Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

How to Blog More Powerfully About Upcoming Events

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© kichigin19 - Fotolia.com
© kichigin19 – Fotolia.com

A blog must do more than just promote your business. The true power of business blogging is the ability it gives you to educate, inform, entertain and inspire your audience.

But can your blog do all those things? Yes, absolutely, and it should! An effective call to action (CTA) was one of the three criteria Social Fresh used to choose the top blogs of 2014.

Since a blog has dates, it’s a natural place to promote upcoming events at your business, clinic or studio. You might even dedicate an entire post to describing the event, its presenters, location, and other features and benefits.

But what if you could write about your event in additional posts, in a non-promotional way that still gets people thinking about your event, and excited about attending?

In my signature presentation How to Write Your First Four Business Blog Posts, I identify four types of posts you can use to make blogging easier, week after week. The basic premise is that not all of your posts need to be feature-length articles such as a how-to post.

In fact, if you can write just one of those every month (and I know you can), you can fill in the other weeks with a variety of posts that may be shorter and easier for you to put together.

Let’s look at each of the four types of posts, specifically how to use them to promote an upcoming event.

The how-to post

Here you can offer your readers a DIY version of what you’re presenting at the event – or even a small portion of it.

Why would someone come to the event when you’ve given them what they need to accomplish the same results on their own? As Andrea Lee once pointed out, why would someone buy a concert ticket when you can just listen to a CD? For a completely different experience!

At the event people will get direct time with you, camaraderie and support from a group of people with similar goals, time away from their regular life to focus their attention on the topic, and much more.

Getting a solo introduction to the material in a blog post can fuel their interest and can also show them why and how they need more help and resources to get the full effect.

The personal post

Pull back the curtain and share your own reasons for putting on this event. Why are you passionate about getting people together to experience this? What are your personal and professional goals for the event?

What are some of the steps you’ve gone through in planning and implementing the event? Were there any bumps along the way that could be used as lessons – either directly or as an analogy?

The curated post

Browse your trusted sources from around the web for useful resources to prepare for the event, as well as entertaining and/or educational videos about the topic.

You can provide links to text-based blog posts, along with a quote and/or a summary that includes your commentary on why you chose to share this resource and why you think it will be valuable to your reader.

For more visual interest and interaction, you can also embed content such as infographics, YouTube videos, SlideShare presentations, or audio podcasts right into your blog post.

The spotlight post

Who are some of the other people involved in the event, such as speakers, vendors or other partners? Introduce them to attendees and prospective attendees in an interview or guest post. They may also have their own original content that could be repurposed or embedded into as a blog post on your site.

The richest source of enthusiasm about your event may come from attendees themselves. Who participated in a previous event and is coming back for more? Who is attending their first event and why are they so excited to do so? What unique experiences and perspectives do they bring, and what are they hoping to take away?

If you have an event coming up, don’t limit your blogging to just promotional posts! Draw your readers in with a rich mixture of blog posts that inspire them to be part of what you’re planning.

P.S. If you liked this post, you might enjoy the Blogging Tips newsletter, delivered weekly to your inbox! Sign up here.

Is Your Business Blog Too Sloppy or Too Dressy?

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© Ammentorp - Fotolia.com
© Ammentorp – Fotolia.com

Authenticity was a common theme at the recent Content Marketing World conference. Prospective customers must be able to see and connect with who you really are, in order to build a relationship that may eventually lead to them hiring you.

New business bloggers often feel tempted to try and sound smart in their blog posts so they can impress readers with their expertise.

Dressed up writing might look like:

  • Passive language rather than active
  • Complex terms instead of simpler, more common phrases
  • Jargon that only other industry experts will understand
  • Impersonal, “stuffy” tone of voice that feels distant from the reader

At the other end of the spectrum are the business bloggers who are far too quick with the Publish button. Pressured by time (and maybe an unrealistic publishing schedule), they’re more concerned with getting it done than the impression they might be making on their audience.

While done is definitely better than perfect, a poorly written blog post can have a far more negative impact than waiting another day or two to proofread your post.

Sloppy writing might look like:

How to dress your business blog for success

Think of it this way:

Would you leave your house for a business meeting wearing pyjamas and slippers? Probably not, since this wouldn’t be very professional.

On the other hand, you certainly don’t have to pour yourself into an evening gown or tuxedo every time you step outside your door. You won’t be comfortable, people won’t know how to relate to you, and your message will be lost in the distraction of how you’re dressed. And the very same things happen when you try to dress up your writing.

