by Elle Ray | Nov 26, 2014 | Blog Writing
Is That the Turkey or Your Mother-in-Law?
That’s the question we’ve always wanted to ask. That sound — gobble, gobble — could be what turkeys mutter as they voice their displeasure. Or it could be what people (not just your mother-in-law) sound like at the Thanksgiving Day table. Or it could be both. Both, we could argue, represent this holiday.
Perhaps the bigger question is how that ties into the business of business blogging, since that is one of the things we do at Ray Access. It’s not such a stretch when you take the time to consider it. We cover a wide range of topics on this blog, from writing tips to ergonomic office furniture to small business tips to fashion advice (of all things). We can write about Thanksgiving if we want to.
Tying Your Blogs into Current Events
The point is that it sometimes the subject of your blog post doesn’t matter. You want to be able to reach out on your blog to attract a wide variety of readers. Readers who come to your blog are visitors to your website. If your blog is working properly, you are attracting the right audience. For Ray Access, our audience is anyone with a business or a message. So we cast a wide net.
You can do the same. Write about current events, holidays, or popular subjects. Use keywords that people are currently searching for. You may attract new readers and new visitors to your website. Once they arrive, they may decide to take a look around your website, especially if they fit your target demographic.
How to Write Current Event Blog Posts
The trick to tying your blog posts to current events is to find the angle that connects your business to the event or holiday. It’s not that difficult to do. For example, in this blog post, we’re discussing writing techniques for blog posts, but tying it to the Thanksgiving holiday. Reread that last sentence. Taken out of context, it seems like a stretch, and yet this post hits the mark.
Anyone looking for Thanksgiving tips, the sound a turkey makes or complaints about mothers-in-law may find our little blog post and gain some insight about writing. If they are also a business owner and find themselves in need of writing help, they’ll likely remember us.
At least, that’s our evil plan.
You Can Do It Too
All you need is to set aside some time — an hour, several minutes, whatever you can squeeze into your schedule — and brainstorm a few ideas about how to connect your business to current events. It can be a direct tie, as when we wrote a blog post for a gastroenterologist client about the illnesses on cruise ships in the news. Or it could be more abstract, like tying a business-writing business to the Thanksgiving holiday.
If you get stuck, call in the pros at Ray Access. We do this for a living. We can help you attract a wider audience while gradually raising your page rank. Content marketing works, but only if you keep at it. Don’t let complacency drop your page rank; let us help.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Mark Bloom | Sep 4, 2014 | Blog Writing
Keep Your Blog Great: Avoid the One-Note Blog
The purpose of a business blog is to attract an audience. A well-written, well-considered blog can educate your customers and potential customers. It can answer in-depth questions. It can explain the ins and outs of your industry. If successful, a business blog can show up on related keyword searches organically, ready to bring new visitors to your website.
This road, while it does work, is fraught with peril. If you turn your blog into a sales pitch, touting your products and services at every turn, announcing new offerings and sales events, or going into detail about your quality, your audience will tune out. Only a small percentage of the visitors to your website are ready to buy right now!
Rule #1: Inform, Don’t Sell
The worst thing a business blog can do — aside from not having a blog at all — is to bore its audience. We see this often, both in blogs and in social media. The subjects tackled, the writing style, the stock photos … everything points to a lack of commitment. If you’re trying to sell your products or services on your blog — as your first priority — you will drive your readers away.
Your blog is your opportunity to explain what your readers don’t already know about your industry. If you are a new car dealer, don’t use your blog to boast about the new models. Instead, use it to describe the new features on those models and why customers should want them. Instead of advertising sales events, use your blog to explain how to get the best deal.
An article on getting the best deal on a car lot is likely to attract a lot more readers than an article announcing your seasonal sale. In addition, if you add value with your blog writing — with educational topics, tips or interesting facts — customers will remember you when they are ready to buy.
Rule #2: Don’t Beat a Dead Horse
If you find you’re writing about the same topic over and over, your audience will soon tire of it. Stop beating that dead horse. Your blog isn’t just about finding different angles to explore about the same topic. Regardless what your business or industry is, you can find thousands of topics to write about.
For example, if you’re an accounting business, stop writing about the advantages of hiring an accountant or providing QuickBook tips. Take a step back. Consider your readers (if you have any remaining). Why would they even be on your site? Write about something else that would interest them, which brings us to…
Rule #3: Diversify
How does your business tie into food? Water? Interpersonal relationships? The environment? Entertainment? These are topics people care about in their daily lives. If you can find an intersection between what you do and what people want to learn more about, you’ve struck gold. You can write about something people will want to read … and share.
