The A-2-Z of Business Blog Writing: F is for Fun

Should writing business blog posts be fun? Should turkeys forget about advertising Thanksgiving and Christmas?

To me this is a no-brainer. Why? Because blog posts need to be informal conversations with your readers. And in the majority of cases, having an informal conversation with someone about business is likely to include the occasional light-hearted moment … a touch of humor, an amusing story.

Fun with blog posts: is this right for serious business?

OK. Maybe not if you’re an undertaker.

But no matter how serious your business is otherwise – accountancy, law, pension and investment advice, and so-on – there is always room for a bit of relaxation in your blog posts; somewhere to keep on topic, of sorts, but also to share a bit about you and what you’re like as a human being, as well as what you’re like as an expert in your business field.

After all, as we keep saying: your blog is not a one-way channel for corporate or other business/marketing/sales spiel. It’s a forum for developing relationships with your readers. OK, in a business context that means customers and prospects. But hey, here’s a revelation; even customers and prospects are human beings – ergo, people.

As all the contemporary marketing “experts” say, you need to build relationships with people … get them to like you and trust you … before they’ll buy from you. So when you write and publish the occasional “fun” blog post you’ll find that can go a long way towards helping you succeed in this social process.

Can there really be relaxed fun in a corporate blog?

You may think that it’s dangerous to let your guard down in your blog posts, especially if you are representing your firm, company or other corporate body.

That’s one of the reasons why many blogging experts say corporate blogs should be fronted by one human being, not the entire board or a “corporate personality.” Yuk.

It all comes back to the point that the main benefit of a blog for business is that it engages everyone in an informal form of communication that bypasses the “corporate voice” and gives the “human voice” a welcome chance to make itself felt (see above).

So how do you work in some appropriate fun?

Needless to say, of course, this can and does cause major panic and stress in organisations which, prior to the advent of the internet and blogging, never have had to be more informal than smiling sweetly at each other in the restrooms of the office while sharing the hand-driers.

Here’s some informal fun for you … observed as a sign on one of those awful hot air hand driers in a corporate restroom: “Hit this button for 30 seconds of information from our company’s President”

If fun isn’t right within your organization, go outside to find it

You don’t have to make jokes about your board of directors, your staff, your clients, or anyone else unless you feel that they will take it in the right way and not be offended.

However there are not many industries in which you’ll find no amusing stories to be told. Use a little imagination and some subtle Google searching and you’ll discover there are interesting, entertaining stories and issues you can use in your business blog posts to add interest, color, humor and even excitement to an area of business that most people would never have dreamed had that in its background.

Take a look at this post for some ideas I came up with for some so-called “boring” businesses, and how they could blog about things that would have their readers and customers chatting at length. They work!

What about jokes?

Hmmm … this is a bit of a tricky area, especially (but not exclusively) if your blog writing involves an international audience.

With jokes there are a several issues to take into consideration, particularly if your audience is international. However rather than go on about it here, let me refer you to this article which will give you some helpful tips.

But you don’t have to do jokes unless that’s what you really want. Just some light-hearted, amusing and/or entertaining material will do … to help reinforce your personal as well as professional relationships with your readers, customers, prospects and beyond.

Please let us know how you find incorporating fun into your blog posts works for you!

While you’re here, don’t forget to stop by my Bookshop…books and eBooks to help you write better – and to give to friends and family (don’t forget the Holiday Season is coming soon)…

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