Instead, take the time to run a comb through your blog post and deal with any glaring errors. You can look the part of a professional expert, just don’t try to be someone you’re not.

This post was updated from Is your writing all dressed up but going nowhere?

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How to Write Helpful Instructions in Your Blog Posts

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© thinglass - Fotolia.com
© thinglass – Fotolia.com

“Youtility is marketing upside down. Instead of marketing that’s needed by companies, Youtility is marketing that’s wanted by customers. It’s massively useful FREE information, that creates long-term trust and kinship between a company and its customers.” – Jay Baer

The message was loud and clear at the recent Content Marketing World conference in Cleveland: Quality content can make a real difference if you focus on what you’re giving, not what you’re hoping to get.

When you teach your readers how to do something, it demonstrates three very important qualities about you and your business:

  1. You want to help
  2. You can help
  3. There is more help where that came from

Unfortunately, confusing or poorly written instructions won’t convey those principles.

If you don’t deliver the promise that the reader will learn “how to ….” whatever you’ve stated in your title and description, you will only turn away someone who could be a potential customer or referral source.

What do your customers need to know?

To choose the best topics for your how-to posts, answer these questions:

  • What are the most frequently asked questions you answer in a typical week, either over the phone, by email, or in person?
  • What common mistakes do you see people making in relation to your key blogging topics?
  • What do you wish your customers already knew how to do when they hired you?

5 tips for writing clear instructions

  1. Limit each list item or sentence to one action
  2. Use a numbered list if the number or order of steps is important; otherwise, use a bullet list
  3. Give your readers an idea of how long each step might take
  4. Separate any commentary about the topic so it’s not mixed in with the list of instructions – add it to the introduction or conclusion instead
  5. Test your instructions thoroughly – walk through them several times from your reader’s perspective; if you can, find volunteer testers from your target market (give yourself a week or so to collect their feedback and revise your post)

Inspire your readers to act

Whether or not your post outlines specific tasks, you can always provide some actionable steps at the end to help your reader apply their learning, such as:

  • Rehearsal: Ask your readers to practice a new behavior, habit or perspective. Suggest how many times per day or week they should do it, and in which specific situation(s).
  • Documenting: Ask your readers to keep track of their progress; give them a checklist to mark off their actions or ask them to record it in a journal.
  • Reporting: Ask your readers to share their results with you, your community or an accountability partner.

For personal growth topics, consider other options such as reflection (to ponder or consider the new idea and how they might integrate it into their lives) or journaling (to write about the topic using questions or prompts you provide).

When you take the time to write clear instructions, you increase the chances of helping your reader succeed with whatever problem they’re trying to solve. After getting such good results from your ideas, they will come back for more. And when they’re ready to seek help to go to the next level, they’ll have the confidence to choose you.

What’s something you’ve taught a customer or prospective customer how to do? Will you use my tips to put those instructions into a blog post? Send me a link, I can’t wait to read it!

This post was updated from The Art of Writing Clear Instructions (or How to Tell People What to Do) (Dec 2010). Some of the material was adapted from Chapter 23 of The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write, which has now been incorporated into the second edition of Write Your Way to More Clients Online.

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How One Professional Coach Keeps Writing, Week After Week

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Maripat-AbbottToday I’d like to introduce you to one of my weekly blog post editing clients. You’ll hear about how the accountability keeps her on track, along with three other keys to her consistent writing success.

Maripat Abbott is a relocation coach who helps families transition successfully through the emotional ups and downs of a corporate relocation. A certified yoga instructor, she finds that the principles of yoga are key to maintaining balance during transition, whether that is a change in geography or life.

Maripat and I have worked together since 2010 when she joined my Content Mastery Action Club, but had never met in person until last week.

Maripat and Linda

I stopped part way on my drive home from Content Marketing World in Cleveland, and Maripat drove two hours from her home in Pittsburgh so we could meet up in Erie, PA for lunch. It was such a wonderful visit!

Over the years Maripat has produced an impressive array of content that I’ve had the pleasure to edit, including articles for her newsletter and blog (one on her own site and an external blog she set up), guest posts for other sites and online magazines, LinkedIn, marketing materials, speeches, and her book, We’re Moving Where??? Five Steps to Relocation Ease.

Since I’ve seen so many of my clients and colleagues struggle to keep writing, I’ve always admired how consistent Maripat has been in sending me something to edit almost every week.

