Don't Be Blah, Blog Well

Sure, anyone can blog. And if you're in business, you should. But you don't want to just do it. (Sorry, Nike.) You want to do it well.

A good blog is like a good friend. It calls from time to time, with news, a joke, a timely reminder. Occasionally sends a picture of someone you knew in high school or asks, "what did you think of that Glee episode with all the Whitney Houston songs?" A really good friend (or blog) will sometimes even pop by with a job tip for you.

The thing is, if your friend doesn't call, doesn't answer your emails, or just sort of forgets about you, you'll probably move on.

So will your customers, if your company blog becomes a piece of internet history, or just plain irrelevant. Don't let that happen to your blog.

What should your blog say? Who should say it? and What's the point? 

You should ask these questions before you start blogging. There's more than one right answer to each question, but you have to make sure you have answers, and that your answers make sense for you and your strategic business plan.


What should your blog say?
Well, honestly, only you can answer that. Make sure it's relevant TO YOUR READERS. That's the best advice I can give you. Bonus tip: pay attention to how I formatted that. I very, very rarely type using all caps, and even rarer still are they bold, italicized, and underlined. Hint, hint.

More good advice falls under the heading, "Don't write BS."

Who should say it?
Anyone can blog. But if your company president/CEO wants to put his/her face on the blog, you gotta ask: how often will it be updated? Maybe you should consider a ghost blogger to help keep things fresh. 

What's the point? 
The point of blogging is baiting, at least in the commercial world. Take Marcia Yudkin's advice so your bait doesn't swim away and land on somebody else's hook. Make sure your strategy includes an easy way for your prospect to get something helpful from you (for free - infographics are nice, for example) as long as that something is clearly copyrighted (by you!) and then, follow-up. Check regularly to make sure your bait (white papers, tips and trends articles, whatever you're offering for the price of an email address/contact name) isn't trolling for customers behind someone else's ship.

Last summer, the Social Media Examiner published a fairly detailed look at how to bring more eyeballs to your blog.  More to it than you thought? That's one of the primary reasons why savvy companies hire professionals to manage their blogs. 

Blogs are so easy to create, it's ridiculous. I wonder how many poor, unwanted blogs are out there, abandoned in the ether? Too many. And worse - at least, I think it's worse - are that many great blogs are horribly neglected. You know, you get all excited reading a few good entries and then...the dust starts to build up. Pretty soon it's just another moldy blog. Please, don't be that guy.

~Diane Stresing

Wasted Writing: When the Offer isn't Worth the Ink

Personally, I have never been asked by a client to create a "worthless" e-mail campaign, Facebook offer, or other ad copy that isn't worth the ink. If I ever am, I think - and I hope - I'll be tough enough to reply, "is that the best you've got?"

Some campaigns (sorry, Starbucks) really aren't worth bothering customers about. The ads amount to worse than wasted time and money for the company. They also add to the general clutter of our collective consciousness and increase the likelihood that "subscribers" (and some firms use that term very loosely - are you listening, Viacom?) will just hit delete.

Case in point: Starbucks rewards card e-mail campaign, July 18-22
The "big news" was that the retail stores are reinstating the "Treat Receipt" offer. How big is it? You decide:

Bring your morning receipt in after 2 p.m. at participating stores and we'll serve you up a cold grande beverage for just $2.

Yep, that was the lead offer. The only offer, in fact - followed by seven (7!) advertisements, none of which included money-savings offers.

I'm not sure how these things get through multiple marketing department decision makers. I like to think I would have spoken up in the corporate boardroom and said, hey, now that there's a Starbucks on almost every corner and penny-pinching is everybody's new favorite hobby, offers need to be a lot more attractive than "spend disposable income here twice in one day and save a buck."

Maybe they wouldn't have listened to me. I hope my clients will.

- - - - - - - - next: Make sure your communications have operational back-up - - - - - - - - 

Need a writer who speaks her mind - even if it upsets the apple cart? I never lose sight of my customer service and marketing background, and believe it's my job as a writer to make sure your message is the best it can be. I don't waste your ink or your time, and I do everything I can to give your customers and prospects something worth reading. Contact me for a free consultation.

Content is still King

So sez William Rice in September's Promo Magazine.

In his article on Web Marketing 101, Mr. Rice seems to suggest that writers are necessary, even in the all-about-eye-candy land of web design.

"FOCUS ON CONTENT" is first of the four steps he recommends to "help ensure a Web site's effectiveness."

Content is what people come looking for. And they expect much more than just words. They want links to manuals, customer testimonials or ratings, and virtual demos. Content needs to be as entertaining as it is informative.

I like this guy. Even if he does end a sentence with a preposition.