Thursday 31 January 2013

Blogging for business


When approached in the right spirit, blogging can be a low-cost way of engaging with existing and potential customers. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, a blog affords you the space to effectively demonstrate your expertise. However, like its social media cousins, it lets you speak like a human and prompts two-way conversation.

Not convinced? That’s fair. We resisted blogging for years. ‘Too time-consuming’, we muttered. ‘No one would read it!’ We declared. ‘Maybe we’ll give it a go.’ We finally relented.  That was over a year ago. And we haven’t looked back.

The masterplan
Blogging for business works. It’s simply all about finding a system which suits what you’re trying to achieve. Our blog is set up to demonstrate our copywriting expertise and steer people towards our website and portfolio. 


So we make sure each post is packed with insights into copywriting and the processes behind it. Well, that’s the plan anyway. However, we also ensure that we respect the medium. By that I mean: we try and be entertaining.

Hair down, glasses off
You see, blogging isn’t inherently a business medium. Blogs are free, fun, fast and primarily individual. So blogging brands must tread carefully. The writing needs to be direct and personable. If it’s too corporate you’ll stick out like a Scot on a beach. Too scholarly and you’ll have as much chance of getting your message across as a supply teacher on the last day of term. Class never started for the blogging world, so observe the rules of the playground.

Something to skive to
That’s why we treat our blog as ‘coffee reading’. It might cover similar topics as our company website, but it’s written in a very different style. We keep our tone of voice light, human and slightly irreverent – perfect for reading over a mid-morning coffee. However, we try and ensure our spelling and punctuation remains as tight as ever. Blogging has never been about grammar and typos - but we are supposed to be copywriters!

Over the past year, our blog has proved increasingly successful at attracting new business. Visitors seem to enjoy the engaging style of writing and appreciate the easy-to-access copywriting nuggets. The fact that our two most viewed posts are lists (Ten deadly copywriting sins & Is your annual report writer a perfect five?) is proof of this.

Charm them
Blogs are an unmissable opportunity to differentiate your company from the competition and show you have your finger clamped firmly to your industry’s pulse. However, to make the most of it, you need to give the reader something in return for their time: an entertaining read in the correct spirit of blogging.

At Barnaby Benson Copywriting we ghostwrite blogs for a number of brands and prominent individuals. If you think your company could benefit from our blogging service, get in touch. You won’t look back, trust us.

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