You might think that the way you structure your blog post isn’t that important. You couldn’t be more wrong. What you write is really important but the way you set it out is, possibly, even more crucial. If your blog post is one big block of text, guess what? Your readers will switch off and go somewhere else.
It’s also worth remembering that people don’t always read everything you write. (I know, it upsets me too.) They might have found your post looking for one quick piece of information. If you structure your posts to make things easy to find, your readers will love you (and possibly bookmark your post for future reference). Here are just a few of the basics.
A good headline
I’ve started with this because it goes at the top, but it’s a good idea to review your headline once you’ve written the post. Clickbait is annoying so make sure your headline reflects what you’ve actually written. This is especially true of titles that start with things like ‘5 tips’ or ’10 things’ (these are great as they also give you a built in structure).
Using power words and emotional language in your headline helps your readers to engage. Words like ‘you’ or ‘your’ helps them to feel that you’re talking to them. You can test the emotional value of your headline using the Advance Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer and get some ideas for power words in [this handy list from CoSchedule.
Introduction
A good introduction will get your reader hooked and wanting to read more. Opening with a question often works well because it either gets people nodding or shaking their head straight away. It has the added benefit of weeding out anyone who doesn’t need your help because they just stop reading. You could also start with something surprising or controversial that leads into your topic. The most important thing is to give readers a preview of what you’re going to talk about. It helps to build trust because it shows your readers you know what you’re talking about.
Subheadings
Subheadings are important for two reasons. Firstly, Google likes them. It shows structure which suggests that you know your stuff. It also helps readers who might only be looking for the answer to one question. If you’ve planned a post with a specific number of tips or recommendations, your subheadings can just be a list. If you’re describing a process that needs to be done in a particular order, you can list out the steps and use those as subheadings. Otherwise, plan out what the post needs to cover so you can focus all of the relevant information within that section.
Conclusion
What do you want people to take away from this blog post? Briefly summarise what you talked about so the overall point is clear. You could also list key points or actions readers can take next. Also consider including a call to action. This could be a prompt to sign up to your email list, a question for readers to answer in the comments or anything else you’d like. The idea is to encourage readers to engage further with your business so that you can keep building the relationship and encouraging them to become customers. Practicing what I preach, I’d like you to come away from this understanding that building a clear structure into your blog posts helps to make them user friendly and easy to read.
If you’ve written a blog post that you’re not happy with, or would just like to hand the whole thing over, please get in touch. I can write your blog for you or help you to edit one you’ve already written.
Or you can complete the form below to sign up to my mailing list for monthly blogging and marketing tips straight to your inbox. You’ll also receive a free copy of my guide to getting your business seen online as a thank you.
If you’ve ever wondered what writing a blog can do for your business, here’s a great example.
The Challenge
Graeme and Charlotte run a holiday park in a gorgeous location (I wish I could tell you where, but I’m not allowed). This wasn’t somewhere you could just book for a week like you can with some of the bigger chains. This was a family business where everyone who visited owned their own caravan and came for weekends as well as for longer holidays. The owners might lend their vans out to friends and family but it was mostly just for them. The business was ticking over but there was no growth, so they got some help with their marketing to try and change things.
Their blog had got a bit samey. There was lots of news about what was happening on the site but they really wanted to talk about the area, to show people what was special about their location and encourage them to visit. I came up with some new ideas and started writing their blog for them.
The results
Over the next 9 months they increased their enquiries by 150% and got more revenue from their existing customers.
Why did it work so well? Because we love a good story. When they read the blog, new customers could picture themselves in their own bolthole, looking out over some incredible views. Current owners felt looked after because we included things that would help them to enjoy their time there. Some paid to upgrade their accommodation. They even started spending more time in the bar or at the shop because they felt like part of a community.
Could writing a business blog do that for you? Get in touch and let’s find out. I write the words that speak your customers’ language.
