Blogging for Business

“When it comes to writing a love letter, remember: It’s not a card.  It’s a letter,” cautions Tom Chiarella in a wonderfully sentimental Readers Digest piece.

Sometimes, in corporate blogging training sessions, I find myself issuing a similar caution: " When it comes to blog content writing, remember: It’s not an ad.  It’s a blog.”

As a professional ghostwriter of blogs for business, I’m keenly aware of the fact that when people go online to search for information and click on different blogs or websites, they don’t want to “be sold.” Sure, readers know the providers of the information are out to do business, and that the business owners and professional practitioners sponsoring the blog would like to convert them into clients or customers. But, if the material is valuable and relevant, the readers will stick around, so long as the blog doesn’t come on too strong in its Calls to Action.

Blogs, I explain to newbie freelance blog writers in Indianapolis, are more like advertorials than advertisements.

And, while blogs aren’t love letters, either, a lot of what Tom Chiarella had to say, I found, could be applied to writing for business and can be used by anyone who provides business blogging services.

“First, sit. Letters take time.  Writing takes a while.  Three lines can’t do the work of three paragraphs.” Crafting your message when blogging for business takes time and discipline. A website cannot tell your story completely, nor can it engage your potential and current customers with fresh content in real time. Blogging is more effective than any other medium at communicating your story in a timely manner, spread over time.

“Be loyal to the past you share. Use detail to show what you remember and that you remember.” Blog content writing reveals your story.  Why this business or profession?  How did you get started?  What connects you and your readers?

Remember, it’s not an ad.  It’s not a website page. It’s not a long article.  It’s a blog.

Nice to know I’m not alone. Just because I’m a business blogging trainer and professional blog content writer in Indianapolis, doesn’t mean I’m the only one who thinks paying attention to detail is important.

In the span of one short week, I heard two different people advise my Butler business students to pay attention to details, explaining that those details can make a big difference in what kind of first impression you make.

Cautioning our sophomores in Real Business Experience class (I serve as team mentor in this class) to present their final papers mistake-free and properly formatted, Professor Zach Finn summed it up as follows:

“Think of it like shoes – some people care if they’re shined.”
 

Later that week, at the freshman Top Dawg business plan competition, volunteer contest judge and local business leader David Harding advised students:

In business, dress up. Put on that coat and tie. I know your generation likes to be
informal, but, believe me, how you present
yourself will make a big difference in your career.
 

That’s exactly the point I try to make when it comes to creating SEO marketing blog content.
Yes, I know the online crowd likes to be informal, and yes, blogs are supposed to be less formal and more personal in tone than traditional websites. But when a sample of corporate blog writing is posted in the name of your business (or in the case of Say It For You writers, in the name of a client’s business), the business brand is being “put out there” for all to see.

Dress your blog in its ”best”. Prevent blog content writing “wardrobe malfunctions” such as grammar errors, run-on sentences, and spelling errors. Avoid redundancy. Tighten up those paragraphs.

You may be thinking: Most readers will merely scan your content and won’t pay very close attention to details like those.

Some might, though. Can you afford to have potential customers noticing your lack of care?

Think shoes – some people will care if they’re shined!

 Never one to “nap” when it comes to corporate blogging training, I’m on the alert for ways to keep blog content writers awake and active. Three visits to websites in the blogosphere’s “bedroom community” sparked some great ideas business owners and professional practitioners can use to keep their SEO marketing blogs energized over long periods of time.

Furniture Today blog
“Bedding is an impulse item,” asserts Jim Green of furnituretoday.com. “When you want one…well…you want one… When the consumer gets the impulse to buy a new mattress, he/she will commonly act upon it quickly.” 

(Here’s the part that relates to blog content writing:) “The best merchants put the message out there on a consistent basis to capture the customer’s attention whenever it arises.”    That’s precisely true in blogging for business. To capture online searchers’ attention “whenever it arises”, it’s crucial for you to maintain frequency and consistency in posting blog content.

American Freight blog
“American Freight Furniture and Mattress is excited to announce that the Lakeland, Florida location has moved to a larger space and expanded its inventory.”  One excellent reason for posting  business blog content is to make announcements of news about the business or practice.

