“White House Down” Ties Back to Tiebacks in Blogging

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Tie-backs are reverse transitions, explains Annelle Altman of blogspot.com, talking to novel writers.  The author drops hints about the plot and what may come in the future, and then later “ties back” to that hint. Looked at from the “other end”, a tie-back is a news writing device that refreshes readers’ memory about events that were talked about earlier in the piece.

As a corporate blogging trainer, the way I teach tie-backing is this: The opening line of a blog post is the one that assures readers they’ve come to the right place (and search engines that they’ve made a good match!). The opening line is also the one that presents a question, a problem, a startling statistic, or a gutsy, challenging statement.
At the end of the post there’s a finishing flourish that relates back to the opening statement, re-emphasizing to the reader the one main idea you were stressing in that post..

I was given a new appreciation of the power of tie-backs while watching a rerun of the movie “White House Down” the other day. The hero of the film is a Capitol policeman who’s in the doghouse with his ex-wife and teenage daughter, because he’s missed the daughter’s flag-waving demonstration at the high school.  After a heavily armed group of paramilitary invaders bombs the White House and attempts to take over the presidency, the daughter saves the day by waving the flag with the presidential seal to signal their location to rescuers.

For me, that tie-back got its power from the fact that it made me think. I needed to recall that minute detail about the flag-waving that the dad had missed and then realize the irony of the all-important flag-waving  toward the end of the film.  I once heard humorist Dick Wolfsie explain that, in order for a joke to be funny, the person listening to the joke has to figure things out.  I think it’s the same with tie-backs..

In blogging for business, at the end of the post, give your readers the satisfaction of figuring out the tie-back!

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“Why Can’t…?” Blogging for Business

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“Why can’t I use my cell phone on an airplane?” ask the editors of Mental Floss: the Book. (Note to argumentative readers of this Say It For You blog: The FCC is considering lifting the in-flight cell phone ban.)

Nobody likes to be told “You can’t…”, but explaining the reasoning behind the “Can’t” has a remarkably calming effect. Whenever we business blog writers can debunk and demystify information for our readers, that helps establish our (or our client’s) expertise and even enhances the business’ or the practice’s likeability quotient. 

The real reason, (I learned courtesy of Mental Floss editors), authorities don’t want us flipping open our mobile phones, is that mid-flight cell phone use impacts cell phone service on the ground. Calls made while we’re moving through the friendly skies at 550 mph. would connect with multiple towers at once, eating up much valuable space on the circuit. 

See? Don’t you feel better knowing the reasoning behind the rule? There’s only one problem here – even though most readers spend lots more time on the ground than in the air, when they are flying, their concern is with their own convenience.  Having learned the reasoning behind the in-flight cell phone ban, readers are still left with the “So, WIIFM?” question (What’s In It For Me?).

“Why-Can’t…?” blog writing as a marketing tactic  will succeed only to the extent readers know what’s in it for them. The USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) in a product or service might include, as Jane Sheeba points out:

  • High efficiency
  • Time saving
  • Cost savings
  • Low maintenance
  • Support availability
  • Guarantees or warranties

If, as a blog content writer, you’re using the Why-Can’t…? card, be prepared to address readers’ concerns about why this particular product or service is a good idea for them.

In other words, start with the “Why-Can’t..? but continue on to the “You CAN…”!

 

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Blogging the Specialness

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“What makes No. 2 pencils so darn special?” ask the editors of Mental Floss: the Book, noting that “The No.2 is definitely No. 1 in the pencil market.

Answering the question of what makes ANY one product or service, ANY one business or professional practice special – well, that’s the job description for any freelance content writer of business blogs. In the case of the No. 2 pencil, the Mental Floss editors patiently explain, the medium weight graphite makes No. 2’s ideal for general writing.  (Harder pencils are used for drafting, softer for bowling scores).

