Business Blog

BUSN 325 Blog Assignment

Rick McKeel

Overview: We are learning how to identify rhetorical features of communication genre because once you hone the skill of examining communication at the micro level to identify its elements, you can transfer this skill to any form of communication and master it. We are also learning about the communication practices that businesses engage in— this assignment is designed to help you accomplish both these aims.

You will write a blog post about a business communication topic assigned to you.

Basic Instructions:

The audience for posts are your peers in the School of Business; the purpose is to provide useful information on professional development and career advice on our class blog.

Consult (and link to) at least 5 sources from which you get your expertise.

Use an informal, yet professional, tone.

Conform to conventions of grammar and mechanics. (Don’t forget about the Fatal Error Policy—more than 4 issues on a page will result in a 6 point deduction and your work bounced back to you to address these issues within 48 hours.)

Design blog posts that are succinct and clear by including these features:

· Make sure you include a title with a numeral and keywords to snag browsers

· Provide graphics/images for visual appeal; choose those that support your meaning

· List important points in concise, parallel form for readability

· Conclude with advice (“call to action”; asks readers to either believe or act differently)

· Ask readers for their take (i.e. ask readers to comment)

· Provide links to additional resources on the topic

· Cite graphics you don’t create with a link to the original

· Make the length as long as it needs to be to include substantive, value-added information but no longer.

· See additional tips at:

“How to Write a Blog Post: A Simple Formula to Follow ”

“How to Write the Best Blog Post EVER”

Additional Tips:

· Hint: Google topics with key words such as “Best practices for….” Or “How do you….”

· Hint: Human beings are natural born imitators: read great blog posts to write great blog posts! (Especially, The Muse for great professional career advice.)

· Colloquial versus informal: difference? Colloquial has the connotation of less sophistication, which leaves the speaker potentially judged as “backward,” whereas informal means the tone is familiar and friendly, but still displays sophistication. Go for informal!

· Establish your credibility: what makes you qualified to observe and advise on your topic? You either do your research and show it through CITATIONS or you have convincing firsthand knowledge that you share as details and anecdotes. When using sources, quote or paraphrase then link to the source on a key word:

· e.g. If you write “your employees will work more efficiently and happily if you demonstrate empathy towards them,” strengthen this assertion by finding some research and adding a quote or paraphrase from it: “In fact, according to a research study of 1000 line workers, those whose bosses demonstrated empathy experienced a 20% increase in productivity compared to a control group.”

· Paraphrase: Reword others’ ideas in your own words instead of quoting; only use direct quotes when ideas are difficult to express or when you want to hold someone else accountable for this as a fact (to borrow their credibility or be clear that you don’t take ownership of the assertion).

· Consider talking headings: e.g. Make a Connection; Take It All In; Hone Your skills; Tips on Skyping an Interview; Can you hear me now?; I’m sorry, my room is a bit messy. (The last two are most properly talking headings, and you’ll note that they use sentence punctuation.)

· Provide evidence for your assertions:

· Refer to shared experiences with your audience (e.g. your experiences in the School of Business or your perspectives from this stage of your professional career).

· Refer to examples from other contexts. For example, if familiar companies are adopting certain practices, name them. E.g. Coca-Cola and Bowing have recently implemented work-life balance programs that…

· Include an image (see below).

· Include an image: Find one that supports your argument, i.e. a “rhetorical image” (persuasive).

· Include other resources: If there is a tangential topic and you know your reader might want that information next, link to another useful resource (perhaps on your own blog, perhaps on someone else’s). e.g “Don’t get discouraged if a particular company you want to work for isn’t hiring in your field. You can still go network. Here are some tips for Networking Your Way to a New Job.” (Notice this link provides the blog title with caps, and at other times, you may choose to link only to a single word, such as “article,” “research” or “post.”

· Use the STAR approach for stories: When devising your hook, consider starting by establishing a situation (STAR) that includes a problem. e.g. If my topic is the iceberg concept of culture, I might start with: Imagine your company has sent you abroad to represent them and you're sitting across from the VP of marketing who is wearing a turban. You know he is different from you because you can see his clothes are different. But what can't you see? And how will that impact your work there? Below, I tell you about the iceberg concept of culture and how you can use it to get a deeper understanding of people who differ from you. (The last line is the forecast—be sure to include one.)

· Add links: If you are recommending readers use online tools, link straight to these to increase ease of access and likelihood people will take action and use them.

· How to add links in Word: Select “Insert” tab then select “Link” and copy/paste the web address into the box.

· Wrap it up: Don’t forget to add a conclusion to recap the main points and provide a call to action. And welcome comments by asking for your readers’ experiences or tips. Consider ending with “engagement call to action” (e.g. a “click here for more” pitch) and a “conversion call to action” (e.g. “go to my website for more”).