Today is seems like everyone’s blogging and everyone’s offering social media services and using the label “expert” whether these activities are used to further their business, or simply for fun. Well, you’ll never hear my calling myself an “expert” in these areas, even if online content and blogging happen to be WriteSourcing’s main specialty and here’s why:

1. Social networking and blogging/online content development is evolving - to me, the term “expert” implies you know everything there is to know about something (just my interpretation, you don’t have to agree) and that can’t be the case when changes are being made on a daily basis that require us to adapt strategies for effective brand marketing through blogging and social networking. As far as I’m concerned, it’s trial and error with social networking and blogging, even if there are no drastic changes to methods. This is because what works for one business, won’t necessarily work for another, so no one can walk in and say “I’m an expert and here’s your solution”. What someone can do, is step in, do some experimentation  and come up with a strategy that will accomplish social media and blogging goals. There is no rule book for these things; you can’t know everything there is to know.

2.  An “expert” doesn’t need to learn - if you already know everything or think you do, then you’re not going to be encouraged to learn are you? Well, that’s a necessity today with blogging and social networking. You need to stay abreast of what’s happening and then do some problem-solving to develop an effective strategy.

3. Just because you blog or tweet, doesn’t make you an expert – I use a computer everyday too, but that doesn’t mean I’m a technology expert. Sure, you can share your knowledge with other and probably have some great insight, but you may find that you take just as much listening to someone else’s advice on the subject.

Let’s be honest, I just don’t like the term “expert”. You can say you’ve got “expertise” in a specific area all you like; you just won’t catch me labeling myself or anyone else an “expert”. It does seem like many people are applying this label to themselves though; so look beyond that title and let their track record and experience speak for itself. Don’t hire a blogger or a social media specialist just because they say that the title describes them; find out what they can bring to the table!

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Today use of grammar may be more flexible; breaking the rules has become a bit trendy for many forms of writing and it’s caused the thought that anything goes and that we can say goodbye to our style guides, dictionaries and thesauruses. This has also lead to an increase of grammar disputes between those who both feel that they’re the ones that understand the rules correctly.

As a writer, or even as a copyeditor, that leads to big challenges. What do you do when someone perceives your writing or your editing changes as being grammatically incorrect, especially when that person is a client? As a writer or editor, depending on which hat I’m wearing at the time, it can be hard to stomach. I don’t want to have to say to a client that their ideas are wrong, but I also don’t want them to perceive me as being sloppy with my work because they think I’m the one who’s dropped the ball. I also don’t want work that I’ve had my hands on to be anything less than the best it can be – I do owe that to my clients after all, right? So what’s the best way to handle it then? Here are some tips that I find can help to resolve the issue in the simplest manner possible:

1. Check a style guide – I don’t care who you are, writer or copy editor, we can all make mistakes, so before you go telling a client that they’re wrong, make sure you really are right. Also ensure that you are looking at a guide that is relevant to your client geographically ; after all, even within North America there are fairly substantial differences in rules between the US and Canada.

2. Make sure the grammatical object of debate isn’t “optional” – There are some rules of grammar that truly can go more than one direction, so what you use comes down to personal preference. I am personally a big fan of using a comma AND “and” in a sentence; some people would rather go with one or the other. Sometimes I even like to get a little bit crazy and use “but” at the beginning of a sentence. If it’s a rule that depends on preference, drop your default style and go with what your client wants.

3. Be gentle – while I do feel it’s important to ensure the best possible work appears on a client’s site or blog; I would never in a million years say “oh hey client, you know, you’re completely wrong and I’m right”. Instead, I would simply point out that “according to XYZ style guide (or whatever else you’re using to confirm your understanding) the correct form of the word is…”

Where it does get tricky is if your client still insists on the “incorrect” use  of a word or phrase. I’m not comfortable producing something I know is wrong, but also don’t want to let my client down so it really depends on the context. If you really believe the incorrect grammar is going to make readers take less stock in an article, you may need to gently discuss the issue again; if it’s use that contextually is not so bad and won’t take away from the final message, then sometimes you’ve got to go with “the customer is always right”. But, you’ve got to use your judgement because after all, you’re the professional that they’re hiring for a specific service.

What would you do?

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You know by now that blogging is an essential part for promoting your brand whether it’s a business, or just yourself.  A question I’m often asked about blogging, is if it’s always effective and that is a concern of many simply because there are so many people blogging.

The fast answer, is no. Blogging needs to be looked at as a complex marketing strategy. Results don’t happen overnight and to be successful with a blog, you need someone who can do more than simply put pen to paper, so to speak (fingers to keyboard, to Microsoft Word just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?) Finding a good blogger, in a world where it seems like everyone is a “writer” can be hard.

