Build a Better Blog (Step 1): Tell the Story You Want to Tell

Blogging is the crux of social activity across the entire SAP ecosystem and has become a critical tool for communicating news, thought leadership, sharing ideas and driving the business forward.

If you’re new to blogging, or a seasoned pro, you’ll no doubt appreciate that there is an art and science to creating good blogs – and that’s exactly what I plan to uncover in this Build a Better Blog series. From the importance of storytelling and finding your voice, to creating killer headlines and promoting your work, there are useful tips you can start using today to make your blogs more effective.

Before we dive into the mechanics of building a better blog, there is one piece of critical advice I tell everyone before they embark on their blogging journey:

Tell the story you want to tell, not the story you think you should tell.

Whether you’re an SAP employee, customer, partner, mentor or intern we all want to tell exciting stories, even if the content hand we’re dealt isn’t the most exciting material to work with. Don’t hesitate to take a few steps outside of the “corporate speak” or “techno babble” boundaries to capture the credibility and authenticity your audience expects.

By avoiding overused and abused buzzwords, you’ll have the freedom to create your blog from a position of strength. Pepper your blog with personal anecdotes and interests where it makes sense. Reference a recent article, movie, TV show, song or book to make your point. Quote an amusing observation from your child if you think it will help you tell the story you really want to tell.

Here are a few storytelling tips to consider before you get started:

• Speak in a casual, confident tone like Karen Lynch does in her blog post, “Bust a Move? Sounds Like Fun but First, Let’s Bust a Few Myths in Wholesale Distribution.” Karen knows her audience and is blogging from a position of strength without being too heavy-handed. This blog kicked off a sales cycle.

• Humor and business acumen work well together especially in Richard Howell’s blog post, “Santa’s Supply Chain: Best in the World?” Notice how Richard cleverly links a popular holiday to supply chain best practices.

• Humanizing helps as Manju Bansal demonstrates in his recent blog post, “SAP HANA for Humanity – Making San Francisco Safer.” At its core, this is a story about high school kids coming together to solve a complex problem.

• Let customers tell their story as “The Rise of an Underground CIO” showcases. This is a career and business strategy story first, SAP implementation story second.

• Variety is the spice of lively blogs as Derek Klobucher proves in “Big Data Can Save Lives — If Culture and Strategy Let It.” This is a great example of pulling in multiple sources to help tell the story.

What blogs have inspired you to tell a better story?

Stay tuned for the next installment: How to Structure a Blog.