Buy-or-Not-Buy Business Blogging

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“Why people buy is not the same as why people don’t buy,” asserts J. Walker Smith of thefuturescompany.com, adding that “This is a difference that matters more than ever.”

Since one important function of any SEO marketing blog is converting lookers to buyers, and since I train Indianapolis blog content writers, Smith’s statement really piqued my interest.

The things that motivate people to buy are product features they want, Smith says. But, it’s not so simple, he cautions, when people don’t buy. Somewhere in the process, a company’s ethics, reputation, and commitment to social responsibility all become “table stakes”.

So, how can we as blog content writers make use of these insights from J. Walker Smith?  How can we tip the scales for our business owner or professional practitioner clients towards the “buy” side of that buy-or-not-buy continuum?

Since the first stage of the typical customer’s screening process involves features and benefits, our Say It For You blog content writers must take care of that task first.  When readers arrive at your business blog, it’s because they already have an interest in your topic and are ready to receive the information, the services, and the products you have to offer. But, from the get-go, it’s up to you to assure them that they’ve come to precisely the right place to get what they’re after.

Taking on that second ethics-reputation-commitment piece within a brief, informal blog post can be challenging.  What I’ve found, though, over the years, is that blog writing is the ideal tool when it comes to establishing emotional connection to readers. Marketing blogs, I believe, are most effective when they are at their most conversational, most personal, most revealing of the corporate culture and history – and most passionate.

As blogger Steve Guise puts it, “Passion is contagious and humans are attracted to it.”

 

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So You Need More Data in Your Business Blog?

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Talk about “pow” opening lines – the Maritz Research ad sure caught my eye with this pair of statements advertising their Capella system:

 “You don’t need more data.  You need a way to solve the    problems flowing deep inside the data.”

Citing statistics and other data is certainly one tactic I teach Indianapolis blog content writers to use as a way to capture readers’ attention. But my own experience as a business blogger has shown me that statistics, even the startling sort, aren’t enough to create positive results for any SEO marketing blog.

The fact that readers’ have a problem or need that is shared by many other people is not enough to make most readers take action (and of course the success of any blog marketing effort depends on readers doing just that.) Yes, it’s true, as I stress in corporate blogging training sessions, blogging has one enormous advantage over traditional “push marketing” tactics, because it delivers visitors who are already interested in a particular product, service, or area of information.

But, as the Maritz Research ad implies, a lot more needs to happen in the “so what?” department before visitors take the next step towards becoming buyers.

Once readers’ interest has been stimulated through the attention-commanding statistic, the blog content writing can focus on creating the emotional connection with the reader.

  • Context:  Most business blog posts make claims, but, often readers don't have any basis for comparison, not being as expert as you are in your field. The blog content needs to address what is “flowing deep within the data”, so that the facts not only are true, but so that the information feels true to your online visitors.
     
  • Connection:  Readers must be shown how the data connects to their own problem or need. But, even more important, they need to connect with the business owners or practitioners who will be providing the product or service to them.

Do you need more data in your business blog?  Only if your blog content uses that data to create more content and more connection!
 

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The Value of Mom in Blog Content Writing

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“Never thought of it that way” is exactly the type of reader reaction you’re after as a business blog content writer. To convey the value a product or service can have for a prospective buyer, try this tactic: translate a benefit that isn’t typically thought of in dollar terms into just that – dollars and cents.

The other day I found a wonderful example of this very tactic in the “Stat Bank” section of The Journal of Financial Planning. According to common household tasks and wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, I learned, the value of Mom in 2013 is $59,862 a year. (That statistic certainly evoked a “never-thought-of-it-that-way” response from me as a mom, anyway.)

 “Business is the activity of creating value. That is what you get paid to do. Customers do not want your products and services – they want what those products and services will do for them. Business people must learn to become value creators,” points out Dr. Ian Brooks. “Compete on value, not price,” adds Brooks.

As a corporate blogging trainer, though, I can see where freelance blog content writers can turn that advice on its head by using the ‘Stat Bank’ tactic – assign a dollar value to something readers are not used to thinking of in dollar terms at all.

