I never get tired of hearing Dick Wolfsie talk about what makes jokes funny.  (Wolfsie, well-known local TV personality and author, has been studying humor for years and lectures on the subject at the University of Indianapolis.)  As a professional ghost blogger, I find myself revisiting the Wolfsie humor analysis, because jokes and blogs share many of the same characteristics.

To illustrate one important insight about humor, Dick often uses the joke about a man who thinks his wife is losing her hearing. At the end of the joke we learn that he, the husband, is the deaf one. As the story unfolds, the man comes home and keeps calling out to his wife, asking “What’s for dinner?”  Each time he poses the question, he comes closer to where she is standing (he’s testing the distance from which she’ll be able to hear him), yet she offers no response.  Finally, when he’s right there next to her and poses the question for the fifth time, she turns to him and answers, “For the fifth time -  we’re having chicken!”

Is it the surprise element that lends the humor?  That’s only part of the answer. If the punch line had been, “You’re the one that’s deaf, honey!” there’d still be a surprise, but no humor. In order for the joke to be funny, explains Wolfsie, the person listening to the joke or reading the joke has to figure things out!  The laughter is the reward that the listener or reader gives himself for having figured out what the punch line is really saying.  In other words, there’s no joke if the punch line is the proverbial tree falling in the forest.

Blogs are like that, too.  You may do your part, posting new, relevant material online, offering valuable information about your field of expertise.  But for the blog to generate a “bang”, it takes two.  In fact, that’s precisely how business blogging works.  People go online and use search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, etc.) to find information.  They need to know more about something, and that something has to do with what you have, what you know about, or what you know how to do.  Since you’ve provided relevant, up to date content in your blog post, that browser finds you!  Now it’s a blog, and you’ve got yourself a potential client or customer. That individual, just like the person who gets a joke, rewards himself with the information you’ve provided.  She/he “gets it” – and moves on to your website for more, or posts a comment.  Either way, two are now in the game.  Now you can start getting bang for your blog! 

Tuning in to National Public Radio turned out to be a good thing for me to do the other day.  I caught another of those word tidbits that so delight the wordsmith in me. Daniel Gardner, author of a new book, “The Science Of Fear”, was being interviewed by Diane Rehm.  Gardner was expounding on why we fear things we shouldn’t, ironically exposing ourselves to real dangers.  He attributes our irrational fear to the fact that we’re constantly being fed disaster stories by the media.  Our unconscious minds absorb this “parade of improbable negative events”, causing us to overreact to everyday circumstances that statistically hold little real threat. 

And here’s where Daniel Gardner said the eight little words that so completely capture the concept he was trying to present: “We report the rare routinely, and the routine rarely.” To me, effective word tidbits sock us right between the eyes, and that one did it for me.  In fact, the instant I read that particular combination of everyday words, I had an “aha! moment”.  I was able to unify things I already knew, but hadn’t synthesized into any true wisdom. 

Blogging, at its best, should have exactly that effect.  Short by definition, blogs don’t necessarily give online searchers lots of brand new information.  But what your blog should aim to do is capture concepts relating to your business, putting words together in a new way.  Your aim is to bring to the reader a pleasurable and satisfying “Aha!”, making that reader want to know more. (My interest was captured - I went out and bought Daniel Gardner’s book!)  You want to bring the blog reader to your website in order to convert him/ her into a customer or client.

As a professional ghost blogger, the question I would pose to each client is this:  If you had only eight to ten words to describe why you’re passionate about what you sell, what you know, or what you do, what would those words be?  Once you’ve put together the word tidbits, I can “Say It For You”, and blogging for business can begin with a bang! 

When it comes to air travel these days, more is more.  American, United, Continental, and Northwest Airlines all sock passengers with a $25 charge - each way - for checking a second bag on domestic flights.  With Delta, you can make that $50.  Of course the hikes relate to the high cost of fuel; still, packing light has always been one of the better tips for savvy travelers.  I remember my grandmother advising us girls, "Wherever you're headed, take half the clothes and double the money."

