When it comes to writing about your business, do you find endless sources of inspiration, or do you struggle to find something you consider worthy of sharing with your readers?
Content marketing is the new black for business marketing, but if the idea of creating content to engage with your customers scares you, I’ve thought a few writing prompts that might help.
What do your customers ask about your business?
There will always be a handful of questions that crop up when customers are assessing whether they want to buy from, or work with, you.
Consider these common questions to jog your thinking: how do I know which social media platform works best for my business, is it better to employ staff as contractors, casual or part-time employees, or even what is the difference between these two hand creams?
Of course your Frequently Asked Questions will be different to these, but my point is that the answers to your FAQs can be written as a blog post or an article for your newsletter.
Be inspired by what is happening around you
There are myriad topics you could write about if you consider the following prompts:
- Time of year, for example a clothing store could write about Spring Racing Carnival fashion, a dietician could blog healthy summer salads, parenting websites could share autumn leaf craft and a gas supplier could show how to save money on winter heating bills.
- Holidays, like an events venue sharing kids’ activities for school holidays, a publisher writing about the best books to read over summer, and a luggage retailer posting packing tips for an overseas trip.
- End of year, for example a personal branding specialist could offer Christmas party etiquette tips, a business coach could write about setting business goals for the New Year, or a financial planner could share budget tips for holidaying at home.
- Special days/weeks/months, for example a dating website could blog how to find a partner before Valentine’s Day, a gym could share activities for active over 50s during Seniors Week, or an online homeware retailer could show how to accessorise a pink-themed dinner party during Pink Ribbon Month.
- Turn something personal into a marketing opportunity, such as a printer blogging about how they can help design wedding invitations, a bakery sharing their favourite recipe for birthday cake or a recruitment specialist offering tips on how to apply for your first job.
Your content doesn’t have to be written
If you’re not confident as a writer, why not record a video blog (vlog), podcast or webinar to share your knowledge. You can choose a topic, think of some questions and then record yourself answering them, or ask a friend to interview you. Your video recording can be shared on YouTube or Vimeo, audio broadcast on Spreaker or BlogTalkRadio, or you can have the recording transcribed if you want to use the words in written format.
If none of these prompts work for you, try something very simple such as listing three things that happened in your business today. Surely one of them is worth writing about.
What inspires you to write when it comes to creating content for your business?