One of the most common questions I hear when I suggest business owners start a blog is “but what will I write about?” Coming up with ideas for your blog (or any of your social media posts for that matter) can feel like a massive task at first. It’s also entirely possible that you think you’ve covered everything you can write about already. The truth is, there are ideas all around you – you just have to know where to find them. Here are 5 simple ways that you can find new ideas for your blog.
Keep it simple
I talk to a lot of business owners who don’t write about really obvious things in their blog. They think that because they think something’s boring and routine their customers will too. Truth is, your customers need you because they don’t know what you know. If your strength is making beautiful jewellery your weakness could be keeping your accounts in order. If you’re the accountant who can give them a simple way to keep everything organised, talk about it! It isn’t too obvious, it’s really helpful. A list of your FAQs = an instant list of blog topics.
How do you help?
You’re in business because you offer something people need, so if you want customers you need to tell them how you help them. What are the benefits of working with you? I talk about things like coming up with ideas, writing in a way your customers will understand and turning lacklustre words into something better. You can also think about all of the different things that people might be Googling that you can help with. Say you offer massage – there are loads of different ways that someone might benefit and you can write about them all.
Talk to people
Taking a genuine interest in your customers’ lives is just basic human decency. It also helps you to come up with ideas. I get a lot of ideas from conversations I have with other business owners. You discover what they’re struggling with and about the misconceptions they have about your industry. That doesn’t just come from business networking. Your customers could be the people you chat to on in the local shop (albeit through your mask just now). The key is to listen to what people need – then you can write about ways you can help.
Read other blogs
I’m not suggesting you steal other people’s work. Plagiarism is bad. However, reading other blogs and marketing content within your industry helps you to keep up to date. This can also sometimes apply to reading the news too. Writing a blog post about something that’s changing will be really useful to your customers. The obvious example at the moment is Covid-19. There is so much change going on my head’s spinning. If you can help your customers understand what’s happening in businesses like yours it helps us all deal with the stress that little bit better.
Use some tech
There are lots of techy ways that you can come up with ideas for your blog. I like Answer the Public, where you can type in a keyword and it gives you loads of different questions that people have asked around that word. There are also some great keyword research tools. My favourite is Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest. Buzzsumo is also a great tool if you want to find out what kind of content does well in your industry.
I hope that’s given you food for thought – if you want a whole heap of topic ideas for your blog that are ready to go, my new eBook is out now. It’s called ’50 blog post ideas for your business’ and does just what it says on the tin.
Further resources
For even more ways to come up with new ideas, this great post from Orbit Media is well worth a read.
Does it ever feel as if some people might be a bit scared of your business? You might think of yourself as a perfectly pleasant person, not an ogre or a troll. Yet you haven’t had a steady stream of new customers beating a path to your door. Or maybe you’ve introduced an exciting new product or service and its fallen completely flat.
It’s not because you’re terrifying. (Probably – if you are actually really scary I can’t help you.) The truth is, people like to know what they’re getting into. Trying something new takes a bit of a leap of faith. If you want your customers to have confidence there are a few things you can do to help them.
Tell them about your business
If you have a business that might be considered ‘unusual’, this is for you. There are a whole load of businesses in the world that do exactly what they say on the tin. If you’re a hairdresser on the local high street, people will get it. But what if people wrinkle their noses and say ‘what’s that?’ when you tell them what you do? Your future customers might be doing the same. You could be the solution to a problem that’s really holding them back, but they’ll never find you if you don’t teach them how you can help.
It’s also possible that they’ve got completely the wrong idea about what you offer. They’ve read something somewhere that was completely inaccurate. It might have been sensationalised or just phrased in a way that made them think it wasn’t for them. Never be afraid to bust a few myths if you need to.
Do your customers know about your services?
Of course, there’s another possibility. Maybe you offer a range of services and most of them are perfectly ordinary. Like a beauty therapist offering facials and massage. Then you bring in something new, like Hopi ear candling. No-one books. You’ve told people you’re offering it, it’s there on the menu but no-one’s buying. That’s probably a sign that they don’t know what it is or why they need it.
