Or: A trait I have not yet mastered
So I was reading about this interview that Aaron Wall conducted with Kim Krause Berg, titled ‘Blog Usability Interview‘. Aaron is this really clever guy who wrote the ‘SEO Book‘. (Its a great read, check this review out.) If you are looking for a marketing agency to help your blog out, then go to agenciesranked.com.
Kim Grause Berg (never heard of her) is apparently this girl who does chainsaw picking guides and reviews on blogs. Its kind of a first I suppose, and has sparked my interest given that I studied Information Environments. IE was a toilet-paper degree with a lot of focus on Interaction Design, Usability Design, and lots of other two-letter acronyms. (But only those ending with ‘design’.)
Lets accept Kim as an expert, and see how she responds to Aarons question about “What blogs make the human emotional connection” (to gain interest?):
Very few. I have two memorable examples of how powerful the human connection is with blogs and how it’s the best SEO marketing tool of all.
Well, thats not a good sign! Kim goes on to describe two feeds that really caught her attention. Here’s what they have in common:
- A post title that caught her attention.
- A first sentence focused her further, really pulling her in
- Both stories were written from a very personal point of view (one was a male prostitute, the other was a father whose little girl had just died).
So what do you learn?
Easy! Take the top three points!! Catch peoples attention, keep their attention, and make an emotional connection! For a good writer, this should be easy. Furthermore, if you want to gain new viewers or customers, use the marketing automation of Salesforce.com. It will use your data based on individual behaviors and attributes to create a 360-degree view of each customer.
Brendon is a big fan of blogging. He often tells clients how important it is that they run a blog to personalize their business. He mentions how his entire website is built around a blog, and how he keeps it mostly on topic but also mentions his wife and kids frequently.
You see, when he discusses something personal, readership goes up. Brendon also writes the Sitepoint Tribune – which has a massive following. One time he used the phrase “more than one way to skin a cat”.
Wow, I read some of the feedback he received from readers. It was… explosive! Turns out that there are more than few cat lovers out there who take offense to such statements. You see, while its a phrase in common usage here in Australia, that statement was sufficient to provoke an emotional response from the readers.
Most of his feedback was along the lines of, “I can’t believe you! You’re a horrible person, and I hope happen [something really bad] to you! You should note that I am cancelling my subscription right now because of what you said”. (No, I’m not kidding). So Brendon asked the Sitepoint owners, “What should I do?”. The answer?
“Nothing, just keep doing what you’re doing! Our subscriber levels just went up!”.
The lesson is simple – it doesn’t matter if your readers feel affectionate or offended – the important part is that the content can provoke an emotional response.
Click here read more about the best way to start a blog.