Clarifying ways in which you differ from your competitors is another: “American Freight is a warehouse-style discount furniture story open to the public that specializes in furniture obtain through dealer cancellations, factory closeouts, retain chain buyouts, and wholesale liquidations.” American Freight goes on to explain why that’s good for the customer.  As I often explain to business owners, in writing blog content in Indianapolis, always assume readers are asking themselves, “So what?”

Bedroom Furniture Portland blog
Like American Freight, Bedroom Furniture Portland is making use of their corporate blog to make an announcement: “We finally got our store hours up at the store!  Our hours for those who want to stop by and visit are by appointment Tuesday, Wednesday – Friday 10-5, Saturday 12-5, Sunday 12-5, closed Mondays.”

In another post, the bedroomfurnitureportland blog features a testimonial. “With just a few emails and phone calls, Susan was able to answer all my questions…In a couple of weeks after placing my order, the furniture came and I was completely satisfied with the quality and detail of the items.”   Customer success stories and testimonials like this one boost the credibility of your business with new prospects.  At the same time, I explain to Say It for You freelance blog writers who create content for clients, the process of providing a  testimonial reinforces the relationship that client already has with the business or practice.

You may not be selling mattresses, but, whatever the products or services you provide, always imagine that when online searchers want one…well…they want one. 

Will your business blog content be there to tell them you’re there, ready to satisfy their wants?

Social media “should be part of every company’s outreach, because it has great potential for brand-building…”, asserts Linda Mansfield of Restart Communications, who recently served with me on an Indiana Motorsports Association panel to discuss marketing on the Web.

The static problem, explains Mansfield, comes from the fact that “all of the different social media avenues are vying for the same thing: people’s time and attention”. Of course, as we blog content writers in Indianapolis know all too well, “traditional” marketing message are part of the competition for consumers’ eyeballs and eardrums along with new media.

In corporate blogging training sessions, I emphasize that “winning search” through business blog writing is simply not enough.  As Mansfield points out, you have to “make sure that the people who are the ‘face’ of your company are approachable, likeable, knowledgeable, and available.”

Lucky for us freelance blog writers, blogging for business is the perfect vehicle with which to “face the nation”, our very own group of online readers and clients who share our interests.  While there’s more than enough information out there on every imaginable topic, including our own, blog content writing provides a unique and ongoing opportunity to talk about what we have, what we know, and what we do. Most important, we get to share who we are and why we’re so passionate about our work.

Business blogs – they’re where we get to be approachable, likeable, knowledgeable, and available!

Some of the puzzles I love to solve are “quotefalls”. After you finish filling letters into the boxes, you uncover a wise saying. I knew the writer of this one must have been referring to corporate blog writing along with babies:

“A baby is a small creature who soon ceases to be an armful
and grows into quite a handful.”

When it comes to corporate blogging for business, says Rick Short, Indium Corporation’s Director of Marketing, perseverance is the big thing: “If you won’t be able to stick with it once the blogging becomes routine, after you’ve battled with writer’s block, after numerous distractions beckon, then find a new hobby!”

Like childcare, it seems, “content is never done.  It is a process that needs continuous attention,” as Erin Short, Coordinator for Tall Ships America points out. Sad statistics prove Short’s point: 90% of all bloggers for business neglect or abandon their blogs.

That’s why, in corporate blogging training sessions, one of the main lessons I need to convey
to would-be blog content writers is that the real challenge in blogging is sustainability, even more than the content creation part of SEO marketing blogs.

I think Gina speaks for all freelance blog writers along with all business owners when she says, “It is challenging to stay on top of my thoughts and put together relevant blog posts when my daily job often takes up so much of my time, both in the office and out.”

A good blog will drive up your search engine rankings and give you credibility... It all sounds great, except for one thing — you have to write. ... observes fellow blogger Jenni Buchanan.

As that small corporate blog creature ceases to be an armful and grows into something much bigger, that’s when Indiana blog content writers can help handle the handful!
 

 “Your age is your business; your face is my business,” is the mantra for Lisa Nesbitt, director of Mary Kay Cosmetics in Indianapolis.

There’s a similar relationship between me and my Say It For You clients. You’re a business owner or a professional practitioner (doctor, CPA, attorney).  The products and services you offer are your business. As your professional ghost blogger, conveying your message to online readers and clients is my business.

Most business owners and professionals are clear that the potential benefits of corporate blogging are substantial, but for one (or sometimes all) of three reasons, they haven’t been able to make their blog keep happening: no time, no motivation to make it a priority, no talent to apply to business blogging.