Other tips for diversifying your blog:
- Find a topic in the news and write about that
- Consider your own passions and write about what brought you into your business
- Every once in a while, take a broad look at the state of your industry
- Focus on your customers’ wants and needs outside of your business
In fact, do this last one all the time. Put yourself in your readers’ place. Why are they reading this? Why are they here? What do they want? You’ll succeed if you can answer these questions. If you get stuck, we’re in the business of answering questions.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | May 27, 2014 | Blog Writing
And Why Current Events Should Matter to You
One of the most common — and most effective — ways to get consistent hits on your blog is to tie some of your topics to current events. When people are searching the web for information about a plane crash, an epidemic or a recent celebrity wedding, there’s a good chance that your newly posted, well-written blog may come up in the search. And after all, your blog should be attracting new visitors to your website.
Image courtesy of Gualberto107 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Stay on Top of the News
To begin, you’ve got to stay tuned to the news of the day. You can’t expect to keep up-to-date on current events if you’re not a regular news reader. And that means all sections of the news cycle, from entertainment to world news, local happenings and celebrity gossip.
Get in the habit of scanning the headlines of a thorough daily news website that covers all the main topics of the day. Watch for a tie-in to your industry or geographic area. Then write a blog post that either answers questions that were raised or mentions your area of expertise.
Use Newsworthy Keywords
To get a search engine’s attention, you need to incorporate keywords that people may be searching for. If you’re writing about food poisoning to tie in with the latest cruise line outbreak, for example, include keywords such as “cruise line outbreak,” or “food poisoning on cruises.” If you’re blogging about allergies, tie into the spring allergy reports in the news with slogans commonly used.
If your tie-in is local, make sure to include the area as it’s referred to in the news. For example, a landslide in Western North Carolina may effect your area of Asheville, but the news keeps referring to the “WNC landslide.” Be sure to include the words “WNC landslide,” even if your blog is about how to prevent mold after flooding in the city of Asheville.
Write and Post Quickly
Just as quickly as news occurs and is reported, the media is on to the next big disaster or celebrity misbehavior. When you’re tapping into current events for your blog topics, make sure they really are timely. Attaching your name to the fires in California won’t be as effective a week after they’ve been extinguished. Nor will your blog post about how to communicate in a marriage hold as much search engine strength a month after a big celebrity divorce as it might when the famous couple first has a shouting match in public.
When you see news that you could tie into your own business, write the blog post that same day or contact Ray Access to quickly knock out a relevant article that provides unique content with a current event twist. Post it within 24 hours of the news reporting cycle to get the most from the tie-in.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | May 13, 2014 | Small Business Advice
We All Resist Doing What We Know We Should
We know we should exercise more, eat less, get more sleep, relax more often, play with the kids and take more vacations. As small business owners, we know we should clean our tools, make more cold calls, update our marketing brochure and write a weekly blog. But too often we just don’t do what we “should” do.
Procrastination, that devil of idleness, can lead to a whole host of issues. Never mind the weight gain and lost business opportunities. Forget the bags under your eyes and the slipping of your website ranking. Those are just the consequences. How about all that guilt and the negative messages we send ourselves about how we’re failing? Face it, no good comes of procrastinating on doing things that are good for us.
And yet at the same time, no good comes from the “shoulds.” Here are our tips for overcoming the dreaded “shoulds:”
Stop Talking
Stop the endless chatter about what you have to do and follow the old Nike saying: “just do it.” Too often, says author and sociologist Martha Beck, we kid ourselves into thinking we are making progress when all we’re really doing is adding more verbiage to our stories and our “shoulds.” We discuss, plan and talk about the issues in meeting after meeting, but we end up with the same results at the end of the day: nothing done and going home with more remorse to keep us tossing through the night.
Get Real
It takes a lot of courage to face the truth. Whether you’re afraid of failing, not sure how to move forward or just plain not interested in those things hanging out on your “should” plate, there’s a reason that you’re not getting the important stuff done. Instead of trying to force results, take a step back and figure out what is standing in your way and work on removing that obstacle. Take a class, delegate, accept the status quo or change directions. Get counseling if necessary, if that’s what it takes to get real. Do something to drop the sack of rocks in your “should” bag, and you’ll sleep like a baby.
Find Help
Business owners in general believe they are strong, confident and capable. Without those characteristics, they’d be working in a cubicle collecting a safe paycheck every week. But oftentimes, it’s those very same independent streaks that keep them stuck and full of “shoulds.”