In earlier Say It For You blog posts (see Kosciuszko National Memorial: A Blog Of A National Park), I offered similar advice culled from my experience as professional ghost blogger, explaining it's best to focus each blog post on one idea.  Blogs, after all, are web logs, not web catalogues or web brochures.

Think of your website as the destination; your blog becomes the cab ride to the airport.  Pack your blog post with just enough material to show searchers they're on track to find the services or information they need.  You might just find my grandmother's advice was "right on" for your business, and that, by targeting your blog, you bring in half the browsers but double the buyers.!

I try never to miss the "Cathy" comic strip in my Indianapolis Star.  In one of the latest, Cathy and her boyfriend are opening their mail - he's reading email on his laptop; she's sorting through dozens upon dozens of envelopes.

He: "What's all that?"                                
She: "Mail."
He: "Mail?? Who sends paper mail?"
She: "People."
He: "People?"
She: "Yes.  Unlike you in your cold electronic bubble, I get mail from people."
(He looks through some of her mail…) "This is all mail from magazine subscription departments!"

And now comes her answer that I, member of a generation thrice removed from GenY, absolutely adore: "Still way closer to an actual human than you'll get any time soon!"

Since I work as a professional ghost blogger, I've obviously been able to abandon most of my generational bias towards long, individually composed business letters and long phone conversations.  I've come into the world of electronic marketing tools.  But there's a reason (I share this in the spirit of honest self-analysis) I gravitated towards composing blogs rather than designing websites.  In a way, blogs are the humanizing factor in the online communications family. The blogs are where you meet the people running the business or professional practice.

In today's increasingly web-based business world, electronic marketing and prospecting strategies are must-haves. But, Cathy, you gotta know this: Blogs, even ghostwritten blogs, are way closer to an actual human than you get with brochures, billboards, and websites!

On the surface, I wouldn't have expected to find valuable insights about blogging in one of several professional journals I read to keep up my financial planning credentials.  But, in the June issue of Employee Benefit Advisor, I found an important piece of blogging wisdom. In his article "OMG I Have No Money - The Texting Demographic Requires New Approach", Brent Shearer points out that employees under age 27 (there are 80 million of them in the U.S.) need tailored communications to urge them to participate in retirement savings plans.

Shearer sums up the hurdle facing employers and the investment industry in words that could have been taken from a web design and blogging manual.  He notes that GenY'ers expect to accomplish their objectives in just one or two clicks.  It's important, he says, for a company's website to create "an environment of comfort for making decisions quickly".

As a professional ghost blogger, I know the statistics:  80% or more of business comes as a result of organic search. If you're a business owner or have a professional practice, that means you'll be meeting new customers and clients not because they searched for you by name, but because they used a search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.)  to lead them to information on a topic.  If GenY is a big part of your target market, and if you used Search Engine Optimization strategy, providing relevant, new, frequently posted information through business blogging, your blogs could be the first step in your relationship with some new GenY clients.

SInce, as Shearer so aptly points out, GenYers make decisions quickly, those browsers are going to do one of two things - "bounce" away from your blog and keep looking for what they want, or (and this is the result you're aiming for) proceed to visit your website.  Your website is where you've arranged for that "environment of comfort for making decisions quickly".  The lesson business bloggers need to learn along with the employee benefit specialists: With a well-coordinated marketing approach, your business or practice will likely get a chance to "reach out and touch" the texting demographic.  You just won't get 'em to sit still very long while you're doing it!

This is the season when I spend time at the Indiana State Fair.  It was interesting reading, in the Indianapolis Business Journal, details of an interview with the Fair's executive director Cindy Hoye.  Hoye talked about the different ways the fair brings in revenue, everything from corporate sponsorship (think Clarian Health) to naming rights for buildings (think Pepsi Coliseum).

