The Second Hardest Aspect of Business Blogging

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The second-hardest part of writing is cutting your own work, says Don Fry in Writer’s Digest “Novel Writing. (What’s the hardest? Deciding what to say and how.)

Cutting your own work is no easy task, Fry admits – it’s less like cutting your fingernails and more like cutting off fingers. Still, editing and revising are essential steps in writing. (Fry’s next sentence might have been addressed to us business blog content writers:) “Ask yourself what the piece is about, and then examine each section.  Does it contribute to the point of the whole thing? If not, cut it. Then read through where it used to be, and you’ll probably find you didn’t need it”.

In blogging for business, I teach, a good principle to keep in your mind’s eye is The Power of One. Blog posts have a distinct advantage over the more static website copy, because you can have a razor-sharp focus on just one story, one idea, one aspect of your business in today’s post, saving other topics for later posts. As a natural result, posts will be shorter and have greater impact.

I especially loved this part of the Fry article: “You’re reading along and say to yourself, ‘What a gorgeous sentence! Man, I’m good.’ Cut that part. It’s probably self-indulgent, written for yourself and not for your readers.”

In answer to the specific question “How Long Should My Blog Posts Be?”, Susan Guenlius has this to say: “A range between 400-600 words is commonly used as the length that most readers will stick to from start to finish and most writers can communicate a focused message with supporting details.”

At least in theory, editing blogs should be much easier than editing a novel or even editing brochures ads for the company. Since blog content writing should be conversational and informal, are second drafts even needed when it comes to blogs?

Ummm…….yes, I’d say to bloggers: More important than the SpellCheck and GrammarCheck go-around is checking to make sure you’ve visualized your target readers, the customers that are right for your business and that every line of this blog post is addressed to them.

What do you think? Is that really the second-hardest part or the hardest?

 

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POV Control for Business Blogs

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“If you’ve been writing awhile, you’ve probably heard all the rules. Don’t switch point of view. Or switch only after you leave a few blank lines. Or switch whenever you like, as long as it’s a weekday,” jokes Alicia Rasley in “The Power of Point of View”.

Rasley’s message: writers need to choose a POV that’s ideal for their type of writing and which fits in with their readers’ expectations. For business blog content writers, Point of View, or POV, becomes a tool for engaging online visitors and “positioning” them to respond to an appropriate Call to Action.

POV becomes very important in mystery novels, Rasley goes on to explain, because the key element is that “both reader and sleuth have access to the same essential information.” In other words, a big element in the pleasure of reading mysteries is that the reader is engaged in using the clues to figure out possible solutions to the crime.

Architect/artist David Byrne understood audience engagement. Playing the Building is a sound installation in Minneapolis in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument controlled by viewers. “There are no ‘Do Not Touch’ warnings,”  reporters pointed out.

As a business blogging trainer, I was captivated by that development. In today’s world of marketing, we need to understand, it’s not enough to “hand out” material about a business.  The best blogs, basically, rather than “sing to people”, invite them in to make music. Blogs, in other words, are not only for reading, but for acting and interacting.

All of that interaction relates to the Point of View presented in the blog. Crime stories, as Alicia Rasley teaches, succeed by “pitting the reader against the villain”.  Other breeds of novel, Rasley explains, created a primarily emotional experience, again facilitated by the POV.

Fellow blog trainer Alyssa Gregory advises bloggers to have a point of view. ”Sometimes,” she says, “all it takes is a little controversy to get your blog on the map.” More important for today’s discussion, Gregory says, “Make a point to invite readers to weigh in and share their opinions.”  Even when their viewpoint differs from your own, make sure to acknowledge them, she adds.

Are you doing all you can to use POV as a business blog writing tool?

 

 

 

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Taking Sides Against Yourself in Your Business Blog

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“Your real life conflicts are full of riches to be mined for your fiction, observes Chitra Benerjee Divkaruni in Writer’s Digest.  You may find, though, Divdaruni points out, that you’re too close to the subject matter of your life’s battles to achieve the objectivity you need.

Objectivity is an issue in writing blogs as well. Sometimes, the “outside eye” of a professional blog writer can tell the story even better than the business owner herself. As fellow blogger Phil Steele suggests, business blog writing should be aimed at taking a bird’s-eye view of one’s industry, and only then relating back to one’s own business and its challenges and accomplishments.

Business coach Jack Klemeyer agrees.  Offering an explanation for the fact that top-notch sports pros hire coaches, he says “Coaches offer a bird’s eye view on whatever it is that is going on…A good coach can see things objectively without emotional connection to the situation.”

