8 Tips for Content Marketing on Your Blog,
One Conversation at a Time

If a blog writing is “like having a conversation,” then how should I write it? How can I possibly have a conversation when I don’t know who’s reading it? And…if it’s one-way, then it’s really not a conversation, but a monologue…

Okay, let’s not get so literal here that you talk yourself into writer’s block. All I’m saying is when writing on a business blog, forget what they taught you in school about writing an essay or an article or a report.

My point is this: on your blog, write more like you talk, and write sentences like you would use in a conversation with a favorite client.

You can even make up a typical response like I did in the opening paragraph. Invent a conversation.

Direct marketers and copywriters are expert at doing this. They are the ones making a fortune writing sales letters that persuade people to pick up the phone or click the buy button with their credit cards in hand.

Have you ever noticed that when you read a really good sales letter, at just the moment you start to think of reasons not to buy, they address your objections? It feels like they’re reading your mind. That’s because they are. When they write, they are putting themselves in the mind of the reader.

That’s why their writing feels more like a conversation than a TV commercial telling you to do something.

So how does this translate to blog writing, when the reason you’re blogging isn’t really to chit-chat and make small talk, but in fact you really want to get found, get known, and get clients? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Write with the pronoun “I” and “you”. Imagine your reader in front of you.
2. Start with a question for your reader that addresses their problems and challenges.
3. Tell them how you’ve dealt with a similar situation (or how one of your clients did)
4. Include some specific details to make it real and interesting, like a personal story
5. Include some feelings and emotions, because in real life people get angry, or bored, or frustrated, or excited
6. And because stories rarely come out perfect or ideal, include details that make it authentic
7. Wrap up your story with a few questions and suggestions, or a list of tips (like I’m doing here)
8. Ask your reader to take some action: leave a comment, email you, pick up the phone, click to buy, vote, subscribe to the blog, forward to a friend, re-tweet, etc.

Is this helpful to you? I’m thinking of a couple of clients as I write this, and imagining them applying these tips as they write on their blogs. The clients I’m thinking of are executive coaches. So, I guess my question is, if you’re not an executive coach, would these 8 tips be helpful to you, in your own business blog writing?

If so, let me know, and if not, then tell me why not. Thanks for stopping by to read. Be sure to subscribe to get more tips delivered right to your inbox.