This using of professional copy writers to create business blog content, is it smart business?, asks Robin Hale of writers-elite.com, answering her own question in a decisive affirmative. In fact, without delegating the task of bringing your voice and your brand value to a target audience, she warns, you “can’t expect to grow beyond the limited number of tasks you can accomplish on your own. Ghost writers, bloggers, and even ghost tweeters are valued resources that will clear your plate and allow you to further carry out the plan and growth of your business,” she adds.

Does that mean those making use of a business blogging service provider can take the attitude of “Wake me up when it’s over”?  Of course not, as I stress to business owners in the course of Indianapolis corporate blogging training sessions.

Mary Kay asks its customers to select the statement that reflects how they like to express their values:

• I go for earthy shades that reflect nature and add a soft hue to my natural skin tone
• I like a polished look overall with shades that enhance my skin tone
• I like to play with vivid colors that contrast with my skin tone.

Based on the client’s own unique tastes and preferences, the cosmetic professional creates the palette. In similar vein, whenever I’m sitting down with business owners as we’re preparing to launch their SEO marketing blog, together we select several recurring themes or blog leitmotifs to appear and reappear over time in their blog posts. The discussion centers around their expertise and their knowledge of their target market.  I and my writers are merely converting those discussions into business blog content.

The interesting thing I’ve found over the years of business blogging is that 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!  I call this “magic” the “training benefit” of corporate blogging. In a very real sense, as I handle the blog content creation that is my business, it helps you do your business better!

“Did you know that…?” can be four winning words when starting a conversation – or beginning a business blog post. 

After all, when a business owner (or a professional ghost blogger writing on her behalf) shares a little-known fact about an everyday thing, not only does that showcase the business owner’s expertise, it can bridge gaps and break down barriers. 
 

Why? Tidbits are “neutral ground”, and readers tend to drop their resistance and their fear of “being sold”.

In corporate blogging training sessions, I encourage Indianapolis blog writers to use etymology, (the history of words), to offer interesting information relating to their industry. A florist, for example, could take a tip from Richard Lederer’s piece in the Mensa Bulletin about the anthology of flowery words.

As a homeowner, for example, I’ve looked upon dandelions as weeds. Still, I was fascinated to learn (there’s the “Did you know that…” effect again) the English used to call the yellow, shaggy plant a “lion’s tooth” because of its jagged, pointy leaves.  The French translated “lion’s tooth” into “dent-de-lion”, which, said with an English accent, becomes “dandelion”!

Internet vocabulary has evolved with such speed, its etymology is on steroids. One tidbit I’m fond of sharing with Say It For You clients is (did you know that…?) before the term “web log” became “blog”, writers would refer to their work as “zines”? Today, there are kittyblogs, anonoblogs (anonymous), miliblogs (military), kittyblogs (about cats), and even splogs (spam blogs).

Etymology impacts SEO marketing blogs in more ways than one. As an Indiana blogger working to help clients "win search", I realize that not only may online readers not know the name of my clients’ business, they may not even know the correct terminology for the product or the specialized service they need! All those readers can do is describe the desired result, or resort to “kadigans” such as thing-a-ma-bob or whatchamacallit.

Business blog content writers can anticipate that very problem, working from back (the history and etymology of business terms) to front (the end results that buyers can anticipate).
 

 Whether you’re trying to get your home ready to sell or trying to get a start on corporate blog writing for your business, you’re sure to hear a lot of advice about keeping things “fresh” and “new”. 

Well, paint and flowers may do it for curb appeal, but, when it comes to business blogging, it’s not so easy, is it? In corporate blogging training sessions, I'm constantly hearing that the biggest challenge business owners face is sustaining their SEO marketing blogs over long periods of time.

I couldn’t help relating that dilemma to a humorous Reader’s Digest anecdote I came across the other day:

 My 85-year-old uncle and his wife were sitting quietly in their living room, each in their matching recliners.  After a while, my aunt asked, “How come you never  talk to me anymore?” My uncle replied, “I told you everything I know a long time ago!”

“A simple technique to update the look of your shop is to move things around,” says Karen Lee, “captain” at EcoEtsy. “Take a few items that are hidden away on page 4 of your listings and move them up to the front page….Shift items from the bottom of the page up to the top. Tweak descriptions,” Lee advises. “Seasons change, and so do trends…  Every so often, ensure descriptions are up to date and relevant for shoppers.”

