As a heart-centered, service-minded entrepreneur, you want to authentically connect with your ideal clients. In many circles, this is known as “marketing.” Before you shudder and turn away, know you can market in a way that feels great to both your potential customer and you. One tool to create connection and value is publishing a blog.
I could spout off many statistics about why you ought to blog, but I won’t. Why? Because I want to encourage you to dig deep and examine your “WHY” and determine how you can share incredible resources and information with your ideal clients because that’s just how you roll. At the end of the day, blogging demonstrates your authority and builds rapport with potential clients while keeping the current ones engaged. Your influence does matter!
But what do you write about? Most entrepreneurs struggle to keep the blog post ideas flowing (yes, even me). So here are six ways you can generate ideas for compelling posts:
- Listen to Your Audience
What questions do your clients ask you the most? Jot these down and use them as seeds from which you can grow great posts. Chances are pretty good that you could easily make a list of at least four common questions without much thought. Boom! Just like that you have a month’s worth of blog posts. And your customers told you exactly what they needed. Just by listening to your clients, you can effectively answer their most burning questions.
A great tool for polling your readers is to post open-ended questions on your social media accounts, and pay attention to the responses. Are there trends? What interests your clients? Here’s a ninja trick: you needn’t ask questions solely related to your business. Asking your followers who they had their first crush on can lead to a deeper understanding of demographics and it just might spark an interesting twist on a topic near to your heart.
- What’s Hot – Social Media
What’s the latest buzz online and how can you draw a parallel to your business? Scour what’s hot and capitalize. (I once wrote a blog on how listening to Ed Sheeran could improve your writing.) Keep your ears and eyes open, as inspiration can appear anywhere, often in the strangest of places. (I don’t know about you, but my best ideas seem to come when I’m in the shower — so always keep a notebook handy, even if it’s on the bathroom counter.) It’s best to keep your posts non-political and non-controversial, unless you can give a professional, factual analysis (or you’re a political analyst).
I follow people I admire on social media. When something strikes a nerve for me, I note what it was about their post that struck me. Sometimes these brain tickles are just the thing to spark new ideas worth developing.
- Share a Story
Sharing a personal story is the perfect type of post to build that “know-like-trust” factor. A blog is just the place to be vulnerable while building your brand. Open up and let readers into your world with a short tale or wacky thing that happened recently. Even a quick but intriguing conversation you had while waiting in line at the coffee shop can be the start of a post. It’s relatable and real, thus invaluable.
People love to know who you are and what makes you tick. We all want to deal with people who understand us. For additional information on storytelling, here’s a post I recently shared.
- What’s new?
If you’ve created new products, programs, or offerings, sharing the news on your blog is an excellent marketing technique (a word of warning: this type of post ought to be used sparingly lest you start to sound like an infomercial). Here’s how I position new offerings: I post news on my blog first and then create a call-to-action to share at the bottom of following posts.
If your company is growing, share post highlighting your new staff member — this goes far in building teamwork as well as giving the impression of increase. Pulling back the curtain on your business makes an interesting “writes-itself” post. What’s working for you? What apps have you discovered? What would you do differently?
Are you speaking anywhere or being interviewed on a podcast? This type of information can be parsed in several ways. You could post about the facts (e.g., dates, times, channels) or you could share a story about the experience and what you learned.
- Scout Others
As an entrepreneur, it’s a good idea to follow other bloggers. Often what you read or watch can inspire you to create your own spin on a concept or thought. It’s a great way to get those creative juices flowing.
In fact, it’s a great practice to follow a variety of blogs. There are four types of blogs I recommend each entrepreneur follow:
- Brother blogs– These are written by like-minded folks who share a similar focus, audience size, and demographics as your business.
- Aunt blogs– These blogs live in your niche but have the size of audience you’d like to grow to.
- Cousin blogs– Reading blogs from a separate but globally-related genre. Often these spark new ideas you can use in unique ways.
- Learning blogs– No matter their field, small business owners can draw insight into their own practices from experts on topics such as bookkeeping, human resources, or marketing.
You can read a more in-depth description of these kinds of blogs here.
- Brainstorm by Letting Go
Julia Cameron in her book, The Artists’ Way, suggests refilling your creative well by, well, being creative. I suggest making this part of your daily (or at a minimum, weekly) routine to keep inspiration flowing. After all, an empty pitcher fills no cups. Go for a walk, meditate, do some yoga, workout at the gym, paint or color, or sit on the beach and let the universe speak to you. Bet you come back with a few great ideas – and maybe even a little tan.
These six ways are effective in keeping your ideas flowing, generating meaningful blog posts, and publishing on a consistent basis. By doing so, you’ll more quickly build the “know-like-trust” factor with your ideal clients and increase your expertise status. Who knows, you might even have some fun along the way!
