Don’t Cut Your Business Blog Vocabulary Down to Size

June 9, 2015/0 Comments/in Business writing tips/by Rhoda Israelov

“How many words are there in English? It depends on how you count them…a good conservative estimate is 250,000.” Perceiving that many of our words mean practically the same thing, back in the 1930s a British writer named C.K Ogden proposed a new form of English with a vocabulary of only 850 words. While Winston Churchill liked the idea of Basic English, Roosevelt joked that Churchill’s famous speech about “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” wouldn’t have been nearly as effective couched as “blood, work, eye water, and face water.”

As a writer and corporate blog writing trainer, I must say I prefer the English language just as it is, chock full of nuances and variety. Time4Writing.com apparently agrees: “A good vocabulary is an indispensable tool,” Time4 explains. “Just as really good mechanics can pull out the right tools…good writers can pull out the right tools at the right time to make good writing even more powerful.”

“Style is the way writing is dressed up (or down) to fit the specific context, purpose, or audience,” Kathleen Cali of Learn NC teaches. “Good writers are concise and precise, she adds,” weeding out unnecessary words and choosing the exact word to convey meaning.”

Adding variety to prose can give it life and rhythm, the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) stresses.

Life and rhythm – I can’t think of any goal more important for a business blog content writer to achieve. There’s just so much content out there – being boring is a certain path to the bottom of the heap when it comes to engaging readers and converting them to buyers. We have such a rich, rich language to work with, I tell writers. For Heaven’s sake, use it!

C.K.Ogden, I learned, wanted to eliminate all the English words beginning with the letter Z. No, no, no, I’d protest. When writing a business blog, be conversational, sure. But what word variety can add to a marketing blog posts is ZEST! How about spunk? Pizzazz?

Were Roosevelt still alive, I’m sure he’d tell you the same thing: Don’t cut your business blog vocabulary down to size!.

Softly, Softly Advertising by Blogging for Business

June 2, 2015/0 Comments/in blog marketing/by Rhoda Israelov

“An advertorial is ‘softly softly’ advertising,” cautions write.co.nz., by using a news or human-interest story to sell your product or service. The art of writing a good advertorial, write.co explains, is getting the right balance between story and sale. To do it right, the author warns, your advertorial must start and finish with the story, putting the sales message in the middle, never lower than the third paragraph.

Imagine you’re writing an advertorial about your new sports therapy clinic, says write.co. If you’re promoting the clinic as a whole, the story might be about the growing popularity of holistic therapy clinics. If, on the other hand, you’re promoting a particular service, the story might consist of facts and figures about that service. But if you’re promoting the clinic’s staff, your story might consist of a personal profile.

There’s a parallel here with business blog content writing. Sure, when people go online to search for information and click on different blogs or on different websites, they’re aware of the fact that the providers of the information are out to do business. But as long as the material is valuable and relevant for the searchers, they’re perfectly fine with knowing there’s someone who wants them for a client or customer. The secret of successful business blogging, I found, is just that – not coming on too strong, staying in “softly, softly” mode.

As in the example write.co offers about the sports therapy clinic, each separate blog post should have a definite focus on only one aspect of the business or practice. In designing blog content, we need to present the “condensed” version of the information, then offer as one CTA (call to action) with the ability to click through to a landing page on the business’ or practice’s website to obtain more information. In fact, 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.

The story ties it all together – the answers to readers’ questions, and the solution you’re proposing. You set the scene, introduce the characters, have them encounter, then overcome the obstacles.

Keep softly, softly advertising by blogging for business!

Blog About Unexpected Benefits

May 26, 2015/0 Comments/in blog marketing, Business writing tips/by Rhoda Israelov

When it comes to choosing a title that attracts attention, I think Lifehack.org was onto something with its

“12 Unexpected Benefits of Beer That Give You Good Reasons to Drink It”

For one, I was curious to read about beer in a publication focused on healthy living (the same issue of the magazine carried an article warning of the negative effects of smoking and alcohol on the body).

But, see, here’s the thing. It was unexpected. Surrounded by content about the science of beautiful skin, the skinny on indoor cycling, and winning the weight war, readers have every right to be surprised to see beer as a recommended healthful consumable.