 Indianapolis blog content writers can use the same tactic by calling attention in a business blog to “old” information that hasn’t been highlighted for awhile, reminding readers of an “old” point, but presenting it in a new light.

While building a loyal reader following is a result to be desired, most Say It for You corporate blogging clients, particularly in the early to middle stages of a business blogging initiative, want business blogging help focused on two business goals:  Getting “found” and getting their cash register to ring. That translates into content that is not pnly interesting and engaging, but which immediately conveys the message to online searchers “You’ve come to the right place”, then offers them alternative Calls to Action.

Two of the “8 Tips for Improving Your Memory” offered by PsychCentral’s Editor-in-Chief John Grohol are worth passing along to Indianapolis blog content writers:

“The more senses you involve, the more strong a memory becomes.” Basic information about your business, material you’ve presented again and again in earlier business blog posts, can assume new power when you relate that content to different sounds, sights, or smells.

“Organize it.” Presenting material you’ve discussed before, but organizing it differently, can make a big difference.  Some formats to try:

• Question /answer
   
• Alphabetized lists and glossaries
   
• Surveys
   
• Relating to news items

Sometimes, after months and years of composing content, we business blog writers can feel like that elderly uncle in the Readers’ Digest anecdote –we’re told them everything we know a long time ago. But by adding a few new items, rearranging some old ones, and staying alert to changing vocabulary and trends, we can keep our blogs fresh and new, never running out of things we just can’t wait to say! 
 

Super Bowl Ad Tracker calls it “an ode to the significance of manufacturing”, referring to GE’s commercial, set in a New York pub, in which a worker proudly exclaims, “We make the power that makes the beer.”

I liked the piece, too, and for some of the same reasons Ad Tracker mentions. For one thing, as a professional ghost blogger, I can see a number of parallels between creating that kind of engaging TV spot and corporate blog writing.

“The nod”:
Included in the GE “ode”, there’s a “nod”, notes Dale Buss of Ad Tracker, meaning a nod to Bud Light, official beer of the NFL. In similar vein, blog content writing verbalizes the positive aspects of a business.  Unlike traditional advertising copy, though, blogs take a softer, more “advertorial” approach, with just a “nod” towards the business’ recent accomplishment and its products and services.

Heartstring pulling:
Unlike just about every other major Super Bowl advertiser Buss explains, GE didn’t plan to use humor, but “to pull at our heartstrings instead”. That same idea is expressed by mRelevance, who see blog content writing as a chance for business owners to be real humans, not hiding “behind a slick corporate website”.

In fact, before providing business blogging assistance to any new Say It For You client, I always perform a “reality check” in the form of the following question: “If you had only 8-10 words to describe why you’re passionate about what you do, what you know, and what you sell – what would those words be?”

“Our goal with the ads was to show the pride and passion GE employees have for the products they make,” GE’s spokesperson shared with brandchannel. As blog content writers soon learn, one very important reason behind writing for business is to express that pride and passion is real time.

What about SEO marketing through blogs? Unlike giant GE, who could count of millions of Super Bowl viewers being there to discover their message, local business owners depend on blog content writers in Indianapolis to help them win search.

In the TopRank online marketing blog, Lee Olden summarizes the results of a recent survey of business owners for whom blogs are part of their search engine optimization efforts.

• 87% successfully increased SEO as a direct result of blogging.
• 54% began to see SEO benefits from blogging earlier than expected (0-3 months).

Still, as I caution in corporate blogging training sessions, blogs are not magical, guaranteed search engine ranking magnets. In fact, blog content writing should be considered just one element in an overall traditional/online marketing strategy.  In an Indianapolis pub or networking meeting, we corporate blog writers might borrow a boast from that GE worker: 

We make the power that makes the online marketing strategy!
 

A common refrain they hear from their Australian dentist advisees, Dental Web Strategies admits - It’s really hard to find enough time to blog on a regular basis.

At Say It For You, we know. Business blog writing is hard work.  It seems everyone acknowledges the important role SEO marketing blogs play, but in the real world, 80% of business blogs end up neglected or even totally abandoned. 

Actually, most business owners can think of quite a number of things they want to tell the world about their products, their professional services, and their customer service efforts.  Somehow, in the execution stage, though, inspiration appears to run dry;  the need for business blogging assistance becomes all too apparent.

