Just as social media is changing how customers interact with brands, it's also changing the way in which sales and marketing professionals engage their customers and prospects.

A successful blog will not only give you a jump on your competition, it can also establish YOU as your own brand. And brands are extremely powerful.

Nervous about "penning to the public?" Don't sweat it. Bloggers don't have to be journalists – but following some journalism basics can help blogging newbies assemble posts that read fast and clean.

Back in Journalism 101 at Ohio State, Phil Porter, my instructor and later my mentor, told us on the first day of class to memorize (and keep as a mantra) something known in the newspaper world as "the 5Ws and an H" and the "inverted pyramid."

The five "Ws" are: who, what, when, where, why and the "H" is how.

In newspaper journalism, reporters are told to get the 5Ws and H into the "lead" (pronounced "leed"), which is comprised of the first sentence or two of a news article that contains the most important information.

The inverted pyramid is used because editors, working on tight deadlines, must often chop news stories to make room for advertisements, photos and other news from edition to edition. And they always start chopping from the bottom.

Many of the bloggers here at Ninety Five 5 are new to this type of writing. In preparation for the Aug. 6 launch of 5 Online, I worked with them in a series of blogger workshops. (Please let me know if you're interested in learning more about these workshops in the comments area below).

And it all started with this tried-and-true formula. I refer to it often to remind them about the importance of "spilling the beans" at the beginning of their posts.

While it's not essential (or even appropriate) to include each and every "W" or even the "H" in most blog posts, I use the 5Ws and H to stress the importance of telling readers what your point is at the very beginning.

For many rookie bloggers, the instinct is to pen posts that start with a story and conclude with the main idea. (And yes, these do work sometimes, too!)

But blog writing is the opposite style of the mystery writer, for example, in which the "who dunnit" along with the "why" and "how" is revealed at the end of the story.

For blog posts, spill the beans straight away – tell it all at the beginning and then add the details along the way in order of importance.

Using the inverted pyramid and the gist of the 5Ws and H, the most important information – and the point of the article or post – goes at the beginning.

If you have to read halfway down the page to get to the main point, chances are you've already lost most readers. And you'd also one angry editor on your hands if what you wrote was for the newspaper.

I cut my social media teeth at Intuit and have since created and managed blog programs (and entire online communities) for Symantec, Cadence Design Systems and now here at Ninety Five 5. This stuff isn't rocket science -- but it works.

Sure, blog posts are very different from traditional news writing, but the gist of the 5Ws and H, along with the inverted pyramid, are ideal for bloggers in an age when attention spans … oh, look, a bunny! 

(See what I mean?)