Do you ever get ready to sit down and begin writing blog posts, then stare at a blank screen wondering what on Earth to write about?
How do you get enough information to fill your blog?
Coming up with blog post ideas is a frustrating dilemma that many small business owners face. You know you should be writing blogs, but every time you sit down to write writer’s block takes over. Take a deep breath. You are not alone.
If you own a business and are helping customers solve problems, you have plenty of topics. You know what they are. The struggle is where to begin, how to draw on this information and how to write about them.
There are thousands of posts that you can write to fill your blog with valuable content. We’ll cover strategies on how to prioritise in another post. For now, here are 21 quick and easy ways to come up with blog content that will keep your audience engaged.
1. Q & A Posts
You most likely get questions from your customers all the time. If you jot down each question, you will find that many of them are similar in nature. Answer those questions in Q & A posts.
2. Your Personal Toolbox
When you run a small business or begin your own, it’s generally because you had a need that wasn’t being met so you found a way to meet it. Now you are using those tools to help others. Which tools do you use on a regular basis that your customers will find helpful as well?
3. An A to Z Post
Write a post covering tips to help your customers from A to Z.
4. Behind the Scenes
Your customers come to you for help; share information on what happens behind the scenes. Are you creating a new product? Then, give them a behind the scenes look at how or why you are creating it.
5. Tell Your Story
Customers love to hear how you struggled and found solutions. Share your journey with them through blog posts.
6. Post an Infographic
Create an infographic that shares statistics about your business or of resources used by others with the same struggles as your customers. Explain why and what research you did to create it.
7. Write a Review
Is there an article or book that you just finished reading that could help your customers? Write a review of it that tells your likes, dislikes and thoughts about the article or book.
8. Post Your Favorite Quotes
Share your favorite quotes, quotes that help inspire your audience, or create your own quotes. Quotes are quick and easy to read.
9. “How to” Post
Share a process that will help your audience solve a problem. Make sure you use photos to show the steps.
10. Case Study
The term is more daunting than the actual article. A case study lays out the details of an event, process, or product.
11. Create an SAQ Post
You receive questions daily from your customers, but are they always asking the right questions? In this post you write the questions they should be asking but aren’t and answer those questions.
12. Survey Results
Take a survey of your audience on a relevant topic and share the results. It could be a current event in the news or a new product you are thinking about creating.
13. List Post
List posts are simple, yet full of impact. They give your audience important information in a very easy to read format (similar to this post). It can be your favorite books, helpful websites, or apps that they need.
14. Checklist Post
Similar to the list post this is a helpful post that your audience can easily use. Give them a step-by-step checklist they can check off as they work on solving their problem.
15. Trend Post
What is trending in your niche? Share what you are seeing or what others are seeing as current and upcoming trends.
16. Controversial Post
Many small business owners try to stay away from this type of post, but sometimes it is a great way to spark a conversation or get to know your audience better. You can either take a side, or post both sides and ask your readers what they think?
17. Get Vulnerable
Your customers want to know that you are human too. Share a deep personal story that they can relate to themselves.
18. Off Topic Post
Your blog does not have to always be niche specific. Sometimes you can get a good response by going off topic. A word of caution though … you want to know your audience when you do this. (You DO know your audience, don’t you?)
19. “Best of” Post
Have you been writing posts for a while? Link your best posts into an easy resource post. You can have “Best of” a specific topic or a year.
20. Challenge Post
Challenge your audience to take a helpful action. You can also ask them to share via the comment section when they have completed the challenge and what their results were.
21. Customer Showcase
Share testimonials or the steps you took with one client to help them become successful.
Once you start thinking along these lines, no doubt you’ll find the blog post ideas start flowing. Sometimes they just keep coming then and you won’t be able to stop them!
This is the perfect time to start a list of blog post ideas that you can refer to for future content.
