Copywriting Expert Identifies 'Sins of Blogging'
By: Allison Nazarian

Category: Writing and Speaking » Content and Copywriting
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Allison Nazarian of Get It In Writing tells business bloggers what to write about…and what to avoid

Copywriting and small business marketing expert Allison Nazarian of Get It In Writing, Inc., has singled out what she calls the “Top Three Sins” of blogging.

“Yes, blogging is still a new marketing arena,” explains Nazarian, who was most recently featured in a Wall Street Journal article entitled: Blog It and They May Come. “But this shouldn’t give business bloggers ‘carte blanche’ to discuss, point out and ruminate over anything and everything and under the sun.”

What are Nazarian’s Top Three Sins of business blogging?

ü Getting too personal. Keep personal revelations and details about your life out of your business blog. Avoid posting details about your partying, your child’s potty-training or your most recent fight with your significant other. Clients and potential clients like to see a real person behind the words, but sometimes too much is too much. Save the personal details for your personal blog.

ü Going on...and on...and on. Use a 150-200 word count (per entry) as a rule of thumb. If you must write at length about a subject, which makes sense especially when you are an expert or leader in your field or industry, not a problem. Break up your copy into different entries and label each one accordingly: Part 1 of 3, Part 2 of 3, Part 3 of 3, etc.

ü Forgetting the rules of the game: branding, consistency, expertise. Your blog is a marketing tool and as such, an extension of all your related efforts. Weave your marketing message and brand identity into pieces that are informative and relevant to your readers. Know your readers and don’t write way off-base from what they expect. Always remember what you are selling, even (or especially) if it is your expertise.

“Even though blogging is a new form of marketing, you still have to deliver something that’s informative, not just hype,” says Nazarian. “You have to be relevant, otherwise your readers won’t come back.”

Among the services Get It In Writing offers is blog ghostwriting. Nazarian also conducts marketing seminars and workshops where she educates clients on the importance --and the dangers -- of blogging.

Nazarian speaks from personal experience to the effectiveness of an informative, relevant, regularly updated blog: Before she started blogging, just 1% of new clients found her company via its website. Now, over 25% of new clients are converted online visitors.