Dental Web’s suggestion is one that business owner bloggers and professionals blogging to promote their practices need to hear: Answer a common question.   This is so easy, says Dental Web, “your dental assistant could do it in her sleep”. The question might be one dental patients really ask on a regular basis, they add, or “something you find yourself explaining anyway”.

Common explanations make for easy-to-access content, Dental Web emphasizes to its dentist members. Since dental assistants hear the doctors using that content all the time with patients, they can repeat it verbatim.

A related suggestion for “solving the content crisis” comes from Compendium Blogware CEO Chris Baggott.  Baggott, however, suggests “mining” emails sent to customers and newsletter material as fodder for blog content writing. Email, he observes, tends to live in a different “silo” from blogs, so that much wonderful content created by company employees goes forever unindexed by search engines.

Over my years as a professional ghost blogger, I’ve found that business owners and professionals have many stories to tell.  They want to – and need to – share the benefits of their products and services, the history of their business and their own journey, news of importance to customers, how-to information, and their own perspective on trends in their field. Lack of running out of content ideas may be their biggest fear, but it’s actually lack of time that sabotages so many business blogging efforts. That’s precisely the point at which freelance content writers can come to the rescue of all that wonderful content “hiding” in emails, newsletters – and owners’ and dental assistants’ minds! 
 

“The type of insight and expertise that a blog can demonstrate is far more useful than any PR pitch you could post,” explains fellow blogger Erica Swallow.  Swallow stresses that blogs should be “repositories of analysis and opinions provided by a company’s fine employees”.

 Those of us who offer business blogging services agree.  When blogging for business reveals your unique “slant” or philosophy within in your field, potential customers and clients feel they know who you are, not merely what you do, and they are far more likely to want to be associated with you.

For that very reason, one important facet of my job as professional ghost blogger is to “interview” business owner and professional practitioner clients, eliciting each one’s very individualized thoughts. In a way, I’ve concluded, SEO marketing blogs are just extended, serialized interviews, with the reader learning from the blog posts about the  culture and “personality” of a business or practice.

But, what if the business owner or practitioner hasn’t yet formed an opinion on some important topic?  In that case, Swallow suggests taking polls and reporting on the results. And, as I teach Indianapolis blog content writers, it’s valuable to readers when you clarify and put into perspective both sides of a thorny issue within your industry or profession.

Marketing guru Seth Godin speaks of “cat blogs”, describing them as “personal and idiosyncratic”, written for purposes of self-expression or to gain converts to an opinion or cause.  And, while the type of corporate blogging for business I and my Say It For You writers produce fall within the category Godin dubs “viral blogs”, a little bit of “cat” goes a long way in “humanizing” those blogs and making them more engaging for readers.

“When consumers get helpful information from an authoritative source that has a human face, they are more likely to come back and purchase from that source,” says InteractMedia.com.

For all of the five years of Say It For You’s existence, before offering business blogging help to any company or practice, I've asked the owner or practitioner to answer a question:  If you had only eight to ten words to tell me why you’re passionate about what you do, what would those words be?”  It’s not uncommon for my clients to discover, in the course of being interviewed, that  they do have important opinions to express through blogging for business, after all!

It’s gotten to be a habit of mine - I read signs. We Indianapolis blog content writers can learn a lot from signs, I’m convinced - from how to go about engaging people’s interest, to how to fairly represent a business owner’s or professional’s mission.

One day, driving south on Meridian, I noticed a sign out in front of the Indiana Blood Center. Its message was short and sweet:

                        ”Craving cookies?  Come on in!”

Well, I’ll tell you, I’m a professional ghost blogger, and I offer business blogging training, and… for the rest of that day, I just couldn’t get the message from that sign out of my mind.

First off, the way SEO marketing blogs work was perfectly captured in the two very short sentences on the Indiana Blood Bank sign:

Through the search engine optimization process, potential customers search online for a product or service they’re interested in. Because you have a “sign” outside (the keyword phrases you’ve used in your frequently posted blog content), the search engine has “delivered” those potential buyers to your “digital doorstep”.

They’ve got the “craving”; you’ve got the “cookies”.

 You invite those customers to “come on in” by clicking on the link to your blog post.