Since, as a professional ghost blogger, I'm part of each client's marketing team, I always have an eye out for marketing ideas.  There were two in the IBJ article that I found especially apropos for bloggers.  Describing all the facility improvements that were made for this year's fair, including a greenhouse, fishing pond, and new covered bridge, Hoye said "We've got to keep the product (referring to the fair) fresh."  Right on for blogging.  In fact, of all marketing tactics, blogs are born for "fresh" - with new, different, constantly changing content put online every day or every couple of days, blogs are far more flexible and adaptable than print pieces or even websites.

The one Indiana State Fair innovation that really caught my attention (and, apparently sponsors' attention as well) is declaring an annual theme.  Last year was the Year of Corn, which highlighted Indiana agriculture.  This year it's the Year of Trees.  (The Indiana Hardwood Lumberman's Association became a big sponsor.) Since blog posts are much more frequent than yearly, you can present material on many themes, one per post, but all relating to what you have to offer. By limiting each blog post to one central theme, you attract online searches related to that one aspect of your business, plus you keep the product (your material) fresh!

Where there's little space and little money for redeveloping urban areas, pocket parks provide a welcome solution. Small green areas with benches for sitting and swings and slides for kids, pocket parks help unify as well as beautify neighborhoods. These mini-parks are part of the Central Indiana Community Foundation's Keep Indianapolis Beautiful initiative, a wonderful example of making a little money go a long way.

My small business and professional practice ghost blogging clients are in something of the same boat, trying hard to do smart marketing on a limited budget.  Most owners enter the web world by having a site designed for their business or practice.  The website may be attractive and easy to navigate.  Still their "park" is not accessible to new customers and clients who don't know it's there!  That's where business blogs come in, and where I, as a professional ghost blogger, enter the "neighborhood".

Blogs are like pocket parks, much easier and much less expensive to create and then constantly redevelop.  People find your "pocket park" blog, not because they know the name of the company or even your own name, but because your blog content is organized around specific key words and topics.  People find the blog "right in their own neighborhood", exactly when they need it.

There is no practical way a website can change its title and its content every day or even every couple of days to match different key words searchers use.  Blogs, small and nimble, can readily adapt. Since, by definition, blogs are providing new thoughts and new information with every entry, your "pocket park" is right there, informing the potential customer or client that you have the know-how - or the products - she's seeking.

Eagle Creek Park offers far more amenities than the School 46 Pocket Park, to be sure.  But if you're far away from the big reservoir, the little park bench under a tree in the pocket park is where you'll sit for a spell.  Ideally, business blogging is just one piece of a multi-faceted business marketing and advertising plan.  But budget-conscious owners will find blogging delivers a lot of park bench for the buck!

The past couple of weeks provided proof of something I've been saying about blogging.  In today's Internet-based shopping-and-searching business world, it's simply not good enough to hand out stuff.  Businesses have handed out and sent out stuff for decades - flyers, brochures, letters to customers and prospects.  All of this is one-way communication.  Today, the process has got to get inter-active.  Blogs, being short, frequent, and "out there" on search engines, are ideal for this purpose.  Potential clients and customers can post comments, ask questions, or simply proceed to the business' website to learn or do more.

There's another aspect to interaction with blogging, and this is the one that had such a direct effect on my own blog in recent weeks.  Since one of the goals of business blogging is search engine optimization (meaning moving up the ranks in Google, Yahoo, and MSN territory), I try to set an example for my ghost blogging clients with my own Say It For You blog.  In the days leading up to my big come-uppance, my blogs had been showing up on page 1 or 2 on Google under the category "ghost blogger".  Then, whammo - my blog disappeared!  What had happened? Without fail, I'd blogged every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, using the key words and providing fresh content that was relevant to the topic of blogging.

Turns out, I was upstaged by none other than hip-hop artist Kanye West and a host of his fans, plus a few of his detractors.  Sandra Rose claimed she'd discovered Kanye using a ghost blogger named Marcus Troy.  Dozens of fans were posting blogs opining on the truth or untruth of the matter, offering approval or horror at the practice of using a ghost blogger.  The principal players Troy, Rose, and even Kanye himself were blogging.  It was time for this professional ghost blogger to weigh in, and so I did (see Does Kanye West's Ghost Blogger Say It For Him?).  Whew! Back up the ranks once more.

