Better Blogging, Part 1: The Interview

Businesses will have learned by now how important good content is to their success and improvement.  To achieve consistently good content, businesses need to - through research and measuring their own efforts - create strategies.  The mind-boggling advancement of technology and the Internet to bring us what we now all know as social media today has, however, masked a secret that, if utilized, would drastically improve business' blogging (really, all writing in general).  It doesn't require extensive programming knowledge or even any knowledge of computers whatsoever to create a good story.

The most effective way to improve blogging is also the oldest: the interview.  In a way, this really only makes sense.  Social media is called such for a reason, even if it doesn't quite feel like it behind that computer screen or mobile phone or other non-human interface.  It is because the way we get connected and feel personally involved as human beings is still through other human beings (hence the "social" in social media).  Hearing another human being's story or experience is the arguably the most powerful way to affect another person.  It evokes feelings of sympathy.  It resonates personally.  It reminds us all of the fragility of our own lives and the lives of those we love, calling us out to greater and greater heights of kindness and compassion for all on this little blue planet.

And, of course, it makes people famous:  it's what turned Oprah (who is, in fact, a real human being) into a brand and Barbara Walters into a household name.  And it can turn your business blog from a boring "have-to" to a spicy must-read.  Social media is, on one level, all about the latest and greatest, the most up-to-date news and info on friends, family and the world.  This doesn't mean, though, that the rules of good content don't apply, and one of these is "timeless" content.  What makes a piece of writing so compelling is that a person can relate to it, anytime, anywhere.  Social media provides the anywhere, anytime: it's up to businesses to provide the "relating."  And this is best done through other human beings and their stories.

So, to inject a little humanity into that otherwise probably dry (at least to the outside world who isn't yet gung-ho about your product or service) blog, find people who are as excited about your subject matter as you are, but who aren't directly involved in your particular operation.  No one likes an obvious toot-your-own-horn stunt, but they do like a good story, anytime, any place.  At least, they can't seem to help it.

Finding someone with a good story that relates to your business won't be as difficult as you think.  Giving the impression of professional journalism, asking the right questions, and actually formatting a blog post about the juicy info you've gathered - well, that's another story (to be told soon!).

Photo Credit: Link Information Technology