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Blogging to One-Tank Destinations

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kind rijdt autoHave you visited the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, Indiana? How about the Five Points Fire Museum in Lafayette, IN? I haven’t been to either, but after learning through the Columbian magazine that those would be “one tank destinations” for me (I live in Indianapolis), I’m adding both locations to my vacation day fun possibilities list.

There’s a valuable nugget of wisdom in this for us blog content writers, I realize. Had that article in the Columbian been about two faraway, exotic destinations, I’d probably have simply turned the page. Instead, I cut the item out of the magazine, posting it on my kitchen bulletin board.

Thing is, in marketing, it’s all about accessibility and ease when it comes to triggering action on the part of readers, whether in print or online. Making a business’ or a practice’s products and services accessible and easy to acquire or use has to be at the top of our best practices list when it comes to writing content for business blogs.

What are some ways to make the information in blog posts “one-tank”, meaning easy to access and easy to put into action?

  • Offer answers in a few, short, well-thought-out words, with longer answers to follow if requested
  • Insert Calls to Action at various points throughout a business blog post
  • Remind readers of the annoyances and hassles they’re experiencing with their present providers and products.  Go on to describe the perfect, hassle-free solution to their problems.
  • Don’t just say “Contact us.” (What exactly do you want your reader to think, feel, or do?) Have people fill out a form where they tell you “where they want to go”.
  • Focus on one specific step readers can take. Choose a very specific problem or need, and offer a very clear and compelling solution.

    Are you taking your blog readers to one-tank destinations?
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Blogging Assumption-Free

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Follow the Guidelines sign isolated on white backgroundI’ve been doing some heavy thinking about assumptions, and it’s Daniel Herndon’s fault.

“Assumptions can be good or bad, but either way they inform our beliefs and opinions,” Herndon says. Assumptions inform the decisions we make, and often they can be productive, he admits. But what about when our assumptions are counterproductive? he asks. (That’s precisely the question I haven’t been able to stop turning over in my mind ever since his thought-provoking newsletter hit my inbox.)

What if our assumptions are keeping us from doing something great? (Read these examples from the Herndon post– you won’t be able to get them out of your mind, either!)

  • What if your parents are not always right?
  • What if you don’t have to change your oil every 3000 miles?
  • What if you don’t have to go to college to get a good job?
  • What if some things don’t ‘happen for a reason’?

I’ve been “translating” this assumption-challenging attitude into my own field of blog content writing.  “What if all those rules we were taught at all those webinars and seminars and ebooks and “15 things” lists are actually stopping us from writing truly great content?” is what I’ve been asking myself.

  • What if blog readers don’t have as short an attention span as we thought?
  • What if they don’t all read at a sixth grade level?
  • What if you don’t need to keep the content “above the fold”?
  • What if searching Google AdWords isn’t the best starting point for creating posts?
  • What if being almost obnoxiously opinionated on issues in your field is just fine?
  • What if you went ahead and gave away all your how-to “secrets” in your blog and your readers still wanted you to provide services for them?
  • What if keeping below 65 characters wasn’t the most important thing about writing a title for a blog post?

What if you had your ideal prospect sitting right in front of you, and you were going to take three minutes to teach him one thing he needs to know how to do? What if you were going to take three minutes to share with her a valuable insight, or express and explain your point of view on a controversy that’s in the news?  No blogging platform, no SEO, just talking.

Now sit down and do something great. Write your blog post directly to that one man or woman.  Assume they’re going to read it – every word.

Next time you’re getting ready to write copy for a blog post, ask yourself Daniel Herndon’s question: “What if what you believe and take for granted is actually a false assumption?”

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Strangest-Things Blogging for Business

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You wouldn’t believe some of the strange things that get sent in the mail, says David Moye, writing in the Huffington Post. In fact, Moye explains, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not runs an annual Strange Mail Contest.

The 2014 contest winner, for example, was a 19-pound tree trunk with a horseshoe embedded in it.  Ripley vice president of exhibits and archives Edward Meyer chose the entry not only for its size and weight, but also because of its uniqueness. Runners-up included a prosthetic arm, an animal skull, a mailbox, and a roll of toilet paper.