I'd been writing a lot about what drives search engine rankings, and then along comes this this living, breathing answer to the question.  What are the keys to success in blogging to win search engine rankings?  Recency?  Yes.  Relevance to the topic?  Of course, yes.  Frequency?  Yes, again.  But, there's one more element that can't be forgotten - traffic.  In other words, it matters how many people are writing in and coming to call at your little corner of the blogosphere - a.k.a. interaction.

All the excitement about whether Kanye is writing his own blogs or whether he's found the perfect ghost blogger to "speak" in his voice skillfully enough for there to be a debate - well, it just goes to show.  Blogging works because it drives traffic and interaction.  And that, I learned the hard way, is What Search Engines Want. 

I like to keep my blog language a lot more grammatical and a lot cleaner than Kanye's, but boy - is he great at traffic, or what?

 The Journal of Financial Planning warns that financial success can get lost in translation. An AARP Financial survey showed many Americans complain that financial service professionals use too much jargon, even more so than mechanics or doctors.  Worse, many people expressed the thought their advisers use jargon on purpose, to distract consumers' attention from investment fees and to make them feel more dependent.  The Journal's advice: follow the KISS principle by keeping it simple.  (As a financial planner for almost three decades, I recall taking special pains to explain things in understandable terms, and so I really didn't like reading that some of my former colleagues aren't doing that to the satisfaction of at least some consumers.).

Bloggers (and ghost bloggers) from all fields of business can learn a valuable lesson from the AARP survey. You're blogging to invite potential clients and customers to visit your website and learn more about why they should be doing business with you.  If the "lessons" you're offering require too much effort of the "students", they will excuse themselves quickly and look elsewhere for information. 

Remember, browsers on the Web stopped at your blog because they were searching for something you know how to do or something you sell.  Present yourself and your business as expert, experienced, and professional - by all means.  Tell 'em something they may not have known before, certainly.  But (and here's the lesson to be gleaned from the AARP survey and the Journal of Financial Planning's warning), lose the lingo.  Jettison the jargon.  Speak easy!

 Talk about an ironic turn of events - blogging is turning out to be such a healthy marketing tool that hospitals are inviting blogs to check themselves in!

Community Health Network's new SharingSites (www.ecommunity.com/sharing site) allows patients to create their own blogs to tell family and friends about a newborn or keep them up to date on treatments. St Francis and Clarian North offer blogging, too, through a Chicago company called CarePages.   Meanwhile, links to the hospitals' main websites allow patients and families to find information about different medical conditions and treatments, and even participate in online discussions with other patients and their families.

Dan Rench, vice president of e-business at Community Health Network, was quoted in a recent Indianapolis Business Journal issue as follows: "There's definitely a lot of power in social networking from a health care perspective."

Businessowners aimed at robust growth should pay heed to this trend.  Many businesses think they have an Internet "presence" because they've had a website created for their company.  Often, there's little updating going on, and even less attention paid to how to help potential buyers find their way to that website.  Advertising, including online advertising, is certainly one avenue in marketing a business.  Very interesting and important, though, is a statistic I learned in a Compendium Blogware webinar from CEO and co-founder Chris Baggott:  80-95% of business conducted online comes about as the result of organic search, not pay-per-click advertising or sponsorships. What this means in plain terms is that people searched online for information about products or services.  Those businesses that were providing up-to-date, easy-to-understand, and relevant content through regularly posting blogs came out the winners - of new customers.

You know what they're starting to say…A blog a day keeps the doctor away!

Talk about a "sense" for marketing - the June 22nd issue of the Indianapolis Star, in an article about car dealers' flagging sales, singled out Colussy Chevrolet in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.  Tim Colussy says he uses a box that sends up puffs of "new car" scent as part of his overall plan to entice buyers to visit his dealership (and to leave driving a new car).