Explaining the benefits of a product or service is a great idea no matter what you offer. Even if you think something is mainstream, there are bound to be people who’ve never heard of it. Or maybe they have heard of it but they’re not exactly sure why they’d want it. Saying things like ‘this is a great treatment for hayfever sufferers’ or ‘this will save you time doing x job’ demystifies your services and encourages people to try them out.
Cover the basics
Sometimes people worry about simple things. Signing up for a class or an appointment with a professional is a big commitment. You can’t just run out if you don’t like the look of it. (Well, you could, but you’d probably feel pretty silly.) People protect themselves by not making the booking in the first place.
The concerns your potential customers have will depend on what you offer. If they’re in a group setting they might wonder what the other people will be like. They might worry about what you’re like or whether they’ll be safe visiting you. Going to see a solicitor or financial adviser runs the risk that they’ll be blinded with science. Telling people what to expect gives them certainty and reassurance. It tells them that you’re friendly and will look after them. That could mean the difference between a new customer and one that never gets in touch.
If you need help speaking your customers’ language and demystifying your business, just get in touch. Or sign up to my mailing list for regular marketing and writing tips.
I used to follow lots of business gurus who talked about ‘hustle’. They’d mention their families but the main thrust of their advice was that you needed to work, work then work some more until you’d ‘made it’. I never really saw much about what life would look like when you’d made it, or indeed whether there was an actual definition. The overall idea seemed to be that you shouldn’t take a holiday or even a day off until you’d got to the top. Hustle culture was everywhere. Even the people who had kids talked about the importance of balance but seemed to spend their evenings and weekends working. Of course, I don’t know what was happening behind the scenes. Everything I saw about these people was based on what they put on social media. All the same, it played on my mind. Did I really need to subscribe to hustle culture to have a successful business?
What’s my problem?
When I say I’m not buying into the hustle, that doesn’t mean I believe in slacking. Working hard is part of building a successful business. I think my issue is that hustle seems to go beyond that. It’s not just hard work. I’ve seen people talk about not sleeping or never taking a day off. As someone with two small children I know that not getting enough sleep is a form of slow torture. There’s no way I’m doing it voluntarily. There might be times that you need to work silly hours to get something done, but it’s not sustainable long term.
I knew that I needed to create my own definition of success and mark my own boundaries if I was going to get anywhere.
Defining success
I see a lot of people online talking about earning 6 or 7 figures. That might be meaningful to some, but not me. Not that I’m longing to live in a cave or anything. I’d just rather make enough to have a nice life, quality time with the family and a few decent holidays. If that means I don’t get to be a millionaire that’s OK.
When it comes to role models I take social media posts with a pinch of salt and talk to people I actually know. The main thing I discovered is that everyone has different boundaries. The important thing is to look at how you want to spend your time and how that translates to reaching your goals.
Accountability
I sometimes wonder whether ‘hustle’ is some people’s method of keeping themselves accountable. If you haven’t worked an 18 hour day you haven’t done enough. The truth is, you don’t have to hustle to set goals and get results. If I don’t take time off I get exhausted and make bad decisions. My holidays don’t just give me family time, they provide brain space too. Looking at the world from a different angle gives me new ideas for normal life.
I also have an amazing coaching group where we commit to take action and report back. That action can even include identifying times when we need to rest so we live to fight another day. That’s the kind of accountability that gets you where you need to go.
Why am I telling you this? Because I know that a lot of you struggle with it. My business isn’t just about writing. It’s about sharing the stories that mean something to you. If you need help speaking your customers’ language and finding the stories that are important to them, just get in touch.
I’ve been thinking about the resources I use in my business a lot recently, trying to work out what’s working and what isn’t. I keep coming back to networking, mainly because business is often about who you know and partly because there are so many options. As I mentioned in this blog I’ve found that paid networking events have given me more solid relationships than free ones. But then I talk to other business owners and realise that not all networking is created equal. It got me wondering about the kind of networking I do and why it works for me.
Timing
There are so many networking event that you could feasibly spend all your time going to them, but you wouldn’t get much work done. The demands of family life rule out both breakfast and evening networking events for me which helps me narrow them down.