It’s the really strong, confident leader who admits to not having all the answers. It’s the smart entrepreneur who asks for help. Join a support group, hire extra help or just read a helpful blog. Chances are that someone else has felt the same way as you do and carried similar fears and doubts to bed each night. The odds are pretty good that someone else has found solutions they are willing to share. All you have to do is ask.
Like us.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Mark Bloom | Mar 17, 2014 | Small Business Advice
How to Decide If Your Business Needs a Blog
We could say everyone needs a blog, but it’s not exactly true. Not everyone needs a blog. Blogs are only valuable if they fulfill a specific purpose.
If you don’t plan to use your website for anything more than a contact page, then you shouldn’t spend any time or effort on a fancy site, expensive videos or informative blogs. Give customers your address, phone number and hours of operation and be done with it.
When a Blog Matters…
But if you plan to do any marketing at all, if you want to tap into the power of social media, if you expect customers to visit your site regularly for updates and new offerings or if you want to encourage your existing clients to send their friends to your site, then you need to have a blog. And it has to be good, sharing quality content that actually helps them.
Blogs also give you a chance to put fresh content on your site, which helps give it a higher page rank on organic search results. (Sorry to get technical: “organic” means your website appears after a search on your industry or specialty.) Blogs provide the perfect segue to social media platforms. They give you a positive presence among the barrage of ads and promotions people don’t want on their Facebook pages or in their email boxes.
Websites, in case you’ve been unaware how things have changed, have replaced the Yellow Pages for all intents and purposes. When coming to your page, visitors often look for a blog; it’s often where they expect to find the information they need about your business. So you need a blog, and the content in it has to be “share-worthy.”
What’s in a Blog…
Your customers want you to keep them updated. They want to hear from you, the expert, about the latest trends, the most recent news and the best tips and tricks. And it’s your job to give them exactly that. Educate your customer base, and they’ll remember you when they’re ready to buy.
Use your blog to tell stories about your industry. Inform your customers about new ways to use your products or services. Tie your business into current events.
Sure, you can use a blog as a personal journal. Just keep it off your business site if you plan to use the platform to rant or rave about politics, religion and celebrities (unless that’s your business). Personal blogs should be clearly labeled as such and have no connection to your business.
So, Who Needs a Blog?
Do you plan to use electronic marketing as part of your strategic plan for the coming year? If so, then you need a blog. It’s that simple.
Who writes blogs? You can do it yourself if you have the time and inclination. If you only one or the other, contact us at Ray Access. We provide quality blog content that will keep your customers coming back for more. It’s what we do for a living.
If you like writing your blog, but you’ve hit a wall about what to write about, we can supply you with a list of blog topics that will keep your blog fresh. Finally, one more note: if you have a blog, keep it updated. Nothing turns off a visitor to your site than a blog without fresh content.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Mar 4, 2014 | Blog Writing
Eight Proven Ways to Get Your Juices Flowing
Writing in Asheville rarely leaves our creativity time to go dormant. Around every corner sits a new and intriguing idea, an exciting question or an entirely off-beat take on an old suggestion. A brief walk through downtown or a quick drive up a mountain highway can get your ideas juices flowing. And it’s during those times that you need to prepare for your blog.
Too often, we hear of bloggers who sit down at their computers and expect to create a sensational piece that will draw readers in and excite their imaginations. We all want to create the kind of reading experience that will make our customers stand up and pay attention. But if we wait until the last minute to tap into the well of ideas, the flow may just not be there on demand.
What’s a Blogger to Do?
The following suggestions are what keep us at Ray Access in tune with our creative juices, maintaining a flow of ideas for our blog (and yours if you’re a client). Here are our tips for coming up with your own website blog ideas:
- Keep a highlighter handy at all times to help you remember a great idea you got from a newspaper or other published print source.
- Carry a small notepad and jot down ideas when they come, no matter where you are. Stick one on your nightstand because the brain can get active when we begin to shut down or just after waking.
- Call yourself and leave a message you can listen to at a more appropriate time when you get struck with inspiration.
- Bookmark news websites or industry articles that get your thoughts all wound up and activated.
- Throw out a challenge to friends and family members at dinner to give you blogging ideas. And then write them down before you forget.
- Put yourself in your customers’ seats and think about what they might want to know.
- Perform a keyword search every couple weeks to see what’s trending on the big search engines and incorporate those ideas in your own topics.
- Read, read, and read some more. The fact is that writers read. Not only will ideas for topics jump from the pages, but you’ll become a better writer too.
We hope these ideas stirred up some inspiration for you. No matter where you are, capture those ideas for later, when you’re ready to write. We do, so we have lots of ideas. If you run out, we can deliver 25 new topics for your blog for 25 dollars.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
