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Blogger Writing Basics

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The ideas highlighted in this week’s Say It For You blog posts were sparked by Tony Rossiter’s Effective Business Writing in Easy Steps.  “Whether you’re drafting a lengthy company report or sending a short email to colleagues, it’s vital to get it right,” cautions Rossiter, defining “right” as meaning clear and concise prose, in a style that’s acceptable to your readers.

Different layouts fulfill different purposes, Tony Rossiter explains, such as:The word Write on a cork notice board

  • Attracting attention
  • Saving space
  • Selling something
  • Summarizing a topic
  • Raising questions

Good, clear layout is essential, the author cautions.  “Remember that every line on every page is the result of someone’s conscious layout decision.”

Layout applies to business blogs in different ways, with one of those being the Calls to Action.

  • There should be more than one CTA, so as to appeal to different readers who might be at different. Stages in the sales cycle. Those ready to buy can do that right away. Those who need more information before making a decision can choose to pick up the phone.  There should be something for those not quite ready for even a phone conversation – they might be guided to watch a video or read an article, for example.
  • The CTAs themselves can be in different formats, with some in the text, some in separate “boxes”, and with different CTA’s linking to different landing pages or sign-up pages.

If the purpose of the blog post is to attract attention at first glance, you may wish to use special formatting:

  • Put the opening sentence in bold or in italics
  • Use the first sentence as the entire first paragraph
  • Center the first sentence (rather than justifying it to the left with the rest of the text)

The content of the opening sentence, in addition to the formatting, can be designed to grab readers’ attention:

  • Begin with the conclusion, using the remainder of the blog post to “prove” the validity of that bold assertion
  • Raise a challenging question in the opening sentence, then use the post to propose an answer.

Every line on every page should in fact be the result of YOUR conscious content and layout decisions!

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A Blog Content Writer’s Basic Tools

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Word Toolbox Teaching Tools Resources Spelling Reading Lesson Ai

 

“Whether you’re drafting a lengthy company report or sending a short email to colleagues, it’s vital to get it right,” cautions Tony Rossiter in Effective Business Writing in Easy Steps. What is Rossiter’s definition of “getting it right”?

  • Being clear and concise
  • Writing in a style that’s acceptable to your readers.

A business writer’s basic tools include, Rossiter says:

  • Plain English
  • Vocabulary
  • Spelling
  • Punctuation
  • Grammar
  • Preparing and checking the presentation

In this week’s Say It For You blog posts, I’ll share some important tips from Rossiter’s book that blog content writers might find especially useful.

  • Reading aloud: “If you’re not quite sure whether or not a sentence of a longer piece of writing works – whether it’s clear, concise, and readily understandable – read it aloud.” Some of your phrases and sentences might not be as clear as you thought they were when you first wrote them, Rossiter explains.
  • “Look for the overall purpose – have you done what you set out to do?” Conveying that overall purpose can be especially challenging when a business owner or practitioner is using a business blogging service provider.  On the other hand, the very exercise of thinking through the themes and the ideas for the blog helps train the business owner or practitioner to articulate those same things when they’re talking to their customers!
  • “Put it away for a day or two, then look at it again.” My years as a developmental editor, plus my work tutoring in the Ivy Tech Community College language lab have taught me how hard it is for us to catch our own errors.  After all, I teach blog writers, we’re focused on the ideas we’re trying to convey.Using writers’ basic tools to convey a unique marketing message – that’s the supreme challenge for us business blog content writers!

 

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Help Blog Readers Know the Difference Between Related and Causal

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Man Hand writing Cause and Effect concept with markerIn statistics, variables are considered related if, when the value of one increases or decreases, so does the value of the other (even if it’s in the opposite direction). But does that mean one caused the other?  Not necessarily.  Only after investigating whether one action causes the other, explains the Australian Bureau of Statistics, can we “put in place policies and programs that aim to bring about a desired outcome.”

The article gives three examples of questions about whether the difference between two things is simply incidental versus one causing the other:

  • Is there a relationship between a person’s education level and their health?
  • Is pet ownership associated with living longer?
  • Did a company’s marketing campaign increase their product sales?