Another good thing about that sign is the “bonus”, meaning the cookies. Jimmy Brown writes in incomeondemand.org that offering a bonus that’s both desirable to customers and easy to deliver gets prospects excited and increases the likelihood they’ll take action by buying your product or service. The Indiana Blood Bank is doing exactly that – using an incentive to get extra “sales” (blood donations).

But, arresting as the message was, and, as much as I like cookies, there’s something I didn’t at all like about the “deal”. You see, the Indiana Blood Center sign was doing something that I caution freelance blog writers to avoid – pulling a “bait and switch”.

Remember, the first thing online readers will see on your blog is its title, and largely based on that title, those searchers will decide whether to “come on in” and read your blog content. The title carries an implied promise that “what you see is what you’ll get”. In other words, in corporate blogging for business, the post needs to deliver on the promise in its title. Not that donating blood isn’t a noble cause, but no fair inviting me in on the basis of my craving for cookies, leaving out that I will first need to have my blood drawn!

If ever the Indiana Blood Center asks for Say It For You’s business blogging assistance, I plan to suggest the sign be changed to read, “Raise your sleeve if you crave cookies!”

Third on the list of three things you’ve got 118 seconds to accomplish in an elevator speech is  explaining the priorities you will deliver on, says Jeffrey Hayzlett, writing in Success Magazine.

Always on the alert for ways to convey marketing messages through corporate blog content writing, I couldn’t help recalling Hayzlett’s advice the other day.  A sign posted in (of all places) the ladies’ room in Panera Bread exemplified just such an 8-second mission/priority statement:

“Serve classic French bread and you’ll have many good friends.”

Actually, the other two Hayzlett elevator speech requisites apply to blogging for business as well:

Grab the attention of your would-be customer.
Freelance blog writers need to keep that Hayzlett motto firmly in mind.  “Aim for speed and immediate relevance,” Hayzlett cautions.  Of course SEO marketing blogs are all about relevance, because search engines will “introduce” you to potential customers based in large part on the relevance, along with the recency and frequency, of your blog content.

Describe what your business offers.
“Good, successful copy,” says fellow blogger Michel Fortin, tells the reader ‘why’ right up front.”
I teach Indianapolis blog writers to address five “why’s” in that 110 seconds left in the “elevator speech”: why you (the reader), why me (the blogger), why this (the offer), why now (the urgency), and why this price (the value).

Need business blogging assistance? Keep serving up that sort of classic blog content – you’ll have many good readers!

“A simple definition of ghost blogging is necessary,” a post by social media commentator Desiree Tunnell begins. “It is the practice of writing blog posts for others and is becoming increasingly common in the corporate world.”

When I first began my work as a professional ghost blogger, debates on the ethics of blogging for others often raged at networking meetings and seminars.  Meanwhile, of course, more and more companies were venturing into online marketing campaigns, viewing blog content writing as just another advertising and marketing function to be outsourced.

Five years and some 7,000 Say It For You blog posts later, I see the same “best practices” debate popping up in books and blogs. “Winning back time” is the way Doug Karr and Chantelle Flannery, co-authors of the book “Corporate Blogging for Dummies”, describe the big advantage for corporate executives, business owners, or professional practitioners in “hiring it done when it comes to composing, researching, and editing content for SEO marketing blogs. “Ghostblogging,” say the authors, “isn’t a dirty word, nor is it a dirty profession.”

Using the Flannery/Karr definition, the Say It For You freelance blog copywriters in Indianapolis are not “ghosting”.  True ghost writing, the authors explain, involves ghostwriters signing their work with the name of the business owner or practitioner for whom they’re writing. In contrast, I recommend posts be signed “by Susie of the ABC Company’s blog team.”

“Decide ahead of time whether you wish to disclose that you’re using a ghost blogger,” warn Flannery and Karr. “There is always the possibility of a ghost blogger being discovered.”

Zipping points, according to witty public radio host Michael Feldman, are over-used phrases he believes should be kept inside our heads and never allowed to escape our lips – or pens!

Feldman’s warning certainly applies to business blog content writing.  Sure, in Say It For You corporate blogging training sessions, I urge freelance blog content writers to use a less formal and more conversational tone.  But, pu-leeze, I’ll now add, make the Feldman “no-no” list your own, avoiding once-popular expressions such as “going forward’, “operationalizing”, and “low-hanging fruit”.

(Readers, you're invited to comment by sharing your own 'no-no" list of trite expressions!)