It means that I only go to daytime events, which has a massive impact on the kind of people I meet. They’re often senior employees of larger businesses, which usually means they have money to spend. (Yes, I’m totally capable of being mercenary.) I’ve also met people who’ve built up their side hustle or who threw themselves in at the deep end like me.
Connecting with people
Building a business is about creating relationships. Some of the people I’ve met networking have become customers, but others have become my unofficial ambassadors in their own networks.
My main networking group is women only and hugely supportive in lots of different ways. There’s always a listening ear and great advice. While approaches differ between business owners and employees, there’s still one common thread. We all promote each other, even though that’s not a requirement of membership. My network has widened because we mention each other on social media and attend each other’s events.
Follow up
My favourite networking groups have become my favourites because they make it easy to build relationships. I’ve no problem with making the time to follow up with new contacts individually, but it’s easy for your email (or theirs) to get lost in the midst of a heaving inbox.
While social media can be equally busy, the memberships with Facebook groups have brought more lasting relationships. Other members ask questions or share their content and the hive mind gets to work. People don’t just learn what you’re about in a chat over lunch, they see reminders all the time.
Other networking groups
I often turn down events because they don’t fit with my schedule or my budget. But I’ve also said no without really understanding why. I look at some of the people I’ve met over the years and marvel at the connections they have and the events they’re invited to. Often the only difference between us is that they’ve been in business for longer and have more contacts.
Yet sometimes I think I hold myself back through fear. What if they’re just better than me? Maybe they’re ‘proper’ business owners and I’m just someone who’s going to be found out one day? I think it’s something I need to address.
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s to look at the events you’re going to (or not going to). Are they the right ones for you? Is avoiding some holding you back? The reason I tell you this story is not because I have a networking event to sell (I don’t), but because I hope it’ll help. It’s also because being honest and sharing my story has helped me to build my business and meet some amazing people along the way.
If you want some help sharing your story in the right way, just get in touch.
PR (Public Relations) is a long-term promotional strategy aimed at building authority and influence over time. It’s a form of marketing that can be used to generate positive awareness of a company or brand and its products or services.
“Public Relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.”
– Chartered Institute of Public Relations
I like to think of public relation as a form of ‘attraction’ marketing. You can attract people to you, and your brand through PR.
Rather than pushing out a promotional message saying how great you are, in the form of an advert for example, PR is focused on helping others come to that conclusion themselves through what they have seen and heard from others.
Those ‘others’ might be the media, it might be celebrities/influencers/industry leaders, or it might be through other people – friends and family etc.
I particularly like this quote because I feel it states the difference between advertising and PR really well:
“Advertising is saying you’re good. PR is getting someone else to say you’re good.” – Jean Louis Gasse
While advertising messages are biased to highlight the positives of a particular product or service, in contrast, people speaking highly of you or perceiving you as an expert based on something they’ve read, heard or seen, is more persuasive and therefore more powerful.
What PR is not
PR is NOT…
…advertising
You earn it, rather than pay for it. PR is about reputation and this has to be earnt and is developed over a period of time.
…a quick fix
My suggestion would be that if you need to sell a certain amount of product or service quickly, advertise rather than rely on PR. Positive goodwill and media publicity shouldn’t be relied upon to generate sales, especially not within a short time frame.
…a guarantee of business success
You can generate a ton of positive press coverage about you and your business, and be highly regarded by potential customers, peers and other third parties, but still not have a successful, profitable business.
Rather than rely solely on PR, I believe businesses should use it alongside other forms of marketing. PR should be part of an integrated marketing strategy, where all aspects of marketing work simultaneously alongside each other.
Why should businesses use PR?
PR can be used by business owners to promote who they are and what they do, to establish and protect their image and reputation, and to build credibility and influence. In my mind, the potential benefits far outweigh the costs!
For example, being featured in the media is attractive to business owners, and rightly so! There is a vast number of newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes, websites, online publications, blogs, podcasts and video channels out there, all hungry for fresh and relevant content. The opportunities are there for the taking!
