

“What if?” is the question posed by author Randall Munroe in the book “Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions”. Now, this book is nothing if not off-beat, but that’s a good thing for freelance content creators, I think. After all, we face the challenge of churning out creative writing over extended periods of time, and we need fresh ways of looking at things.

Here’s one of Munroe’s serious scientific answer to an absurd question:
“If every person on earth aimed a laser pointer at the moon at the same time, would it change color?’  Answer: Not if you used regular laser pointers. Not everyone can see the moon at once, but 75% of the world’s population lives between 0 degrees E and 120 degrees E, we should try this while the Moon is somewhere over the Arabian Sea.
The typical red laser pointer is 5 milliwatts, and good one would have enough power to hit the Moon, but the light would have no effect compared to the much more powerful light of the sun.” 

So how might this gem be useful in business blogging? For one thing, like any piece of trivia, it can be used to spark curiosity. But, once having brought in the question and answer, you might continue by pointing out that the red laser is extremely useful for

  • Astronomers
  • Outdoor sporting
  • Teaching
  • Business presentations

Then, depending on what business or practice you’re marketing, the post might continue with a story about how a laser printer proved useful in a certain situation.

“What if a glass of water was, all of a sudden, literally half empty?” is another of those absurd hypothetical questions with a lot of wisdom to offer if you’re willing to search a bit.  Here’s part of the Munroe commentary:
When people say “glass half empty”, they usually mean a glass containing equal parts water and air.

What follows in the book is a serious discussion of what happens when there’s a vacuum, but I’d challenge writers of blog content for psychology practices, motivational speakers (you know, “glass half full thinking), and private schools stressing STEM courses (emphasis on understanding our physical environment) to make use of that material in their blog marketing strategy.

Nothing like an offbeat book filled with truths and trivia to spark ideas for business blogs!

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Honoring Business Blogger Ghosts on Halloween

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friendly-ghostsIn traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear in visible form to the living, explains Wikipedia. Of course, with today being October 31st, ghost costumes are the dress of the day at parties and even in the workplace.

Here at Say It For You, the term “ghost” takes on a whole other meaning. A ghostwriter, of course, is someone who writes books, articles, stories, reports, song lyrics, or performs other kinds of wordsmithing on behalf of another person or organization.

Generally, entrepreneurs don’t have a great deal of time when it comes to writing blog posts. That’s why, as John Jantsch of ducttapemarketing observes, “Outsourcing content creation is an essential tactic, especially for small businesses.”

Most business owners and professionals are clear that the potential benefits of corporate blogging are substantial, but for one (or sometimes all) of three reasons, they haven’t been able to make their blog keep happening:

  • no time
  • no motivation to make it a priority
  • no talent to apply to business blogging.

Should we be celebrating the use of professional copy writers to create business blog content? asks Robin Hale of writers-elite.com. Hale answers her own question in a decisive affirmative. Without delegating the task of bringing your voice and your brand value to a target audience, she warns, you “can’t expect to grow beyond the limited number of tasks you can accomplish on your own. Ghost writers, bloggers, and even ghost tweeters are valued resources that will clear your plate and allow you to further carry out the plan and growth of your business,” she adds.

“The ghost is hired primarily as a professional freelance writer, in order to produce high quality writing copy and so that the writing reads professionally,” explains Karen Cole of freelancewriting.com. (I loved reading this sentence) “A paid professional freelance writer is often the only source to which to turn to get sparkling, well written website copy or other paid professional writing copy.”

As you’re donning your Halloween costume, remember to honor all the business blogger ghosts who make that sparkling blog content happen!

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