Lists have always been basics in SEO marketing bloggers’ tool kit, but they’ve been lists of keyword phrases and of categories. Now, having laughed my way through Feldman’s bathroom reader “What D’Ya Know?”, I plan to refer to two lists in my work as a professional ghost blogger: 

1. Keyword Phrases
2. Zipping Points

What that means is that never again, in my writing for business owners or professional practitioners, will I refer to “ramping up”, “outsourcing”, “getting your game on”, or “knowledge acquisition”, much less “manage expectations”, or “prioritize”.  No longer will I describe any Say It For You client’s product or service as a “game-changer”.

Mr. Feldman, I can tell you your list is going to be of great business blogging help. My professional ghost blogger mouth and pen (keyboard?) are “zipped up”, you will be happy to know!

“Viable, changing content becomes the engine that powers your website,” cautions friend and fellow blogger Phil Steele. A professional blog content writer like myself, Steele urges business owners who lose enthusiasm at any point to recruit someone “who can keep things afloat for you.”

One very useful pointer in the Steele blog post “A Ferrari Without an Engine” concerns objectivity.  “Too many business blogs serve as extended advertisements,” he warns, suggesting business blog writing would be better aimed at taking a bird’s-eye view of one’s industry, and only then relating back to one’s own business.

I find that advice particularly appropriate for my Say It For You clients who are professional practitioners.  Offering an industry bird’s-eye view is a good idea in all blogging for business, of course, but it’s especially important for doctors, accountants, lawyers, life coaches, and others offering personal services to use blog content writing to make three things very clear:

• their specialty or niche within their field
• their special “philosophy” about their area of practice
• their unique approach to providing client services

In marketing lingo, “dripping” means sending out a series of small messages, usually through email, to customers or prospects over time. Radio advertising, in which the idea is to hit as many people as possible, as many times as possible, is a form of drip marketing, because most listeners need to hear something several times before they act.  Freelance blog writers can help business owners and professional practitioners employ a similar technique through their inbound marketing campaigns in the form of blogging.

The industry overview Steele talks about, you know, taking a bird’s eye view of one’s professional field or industry, then relating back to one’s own business? That can be one tall order to fill on a single web page - or ten web pages, for that matter. Corporate blog writing is a much better tool for the job.

Viable, changing content is what’s needed to convey objectivity.  And, remember, objectivity is an object in blogging for business!

My Say It For You corporate blogging training company, I discovered, has a sort of counterpart in Australia – Dental Web Strategies, whose motto is “helping Australian dentists become visible online.”

Like me, Dental Web Strategies subscribes to the Hubspot blog, and in this post it’s calling attention to a recent Hubspot discussion on a topic I’ve touched on many times: how very hard it is for business owners to find time to blog on a regular basis.
 
While everyone seems to be in agreement that business blogging content needs to be posted frequently, there’s room for disagreement on just what kind of frequency is called for. Hubspot had pointed out that the schedule for an SEO marketing blog should be determined by the particular business’ “competitive needs”.

“Let’s be straight about this,” Dental Web offers, pointing out that most Australian dental websites don’t even have a blog! So, they conclude, “to decide the best schedule for your blogging efforts, it behooves you to look at the dental websites in your local area and see what the schedule for posting is for your competitors. If no one is blogging in your area, a fortnightly or monthly post would probably be all you need to stand out from your competitors.”

In other words, the recommendation is to develop “peripheral vision”, being aware of what competitors are doing “around” your area, and working to stay just one step ahead of them.

Remember that old joke about two men hiking who come upon a bear?  The first man immediately takes off his boots and starts putting on running shoes.  “What are you doing?” his buddy asks.  “You can’t outrun a bear!”  “I don’t have to,” replied the first guy.  “I just have to outrun YOU!”

In terms of getting “indexed” by search engines, blogging for business means building a type of equity, ”saving your spot” online. Your blog content writing doesn’t have to outrun “the bear” (the entire universe of providers in your field), only your own competitors.
 

“Companies have to be willing to share their points of view in their digital content,” explains Marketing News, adding that “Your point of view needs to be relevant enough to be part of a conversation that’s taking place, but differentiated enough to stand out.”

So how do we do that? is the question blog content writers in Indianapolis ask.  Think about the problem you’re solving, says Marketing News, and where that problem might take us over the next five to ten years.