By using PR tactics such as press releases, networking with journalists, and pitching story ideas to the media, you can put yourself on the radar of journalists who are seeking content and potentially gain valuable exposure for your brand and your products and services.
Leveraging the power of the media, which has large, established audiences, is a great way to increase your visibility, build your reputation, grow your audience, attract new email subscribers, and sell more of your products and services.
Of course, this can be great for your business!
What are some of the benefits of PR?
There are loads! These are just some further ways that you could benefit:
1. PR is more credible than advertising.
If a newspaper, magazine or online publisher has chosen to include you within a piece of content they produce, then they are effectively endorsing you and your brand.
Although you don’t have complete control over how your company is presented in the media, a positive editorial mention, for sure, packs a far greater punch than an advert in the credibility stakes.
2. Potential reach
My local paper has a circulation of around 19,000 and is read by over 50,000 people every day. National and online publications reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. So, being featured in the media helps you and your business to get exposure to a potentially huge audience.
3. PR exposure is free but worth a lot of money
Advertising is expensive. Ads in magazines and newspapers costing anything from hundreds to tens of thousands of pounds to take out. The Daily Mail charges between £20k-£60k for a full-page advert!
In contrast, publicity in the media is free. Yes, there is the cost of your time and effort to secure the publicity (or the cost of a PR expert if you choose to outsource), but this can pale in comparison to the equivalent cost of an advert within that same publication.
4. Boosts your SEO
Getting a mention and having your website linked to from a high domain authority site, such as that of a newspaper or media outlet, can help you rank on Google.
Not only that, but the fact that online press coverage remains published forever (unless it’s taken down at some point) is working for you all year round and helping you and your brand name to get discovered in organic search.
Is PR suitable for every business?
Yes, in my opinion, PR can and should be used by businesses of all sizes.
If you have a service-based business or have expertise in a particular area, journalists writing on that topic could be interested in hearing what you know. If you have a product-based business, it could potentially be the perfect fit for a product round-up type feature or gift guide.
There is likely to be a journalist out there right now looking for exactly the kind of content that you can provide!
Isn’t PR expensive though?
An independent PR consultant or freelancer, like myself, would be the most flexible and more affordable option for most small businesses. PR agencies, working on retainers, can cost multiple thousands if not tens of thousands of pounds per month, and you’ll typically need to commit to a six-month retainer at a minimum.
To minimise the cost of PR, many small business owners do their own, as they might also do their own email marketing, social media marketing or accounting. But if PR isn’t something that you understand how to do or don’t enjoy, then outsourcing can often be the more cost-effective option and help you can achieve results more quickly.
What are your three top PR tips for small business owners?
1. Recognise that you are an expert
Many business owners doubt their own expertise and don’t consider themselves worthy of being featured in the media. I would say, aim to fight the inner critic that is telling you that you aren’t an expert in your niche. Adopt a positive mindset and recognise the value that you can offer journalists.
2. Prep before you pitch
Before pitching yourself to the media, read the publications that you are trying to target and become familiar with their regular features and which journalists work on which sections of the publication. Develop a deep understanding of the publication, its target audience and the kind of content that they typically run so that you can align your PR pitch accordingly.
3. Recognise that PR is about serving journalists
The media doesn’t exist to promote your business. They don’t give away their valuable media space lightly. Journalists want genuine news, credible experts and, usually, timely responses. Aim to serve journalists and that effort could reward you with a positive piece of money-can’t-buy coverage for your small business!
PR takes time and effort to implement. It is a long-term, rather than a short-term, promotional strategy. Yet, it can potentially reap great rewards. I hope I’ve excited you about the possibilities!
Any professional photographers reading are welcome to join Zoe’s free Facebook community, ‘PR-Savvy Photographers’ for PR and content marketing tips, support and accountability.
Zoe Hiljemark is a PR and content consultant with 16 years of marketing communications experience. She works exclusively with professional photographers, helping them to attract, connect with and convert dream clients via impactful publicity and content.
