How to Take a Typical Topic and Make it Pop
Concise and poignant blog name established: check. Relevant and cohesive domain name set: check. Host server and all technical issues a go: check. Amazingly well-researched, creative and calculated content list done: check?
Before you start blogging online for your business, having a game plan for content should be your top priority. Why? 1. There are about a million blogs sharing the same million topics. 2. There are probably close to a million businesses similar to your business sharing the same target audience. To gain a presence on the Web and in front of your audience, you have to have street cred, and that starts with a lineup of researched, creative and calculated content.
Start Blogging Online? But it’s All Been Done Before!
When it comes to blog content, it may feel like it’s all been done before — and that’s because it probably has. However, you have a different voice, perspective and the ability to be your own spin doctor. Before spinning, take a look at some common content categories used in business blogging:
- Topical industry information
- Social media strategies
- Webinars, videos and other media
- Personal highlights
Knowing the categories of business blogging is one thing, but how to translate value to your target audience is another. Remember, your reader wants or needs something. Your job is to find out what that is and make it stand apart from every other blog — what does your particular audience want to know about your business industry or social media. What videos do they want to watch or personal highlights do they want to know? Now, it’s time to spin.
How to Take a Typical Topic and Make it Pop
| Blog Topic: | Spin: |
| Business Marketing Tips | “10 Marketing Tools to Make the Competition Drool” |
| Social Media Success | “Facebook Found me Friends and Financial Freedom” |
| How to Video | How to Video (with a time-lapse business recipe) |
| How I Started my Business | Have someone interview you |
The first topic offers a catchy headline and content in the form of a list, both of which are ingredients for attracting readers. The second example hints at a two-part intrigue with the wordplay on Facebook ‘friends’ and how the business obtained more of them in addition to financial freedom.
In the third blog category, creativity comes into play by approaching how to make a “how to” that hasn’t been done a million times over. The latest craze in cooking/baking blogs is the addition of a time-lapse recipe, in which viewers observe a recipe being made in front of their eyes from start to finish. Why not carry this technique over into a business “how to?”
Writing about something you’re close to — yourself and/or your business — can be difficult. Having someone interview you will help evoke more authenticity, a natural voice and the interviewer may ask you a thought-provoking question you wouldn’t have thought of.
10 Tips to Content Success
In addition to spinning, there are a few other tricks to try when formulating a content plan. Before you start blogging online, consider these 10 blog-post tools:
- Get in, get out. Long blog posts are OK if you have something to say, if you can say it better in 500 words than 1,500, do it
- Engage your audience with a poll
- Don’t use flowery or watered-down language
- Do use your words carefully and appropriate to your audience
- Include images, infographics and visuals
- Honor your audience by featuring them in a blog post
- Don’t inundate readers with sales messages and slogans (effective and consistently researched content will generate sales organically)
- Offer a call to action at the close of every post — join our email list, social media pages, etc.
- Invite guest bloggers to contribute because their followers may become yours
- Read up on search engine optimization (SEO) and apply it to your content
Start Blogging Online … NOW!
Time is of the essence. You have the beginnings of solid street cred simply by reading this researched, creative and calculated blog post.
Remember, too, that outsourcing content is always an option if you lack the time or resources to do so yourself. The professionals at Farotech would love to help! Contact us now to see how we can boost your blog content and business traffic.