As writers and researchers, we business bloggers are using own strengths to play to – and play up – the unique strengths of the business owner and professional clients who’ve hired us to give voice to their story. Make no mistake – it’s a challenge to stress “specialness” without engages in two practices Indianapolis Business Journal’s Tim Altom calls PowerPoint “sins’: Too much, and Too Self Conscious.

As fizzle.co so aptly puts it, nothing is a bigger turn-off than a blatant sales pitch. Yet, if you have a business, Corbett Barr points out, you have to sell products or services to earn revenue. But the best sales pitch, he says, is no pitch at all.  In fact, Barr explains, that’s what permission marketing (and blog content writing is a big component of permission marketing, along with search marketing and social media) is all about.

When you’re blogging, you’re talking to a friendly and interested audients about things that might help them (as opposed to forcing your message in front of people who are trying to avoid it, Barr continues. Let the useful and interesting information you offer to readers of your blog bring out the specialness of the product or service.

(Did you know, Nicolas-Jacques Conte created the number system for pencils back in the eighteenth century?)

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Help Business Blog Readers Jump to the Right Conclusions

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“With 1.5 crimes per citizen, Vatican City has the highest crime rate in the world.” Is that statement factual?  Indeed. Without further explanation, though, the sentence is highly misleading. As Mental Floss: the Book explains, “It’s not that the cardinals are donning masks and repeatedly robbing the bank. It’s the massive crowds of tourists that make Vatican City a pickpocket’s paradise.”

We business bloggers are nothing if not interpreters. Effective blog posts must go from information-dispensing to offering the business owner’s (or the professional’s, or the organizational executive’s) unique perspective on issues related to the search topic.

One use of corporate blog content writing is putting your own “spin” on any messages the public might be receiving about your industry – or about you – from competitors or critics. Sometimes negative perceptions arise from inaccurate press statements, but often, accurate information, incompletely explained (such as the fact about the Vatican City crime rate), causes negative perceptions.  Blogs are a way for business owners to exercise a degree of control over myths and misunderstandings.

In today’s world, readers are subjected to an overload of “spin”, and often mistrust the information they’re provided.  In my work as a corporate blogging trainer, I stress that as business owners and professional practitioners craft their messages, it’s important to use “honest” spin. The challenge is to debunk negative first impressions, so that what we convey to clients and customers (and to the online searchers who are our prospects) needs to alleviate mistrust and create confidence.

Business blogs help readers jump to the right conclusions!

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A Business Blog By Any Other Name

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“There is not a better way to add relevant content to your website on a regular basis than to utilize a blog,”  says Nicole Beachum  of socialmediatoday.com. “If you do not want to call it a blog, you can call it a “learning center” or any other catchphrase that you want to use to categorize the frequent posts to your website—at the end of the day they are blogs and these blogs are powerful,” asserts the digital marketing advisor.

“For most small businesses, they do not have the financial resources to run a bunch of advertising and marketing campaigns. Many don’t have the resources to even have a professionally designed and optimized website built.  At least with blogging and some simple SEO you can do yourself, you still have an opportunity to be present, be found, and get your business in front of your target market,” chimes in Chris Eggleston.

So, have the latest changes in Google’s algorithm taken away that opportunity to be present and found?  Newbie blog content writers and business owners alike have been asking me that question, having gotten a whiff of  “Hummingbird”, the latest iteration in Google’s attempt to render the matchmaking process between searchers and providers ever more effective.

As Jim Yu of All Things SEO explains it, “Hummingbird allows the Google search engine to better do its job through an improvement in semantic search.  As conversational search becomes the norm, Hummingbird lends understanding to the intent and contextual meaning of terms used in a query.”

Search engine results pages were often polluted with misleading results, explains marketingprofs.com. With Hummingbird technology, the “search engine is better able to discern the relationships between words and thus the context and the user’s intent, delivering a much more relevant search result.”

As my associate Bob Chenoweth explains it, Hummingbird is good news for developers of high-quality content, but bad news for keyword stuffers.” At Say It For You, we’re looking forward to the best matchmaking since Yenta in “Fiddler on the Roof”.

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