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Blogging to Explain Cultural Icons

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As I browsed through the magazine rack at my neighborhood CVS, two publications caught my attention: Star Wars: The Battle of Jedha and The Ultimate Guide to Avatar. Here were two examples, of gigantic cultural icons, I recognized, yet two subjects I know very little about. Realizing a need to “get with it”, I added both magazines to my shopping cart…

A cultural icon, Wikipedia explains, is a person or an artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. In writing, when we allude to an icon, the expectation is that our readers will understand the idea we’re trying to express, because they’ll recognize the expression. In fact, when content writers want to liven up a blog post, they might refer to a weakness as “an Achilles heel”, or describe a selfish person as “a Scrooge”, or refer to Alice in Wonderland when talking about going “down the rabbit hole”.

What was so appealing to me about the two publications about Star Wars and Avatar was that the publishers didn’t assume I understood those two cultural icons. Just the opposite – each was there to explain and clarify, so that I could feel “in on the secret”. Sure, at Say It For You, we suggest livening up business blog content using allusions. But, what if, as content writers, we’ve miscalculated our readers’ ability to recognize the allusions, with the danger being them finding our content frustrating rather than illuminating!

In fact, one way in which blog posts can be of use to searchers is helping them feel, empowered and informed, “caught up” on the significance and the meaning of certain events or expressions, things it appears “everybody knows”, but which they have somehow never really understood.

“We’re living in an age of entertainment extremism, where passionate fans go to ludicrous lengths to engage in hyperbolic talking points about their favorite film or franchise. It can be exhausting, wading through social media and hearing people make bold declarations not based on anything remotely resembling the truth,” flickeringmyth.com observes.” Most successful blockbuster franchises cross into other mediums spawning books and graphic novels that propel the myths forward.”

Because allusions make reference to something other than what is directly being discussed, explains yourdictionary.com, you may miss an allusion or fail to understand it if you do not know the underlying story, literary tale or other reference point. Why not use blog content writing to help empower visitors with a better understanding of the reference points they encounter?

My insight from the magazine rack? Blog to explain those cultural icons!

 

 

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Examining, Not Eating, Our Words

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“Every day, we eat our words,” Richard Lederer writes in the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Both our food and our language are peppered with salt,” he adds as an example. Before artificial refrigeration was invented, salt was the only way to preserve meat. Therefore: A portion of the wages paid to Roman soldiers was “salt money” with which to buy salt. The term was “salarium” (today we say “salary”). Other words derived from salt include salad, salsa, sausage, and salami. Good, plain people are called “salt of the earth”; a good worker is “worth his salt”.

Many of our words have to do with bread, Lederer explains. The term “companion” is derived from the Latin “com” (together) and “panis” (bread). We “break bread” with company. Wage earners are breadwinners. Cake is also an important root word, with the cakewalk being a 19th century dance meant to make fun of the rigidly stiff formal dancing of White plantation owners. Winners of dance contests were awarded a cake, possibly the origin of the expression to “take the cake”.

When it comes to language choices in blogging for business, I often recall the 1998 memorandum from President Bill Clinton: “The Federal Government’s writing must be in plain language. By using plan language, we send a clear message about what the government is doing, what it requires, and what services it offers. Plain language saves the Government and the private sector time, effort, and money.” Four specific characteristics of logically organized, easy-to-read documents,, Clinton said, include common, everyday words, “you” and other personal pronouns, the active voice, and short sentences. With “easy-to-read” a quality much to be desired in blog marketing, all four of these recommendations apply to blog posts.

“Examining” the terminology relating to your business or profession is a very good idea for business blogs. But, while helping readers “examine” the background of terms is a great way to stimulate interest, what we would not like to have to do is “eat our words”. Just how can content writers communicate an owner’s strong opinions without offending? “When you communicate a strong opinion, you automatically divide the audience into three parts: those who agree, those who disagree, and those who haven’t yet decided, crystalclearcomms.com admits. In a KRC Research survey asking whether CEOs have the responsibility to speak up about issues that are important to society, only 38% said yes..

At Say It For You, what I’ve learned over the years of creating blog content for dozens and dozens of clients in different industries and professions is that, in order to turn clients and customers “on”, we must incorporate one important ingredient – opinion. Taking a stance, I’ve found, clarified what differentiates that business, that professional practice, or that organization from its peers.

The trick is to examine words, express our own opinions in words, but avoid using words to mock others. After all, we want to enjoy reading words, hearing words, and using words, not “eating” them!

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Starting the Year with Same-New, Same-New Blog Posts

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One concern I hear a lot from business owners or professional practitioners is that sooner or later, they’ll have depleted their supply of ideas for blog posts. “What else is left to say?” is the common thread in the questions I’m so often asked. Well, won’t we? (Run out of new ideas, that is.) But, wait! Isn’t that precisely what business blogging is, continually approaching the same core topics from different angles?