In a sense (pun intended), that's exactly what a well-conceived business blog is out to achieve - lure internet customers to read the blog, then "enter" the website, and leave as a new customer or client.  The informally presented, relevant, and new information you provide in your blog is part of your business' overall marketing strategy.

Reading further into the article, I learned Colussy does a lot more to market his dealership than blowing scent - he's had the floors resealed and repaired, the lights brightened, added colorful displays, flat-screen TV, Wi-Fi access, workstations, and a coffee bar.

Carrying on with my comparison, your blog is just one piece of the strategizing you do with your web designer, marketing consultant, ghost blogger, managers, and employees.  It's all part of what sales trainers call your "unique selling proposition".  Your blog is a key piece of that proposition.  It's the" whiff that whets" - your potential customer's appetite for doing business with you!

James Blunt did it.  Used a ghost blogger, I mean (see my earlier blog For Songs Or Blogs, Success Proves The Best Silencer Of Critics). Now his ghost blogger, Amanda Ghost, is busy composing songs for Beyonce and Shakira. David Byrne did it.  In fact, Byrne let a building do his singing for him (see Buildings, Like Blogs, Can Be Interactive).  Now, the big question whizzing and quizzing its way around the blogosphere these days is this: Is Kanye West doing it, too?

A professional ghost blogger myself, I'm always alert for what others in my field are blogging and for whom.  Then - bam! In the past week or so it seems what's preoccupying a whole lot of gray matter for a whole lot of people is Kanye and the big "Is He Or Isn't He?" issue.  It's so ironic, because, whatever the real answer, Kanye's reaping a whole lot of green matter over this dispute by earning (through blogging, mind you!) a whole lot of attention on search engine slates.

The popularity of Kanye West's blog has grown enormously, and Sandra Rose's claim that Marcus Troy is the real writer of West's blogs has helped grow it even more enormously.  What do I think? Well, first I need to confess - as a financial columnist and now professional ghost blogger, the world of hip hop music has not been on my radar screen until now. Marcus Troy himself says in a post, "How the H___ does Kanye have time to update his blog with ten new posts a day?"  Now that is a question to which I can relate, because most businessowners don't find the time to update a blog ten times a month, let alone ten times a day!  That's exactly why the demand for ghost bloggers like me is growing.

Blogging is an essential business tool in the web-based world of today.  Email is a way to reach customers, but you can't use it to reach potential customers.  For that, business blogging fits the bill. Fact is, very few business owners, even with the help of talented and dedicated employees, can be assured that relevant, new material will get posted on their blog with enough consistency to improve rankings. Finding the right professional ghost blogger and working with that ghost makes the most sense for winning the search.. 

From my point of view, all the excitement about whether Kanye is writing his own blogs or whether he found someone that can "speak" for him well enough to even trigger a debate - it's a matter of "So there you have it!" Blogging works to drive traffic and interest.  Period.  Ghost blogger, anyone?

Decades ago, just beginning a career in insurance and investments, I had the privilege of hearing the great Zig Ziglar speak about good selling practices. He described selling pots and pans to the nurses at the hospital on New Year's Eve, right after his wife had borne their first child.  Zig ended the presentation with one of his signature lines.  If we would devote the time to practice good selling habits and product knowledge and if we focused our efforts on achieving our sales goals, he would "see us at the top" !

All these years later, Ziglar's still traveling the world, motivating people to reach the top in their professions. Today, however, "getting to the top" has another meaning, one that is essential for doing business effectively in our increasingly web-driven world.  Backbone Media Corporation conducted research on 140 companies that advertise on the Internet.  These companies spend a combined $36 million a year on Google Advertising, and the reason they do it is for search engine rankings.  (In other words, they are buying placement through Sponsored Links or Pay-Per-Click arrangements.) 