In writing blog content, citing causal statistics certainly is one method used to capture readers’ attention.   “Insomnia costs U.S. $63 billion annually in lost productivity“ is a great opener for a furniture store blog about mattresses, for example.  And if the content also contains a human interest story about how Jimmy’s lack of sleep caused him to flub an all-important job interview, that combination packs a real punch with blog readers.

Statistics can actually serve as mythbusters.  If there’s some false impression people seem to have about your industry or about a product or service you provide, you can bring in statistics to show readers that the numbers they’ve been hearing about may be related, but that one factor is not the cause of the other. From there, you can offer more relevant solutions to their issues.

In everyday life, people routinely make causal claims that would require a counterfactual analysis to confirm, says explorable.com. “Thanks to a new diet, your neighbor lost thirty pounds. But did your neighbor not also take up jogging? To assess the claim that A caused B we need to consider a counterfactual: What would have happened if A had been different? To evaluate whether your neighbor’s dieting caused his weight loss, we need to consider what would have happened had he not dieted, and so on.”

In the natural course of doing business, misunderstandings about a product or service often surface in the form of customer questions and comments. Addressing misinformation in a company’s blog shines light on the owner’s special expertise, besides offering information that is valuable to readers. De-mystifying matters can make your blog into a “go-to” source for readers seeking information in your field.

How can you use myths and “counterfacts” to enhance your credibility as a business owner?

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Show ’em the Juice is Worth the Squeeze

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Touting the tax planning advantages of tax-deferred annuities at our Financial Planning Association meeting, Tim Hays of Jackson National Life Fresh Oranges and Juicetalked about the relatively high fee structure that kind of investment typically carries. Is the juice worth the squeeze, he asked, going on explain why, in fact, it is.

Hays’ presentation made me realize how important it is for us blog content writers to focus on helping readers arrive at that same conclusion after considering the costs and benefits of the products or services described in the content.

Of course, in business blogs, it would be wonderful if all we needed to do was write about positive developments in our business or practice and about all the benefits that come from using our products and services. Problem is, prospects, are skeptical, having been exposed to the barrage of advertising messages that’s become part of our everyday existence. How can you demonstrate that the “juice” is, in fact, worth the “squeeze”?

Remind readers of their own concerns, calling to mind the costs, the risks, and the problems that drove them to seek information in the first place.  In other words, remind them they’re already suffering from a “squeeze”.  Only then can your blog content offer the “juice” and demonstrate that you and your staff have the experience, information, and the familiarity with the newest and most effective solutions available.

To be sure, there’s a little more “squeeze” to come for them (in the form of whatever time, expense, and trouble your new buyers will need to incur (in making the switch from their current provider to you). You might say your focus as blog content writer is to keep their focus on the end result, showing that the juice really is going to be well worth the squeeze!

 

 

 

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Ideal Blog Posts: Focused, With a Sense of Forward Movement

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Back in 1960, when Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv were designing a logo for Chaseforward movement Manhattan Bank, Marketing News tells us, their goal was to find something “focused and concentrated, with a sense of forward movement.” (At the time, Chermayeff now recalls, American companies weren’t yet using abstract symbols to identify themselves.)

Blog posts, like logos, tend to be more effective when they focus on just one idea.  That idea might be:

  • Busting one myth common among consumers
  • One testimonial from a user of your product or service
  • One special application for your product
  • One common problem your service helps solve
  • One new development in your industry

For us Indianapolis blog content writers, it’s important to keep in mind that a tight focus is what helps blog posts stay smaller and lighter in scale, and much more flexible than the more permanent content on the typical corporate website.

On the other hand, in each blog post (just as Chermayeff emphasized for logos), there needs to be a sense of forward movement. One way content writers can convey that sense is through linking to another page, or by telling readers to watch for information on another product, service, or “how-to” in a coming blog post.

In business blog writing, while lack of focus can get uncomfortable and counterproductive, it’s OK to let readers know you have lots more helpful information, products, and services to fill their needs.

A business blog consists of many, many posts spread out over a long period of time, clarifying, adding, proving, restating, giving examples, testimonials, and stories, building belief piece by piece.

The goal is to stay focused, but with a sense of forward movement!

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