Mental Floss Magazine’s latest issue lists “14 Unusual Items You Can Get at Libraries”, including:

  • umbrellas (Cornell U. Library offers umbrellas than can be borrowed)
  • American Girl dolls (the Arlington Public Library has eight dolls available to borrowers)
  • Surfboards (Inverloch Library in Australia)
  • art for your office (Aurora Library in Illinois) has 30 sculptures available to borrow for up to 8 weeks)
  • knitting needles (Morse Institute Library in Natick, Mass.)
  • puppies (Yale Law Library)

While all these things are available for temporary use, for us blog content writers, the real and “permanent” takeaway, I believe, is that strange and unusual tidbits tend to engage readers’ curiosity and interest. If we open our minds to it, I’m convinced, we can make very good use of on-the-surface-useless information. The whole idea is to provide information most readers wouldn’t be likely to know, and then tie the tidbit to our own topic.

What are some of the strangest things you’ve encountered in your business or practice?

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Blog Writing for the Rando?

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“I may be a rando when I cross your field of vision,” says Luc Sante.  Randos, he explains, are people who show up at your party uninvited or who Jumbled wooden letterpatronize your favorite hangout but who have no connection with your crowd. To put it another way, a rando is Not One of Us.

As business blog content writers, of course, we’re trying to target the “right kind” of readers, those with an interest in our topic, value our products and services and are willing to pay for them. But what about all those others, the “random” readers? Shouldn’t your content be structured so as to engage them as well?

When he first began to use the Internet, Sante recalls, his impression was that every time you clicked on a link, it took you somewhere else, “until you were miles and maybe years away from your point of departure”.

FutureNow‘s  Brendan Regan teaches business owners to “optimize a marketing outreach from the driving point to the landing page and on through to conversion.” In other words, for any business blog to enjoy bottom-line success, there needs to be a smooth process, a navigation path that begins when a customer first becomes conscious of your existence to when you’re closing a deal.

Given the way organic search works on the Internet, some of those readers just becoming conscious of your existence might well be “randos”. That’s because, every once in a while, there’s a “disconnect” between what a searcher wanted and what he or she actually finds.  When this anomaly results in bringing someone to your blog who really doesn’t “belong” there, it’s not necessarily bad news.  That “mistake” might even result in you converting a searcher-gone-astray into a buyer!

Am I saying you don’t need to write with a very specific target audience in mind? Not at all.  In fact, your understanding of your target readers has to influence every aspect of your blog.  By doing that, you’ll have an enormous advantage over less-targeted competitors.

Meanwhile, though, welcome the randos who “wander” into your territory.  You just never know…
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Blog About Both Kinds of Goodwill

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Fountain pen writing GoodwillWhen you’re looking to buy or sell a business, Troy Patton of Archer Investments explained at the Financial Planning Association, one really important factor to weigh is goodwill.  How much of the business’ goodwill is “enterprise” and how much is “personal”?

Professional business valuator Linton Kotzin agrees. “Segregating the intangible value of a company between personal and enterprise goodwill is becoming increasingly relevant,” he says, explaining that personal or professional goodwill attaches to a particular individual, while enterprise goodwill is derived from the characteristics of the business itself, regardless of who owns or operates it.

Content marketing through blogs needs to consider both those aspects of the company’s – or the professional practice’s goodwill. There are many different possible forms a blog post can take, of course. Hubspot, in fact, lists no fewer than 44 “fantastic types of content”, including:

  • How-to’s
  • Case studies
  • Charts and graphs
  • FAQs
  • Question/answer sessions
  • Guides
  • Glossaries
  • Opinion pieces
  • Surveys
  • Quotes
  • Quizzes
  • Book summaries

Patton’s presentation on valuing a business or practice, though, made me realize how important it is for us blog content writers to focus on creating “goodwill value” on both the enterprise front and the personal front.

Blogging for business has the potential to reach different groups, including new (recent transaction) customers, repeat customers, other companies’ customers, potential customers, and strategic partners (including vendors, colleagues, professional associates).

All of those readers need to know about enterprise value. In other words, have they come to the right place to find the particular kind of service or product they need, and is that product or service competitively priced and of good quality?

But that’s only the half of it. It’s the personal goodwill that’s going to invite readers to “connect” and “buy in”. If you’re to enjoy any success in content marketing through business blogging, I’m convinced, personal goodwill needs to be operative. Not only must searchers see your blog as a go-to source for ongoing information (the enterprise value of the business), but they need to feel engagement with the people who provide the product or service. Of course, the typical website explains what products and services the company offers, who the “players” are and in what geographical area they operate. The better websites give at least a taste of the corporate culture and some of the owners’ core beliefs.

Blog about BOTH kinds of goodwill!

 

 

 

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