Tag: Basics

One of the biggest things that stops people writing is not being able to choose blog subjects.

In this post, I’ll give you some practical steps that will help you generate useful subjects to write about.

Let’s assume that you have your marketing plan and you know what you want to happen as a result of your post.

You may want to direct people to a giveaway or you may want people to get in touch or you might even just want to fatten up your website on a specific area of your work.

So how do you decide what to write about?

Well, the first thing is to focus on the sort of problems that your customer needs fixing and more importantly the sort of questions they are asking.

Because if you look at Google search results you’ll see a box like this

I put in the search box ‘toilet valve’ and Google comes back with a series of questions that people ask about toilet valves.

This is the way that Google works. It promotes pages that answer the questions that people ask.

And to a large extent, if you sell toilet valves you’ve just found your first four blog subjects.

Unlike our politicians, you just need to answer the questions that Google asks in a clear and concise manner.

And the great thing is that if you click on one of the suggestions it takes you to another search page that has four more suggestions. Bonus!

Use some software

I sometimes use Answer the Public which is an epic tool that will give you a series of blog subjects based on a single term.

For example, let’s say you have decided to produce content based on your marketing plan for car tyres.

I typed ‘car tyres’ into the search box and it gives me this

Which is a massive list of potential subjects. Possibly too many.

Narrow it down

Answer the public will sometimes give too many suggestions and so I’d advocate for the idea of focus. (You can find out more about focus here)

Choose a very tiny aspect of car tyres such as fuel economy and then write a series of blogs that cover every single aspect of that tiny focused area.

Choose your blog subjects that make you a subject matter expert on a tiny aspect of your business.

Once you’ve exhausted one small area then move onto another.

Use the title to generate your subjects.

There are a series of title types that consistently generate hits.

You can find out more on my titles post here but in essence, you use a combination of these titles;

• Listicles
• Proven methods
• Mistakes
• Secrets
• Hacks and shortcuts

If you click on any of the above then you can find examples of each linked.

Using these old reliable titles gives you a series of subjects you can use to generate your blog posts.

Choose blog subjects with care

It’s important that you don’t just write blogs willy nilly.

You need to choose your subjects to make a coherent picture of who you are and what your business does.

This will give your readers and of course the great god of Google a clear understanding of what you are about.

Having a marketing plan is the first port of call as it will give you a clear idea of who you want to talk to and what you want to say.

Choosing your blog subject is a natural result of having done the work on your marketing plan.

Give me a shout

I admit that not everyone loves writing as much as me so if you’d like someone to take the pain away then why not drop me a line?

I’ll talk you through the process and we can decide whether my service would be right for you.

Clicketty click

One of the best ways to promote your business is to write a small business blog.

They are cheap and very effective but for first-timers it can be a bit daunting sitting in front of a computer.

So here are some tips from me to help you get started.

#1 Just write something, anything.

Most professional marketers and blog writers will tell you that the biggest mistake people make is in starting to write too soon (I cover this in the next tip).

But if you are absolutely brand new to blogging then the first thing I reckon you need to do is to get something onto the web.

Use a simple platform like Blogger to set up your own personal blog and just fire away.

Write something you are passionate about and just let the words flow.

If you don’t publicise it then it’s unlikely anyone will read it so you can just write with no worries.

When you come to write your actual small business blog then you won’t have any fear about writing because you’ll be an old hand.

#2 plan plan plan

When you are ready to set up your own blog then before you even write word 1 you need to sit down and plan.

It is all too often the case that people get all enthusiastic and blatt off thousands of words fairly randomly.

You need to do a little bit of research and thinking about what your target market is looking for.

Then write your blogs to match the needs of your customers.

#3 Focus

In a similar way to point number 3, writing a large number of blogs about a large number of subjects has two problems;

The first is that you become a subject matter expert in nothing and the second is that it is either very expensive or doesn’t get done.

With the best will in the world if you set yourself a target to write 500 blogs a month you are probably going to get bored by day 1.

Instead, focus on a specific subject that is very narrowly defined to a small section of your target market and then write blogs around that so you cover it brilliantly.

#4 Think about what value you are going to add

You’re really passionate about your business which is great but unfortunately, this can blind you to the simple fact that actually most people really aren’t.

What they are passionate about is solving a problem.

Essentially, when they read the title of your blog your potential customers are asking ‘What’s in it for me?’

So what problems do your customers have?

How can you help them solve their issues?

How can you add value?

If you can answer these questions then you have already got the titles for your first three blogs!

#5 Little and often

It is really easy to get enthusiastic about blogging, especially when you have a great story to tell but hold your horses.

So often what happens is people write up a few articles (normally between 4 and 8) and then get bored, dispirited or have to go back to the business.