Blogging on the Internet, in contrast to purchasing domain names and sponsored links, by contrast, isn't "bought".  Yet effective blogging can translate into the kinds of favorable search engine results that online advertisers seek.  The results in blogging come through a sort of "sweat equity", meaning consistent, disciplined hard work creating relevant materials and posting them on the Web. While each search engine (along with Google are MSN, Yahoo, and others) has its own "algorithms" for judging the merits of blogs and hence their rankings, there are three primary keys to success. 

First, post often - if not daily, then three to four times a week. (If this is out of the question, that's where a professional ghost blogger comes in!  - visit www.sayitforyou.net.)
 
Second, keep doing it - the scorecard is cumulative; blogs that have been appearing for longer periods of time rank ahead of "newbies". 

Third, provide relevant content about your topic, using and repeating the search terms people are most likely to use in the effort to get information about your type of product or service.

Not to steal any thunder from the great Ziglar (as if anyone could!), I'll end by saying that, if you will follow these blogging steps faithfully enough - and long enough - to win customer hearts along with search engine rankings, I will see you - at the top! 

Responding to a broadcast about ex-Pacers basketball star Jermaine O'Neal's supposedly "trashing" his old team at an introductory news conference with the Toronto Raiders, Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravits remarks how unfair he considers that report to be.  Kravitz points out that O'Neal has been a treasure for our community, spending lots of time and money to make Indianapolis better for young people.  Needless to say, I wasn't present at Kravitz's talk with O'Neal on draft day, and I had not caught the broadcast "Trashing Our Town" on WTHR that made Kravitz so indignant. What this whole incident reinforces for me, though, is how careful we all need to be with our words, first because it's easy for words to be misinterpreted, and then because it's more productive in business to emphasize the positive and unique things you bring to the market than to "trash" your competitors.

Because blogs, by definition, are much more informal and personal than marketing brochures or websites, bloggers need to be particularly watchful to avoid "trash" and deliver treasure.  Being informal (which is what blogs should be) is different from being casual (which perhaps is what blogs, at least business blogs, should not be).  With each blog post, you should focus on some aspect of your overall marketing approach.  In trying to "win the search" and at the same time "win the hearts" of potential customers, include at least one valuable nugget - some expert information, a little-known fact, an observation about something going on right then in your business or in the world. 

In winning blogs, the number of words devoted to bashing the competition or used just to fill space on nonrelevant topics:  few to none.  As a professional ghost blogger, I know that the focused blog offers byte-sized "treasures" (pun intended) in each blog post!

A month ago, a building began to sing.  "Playing the Building" is a project that, this summer, is turning a New York City landmark building into an interactive keyboard.  Rock singer and artist David Byrne wired an antique organ to a few dozen spots throughout the building, so that visitors can stop in (free of charge) and touch keys that trigger hammers which clang against pipes and columns, activate motors that make ceiling beams vibrate, and shoot blasts of air through pipes at different pitches.

While this building is not the first to be "played", this latest Byrne exhibit is quite different from former offerings by him and by other artists.  "People going into an art institution are treated as passive consumers, as vessels to be filled with …music emanating from the stage", Byrne explained in a Newsweek interview.

The artist goes on to explain the one aspect of his project that's so very important for today's business owners to comprehend.  "'Playing the Building' only exists and comes to life when the public participates in it," Byrne said.

In today's world of marketing, it's not enough to "hand out" material about a business.  Yes, brochures, postcards, advertising, billboards - all of those things can still be valid business marketing tools.  But, as with David Byrne's building, the best blogs don't "sing to people", but instead invite them in to make music together with the business behind the blog.  Blogs, by their very nature of being on the Worldwide Web, are available not only for reading, but for acting and interacting.  A good blog invites readers to post comments, and makes it easy for them to subscribe to the blog (through an RSS feed or an email service).  Individual readers whould be able to get back to earlier posts to read more in depth on a topic that particularly interests them.

In short, it should be all about "Playing the Blog"!

