Question: Our Small Business is just starting a blog and we have heard so many things about what a blog should be. Is there a simple strategy for our business to choose what to write about on our blog?
First of all, congratulations on starting a company blog. Did you know that 60% of businesses that blog win more business than there competitors that don’t?
While blogging will rarely lead to immediate growth (It takes a little time), having a blog that is educating, conversing and sharing ideas with a community of potential buyers is a great way to build toward more meaningful business and better customer relationships.
Now, to answer your specific question. When it comes to your company blog my advice is almost always this…
The #1 content source for your blog should be answering the most important questions that your customers have about your products and/or services. Meaning that you should use your blog as a way to educate your customers just like you would if you were sitting across the table in a sales meeting.
One small nuance is that when you answer these questions in your blog, the purpose should be to “Teach,” not preach or sell your company in general, but rather the concept of your offering.
Let me give you an example. If your business is looking to sell a nutritional supplement that will help increase energy and metabolism then you should be writing blogs explaining the benefits of the supplement itself. You may discuss how productivity goes up through better eating, or how a healthy diet slows down the aging process.
One thing I do recommend though is if you are making strong (Value) claims in your blog that you should try and properly credit sources of research.
A Winning Content Strategy for Small Business
Some people say never give away your secrets, but I’m going to share the first thing I do when helping businesses with their blogs.
I ask them to think up 15-20 questions that their ideal client may be asking Google or their Network where you would hope they would find your business.
Then I say… “Write about THAT!”
By answering your customers questions you are creating rich and meaningful content that will help separate your company from the pack all while building a community of readers that are interested and prospective buyers for your product.
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Daniel Newman is the co-founder of V3*Broadsuite and is an experienced C-level executive, serving as a strategy consultant for small and mid-sized businesses. He’s also an insight/analyst partner to four Fortune 50 enterprises and previously served as the co-founder and CEO of EC3, a hosted IT and communications services provider. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of United Visual, Inc. in Chicago Illinois.
He is a widely published writer who contributes weekly to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post and industry publications such as Commercial Integrator, Sound & Communication and Corporate Tech Decisions. He’s also author of three best-selling business books including The New Rules of Customer Engagement, The Millennial CEO, and just recently Evolve: Marketing (^as we know it) is Doomed.
Daniel has established a reputation as a leading thinker in topics such as Social, Big Data, Cloud and Mobile. He has been named to many top influencer lists in all of these areas, including recognition by the Huffington Post as one of the 100 business and leadership accounts to follow on Twitter. He is also an adjunct professor of management at North Central College.