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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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Blog Your Sit-Means-Sit

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Judged by Shakespeare’s famous line “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, the Bard didn’t think monikers were very important. Apparently, to investors selecting stocks these days, they are: on average, Harvard Business Review found, companies with short, simple names attract more shareholders and generate greater amounts of stock trading than companies with hard-to-process names.

While I’m not currently a pet owner, the other day I came across what has to be my all-out favorite corporate name – Sit Means Sit. No explanation needed – not only do you know immediately that what the company offers is dog obedience training, you get a sense of the owner’s stance is on the subject.

Blog readers need to perceive you as an expert in your field, I teach at Say It For You.  And for that to happen, I believe, you need to clearly demonstrate a firm perspective on your subject. There’s no lack of information sources – and no lack of “experts” (purported or real) on any topic In blog marketing, therefore, we need to go beyond presenting facts, statistics, features, and benefits, and get authentic and yes, even opinionated. Taking a stance on your subject, using the blog content writing to express a firm opinion on issues in your industry and community, is how you leverage your uniqueness.

Blogging, remember, involves providing new material week after week, month after month, year after year. We can highlight less well-known facts about familiar things and processes. We can suggest new ways of thinking about things readers already know. Still, that’s not enough. Whether you’re blogging for a business, for a professional practice, or for a nonprofit organization, you’ve got to have an opinion, a slant, on the information you’re serving up for readers. In short, as blog content writers, we must help our clients become influencers.

“We don’t train dogs the same, because not every dog is the same,” the Sit Means Sit website continues, going on to explain that the company offers programs geared to “any dog, any age, any problem”. In fact, the Sit Means Sit website contains information about different training approaches, and, in your own blog posts, there will be ample opportunities to explain and explore different aspects of your own products or services.

“When writing an opinion piece, you are taking a side on a particular issue and trying to communicate to your audience why you believe your chosen side to be the correct one,” 201digital comments. “In fact, research shows that the only type of content more popular than that which encourages reads and shares is negative or controversial opinion.”

What are those things that you really mean when it comes to delivering your service or product to your customers and clients? Blog your own “sit means sit”!

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Disagree Agreeably in Your Blog

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You’ve no doubt been exposed to the streaming TV ad for Vroom, in which a guy is strapped to a chair in the back of a car dealership. The dealer finally uses a pair of jumper cables to zap his victim back to reality, where he’s sitting on his front lawn watching Vroom deliver his new sedan.

Tempting as it is to knock your competition, there are some very good reasons not to do so, Cedric Voigt of Ballou PR writes:

  • It makes the story all about them.
  • It makes you look like a follower, not a leader.
  • You are not objective, and your target audience isn’t stupid.

At Say It For You, we absolutely agree. Negatives against competitors are a basic no-no. Yes, , in writing for business, we want to clarify the ways we stand out from the competition.  But, to get the point across that readers should want to choose this business or this practice, or these products and services over those offered by the competition, it’s important to stay positive.

The People’s Pharmacy Q&A column in the Indianapolis Star the other day exemplifies taking a firm stance on a subject while acknowledging that there are other opinions. The reader had been diagnosed with “white coat syndrome”, because her blood pressure would dramatically increase in the presence of a doctor or nurse. Her question was this: “Do I really need to take drugs for high blood pressure when my pressure is high only in the doctor’s office?”

Pharmacists Joe and Teresa Graedon disagreed with the recommendation given the reader by her doctors. However, rather than “knocking” those doctors, the Graedons offered a three-part response:

  1. Acknowledging that there are alternative approaches — “Doctors disagree about the need to treat white coat syndrome. Some think it signals reactivity to stress.” Because people are frazzled in many different circumstances, these physicians believe drug treatment is appropriate.”
  2. Offering evidence backing up their own viewpoint — “An Italian study of early 1,200 elderly people with high blood pressure found that white coat hypertension raised the risk of a cardiovascular event slightly but not significantly.
  3. Firmly restating their own view — “You could ask your doctor about reducing your medication. To prepare for that conversation, you may want to read our eGuide to Blood Pressure Solutions.”

When it comes to comparing yourself to others, accentuate both the reasoning behind, and the positives about, your way of doing things! Differentiate, don’t disparage.

 

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