As a professional ghost blogger, I've come to realize, I'm actually part of a big trend.  It could almost be considered a movement, the Movement Towards Delegating and Relegating. In the case of blogs, a ghost blogger develops materials for businesses.  The owners of those businesses need to use their time making and selling products or consulting, with no time left to write about what they're doing and why.

There's certainly no lack of variety in task doers in the personal arena.  In an earlier piece, Blogging Is A Concierge Service, I wrote about all the many chores concierges perform, from airport pickup to pet-sitting.  Now businesses are joining the Delegators and Relegators, outsourcing tasks ranging from computer maintenance to hiring employees.

On the surface, it would appear there are certain tasks better not delegated to others, because in some areas things need to be done in a very individualized way.  You'd think, for example, a businessperson who does a lot of traveling would want to select her own wardrobe for the trip and pack the clothes in exactly the style she prefers.  Turns out, packing and lugging suitcases is a chore many business owners would just as soon relegate to others.  A clothing butler from Flylite, a Massachusetts company, will be happy to take over the all the packing and lugging.

New Flylite customers pack their own bags - once.  The "clothing "butlers" take it from there, picking up the bags, cleaning and pressing the clothes, even polishing the shoes.  All the clothes are scanned into an online virtual closet.  Each time a trip is coming up, the traveler drags and drops the icons into the "bag" (all done with clicks of the computer mouse).  Flylite delivers the actual packed bag to any U.S. destination.  When the stay is over, the butler picks up the bags, takes care of the clothes and stores everything for the next trip.  Even golf clubs can be carted to the destination by a Flylite butler!

Interestingly, ghost-writing blogs for a business follow a similar model.  The style of the business and the target market dictate the tone for the blog posts.  The "wardrobe" (the business mission, the demographics of the target customers, the type of products or services the business offers) comes from the business and is very individualized.  The blogger then becomes a "butler", maintaining the discipline of "frequency and recency" that is so crucial to winning online rankings.
 
Your "blog butler" picks up the information about your business, "cleans, presses, and polishes" the material into finished articles, then conveniently "delivers" those directly to the Worldwide Web in the form of blog posts.  And that's how I, your friendly and oh-so-handy blog-butler "Say It For You"!  

Some years ago, I read about an experiment having to do with people's attention and the way in which that attention is engaged. The subjects of the study were people (several hundred of them) who drove the same route every day to work and back, passing a giant billboard advertising new cars.  When questioned, almost none of these people could remember even seeing a billboard, much less that it was about cars.  On the other hand, the moment any individual was in the market for a car, he'd notice the billboard immediately. In other words, if what the billboard was advertising was not relevant to a person's life right then, his brain "brushed off" the information as not useful, never making room in his memory for the image of the billboard.

This study about car billboards sums up the reasons blogging  has become such an important part of any business' marketing plan. Blogging for business is about promoting yourself, your products, and your ideas.  Your blog posts are out there on the Internet "super-highway", available for anyone to see.  But the only people who are going to notice your blog are those who are searching for the kinds of information, products, or services that relate to what you do! That's because your blog will come up on their screen based on their search of the Internet. Millions of other people are "driving" on the Internet highway every hour of every day.  The important thing, though, is that you'll engage the attention of the ones who might be in the market for what you sell or who need your particular type of expert advice or service.

(By the way, "strike while the iron is hot" is a blacksmith's phrase.  An iron horseshoe needed to be shaped at exactly the time the metal was hot enough to be flexible.)  As the study with the car billboard demonstrated, the folks most likely to become your customers have an immediate need or interest in your type of product or services.  And, exactly at that time while the "iron is hot" for them, your blog is catching their attention and introducing them - to YOU!.  
 

High-end residential complexes offer their services, as do all the best hotels.  Concierges help with everything from setting salon appointments, arranging luggage pickup from hotel rooms, booking tours, and offering sightseeing tips.