Email marketing is officially still alive (and if you don’t believe me, read this). But how do you get it right? There are (of course) lots of different approaches you could take. Some of my favourite emails are written like letters, giving you an insight into the writer’s life. They always make a point but there’s usually a personal story behind the advice. Others have a mixture of behind the scenes insight and advice. As with any other kind of content, the most important thing is to offer something useful that fits with your brand and that your audience will enjoy. There are also a few best practice rules that you should pay attention to. Here are just a few.
Be helpful
Before you send any email marketing, ask yourself why you’re sending it. Yes, I know you want to sell stuff but that shouldn’t be your only focus. People are much more likely to buy from you if they know you want to help them rather than just rake in the cash. So, you could explain why a particular service might help them, or talk about ways to do it themselves. You could talk about practical steps to take – I’ve seen some great ones from accountants covering the Covid-19 financial support. I always view it as offering my services but enabling people to do it themselves if they need to.
Show behind the scenes
There are some emails that don’t feel like email marketing. It’s more like an update about what’s happening in their life before mentioning something you might want to buy at the end. Laura Belgray (aka Talking Shrimp) is great at this. Of course, that might not suit your style. I show glimpses of my life but don’t talk about every detail. Showing your customers what goes on behind the scenes doesn’t have to involve sharing personal details. You could tell them what events you’ve been to or where they can meet you in person. That said, the more they see you as a human being, the more likely they are to trust you.
Create a good subject line
A good subject line can mean your email gets opened rather than deleted. Just like good headlines, a good subject line should be relevant to the subject and have good emotional resonance. Even the most conservative audience will respond to it. It can also be a good idea to personalise your subject line using the recipient’s name. I’m hearing some suggestions that using emojis in your subject line can increase open rates. I think this probably depends on your audience and their views on emojis generally. I like them but not everyone does.
Whatever approach you take at first, it isn’t set in stone. Experiment and change things to see what works for you.
Get the basics right
Good design is important but doesn’t have to be complicated. Have you ever been put off reading an email because the design was so fussy it made it hard to read? Kind of defeats the point. Keep your design simple but with some appealing images – basically the same approach you’d take to the rest of your marketing. Most email marketing platforms allow you to check how your email looks on mobiles. A lot of people will read on their phones so check it doesn’t get scrambled.
Also, one final note. Pay attention to GDPR. There is loads of guidance out there, especially from the ICO, so make sure you follow it.
Further reading
Test your headlines for emotional resonance with the Advanced Marketing Institute’s headline analyser.
If you’d like to receive fabulous marketing tips straight to your inbox, including hints on email marketing, blogging and much more, you can subscribe using the form below. You’ll also receive a copy of my free guide helping you to get your business seen online.
How many emails are currently sitting in your inbox, unopened or otherwise ignored? We subscribe to so many different things, ticking the box to accept email marketing because we like the look of a free download or a special offer. Then the emails start to land… The thing is, if we feel like this as business owners, why on earth would we bother with email marketing ourselves? Who on earth is actually reading? If you’re tempted to give up writing your email newsletter (or just not bother starting) here’s why you might want to change your mind.
The right people are still reading
There are techniques you can use to encourage people to open your emails (more on that later) and to keep them reading once they’ve opened. The key is to be helpful. Email is a great marketing tool but it shouldn’t just be about marketing. You can share knowledge and advice that will be useful to your customers in the same way as you do in your blog. The people who like what you’re saying will keep reading even if they don’t buy straight away. They might be keeping in touch, knowing that they want to work with you when the conditions are right for them. Or they could just be waiting for the right offer to come along.
The numbers are on your side
This helpful post from Optinmonster gives some great, detailed statistics around email use in the US. As depressing as it may be at this point, we tend to follow them pretty closely (plus I couldn’t find any UK-specific stats – sorry about that.) More than 90% of people have email (even my Mum and she resisted for years). Mobile apps give us the opportunity to check our emails even more frequently. Even teenagers are still using email despite having access to multiple messaging platforms. Email even outperforms social media for engagement. Generally speaking, as long as you don’t go into spam you’re pretty much guaranteed to be seen via email. How often can you say that about Facebook?
