Writing on the Web from Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Marketing with Meaning Blog Author Bob Gilbreath Shows How to Market with Content

I never knew about Bob Gilbreath and his fabulous blog www.MarketingwithMeaning.com before Joe Pulizzi's list of Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs singled him out. I interviewed Bob recently about how he uses content to market his business.

Here's what Bob has to say about sharing personal stories on a business blog:

"I believe it is important to share as much of my personality as possible. I learned from my favorite blogs that the key to keep readers returning is to bring your own stories forward as much as possible. 

"Readers don’t just want a factual white paper from a talking head, they want to smile and see things from your individual perspective. 

"I often end up talking about everything from my children to my love for Guitar Hero, both to make key points and share who I am."

And here are other questions Bob generously responded to...

Personal Stories on Your Business Blogs: the fine line

James Chartrand writes a great post on Copyblogger about Why You Need to Transform Your Website Into a Story. He says,

"Effective web writers are moving away from bland, factual information. Readers won’t settle for that anymore.

It isn’t interesting. It isn’t compelling.

Facts don’t stir emotions and encourage people to take action. Facts don’t sell until people look to rationalize the buying decision they’ve made at an emotional level."

I agree. People do business with people, not companies.

So when I left on vacation I wrote a post in which I expressed gratitude, shared some personal information, and explained I would be re-publishing an important series about better business blog writing.

But I got a critical email from a reader who thought this was inappropriate. Here's what happened:

5 Ways to Enrich Your Blog Posts

Business blog authors love writing on blogs since it’s so quick and easy. You can usually post in 20-30 minutes and be done with it. That’s a great use of your marketing time, and you provide readers with valuable content to market your business.

But while ‘quick and easy’ is great, sometimes it’s not enough. Denise and I recommend you write at least one rich and meaty post a week. Stimulate your readers to think. Be profound. Go deep.

“Oh no,” you might be saying. “More time to spend on blogging!”

It gets even worse: here’s another “E” writing tip! Enrich your blog posts! First it was the 3E’s - Educate, Entertain and Engage readers.

Now there are 4 E’s! Educate, Entertain, Engage and Enrich with your blog posts!

How do you enrichen your post? Here are 5 ways. But don’t expect to be writing and posting in 20 minutes. This takes time to read, research, find quotes, and to link back to sources.

But while ‘quick and easy’ is great, sometimes it’s not enough. Denise and I recommend you write at least one rich and meaty post a week. Stimulate your readers to think. Be profound. Go deep.

“Oh no,” you might be saying. “More time to spend on blogging!”

It gets even worse: here’s another “E” writing tip! Enrich your blog posts! First it was the 3E’s - Educate, Entertain and Engage readers.

Now there are 4 E’s! Educate, Entertain, Engage and Enrich with your blog posts!

How do you enrichen your post? Here are 5 ways. But don’t expect to be writing and posting in 20 minutes. This takes time to read, research, find quotes, and to link back to sources.

Content Marketing: How do you write to entertain readers?

Part of content marketing involves good, entertaining writing, no doubt. Creating valuable content for your blog is easy when you follow the 4 E's of better business blog writing:

• Educate your readers generously, without solely focusing on your own products and services
• Entertain them, by sharing stories or video clips
• Engage them by getting them involved and participating
• Enrich their lives by saving them time, energy, or money or by adding value

How do you entertain readers of your business blog? One client of ours emailed to say:

 "I'm in the financial services business. I recognize the value of business blogging to educate people, but how the heck do I entertain them, especially now?"

Good point. Let's redefine what entertainment means to the average business blog reader. You have an opportunity to entertain your readers anytime you:

4 Questions a Business Blog Post Should ask and Answer

(Note: This is a follow up to a previous post Educate Your Readers, about the four different learning styles of blog readers. Since I'm on vacation this week, I'm republishing a series on better business blog writing.)

Why this is important: Because you want your blog posts to educate, entertain, and engage readers of your business blog. What do you need to remember when writing a post that's designed to educate?

According to the 4MAT system on www.aboutlearning.com, when you are educating people you need to appeal to four different kinds of learning styles:

1. Imaginative learners
2. Analytic learners
3. Common sense learners
4. Dynamic learners

How does this translate into blog writing for your business?

Why this is important: Because you want your blog posts to educate, entertain, and engage readers of your business blog. What do you need to remember when writing a post that's designed to educate?

According to the 4MAT system on www.aboutlearning.com, when you are educating people you need to appeal to four different kinds of learning styles:

1. Imaginative learners
2. Analytic learners
3. Common sense learners
4. Dynamic learners

How does this translate into blog writing for your business?

Content Marketing Goals: Educate

4 ways people learn

Remember the 3 E’s of Better Business Blogging? It's my short hand memory checklist before publishing a blog post: Educate, Entertain, & Engage readers.

You write to educate, entertain and engage readers when you want to build readerships and get great results with your blogging.

When it comes to educating readers, it’s important to take a page out of teachers’ notebooks. Teachers know that not all people learn the same way.

Most of us teach in the style we’re most familiar with: our own learning styles. If you’re analytical, you’ll teach using data. Your blog readers will understand and learn well if they’re like you.

But not all readers are the same. Denise is an active experimenter. She wants to know how to do something and needs to try it out before she learns something.

Remember the 3 E’s of Better Business Blogging? It's my short hand memory checklist before publishing a blog post: Educate, Entertain, & Engage readers.

You write to educate, entertain and engage readers when you want to build readerships and get great results with your blogging.

When it comes to educating readers, it’s important to take a page out of teachers’ notebooks. Teachers know that not all people learn the same way.

Most of us teach in the style we’re most familiar with: our own learning styles. If you’re analytical, you’ll teach using data. Your blog readers will understand and learn well if they’re like you.

But not all readers are the same. Denise is an active experimenter. She wants to know how to do something and needs to try it out before she learns something.