When blogging for business, it’s tempting to just talk about yourself or your products. But honestly, that’s as boring as it gets. Who really cares?
Instead, be useful.
What do I mean by this? Here’s an example:
Say you’re selling homewares. Instead of just blogging about products or what’s new, try answering this question: “How do I decorate a kitchen with oak benches?”
From there, you can present some ideas for wall colourings, flooring options, as well as any products you have. That way, instead of just pimping your products, you’re offering some useful advice. Readers may choose to check out your suggested products (or they may not), but if you think about the kind of questions people search Google for, you can introduce those products in a less “salesy” way.
Another example: a clothing store. You could blog about “How to dress for a smart/casual evening function” and present some tips – some will include suggesting things you sell & some tips will have nothing to do with what you sell – it’s just about you being genuinely useful.
Why?
- If you can genuinely help people, they’ll be more likely to purchase from you than from someone who is not helpful. (This is about trying to remove price from the equation.)
- If someone “Googles” your product name, that’s one thing. But what about all the people who are using Google to find answers, to solve problems? Are you catching that traffic?
- Offering useful advice like this is great content for attracting links from other sources on the web, and it’s perfect for adding to your Facebook page as well.
If you stop and think about it, I’m sure you can make a long list of topics. Ultimately, people are your customers because you solve a problem for them. What is that problem? Think of all the questions you get asked (besides the “have you got this item in stock” questions) and then expand on them. If you can’t think of any, ask someone outside your industry what they might ask. (Your existing customers are a good place to start!)
After that, you just need to find half an hour a week, pick a question, and answer it.