3 Tips for Small Business Blogging

Blogging about your small business is a great way to increase your SEO to get your website found online and inform potential and current customers about your business and services. But when it comes to blog content, many small business owners struggle with what to blog about. Here are some tips on what to write on your small business blog to maximize your time and effort.

Blogging doesn’t have to be time consuming. We’re going to let you in on the insider secret of reusing content. Not every post needs to be a stand alone idea. That means that you can create blog posts by finding original ways to use the material and stories you already have.

Here’s how to reuse your content to write blog posts:

1. Plan Ahead

The first key to blogging is to plan ahead. It’s ok to be spontaneous when inspiration strikes or when you want to comment on a breaking news story, but by planning ahead, you can create a list of ideas and topics to blog about.

Sit down and try to brainstorm enough topics to fill up the next month or two of blogs. You don’t even have to use all of of your ideas, but you might find that once you start brainstorming, the ideas just flow. Capture as many of those ‘lightbulb moments’ as you can.

Having a marketing plan is essential because it means you’ll always have something to blog about. Need help brainstorming? Think about upcoming events, industry trends, and holidays. Check out our Marketing Calendar for more ideas!

Your plan doesn’t have to be set in stone. It’s just a starting off point. So how do you fill in the gaps?

2. Stretch and Reuse Content

You’re a business owner who knows more about your industry than most people. Turn your knowledge into blogging gold!

Break Long Posts Down

People process unfamiliar information slower than familiar topics, so break a long blog post down into several smaller blog posts.

A real estate agent or broker can write a long blog post about preparing a house for sale. That’s a complex process, right? But instead of writing ONE blog post, break it down into MULTIPLE posts.

Take each step – researching the market, getting an appraisal, getting an inspection, staging the house, etc. – and write a separate post about each of those. You’ve gone from having one intimidating mega topic into five or six small posts. Doing this makes blog writing more manageable and gives you weeks worth of content!

Tell the Same Story in Different Ways

You can take one blog idea and tell it several different ways.

Let’s say you’re a consultant and you’re planning on writing case studies. The problem is, you only have half a dozen clients. One post per client won’t get you very far. Instead, find a way to tell a different element of each story through several different posts. Your consulting deals are complex, right? Break up the overall consultation process with each client into the different elements, then each week discuss a different portion – perhaps you start off with the discovery process and what you learned about the client, then the next week go into what you learned about their marketplace, then finally how you came up with an actionable, concrete plan for your client’s reorganization.

Alternately, you can go back and revisit previously told stories and present them a different way. Maybe you’ve already talked about your client’s market in a previous, text-heavy post. What if in a later week you went back and re-presented that information in the form of an infographic or a video?

Use Photos and Video for Inspiration

Visual marketing in the form of photos, graphics, and videos is an easy way to market your small business. Going back to the example of a preparing a home for sale, you can also divide up your posts by content type, reusing visual content like photos or videos and presenting it again with written posts:

• Video Post– Before and After video of a staged home, with a few quick tips
• Blog Post – Written version of the Video Post – how the home was staged (decluttered, repainted walls, cleaned out garage)
• Photo Post – Pictures of the home staging process and finished product
• Blog Posts – Written versions of Photo Post (toss/keep/donate post for decluttering, how to know if you should repaint, organization tips for cleaning out the garage, etc.)

This way, you can get 4 or more posts from a handful of pictures and a short video. You can even add the pictures to your MLS listing for the house itself or further reuse your content for your website. Finally, pictures and video are examples of visual marketing that engage customers. Visual marketing is important and an easy way to market your small business!

3. Don’t Be Intimidated

Finally, don’t be intimidated by your own blog. Your readers and clients are looking to read helpful information from a local small business owner. Helpful short snippets of information with pictures and videos is an effective marketing tactic for small businesses.

Remember, although you have a business, not every post has to provide a ton of information. Sharing pictures of a holiday party or a behind the scenes look at your business can be just as interesting to readers as useful information. It’s also a great way to engage and attract more customers. Keep your website professional, but don’t be afraid to use a blog post to air some opinions on (non-controversial) current events or just to share a funny story.

So, sit back, brainstorm on what you find interesting about your business, take pictures and let the words flow. Before you know it, you will have written a blog post for your small business!