Be accountable

Recently I emailed Maripat to ask her how she does it. “That’s easy,” she said, “YOU!”

After reflecting on it, she wrote, “Investing in myself by hiring a talented, experienced and caring editor is the main thing that has helped me stay the course. If I pay someone for editing, I don’t miss a week of writing. I guess because I’m cheap!” she joked.

“Seriously,” she continued, “When I commit to paying, I produce. If I had only myself to be accountable to, writing wouldn’t happen at the same volume or at all.

As an entrepreneur, I don’t NEED to publish blog posts or anything for that matter. I don’t report to a boss. I don’t have deadlines. So without a deadline set by Linda, I wouldn’t write.”

Maripat also finds inspiration from other writers who got over their self-doubt, stuck with their writing schedule, and eventually built a following. “That gives me hope.”

Beware of comparing

Of course the downside of following other writers is the tendency to compare and feel like we don’t measure up. “My own inner critic is my largest challenge,” Maripat notes. “When I look at great writers who get thousands of ‘likes’ or ‘views’ on their posts or articles, my inner critic can stop me from writing, if I allow that.”

Take it easy

How does Maripat win out over the inner critic when it gets loud? “I write on topics that come easily to me, and postpone the hard topics. Sometimes I will even write poorly, and throw it over to Linda for editing. I’ll wait until the next week or so to resurrect it and make it better. Often all I need is a break and a new perspective.”

Keep the end goal in mind

“I also try to remember that my job as a coach is to educate on topics that I feel are valuable, and become a recognized expert in my niche, and one way to do that is to write and publish consistently until it pays off.”

Brilliant perspective, Maripat! Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. It’s been a pleasure working with you all of these years, and I look forward to many more years to come!

P.S. Want to get started on your own weekly editing package? Check out the 30-Day Blog Starter options.

Are List Posts Still Effective on Business Blogs?

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© tostphoto - Fotolia.com
© tostphoto – Fotolia.com

As saturated as the web is with list posts today, for most of us lists still hold great value. As business bloggers, lists help us organize our thoughts and get them on paper. For our readers, lists are a predictable and enjoyable way to learn and gather information.

Doug Kessler sums it up beautifully in this tweet from the Content Marketing World Twitter chat (#CMWorld):

(I compiled 10 key benefits of lists for both bloggers and readers in my own list post back in 2011. See The Top 10 Reasons We Love Lists.)

What about the people who hate lists?

As helpful as I think list posts are to both readers and writers, Kaleigh Moore thinks they’ve outlived their usefulness. She writes, “The trouble with these [top 10] posts is that they strive for quantity—not quality—by providing only surface level information rather than taking a deep dive into one particular point.”

Yet that’s exactly why I recommend new bloggers start with top 10 posts. Instead of facing a blank page with the pressure to astound the world with your brilliance, you can break down your years of experience into some quick, bite-sized tips that will really help someone who’s a beginner to the topic. And these surface-level posts are less intimidating for you to write.

When I’m taking a few minutes to read an article online, I’m not looking for earth-shattering insights or a deep dive lesson that requires a big investment to read and implement.

For me, sometimes those 10 points in someone else’s article are just what I need to validate something I already know, remind me to practice something I used to do but got away from, or reinforce my trust in a prospective service provider.

For one attendee of my recent “How to Write Your First Four Blog Posts” presentation at The Creative Space, list posts are a big turn-off. She said there are so many list posts online today they’ve completely lost any meaning or appeal.

I reassured her that if you hate lists, you don’t have to write list posts! You won’t feel good about it and that will come through to your reader. But you can still use the structure of a list to focus your thoughts and move the writing process along.

Popular personal finance blogger Trent Hamm says he starts every post as a list, even though he doesn’t necessarily present the ideas that way. After identifying the questions people are asking about his topic, he says, “I try to make a big long list of potential solutions to the problem. From there, I’ll start winnowing the list.”

Writing your list

When you’re stuck about what to write or concerned about staying on track, block your concepts into numbered points or sections, and keep these three things in mind:

  1. Use sub-headings and/or list titles to distinguish each separate point and help your reader navigate the page.
  2. Limit each section or list item to one point.
  3. Make sure every point delivers on the promise of your article’s title.

If you’re a more advanced writer, or you’ve been blogging for business for several years, by all means you can challenge yourself with Kaleigh’s blog post format ideas. But if you’re just starting out or you’re struggling to keep blogging week after week, stick with what works – and list posts work!

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