I see you there, procrastinating by scrolling through social media when you should be writing your company’s business blog post. I get it because I’ve been there; sometimes sitting down to write a blog post is like standing before a climbing wall when you haven’t done more than a casual stroll around the block in recent memory. So, not only do you have to write something, but you’re probably not even sure what exactly you should write about. I’m here to help.
Follow these easy steps, and you’ll be on your way!
Write What You Know
What is your business? What do you do? What do your customers come to you for? Let’s say your company is in the pet industry. You make cat toys. Your customers are pet stores, shelters, and non-profits who buy the cat toys in quantity. What do you know? Cat toys! Write about that. Write about new toys, toy designs, the history of cat toys, or even National Cat Day.
Make Friends with an Editorial Calendar
Whether you’re analog or digital* – get it down, what you’re posting and when you’re posting it. National Cat Day is October 29th – get down your thoughts about that day. Step away for a day, revisit what you wrote and polish it. Make sure it’s legible, grammatically correct, and stays on topic (this is a business blog, not a personal blog where segues happen).
*There are a lot of fancy calendars out there for social media planning and they are SLICK! However, if you’re a one-person show, keep it simple – I love Excel.
Brevity In All (well… most) Things
Is your attention span longer than a goldfish? Sadly, the average American’s isn’t, which means your beautiful, 1,000-word blog post is too long. Write out the points you want to make. Find the ones that go together, group them, add some details. Try to keep your writing under 600 words. Can’t cut down what you want to say? Break it up into smaller posts! Now, you have more than one post for more than one day.
Commit to Posting
Does the idea of posting daily give you a migraine? You don’t have to write that often!
Once a week, once a month, six times a year – all good options. Whatever you pick, schedule it and stick to it. Your readers will come to rely on your posting regularly and if you forget or fall off the posting wagon – it will be noticed.
Don’t Forget To Have Fun
I have read some DRY blogs which were basically white papers. Great to read at bedtime when you want to sleep, not so enjoyable when they arrive in your work email at 9 AM. There isn’t enough coffee in the office to keep awake reading those! Blogs should have some personality; even if you’re writing about tax code instead of cat toys – you don’t have to keep it brittle and boring. Plus, the occasional photo of a cat doing taxes can make people laugh.
Because what isn’t funny about a cat helping with taxes?