To me as a corporate blogging trainer, that translates into business bloggers realizing that blogging is first about thinking, and only secondarily about putting those thoughts into words.  Maybe even more important in the case of SEO marketing blogs is getting readers to think about the issues and problems on which you’re offering information and expertise.

In blogging for business, of course, the content needs to be based on solid research into the needs and interests of the target customer.  In offering business blogging assistance to business owners, though, I explain that market research is not enough to infuse true life into the blog. Customers, I explain, want to know what you think and where you’re “coming from”; they want to know your unique slant on your industry. In short, they want to get to know you.

The first part is relatively simple. Online searchers have found your blog, and they’ve stayed long enough to assure themselves that the information they find there is a good match for their needs (you offer the products and/or services they came for). But now, those prospects still need to choose whether to become your client/buyer/patient/customer.

The questions I ask Indianapolis blog writers, then, include:

• Is your point of view clear? 
• Is that viewpoint relevant to a current need or conversation or trend? 
• Is your point of view differentiated enough to stand out? 

You might say readers need to “hear” you think!

Financial planners are into blogging these days, and the FPA Practice Management Solutions Magazine offers “20 Tips for Becoming a Successful Blogger.”

As a longtime Indiana blog content writer myself, I thought one of Gary DeAsi’s and Evan Stone’s tips was “spot on”:

“Don’t be afraid to write in tried-and-true blog genres,” they urge, listing eight types of blogs they say are proven attention-getters”.

1. Advice
2. Collections and top lists
3. Reviews
4. Predictions
5. Motivation
6. Trouble-shooting
7. Interviews
8. Editorial/ Personal reflection

Every one of these techniques can be used effectively for SEO marketing blogs. As a matter of fact, I’m inspired to challenge each of you Say It For You blog readers to come up with blog titles for as many of these categories as you can.  If you submit your best titles, I’ll publish them here, along with some tips on fleshing out those ideas to suit your own business.

Here are a few of my own title ideas for future for blog posts.  (These are designed to arouse curiosity while incorporating a Say It For You keyword phrase in each title.)
:

• (Advice)  Best Ways for Indianapolis Blog Writers to Curate OPB’s (Other People’s Blogs)
   
• (Lists) Six Smaller-Than-a-Breadbox Items to Trigger Blog Content Writing Ideas
   
• (Prediction) Why You’ll Beat the Blog Content Writing Odds in Just Three Short Months
   
• (Personal reflection)  Bolero Dancing and Blog Writing Bring Out My  Personal Best
   
• (Motivation)  Blogging for Business – You can Do It, But You Gotta have Heart!

Financial planners are in the advice-giving business; I sure hope they take this excellent advice they’ve been given about getting creative around tried-and-true blog writing genres!

When things aren’t going right in business, the natural tendency is to point fingers away from oneself – whatever’s wrong, it’s the fault of that guy or gal over there, that other department, or that other manager.” says Bill Jeffries, President & CEO of Executive Strategies International.

That’s why, in working with employees to develop high-performing teams, Jeffries insists the “senders”, (aka the blamers) come along to the sessions with their “send-ees”. Similarly, in the Israeli Defense Forces, an officer is always expected to lead from the front. The famous cry of the officer is "aharai!" (follow me).

Does all this have anything to do with providing business blogging assistance? I really think so. It doesn’t matter, in my book, whether business owners or professional practitioners are doing their own blog posting or hiring professional ghost bloggers like me to help. The blog’s message might be well-thought out, or it might even be unintentional. Either way, wherever there’s a blog, that blog is conveying the values and beliefs of the owners.  You might say blog content writing is one way of inviting online readers to “come on in” and become part of the process of bringing those values to life.

The business owner offering advice through blogging for business is, in a way, the sender. (He or she’s giving advice, issuing Calls to Action, and “driving” traffic to the website, basically assuming a leadership role.  The online reader searching for information, products, and services is the send-ee in the typical corporate blog writing scenario.

Thing is, the cry of the blogger had better be “aharai!” (the cry of leading from the front), not the cry of either salesperson or movie director. In a blog offering information about health products or services, it needs to be obvious the content writer is a believer in and user of those very products and services. What reader can be engaged in advice about stock trading when the advisor has all her money in CD’s? In corporate blogging training sessions, I stress sincerity and passion over facts and figures when it comes to SEO marketing blogs.

Freelance blog writers in Indianapolis – how many ways can you say “Follow me!”?