By now, you’ve heard that in order to be found and seen online, your business must provide quality content for search engines and social media to attract your target customers. A lot of businesses stop here because the idea of a blog just seems like too much work. Tapped resources, lack of ideas for business blogs and not enough evidence on ROI can banish blogging to the end of the priority list.
Sooner or later, everyone comes to a fork in the road. A blog for business is ideal but capturing ideas for business blogs can often seem out of reach. I have clients who have been blogging for years and they have come up empty on ideas many, many times. Please don’t let your belief that you lack ideas stop you from getting all that’s yours. Don’t let your competitor take your business because you’ve convinced yourself blogging is just too difficult.
The trick is to brainstorm. Creativity is awesome when practiced as an individual. But what happens when you run dry – which you inevitably will do?
As part of your overall social media and content marketing action plan, you must build in some insurance. The best insurance policy I’ve found for feeling overwhelmed or uninspired for ideas is three-fold. Your insurance policy relies on the old saying, “Make hay while the sun shines.”
Keep your intentions in the forefront
“Our intention creates our reality.” ~Dr. Wayne Dyer
I look at intentions as a garden. You must plant seeds and provide water if you want it to grow. I spend a minimum of 15 minutes everyday consuming content that inspires me. I write out my intentions for my life and my business, which includes my blog. With intentions set, ideas have a place to gestate.
Retain a handy place to log all your inspiration
An idea board or idea file keeps all your thoughts and inspiration in one place. I find that writing it all down keeps it out of my head, which clears me for more inspiration.
I get a lot of ideas when I’m driving. I keep my phone handy and use the Voice app or Dragon Dictation app to record the ideas. When it’s time to blog about it, I’ve already got it down “on paper”.
One important note: When the inspiration hits you, get the idea down quickly. If you have time, start your blog post immediately. It’s always best to write while you’re at the height of inspiration. If you wait too long or don’t document your idea, it will leave you…sometimes never to return again.
Organize a group of people to brainstorm with
Brainstorming allows you to defer judgment and reach for quantity. A group brainstorming session (this can be with one or more people you trust) can deliver much more than great ideas. Brainstorming eliminates the feeling of overwhelm, brings about ideas that you never thought about on your own, enhances the ideas you already had, and strengthens self-confidence.
When you look at your business blog and the target customers you’re trying to reach as an ongoing project or conversation, things will fall in place much faster. Here are some ideas to get traction and inspire you to attract customers in a new and valuable way.
6 Content Ideas for Business Blogs
1. Helpful Lists About Purchase Considerations
“Solve Don’t Sell” is your motto here. Visualize the purchase journey your customer takes. Think about all the questions they might have or things they need to know. Divide each question or step into bite-size pieces that customers can consume easily.
2. Customer Interviews
There is no better way to convey trust than to illustrate it through your current customers’ experience.
One of my clients sets up short 5-question interviews with customers and travels to their house when it’s convenient for them.
3. Employee Interviews
Employees are your most trusted asset by way of customer perception. Customers see your employees as “people just like me.” Telling their individual stories is a great way to convey that perception even further.
4. Transparent Marketing
If you’ve got a social marketing campaign running, blogging about it is a great way to spread the word. Re-purpose your content and ideas in every way possible.
One of our clients did an Instagram contest called #WashMyWhip. People shared pictures of their dirty cars (using that hashtag) and each month they picked the dirtiest car to win a free custom detail. They blogged about it and shared the post on Facebook and Twitter.
5. Causes You Support
In 2015, businesses that are participating in social good are given extra notice. Car dealers are very involved in their local communities and a lot of people don’t know that. Use your blog to inform your customers how you give back.
If you have an event coming up, ask the organization to do a guest blog for you. They come to the table with a different spin and can provide very valuable info on your favorite causes.
6. Stories that Illustrate Your Online Reputation
Online reviews are a constant hot button for car dealers and most every other business. Processes to respond to reviews are super important but what about those times where you’ve delivered a truly outstanding experience and that story never sees the light of day?
One of our clients had an elderly woman come into their showroom who’d lost her way. She drove into the dealership to ask for help. The sales manager listened to her, then offered to drive her car around the neighborhood looking for her house (and asked a salesperson to follow them in another car so he could get back without her worrying). They were able to find her house, get her car parked in her garage and see that she was safely inside.
What stories have happened in your business that bear repeating? Your blog is an ideal place to tell these stories. Shared on social media, they convey the ingredients of your brand. Who doesn’t want to do business with a truly good samaritan?
Content ideas for business blogs require (ie: demand) focused attention. What you pay attention to gets better. Yes, it requires a shift in your thinking and most assuredly, your daily operation. But today’s blogs attract tomorrow’s business. Don’t lose out by staying stuck in your overwhelm.