Writing Blog Posts

Biz301 blog posts are written by people from all over the company, not just those with “writer” in their job titles. We love having experts from around the office blog about their work. The person most familiar with the subject is in the best position to convey it, and the writers on the marketing team can help with brainstorming and editing as needed.

We have several Biz301 blogs, including ones written by our design, engineering, and technical content teams. This section will focus on the main Biz301 marketing blog, but the guidelines apply to the other channels, too.

Basics

We update the main Biz301 blog a couple of times every week. We generally publish:

• Product stories as relates to our customer pain point 
• Top to bottom funnel content as seen below 
• Versus and comparison
• Reviews 
• Best in class
• How to
• Worthy announcement, tips and tricks on how small business can save more while making more profit, and how to scale their business.  

We publish blog posts that explain the “why” behind the work we do at Biz301. We want to show people that we’re an industry leader with the best soon coming business automation solution, and we use our blog to tell the stories behind those products.

Guidelines

When writing for the blog, follow the style points outlined in the Voice and tone and Grammar and mechanics sections. Here are some more general pointers, too.

Be casual, but smart

This isn’t a term paper, so there’s no need to be stuffy. Drop some knowledge while casually engaging your readers with conversational language.

Be specific

If you’re writing about data, put the numbers in context. If you’re writing about a Biz301 user, give the reader plenty of information about the company’s stage, workflow, results, and values.

Get to the point

Get to the important stuff right away, and don’t bury the kicker. Blog posts should be scannable and easy to digest. Break up your paragraphs into short chunks of three or four sentences, and use subheads. Our users are busy, and we should always keep that in mind.

Link it up

Feel free to link away from Biz301 if it helps you explain something.

Make ’em LOL

Biz301 is a fun company, and we want our blog to reflect this. Feel free to throw in a joke here and there, or link out to a funny GIF or YouTube video when appropriate. Just don’t overdo it.

Use tags and keywords

In WordPress, add keywords that apply to your article. Look through existing posts for common tags. If you’re not sure if a word should be a tag, it probably shouldn’t.

Use pictures

Include images in your blog posts when it makes sense. If you’re explaining how to use Biz301, include screenshots to illustrate your point. Make sure to use alt text.

Voice and Tone

We have the same voice all the time, but your tone changes. You might use one tone when you’re out to dinner with your closest friends, and a different tone when you’re in a meeting with your boss.

Your tone also changes depending on the emotional state of the person you’re addressing. You wouldn’t want to use the same tone of voice with someone who’s scared or upset as you would with someone who’s laughing.

The same is true for Biz301. Our voice doesn’t change much from day to day, but our tone changes all the time.

Voice

We treat every hopeful Business owner and established company seriously. We want to educate people without patronizing or confusing them.

Using offbeat humour and a conversational voice, we play with language to bring joy to their work. We prefer the subtle over the noisy, the wry over the farcical. We don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Whether people know what they need from us or don’t know the first thing about automating their business, every word we say informs and encourages. We impart our expertise with clarity, empathy, and wit.

All of this means that when we write copy:

We are plainspoken.

understand the world our customers are living in: one muddled by hyperbolic language, upsells, and over-promises. We strip all that away and value clarity above all. Because businesses and early startups come to Biz301 to learn more, we avoid distractions like fluffy metaphors and cheap plays to emotion.

We are genuine.

We want to write like we have experienced the lifestyle we talk about. That means we relate to readers’ challenges and passions and speak to them in a familiar, warm, and accessible way.

We are translators.

Only experts can make what’s difficult look easy, and it’s our job to demystify business automation in Nigeria and actually educate.

Our humour is dry.

Our sense of humour is straight-faced, subtle, and a touch eccentric. We’re weird but not inappropriate, smart but not snobbish. We prefer winking to shouting. We’re never condescending or exclusive—we always bring our customers in on the joke.

Tone

Biz301’s tone is usually informal, but it’s always more important to be clear than entertaining. When you’re writing, consider the reader’s state of mind. Are they relieved to have read our post? Are they confused and seeking our help about having a new tool for their business? Are they careful about certain business automation realities? Once you have an idea of their emotional state, you can adjust your tone accordingly.

Biz301 has a sense of humour, so feel free to be funny when it’s appropriate and when it comes naturally to you. But don’t go out of your way to make a joke—forced humour can be worse than none at all. If you’re unsure, keep a straight face.

Style tips

Here are a few key elements of writing Biz301’s voice.

• Active voice. Use active voice. Avoid passive voice.

• Avoid slang and jargon. Write in plain English.
• Write positively. Use positive language rather than negative language.

Content Guidelines 

If you’re looking for a template for your structured content but can’t find one that meets your needs, you may want to create your own. There are 2 main ways to approach this.

Use a model

If you already have a piece of content that serves its purpose well, use it as a model. Review some of the templates in the style guide to see how granular you might want to get, and look for any elements you might want to add.

As you read through the model document, make a list of all the individual parts that make up the piece. Then briefly describe what they do and how they do it.

Common elements in templates are:

• Title
• Introduction
• Body content (which can usually be broken apart into smaller elements)
• Additional links

Keep in mind that the template has to be reusable, so it’s best to focus on the high-level goal of the content type, rather than the message of a particular piece.

Start from scratch

If you like outlining before you write, that’s a great way to start your template. This will give you an early look at the elements you’ll include in your final template and will help organize your writing process.

You may prefer to write a draft first, then outline later based on how the parts fit together. Read your draft closely and identify the important elements or patterns you’ve used. Looking for things like introductions, sections with headings, tables, images, and other elements that aren’t topic-specific. Write them out and describe how they inform the meaning or usability of the piece.

Create your template by listing out the elements you identify in your outline or draft. Consider each element and what it contributes to the meaning of the piece. Is its purpose important enough that every content of this type should include it? If so, make it part of your template.

Writing Goals and Principles

With every piece of content we publish, we aim to:

• Empower. Help people understand Biz301 by using language that informs them and encourages them to make the most of our products.
• Respect. Treat readers with the respect they deserve. Put yourself in their shoes, and don’t patronize them. Remember that they have other things to do. Be considerate and inclusive. Don’t market at people; communicate with them.
• Educate. Tell readers what they need to know, not just what we want to say. Give them the exact information they need, along with opportunities to learn more. Remember that you’re the expert, and readers don’t have access to everything you know.
• Guide. Think of yourself as a tour guide for our readers. Whether you’re leading them through our educational materials or a task in our automation app, communicate in a friendly and helpful way.
• Speak truth. Understand Biz301’s place in our users’ lives. Avoid dramatic storytelling and grandiose claims. Focus on our real strengths.

In order to achieve those goals, we make sure our content is:

• Clear. Understand the topic you’re writing about. Use simple words and sentences.
• Useful. Before you start writing, ask yourself: What purpose does this serve? Who is going to read it? What do they need to know?
• Friendly. Write like a human. Don’t be afraid to break a few rules if it makes your writing more relatable. All of our content, from splashy homepage copy to system alerts, should be warm and human.
• Appropriate. Write in a way that suits the situation. Just like you do in face-to-face conversations, adapt your tone depending on who you’re writing to and what you’re writing about.

It’s important you read these articles

Article 1 on how to scale with content

Article 2 on lean marketing, though not related to content marketing. It’s a good starting point 

Article 3 how to set up a content calendar

Article 4 how to use Grammarly

Thank you for reading:

Prepared by @paulokoduwa for Biz301