Now, if through providing blogwriting services to you, I can use that dollar-denominated value “surprise” to capture a blog visitor’s interest by showing useful – and unexpected – ways your company's expertise or product line can be of value in money saved and satisfaction gained, you've got a good chance of converting a "Never thought of it that way" reader into an  "I want to know more!" online buyer!
 

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Marinated Bloggers Produce More Content

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When I heard Certified Speaking Professional Brian Walter say “I like to marinate among other speakers”, I knew exactly what he meant, and understood his reasons for advocating the practice.  

"Reading around" and "learning around", in fact, are my prescriptions for keeping blog post content fresh and engaging. When you learn snippets of O.P.W. (Other People's Wisdom), you enrich your own knowledge. But then, you curate that wisdom for others.

Think of a curator in an art museum. “The curator,” explains Wikipedia, “will make decisions regarding which objects to take, oversee their documentation, conduct research based on the collection and history that provides proper packaging and display of the art, sharing that research with the public.”  In the process, the curator enhances both her own learning and that of museum visitors.

Quoting others in your SEO marketing blog adds value in and of itself – you’re aggregating resources for the benefit of your readers. Still, that’s hardly enough; as business blogging service providers, we need to add our own “spin” to the material based on our own business wisdom and expertise. By “marinating” your own ideas in others’ material, you never run out of fresh content to satisfy both search engines and searchers. Meanwhile, the readers get a double benefit.

Should business bloggers feel guilty for “regifting” content?  Not in the least, provided we’ve properly attributed that content to its source, then adding our own thoughtful commentary. In fact, by marinating, then curating, we professional business bloggers demonstrate our own confidence.

“Content curation,” asserts fellow blogger Beth Kanter, “is not about collecting links or being an information pack rat, it is more about putting them into a context with organization, annotation, and presentation. Content curators provide a customized, vetted selection of the best and most relevant resources on a very specific topic or theme.”

Marinated bloggers produce more and better content!
 

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The Wow, How, and Now of Business Blogging

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Consultant Brian Walter suggests business owners use a formula to answer the question “What do you do?”  The idea, he says is to play verbal ping pong, making statements that “make people want you to keep talking”.

Interesting. I’m a blog content writing trainer; Brian Walter sounds as if he could be, as well. The advice he gives executives and professional speakers is a good fit for business bloggers and web content writers.

In an elevator speech situation, Walter points out, it’s the other person that starts by “serving you the ball” with The Question “What do you do?”

In the case of online readers, they’ve made the first move as well, by searching for information on your topic, then clicking on your blog.

Your next move, says Walter, is to “powerfully position what you do and what your company does through a progressively-revealed, conversational answer”. That progressive reveal has to start with a WOW that creates surprise and interest the second you open your mouth. (Think defibrillator sales, an example Walter offers: “I’m in the cardiac arrest arrest business.”)

In any SEO marketing blog, it’s the keyword phrases in the title that start the job of getting the blog found. But, once the online visitor has actually landed, it takes a great opener to fan the flicker of interest into a flame. In fact, a big part of blog content writing, I’ve found, involves getting what I call the “pow opening line” right. One tactic is to use an anomaly, a statement (like the defibrillator sales line) that, at first glance, doesn’t appear to fit.

Now it’s the other person’s turn, Walter reminds us. Your listener has to give you permission to continue with the HOW. In the in-person elevator situation, that permission could come in the form of a nonverbal signal indicating puzzlement or interest or in the form of a question.

This second step might well be as far as you get, explains Walter, but make that step count by using a story format (“When xyz happens, we come in and….), presenting a startling statistic, or debunking a commonly-held misperception. “We’re making sure people who suffer sudden-cardiac-arrest get help inside of the ten minutes between life and death.” Remember, the idea is to make people want you to tell them more!

In your blog HOW, a story or statistic points to the difference your product or service or technique makes to real people.

NOW – If, and only if, the other person indicates a desire to know more, the two of you decide whether to get together for coffee, exchange business cards, or take some other next step.

What corporate blogging does best, I’ve often remarked, is deliver the kind of customers to a business website who are already interested in the product or services that website is touting. But then what? In any SEO marketing blog strategy, something needs to happen next. That something is the Call To Action.

Does each blog post you create have a WOW, a HOW, and a NOW?
 

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