In an ideal corporate blogging situation, the very process of collaborating with a blog content writer will be one of self discover for the business owner or practitioner.
 
“Try stepping into your adversary’s shoes with honest empathy, and you just might find the fresh perspective your story needs,” Sivkaruni advises novelists. I advise freelance blog writers in Indianapolis to include stories of their clients’ past mistakes and failures. Such stories have a humanizing effect, engaging readers and creating feelings of empathy and admiration for the business owners or professional practitioners who overcame not only adversity, but the effects of their own mistakes!

A good “ghost blogger” can do much more than “say it for you”, helping you “take sides against yourself” in your business blog! 

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Eating Around for Business Bloggers

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One sure-fire strategy for idea-generation is what I call “reading around”, scouring other people’s blogs and articles, magazine content, and books. “Learning around”, I teach newbie content writers, means staying alert for tidbits and teaching tools (after all, what is a blog if not a teaching tool?) to keep fresh ideas flowing for your business blog posts. But eating around??

Yes, the other day I discovered a new “recipe” for locating content treasure – enjoy breakfast or lunch in different and unusual venues – and stay alert! At the Best Bet Breakfast in Fishers, where each table is decorated with poker chips and mini-posters with betting related trivia, I devoured interesting information along with the cinnamon toast.

Whatever industry or profession you’re blogging about, research tidbits from the past. Here’s one about the gambling I found at Best Bet: Back in 1910, games of chance became a crime in the state of Nevada.  But then, a public prosecutor ruled that draw poke was a game of strategy (talk about “spin”!), and, for the next twenty years in Vegas, while roulette was verboten, poker became the game of choice.

The value-add here? History tidbits engage readers’ curiosity, evoking an “I didn’t know that!” response.

Use the tidbit to emphasize your unique “slant” or approach to your business or professional practice. One of the stories shown under the glass of my Best Bet Breakfast table was about Binion’s Horseshoe. Benny Binion, I learned, bought the Eldorado Club and Apache Hotel in 1951, re-opening them as the Horseshoe.  The Horseshow was the first casino to have carpeting and the first to offer “comps” to all gamblers.. When he first opened the Horseshoe, Binion set the craps table limit at $500—ten times higher than any other casino in Las Vegas at the time. Unlike other casinos, the emphasis at Binion’s was on gambling, not on big performing acts.

The “comp” for business owners and freelance blog content writers in sharing such a history tidbit with readers? First of all, the success of your blog marketing efforts will be very closely aligned with you (or you client) being perceived as expert in the field. Even more, presenting a definite perspective on your industry or professional establishes you as a leader.

I highly recommend “eating around”. You just never know what appetizing information you’ll find on your blogging plate!

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Cancellation Notice for Blogs

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I read a lot.  If you’re a business blogger, I hope you read a lot, too.

That’s because, no matter what business, what professional practice, or what organization you’re blogging about, ideas for content are everywhere.  Only thing is, you’ve got to make you mind available in some unlikely spots to find them.

In the May issue of Discover Magazine, in the Hot Tech section, there’s a story called “Cancellation Notice.” An estimated 10 million Americans, the article reminds us, suffer from a rhythmic trembling in their hands that intensifies with action. Up until recently, the technology was focused on restraining the shaking, and the devices used were bulky and largely ineffective.  The newest technology, called Liftware, uses “active cancellation”.  In other words, it offsets the shakes, rather than trying to suppress them.

Constantly alert for ideas that can help my freelance blog content writers fill the various marketing needs of our clients, I find that mostly what’s wanted by the clients is attracting traffic and moving readers to action.  Every so often, though, we’re working as part of a “damage control” effort.

One of the themes I keep coming back to in this Say It For You blog is that corporate and organizational blogging can be used to exercise control over the way the public perceives any negative developments and to correct any inaccurate press statements.  The general concept of damage control, as fellow blogger David Meerman Scott explains, is to “get out in front” of any media crisis, rather than hiding from bad publicity.

There’s another plus to blogging a lot following some kind of negative press. Providing relevant content that is more recent has the power to supplant the negative story by “pushing down” the older content on the first page of the search engine.  And, whether you’ve realized it or not, explains John Hacker, “There is probably some negative criticism about you out there on other blogs, other websites, or even forums that you’re not going to want your potential customers to spend time reader.” Starting a blog and writing often is “one of your most valuable allies to pushing down negative search results,” he adds. 

Blogging for business takes advantage of the Liftware “active cancellation” principle.  Offset the shakes (the negative publicity items), rather than trying to suppress them!

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