Casual blogging makes everyone and their dog believe they’re a writer. Some are – and I’m a firm believer that you don’t have to write in a professional capacity to be fantastic – but that doesn’t mean everyone who blogs has the skill to bring to a business blog designed to draw traffic.

When looking for a blogger, any business will find an interesting mix of responses. There are those professionals who are growing with the demand for blogging and learning how develop effective content with SEO in mind and they’re the ones you need to hire. Then there are those who are writing simply because they believe it makes for an easy job where they get to work from home. I’m not saying that those who decide to pursue the craft because it’s convenient to raise their children can’t be skilled and talented; but there are some who just aren’t in it for the writing. They’re not worried about learning extensively, they’re happy to coast by with a more modest paycheck and blog about personal experiences or write for content mills.  There’s nothing wrong with this; to each their own, but they might not be the ones to deliver the required skill and consistency for an effective business blog.

If you’re hiring a blogger, don’t be afraid to ask questions. You don’t necessarily need to be looking at experience alone as long as they’ve got the capacity to learn and demonstrate that they’re passionate about blogging and helping you reach your goals. Everyone may be writing, and that’s great, but it doesn’t mean they’re all right for your blog!

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I recently witnessed an interesting exchange on Twitter, one person tweeted “I should be blogging” another answered “there’s no ’should be’ blogging, blogging just happens when you need it to!” It got me thinking about the perception that blogging is strictly done for the sake of journaling, in a reality, it is a career.

I mean no disrespect whatsoever to those who blog about their personal lives as parents, as professionals, as people with busy lives. These people share their experiences, and some of them even get paid for it. I read blogs like this on a daily basis, and have many good friends that blog about themselves and their families and have attracted a large following. But, there’s a much bigger world of blogging, and it’s time that people know it!

While there are situations where I blog as myself, about myself and my personal experiences, that’s not really what my business is all about. Professional bloggers do more than just write casual editorials or recount what happened that day or week. We work strategically to establish blog content that will attract the target audience of a niche market. It’s about inadvertent advertising in a way that will actually engage people or stimulate thought. Unlike traditional advertising methods, blog content produced by a pro blogger really gives something back and that’s because it’s not directly about making a sale; it’s about giving people something interesting to read and letting things happen from there.  Coming up with blog content is like setting up a complete marketing campaign and it takes skill, experience and knowledge.

Reputation, integrity, credibility, and a great source of entertainment are a few things that a blog will help people remember about the businesses that feature them. Can people take the same away from a casual blog for which the writer is compensated for, but writes as themselves?  Sure they can. These bloggers can also use similar strategies like pro bloggers do to get people to read – but hiring a pro blogger gets you someone that can write about any topic area, any industry and do it in a way that drives traffic to the site. Since professional bloggers ghost write for business blogs, the spotlight is not on them or what their personal opinions and experiences are; it’s on the business and it’s that ability to deliver that end result that makes a difference.

So, to the Twitter user who indicated that blogging just happens – when it’s a career as a professional blogger, you can’t wait for it to happen; you make sure it does!

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Since WriteSourcing specializes in providing blog writing services to business clients across all industries, there is one common question that I find I receive – how can you writers produce content about an industry they don’t work in? The fast answer is of course not, otherwise I wouldn’t have much of a business if clients soon realized that we have no idea what we’re doing. But what clients really want to know is not if we can do it, because we can and saying that only goes so far; they want to know how we do it.

WriteSourcing has clients that span many industries, we write for  , business (as in entrepreneurial management and mentorship), marketing and PR, television production and many others. My team of writers and I aren’t doctors, we don’t run entrepreneurial management firms, and we don’t get to suck up to celebrities (but will accept invitations to do so!), but you don’t need to be hands-on to produce great and effective blog content. We have more knowledge than strictly what’s hot in the industry, we also know how to use a blog to really leverage a regular readership and following. In many ways, it’s like ghost writing for an industry with a marketing twist.

Coming up with industry topics truly isn’t the hardest part of the job, because we have so many resources at our fingertips and the specific knowledge about how to capture that audience. Of course we keep abreast of industry news, and after a few months of writing for a specific industry, we often feel like we could dive right in and start working in the industry as though we’ve been doing so for decades.

To get a better grasp of how we come up with the specific topics that we post to our clients’ blogs day-after-day, read today’s post on the Wax Blog that focuses on the subject. You’ll soon figure out that writers don’t actually need to be in the industry to produce effective blog content; it’s about knowing how to find it and knowing what to do it with the perspective of using a blog as a marketing tool in mind.

Image Credit: Flickr Creative Commons

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