Personal concierges are the fastest-growing subset of the breed, running errands for people with little spare time (or for those who prefer to spend their time in pursuits more engaging than picking up groceries or dry cleaning).  My friend Judi Stephenson of Another You Concierge tells me her company performs thousands of different services ranging from party planning to dog-sitting.  In "Helping Hands", Indianpolis Woman magazine described concierge services as freeing "those with hectic lives from mundane tasks".

Businesses, particularly small businesses, need concierges, too.  Blogging, an essential customer acquisition tool in our increasingly web-based world, is no mundane task.  Still, few business owners, even with the help of talented employees, can spare the time to post relevant, new material with enough consistency and frequency to improve search engine rankings.

Concierges pick up stuff for clients: luggage, packages, children, arriving guests; a ghost blogger must "pick up" the business owner's individual style and vision.  Concierges deliver stuff: mailings, groceries, gifts, messages, flowers, reservations, meals; ghost bloggers "deliver" content to the Web.  This, in turn, helps "deliver" traffic to the business' website.

As Indianapolis Woman puts it, "You might find yourself wishing you had a clone, just to accomplish everything on your to-do list."  Well, when it comes to blogging for business, your blog "concierge" can be your clone!

One good rule of thumb about business blogging is to narrow down the target audience.  In Blogs And Podiums - Choose Yours Wisely, I explained that, to be an effective marketing tool for your business, your blog must to be the result of a well-planned strategy aimed at a specific segment of the market.  I advised picking one area of focus, rather than trying to tell your blog readers about everything you have to offer and about all the things you do.

Just the other day, in Speaker (the magazine I receive as a member of the National Speakers Association) there was an article by Terri Langham about the Alice Cooper rock music group.  By way of reminder for those blog readers not "into" the rocker scene, the Alice Cooper 1972 hit "School's Out" topped the charts worldwide.  The groups's tour the following year broke box office records formerly set by The Rolling Stones.  The Alice Cooper stage show was "way over the top" by anybody's standards, complete with guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, live chickens, and a real boa constrictor. 

The point Terri Langham was making about this band was that it had a signature way of doing things, a "brand", and she advises aspiring professional speakers to develop their own unique brands.  But the point I want to bring out here relates to the thought process the band members used in creating their Alice Cooper brand.  Realizing that having a male (Vince Furnier as Alice Cooper) playing the role of a witch in tattered women's clothing and makeup and holding a snake would cause social controversy, the band made a brilliant career decision.  They focused on one target audience - kids.  "If the parents hate it, the kids will love it." became the motto.

I'm no rock groupie, to be sure, but as a professional ghost blogger, I find the Alice Cooper marketing strategy "right on". Narrow down your target market.  Figure out what those people need and want that you have or that you do.  Then do everything you can to "speak" to those people through your blog. You don't care if other segments of the market hate your blog - you want your target customers to love it… all the way to your website!

A week or so ago, on National Public Radio, I caught a broadcast about the smallest national park in the nation, the Kosciuszko National Memorial Park.  This park is so small, it's actually inside a house in Philadelphia; you can see the entire place in ten minutes.  For those who need a memory jog, Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a Polish-born American Revolutionary War hero, an engineer who traveled from fort to fort.  While petitioning Congress for back pay, he stayed in the very house that is now the Memorial.  The "park" is now complete with its own on-duty National Park Ranger.

Listening to this short but fascinating program, I was struck by the thought that the Kosciuszko National Memorial can serve as an apt metaphor for a blog.  A good business blog is short and sweet, containing one or two fascinating items for visitors to read about.  At the Kosciuszko Memorial, those whose interest is piqued can take home a brochure about the American Revolution in order to learn more about the history of the period. Similarly, those web browsers whose interest is piqued by the items in your blog can move on to you company website to Learn more about your products and services.

As one of the Park Rangers described the Kosciuszko Memorial experience, "Maybe we can look at it as more quality visitation than quantity."  How apropos for blogging!  Quality, not quantity, is the experience you want to offer visitors to your blog.  (Excuse me, when does your next blog tour start?)