Smart blog marketers know there are many subsets of every target market group; not every message will work for every person, and online searchers need to know we’re thinking of them as individuals.

“If you’ve told the story before, explain why you’re repeating it now,” Elizabeth Bernstein advises in the Life & Arts section of the Wall Street Journal. There may not be the need to repeat stories, but there is a need to be alert for anecdotes about customers, employees, or friends who are doing interesting things or overcoming obstacles. Real-people stories of you, your people, and the people you serve are always a good idea.

Just like the recurring musical phrases that connect the different movements of a symphony, business blog posts are centered around key themes. 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.

In writing for business, as blog content writers soon learn, the variety comes from the e.g.s and the i.e.s, meaning all the details you fill in around these central “leitmotifs” . Different examples of ways the company’s products can be helpful, along with examples of how the company helped solved various problems.  It’s these stories and examples that lend variety to the blog, even though all the anecdotes reinforce the same few core ideas.

Start your year with “same-new” blog posts!

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What-to-Wear Pre-Holiday Blogging

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“Planning ahead is always better, especially when it comes to the holidays,” planoly.com suggests. “What you choose depends on your blog focus and niche, but tutorials attract high search traffic,” the authors explain, using How-to-Dress-For-an-Office-Christmas-Party as a tutorial “model”, with possible posts on creating the perfect casual look, finding the best sales, which boots are favorites for the holidays, and which are the best winter workout clothes.

One point I’ve consistently stressed in these Say It For You blog posts is how important it is to provide valuable information to readers, while avoiding any hint of “hard sell”. The theme of getting ready for the holidays can be used as a jumping-off point for a wide variety of blog posts for different businesses – and for different professional practices.

  • Psychologists can write about holiday-time stress management.
  • Carpet cleaning companies can list reasons it’s best to have carpets cleaned before the holidays.
  • Hair salons can describe festive “dos” for party goers.
  • Appliance vendors can offer safety tips for using heaters in guest rooms.
  • Trip advisors can remind travelers of things to take care of before leaving their homes.
  • Financial advisors can offer tips for managing debt while still celebrating the holidays.

In the Grammarly blog, Lindsay Kramer explains that tutorial blog posts may take different forms: In a how-to post, the blogger explains the steps readers must take to complete a task. In an interview post, the interviewee may talk about techniques or items that work well for them. “Explainer” blog posts are similar to how-tos, but aren’t necessarily present in a linear, step–by-step format.

General rules for what-to-wear/do/say blog posts might include:

  1. Make all content as free of professional jargon and specialized lingo as possible.
  2. Break technical information into bite-sized pieces.
  3. Project warmth, showing your “human side”.
  4. Use clear typeface, bullet points and bolding to draw attention to important points.
  5. Suggest questions readers can ask themselves while choosing among options.

Providing valuable, usable, information to your blog visitors is a great idea year-round!

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The More We Blog, The More We Learn

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The secret of good writing, according to Richard Harding Davis, is to say an old thing in a new way or a new thing in an old way. For us blog content writers, “saying old things in a new way” means that each time we’re preparing to compose content for a blog, rather than asking ourselves whether we’ve already covered that material and how long ago, we ought to plan content around key themes. That way, we can be using the same theme while filling in new details and illustrations. This precise thing is a concern, I’ve found over the year, of many business owners and professional practitioners. Even if they understand the marketing value of the blog, their concern is that, sooner or later, they (or their writer) will run out of things to say. I need to explain that it’s more than OK to repeat themes already covered in former posts. The trick is adding a layer of new information or a new insight each time.

When saying new things in an old way, conversely, introducing new information or suggesting a new attitude towards an issue, behavioral science tells us to create a perspective of “frame”, presenting new data in a way that relates to the familiar. Perhaps some information you’d put in a blog post months or even years ago isn’t true any longer (or at least isn’t the best information now available in your industry or profession). Maybe the rules have changed, or perhaps there’s now a solution that didn’t even exist at the time the original content was written.

“Links – you need ‘em,” writes Amy Lupold Bair in Blogging for Dummies. On a blog, the author explains, links are part of the resource you are providing for readers.  Collecting links around a topic or theme helps to inform or entertain your blog’s readers. If you’re not only providing good content yourself, but also expanding on that content by using links, she adds, “you’re doing your readers a service they won’t forget.”

Thing is, as long as I keep learning, I stay excited and readers can sense that in my blog. Being – and staying – a lifelomg learner means “reading around” – reading other people’s blogs and articles, plus “listening around” paying attention to everything from broadcasts to casual conversations,

The more we keep learning, the better we blog, and the more we blog, the more we learn.

 

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