Author Candace Nelson starts out by unifying her audience with a commonality: “Who among us hasn’t rounded down when doctors or nutritionists ask how much (beer) we imbibe?” She goes on to list no fewer than twelve benefits of beer. The drink is rich in Vitamin B, and high in fiber and silicon. It’s anti-microbial, and helps reduce the risk of heart disease, muscle deterioration, and gallstones. Only the last item on her list (“Beer is a social lubricant”) seems a stretch in terms of being health-related.

As Steve Tobak writes in Entrepreneur Magazine, “Doing the unexpected is key to success in business. After all, the next big thing is never what anyone expects.”

As a corporate blogging trainer, I remind content writers that blogging about unusual ways your products or services have been applied in different situations is good way to capture interest in posts. Even sharing past business mistakes that resulted in unexpected improvements in the company’s products and service makes for engaging blog content.

That’s the question I’d pose to business owners and professional practitioners: Tell me about the benefits you offer, sure. But what are some of the UNEXPECTED benefits of what you have, what you know, and what you know how to do?

Winning Ways to Keep Blog Readers Up on Industry Trends

May 21, 2015/0 Comments/in blog marketing/by Rhoda Israelov

Staying up to date in an industry that’s constantly shifting isn’t easy, but being aware of changes as they happen can keep you ahead of the curve, according to Yael Grauer of verticalreponse.com. And, even more important to us business blog content writers, our readers, whether or not they’re inclined towards the “trendy”, like to feel they’re keeping up with the trends.

Grauer offers ten suggestions to business owners and professionals who want to stay abreast of trends in their fields, including subscribing to trade journals and consumer magazines, scouring websites, blogs, and newspapers, and talking to colleagues and customers.

What I’ve learned over the years of helping clients in different industries create content, is that customers expect their service and product providers to do all the work for them, keeping them up-to-date by condensing all that website/newspaper/magazine/trade journal wisdom into bite-sized pieces and, on top of that, putting all that information into perspective.

“Museums curate works of art. We digital marketers curate blog posts,” says Kevan Lee of buffersocial.com. “We’re all seeking only the best material to pass along to our patrons, customers, fans, or followers.” Why? According to Lee, “People love being told what’s good to read or essential to see.”

Content curation is very different, points out John Tann on Hootsuite.com. It doesn’t include creating new content, he explains, but does include discovering, compiling, and sharing existing content with online followers. That allows you, he adds, to provide extra value to your brand’s audience and customers.

As a business blogwriting trainer, I think some of the most valuable content consists of a combination of curation and marketing. I encourage freelance content writers and business owners alike to gather OPW (Other People’s Wisdom) and share that with their readers, but then to comment on that material and relate it to their own topic.

Ideally, I explain to business owners, your content keeps your readers savvy about what’s trending, while at the same time establishing you as a thought leader in your field!

Tell How You Tripped at the Academy Awards

May 14, 2015/0 Comments/in blog marketing, Business writing tips/by Rhoda Israelov

Is your brand real enough for the next wave of consumers? asks Jamie Gutfreund in Forbes. “Gen Zs consider taking risks an important part of life and mistakes as badges of honor.” Zs are savvy consumers, Gutfreund adds, preferring to see “real” people to celebrities in campaigns. To them, failure builds character, and they have little interest in content that promises perfection.

Interesting. As a corporate blogging trainer, I’ve been preaching to Indianapolis content writers that engaging readers and creating feelings of empathy and admiration for their business owner and professional practitioner clients may be a matter of writing about how those owners overcame the effects of their own mistakes.

No matter what generation of reader you’re targeting, I explain, real life conflicts are riches to be mined. Often, however, our business owner and practitioner clients are so close to the subject matter of their own past and present business battles, they can’t see how valuable those “failures” can prove to be. That’s where the “outside eye” of a professional blog writer becomes especially valuable.

“One thing you will notice about successful people, especially people with an entrepreneurial streak, is that they welcome detours and failures as a natural part of the journey they are on,” observes author Ekaterina Walter. Mistakes will not end your business. But will surface new opportunities, adds Meridith Valiando Rojas, CEO of Digitour Media.

“Who are You? Readers like to know about the author. It makes your writing more interesting because it adds context,” says K. Stone of lifehack.org. in advising writers to brand their blogs for success.

Good branding and good writing – they’re both about being real. So, go ahead, tell how you (or your business owner or professional practitioner client) tripped at the Academy Awards!

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