Running a business blog is very different from keeping a personal blog, as so many entrepreneurs have found out. Personal blogging is something which you do whenever you feel you have something to share with your readers. A business blog is not about what you (and your company, by extension) want – it is about what your readers (that is, your potential customers) want to read.
Many enthusiast business bloggers reach a writer’s block – this is a reality. They start out with a few brilliant ideas and topics, but after a while you can see the change in the blog: an off-schedule posting calendar, and lacklustre articles resulting in declining engagement and conversion.
For this reason, we have decided to share a few effective and actionable tips to help you run a steady and engaging business blog. We will focus on ways to create blog content, even on those days when your muse seems to have deserted you.
- Document Work in Progress on New Products
Are you about to launch a new product? This is a great opportunity to create valuable content for your blog, stir excitement and start promoting your product with little sneak peeks at the production process.
Talk about what inspired you to create your product, how you set about working on it, and give your readers progress reports and a countdown to the launch day. You can keep your readers engaged for weeks with such updates and this content will add more value to the actual launch day because you will certainly have a large and curious audience after this clever teaser campaign.
- Tie in Current Events with Your Business
Whenever something big happens in the world it affects all of us, even your customers and your business. This is why you should have a news aggregator and browse it every day, searching for trending events. New discoveries in your field of activity, a breakthroughs which could impact your customers’ lives or the way you are doing business, are topics worth covering in your blog.
A word of warning: many companies have committed huge blunders by using trending hashtags for certain events in a highly inappropriate way. Make sure that you truly understand what you are writing about.
- Answer Your Customers’ Questions
For those days when you really have no idea what to write about, turn to your readers and followers for inspiration. Look over their comments on your blog and on your social media accounts and select their most frequent questions. You can either answer several questions in a Q&A type of article or answer just one in an in-depth piece. Whichever way you treat this situation, make sure to name at least one person who asked the question. They will appreciate the attention you give them.
- Join LinkedIn Groups
Many LinkedIn groups are valuable sources of topics for business and professional blogs. The conversation is constantly kept alive by asking questions, sharing latest news and professional opinions, and brainstorming on topics of great interest to the members.
As an active member, you can both find topics for your blog and grow your reputation by sharing your expertise and your own blog posts as answers to questions. In this way, you will also manage to attract new readers and potential customers, as well.
- Share Customers’ Success Stories
What is a better way of advertising your products and your business, than to show how your existing customers have improved their lives, solved their problems and enjoyed the promised benefits? Customer success stories are a win-win for everyone involved: your business, your blog calendar and the featured customer who enjoys their moment in the spotlight.
As you can see, there are so many sources of inspiration and such a wide range of topics that you can cover in your business blog. All you need is the motivation to follow your posting calendar and not leave your readers wondering why your blog is off its usual schedule.