Struggling to come up with blog post ideas?
Yup, welcome to the harsh reality of business blogging.
Like the news that always happens on TV at six o’clock, one of the secrets of great business blogging is regular updates. Your loyal readers expect it. Even Google loves it. But inspiration can often leave you stranded high and try.
So here to help you out are ten sure-fire posts for business bloggers to keep your content rolling.
1. The Photo
I love looking at photos online. And so do your customers. It can be a great way of connecting with your community. Say you post a pic each week of customer. Or better still, what about one of your vital employees doing something needed.
I run a Pic of the Week for one of my clients and it gets a chunk of traffic every week. Of course, you can share it on Twitter and Facebook to work those channels too. So go get that camera. Easy, peasy, pie.
2. The Interview
Don’t shy away from talking to people. The regular interview post is another that often generates a lot of interest. And people comeback time and again to check out interviews.
So talk to the people that matter. Get the lowdown on what your audience wants to know.
The reason I started following Jay Bear was because of his brilliant Twitter interview series.
Who could you be talking to? What could you be finding out for your readers?
The additional benefit with an interview series is that you can then – hey presto – convert it to an E-book further down the line.
3. The Video
Videos are a great way of varying the content on your blog. With computers increasingly equipped with a camera you don’t even have to go out and buy more gear to film yourself and talk with your audience. I’ve even done this when I’ve been sick. I also like using video’s to communicate something different online. You can build a different vibe or atmosphere than when you’re just using words on a screen. Go on, don’t be afraid. Give it a go!
PS. Apple’s iMovie is great for getting started editing your first flick.
4. The Self-Interview
Maybe you have all these questions in your head that you want to answer on your blog but don’t quite know how to phrase it. Well, just interview yourself.
Write each question down as if you were addressing someone else and then write your answers. It will vary the tone of your blog and show a different side of you and your blogging voice. You’ll be surprised.
5. The Q & A
A variation of interviewing yourself is to work your way through those questions people ask you from time to time about your business and what you do. It’s not an interview but a great way of helping you clarify things for your audience as well as yourself.
6. The SlideShare Presentation
Upload a presentation you’ve given to SlideShare (or Scribd) and then post it on your blog. It will bring colour and a different insight into the work you do on your blog.
Alternatively, share someone else’s presentation!
Curating new and significant information for your audience is part of being a great blogger, even if you’re a business blogger.
7. The Sneeze Post
Mr Problogger himself, Darren Rowse, coined the term Sneeze Post: “The idea is simple – to create a page that propels people in different directions deep within your blog by highlighting a variety of posts that you’ve previously written.”
A sneeze post is a great way of sending people back to posts you’ve written long in the past, it’s great for SEO as linking to old posts can help them grow their search engine ranking, and they also encourage new visitors to your site to stick around and explore your work.
I like to do a sneeze post once a month. I also do a variation of this, sharing links to posts I really value. Again, sharing useful resources with your community isn’t just about keeping visitors on your own site. Sending them to useful stuff can help show that you’re a good curator of resources, and improve your trust and standing.
8. The Review
Blog a review of every book you read related to your field. Or every E-book. Or every podcast. Reviews on Amazon are great, but posting them on your blog show that you’ve got something to say and keep people listening to you, rather than Amazon!
I also find that reviews are a great way of soliciting comments because people have opinions about the stuff they read or listen to. Chris Brogan does a great variation of this and vlogs a lot of his book reviews. It’s a nice touch and keeps his content fresh and engaging.
9. The Tip
Because people ask Google a lot of questions – How do I install new RAM in my iMac ? – there’s a good reason to write a regular Tips post. They’re great for helping your customers and they’ll also elicit more questions and comments, building the way your community engage with you. And you want that.
The better quality the tips and help you provide, the better you’ll be viewed as an expert or trust agent. So many A-list bloggers have built their reputations on this style of post alone that it’s one you really should study and perfect to a “T”.
A great variation of this post is the How-To video post: E.g. http://wordpress.tv/2009/01/15/writing-and-publishing-a-post/
10.The Complaint
Finally, but by no means last, the complaint (or rant, as its often known as) is a great way of shaking up your blog for your readers. There’s nothing quite like letting off a bit of steam to bring out the commentators from the wood. Oh, and again it shows a different side to your persona, keeping people interested. Especially if they share your pet peeve. It’s a kind of post that can come back to haunt you, but I personally think that blogs shouldn’t err on the vanilla. That we should take a position and let people know where we stand more overtly from time to time. This recent post on JonBuscall.com appears to be a book review but it’s actually a complaint!
If you’re a business blogger reading this, what other post types do you find yourself using ? What else can we do to make content creation a little bit easier?
Image: FlickrCC
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Thanks for the ideas there Jon! The complaint is a good one I haven’t thought of. I try to be positive as I can on my blog but, once in a while, we have to throw a rant to even things out… just as long as we’re cool about it.
Thanks so much for the kind words and the link within your quite excellent post. Just FYI, the greatest hits of my Twitter 20 interview series will be published soon in a 32-page downloadable ebook. Stay tuned. Thanks for the support!
Cheers, J. I was a bit wary about posting that one but then thought, yeah, I complain. Not too much, mind. But enough to try and connect with people and generate a discussion. Or a reaction.
I don’t want blogging to be too fluffy.
@Jay you are most welcome. I’m looking forward to the greatest hits. Great stuff.