Set yourself a task to write 1 article a week, maybe 2 if you think you can.

Two articles per week over ten weeks will work much better than 6 articles at the start and then nothing for three years!

Oh and if you don’t believe that this is what happens then have a look at some of your competitor’s websites. You’ll find that consistent blogging is a rarity but that the ones that do are normally at the top of the Google search rankings.

#6 Think about your titles

Titles are really important.

In fact a recent survey said that 75% of people only read the title of a blog*

So getting your title right is really important.

Have a look at these articles to find out how

• How to increase clicks
• Hacks and shortcuts
• Listicles

#7 Choose your tone of voice

We all have a tone of voice and so do our businesses.

You need to decide what tone of voice your blogs are going to have.

For example take a look at two blogs, one from Grant Thronton, one of the top Accountancy practices and this one from Giff Gaff who are my mobile phone provider

One is all corporate and serious and one is like a mate down the pub.

The one thing I would say is that you should feel natural writing in this style.

You’re going to annoy someone with your blog, whatever you do so you may as well feel comfortable about the writing process.

Writing a small business blog should be something you enjoy doing, after all, you are writing about your passion so if you find that the tone of voice you have chosen stifles you then you need to think again.

#8 Set aside some time

I set aside an hour twice a week to actually sit down and write some of my own content.

This is good because it forces me to refuse calls, ignore the internet and actually think about my own business.

Too often we get distracted working on what we think of as ‘real’ work and then neglect our own marketing.

But marketing is important and the time you need to make sure you do some is when you are busy because when you are not busy it will be too late.

The side effect of making sure I write my own stuff is that it gives me some really nice time to sit quietly and do something I enjoy. Win win!

#9 Think about a series

Google loves useful sites and the way that it works out if your site is useful or not is by looking at how many people go to the site, if they read more than one thing whilst there and if they return another day.

So think about doing a series of articles that all link in together.

So perhaps you may want to do an article on how to order flowers for your wedding.

I’d always suggest breaking that up anyway because it will be a bit long but breaking it down into its component parts and then doing a series will get people to read more and come back again and again.

Plus of course, you are giving people more, easy to read content and thus more value.

#10 Remember that this is an investment

Having a blog is a great investment because it gives your business credibility, creates loyal customers and ultimately gets you sales.

But none of this happens overnight.

You have to be persistent and see it as an investment of your time because in the end, it will pay massive dividends.

#11 Bonus tip – think about partnering up

OK so I know it said ten tips and I know that will really annoy some people but here goes.

Think about partnering up with a blog writer who will produce your content just the way you like it.

Generally speaking they will give you a discount if you book a series and you can then forget about having to sit down and do something you don’t want to do.

The only problem you have is finding a really good blog writer…

*Another recent survey said that 95.3% of all statistics are made up.

You may have heard people mention content marketing and wondered what on earth they are talking about.

Content marketing is simply the practice of providing something of value to people.

It might be;

Blogs

Videos

eBooks

White papers

Or any number of other things that give some value to the consumer.

It’s not just online though.

You can invite clients to a free workshop on management accounting or a budget update or anything that provides them with value.

Why content marketing?

I’m quite active on LinkedIn and I go to a few networking events.

There seem to be two types of people that inhabit these places.

Salesmen and what I like to call normal people.

When you first meet the salesman* they immediately launch into their customer qualifying script.

This happens on LinkedIn a lot.

You connect up and the very first email you get is “Hi Stuart thanks for connecting. I was wondering how you are getting on with your photocopying and printing set up at the moment….”

Frankly they get instantly disconnected!

If I really want to discuss my printing requirements then I will choose to speak with someone (hold that thought).

Networking meetings can be even worse because you are right there in front of them and it’s difficult to find a polite way to extricate yourself.

Someone who stands there and tells you the entire history of their double-glazing company and why you really should have a deep and meaningful chat with them about your house and how to reduce your fuel bills. Aaaargh!

Normal people however work in an entirely different way.

You enjoy a chat about cars or flowers or whatever it is and happen to mention that your herbaceous borders need a seeing to and your new friend says they know a really good gardener…

Or you are chatting and mention how difficult it is to find a good HR platform and they suggest you check out PeopleHR because it worked really well in their company…

All of a sudden, because they have given you something of value with no gain for themselves you feel better about them.

And next time you are needing a virtual PA or a graphic designer OR A COPYWRITER then you’ll perhaps ask them because they are trustworthy.

And that is exactly how content marketing works.

Content marketing gets you customers like no other method of advertising.

It’s more cost-effective and it’s long-lived and if you do it right it can be used again and again.

*OK look I know this is the worst caricature of a salesman ever. In fact, my friends in sales would say that’s the exact opposite of a professional salesman, but I’m using it to make a point.