You’re in control of your list
There will be a few subscribers who never open your emails but don’t unsubscribe. What do you do about them? That’s where list cleaning comes in. If people aren’t reading, they aren’t helping you. Removing inactive subscribers means you’ll only be emailing people who are interested in you. Your open rates will improve and that reduces your chances of ending up in the spam folder.
Your email marketing platform statistics will tell you who’s opening and who isn’t. If anyone hasn’t opened an email in the last 60 days, get rid of them. You might want to give them a final chance, say by sending a final email letting them know you’re going to remove them unless they choose to stay. Chances are they won’t read that one either.
Getting email marketing right
The beauty of being a small business owner is that you can make decisions quickly. If something in your email marketing isn’t working you don’t have to consult with a committee to try something new. Maybe you started out with a sign up form inviting people to subscribe to receive exclusive offers or tips. If that approach didn’t work, or just ran out of steam, try something else. Perhaps you need a new offer to tempt people in, a free download or a tutorial video. Ask your existing subscribers what they would find useful, or talk to your network. That enables you to create freebies that will tempt people in and to write emails that help your audience.
If you’d like to receive fabulous marketing tips straight to your inbox, including hints on email marketing, blogging and much more, you can subscribe using the form below. You’ll also receive a copy of my free guide helping you to get your business seen online.
Content marketing can get overwhelming at the best of times.
Even when you’ve got a clear idea of who your customer is and what kind of
content they’ll like, there are still lots of decisions to be made. Your
marketing could be a full time job, but you haven’t got time for that (even I
haven’t). I’m a big believer in repurposing the content you’ve already created.
It’s a bit like recycling except it won’t have any significant impact on
climate change. Here’s how I approach getting as much use out of my content as I
can.
Write a blog
Writing a blog can seem like a massive effort, particularly when you’re struggling with it. If you’ve ever sat down and tried to write a blog only to end up with something you’re not happy with, you’re not alone. However, it is worth persevering. (Or getting someone like me to write one for you.)
A blog is a big, chunky piece of content in comparison to
virtually anything else you’ll create. You can take the topics you’ve chosen
and use them to inspire other posts. You can even lift phrases straight out of
your blog and use them on social media.
Sharing tips
One of the best things you can do in your blog is to share
tips and advice with your audience. These will vary depending on what you’re
talking about. For example, I write about reasons why you might want to blog and
what the benefits are. I’ll also talk about ways to get started or come up with
topics.
If you’ve written a blog with multiple tips, separate them
and create images with one tip on each. You can share these on multiple
platforms so they go further. You can also create videos – and no, you don’t
have to be in them if you don’t want to! Facebook lives tend to get better
reach than other types of video so I’d recommend doing some if you can.
However, you don’t have to go face to face with the camera. You could just show
your hands demonstrating a tip or use computer screen capture. I also create
tip videos using images with overlaid text.
Motivational content
Unless you’re in the habit of writing motivational quotes or
meme-worthy copy in your blog, this one will involve going off on a bit of a
tangent. Take your blog topic and use it to search for related quotes. You don’t
necessarily have to stick exactly to the topic if you find something that will
resonate with your audience. For instance, I wrote a blog about finding time to
blog and one of the quotes I found was this:
Not directly relevant to the topic, but certainly something
that would get lots of us nodding our heads. You can use the same approach with
memes, particularly if you search on Pinterest. I post a fair bit of stuff that
isn’t directly related to writing but which I know my audience will enjoy.
However, I often find this type of content when I’m just doing my own social
media scrolling so don’t worry if the repurposing/search approach doesn’t work
well for you here.
There’s also a different kind of motivation you can offer.
Helping your audience to gain expertise (or realise that they know more than
they thought) is really worthwhile. You can do this by sharing useful resources
or by asking questions about their experiences. This helps them to share their
knowledge and also helps you get to know them better.
Further resources
If you’d like some hints and tips on writing your blog, start here.
