We’ve been talking a lot recently about why your brand needs a blog and how to schedule time for accomplishing your creative to-do list. But before you sit down to write, it’s important to know what you’re going to write. While your editorial schedule should have you covered here, what happens when your ideas run dry?
What do you do when writer’s block strikes before you even sit down to write?
If you’re looking for some ideas to fill out your editorial schedule, consider some of the following ideas for your business blog posts:
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1. Top 10 Lists
Share your favorite accessories for the products you sell, leaders in your industry, productivity tips, or anything else you think your audience will find helpful. People love lists!
If you are famous for your beauty tutorials, consider sharing a list of the top 10 products you always have in your makeup bags. If you do HVAC work, consider sharing your top 10 favorite air conditioners of 2018.
Top 10 lists are easily sharable, and lend themselves well to distribution on other platforms. For example, they translate easily into pinnable images for sharing on Pinterest, can be made into infographics or are a fun way to drive some traffic to your YouTube channel.
2. Interviews
Get out there and talk to someone else in the industry whom your audience would love to learn more about.
You don’t have to interview the most famous person in your industry to get attention. Start with someone local with a business that does something complimentary to yours. Or work your network to find a politician or entrepreneur with relevant stories and advice for your audience.
Using a name that your followers are already familiar with draws instant traffic to you blog, thanks to that person’s platform. However, you can also drive traffic to your blog by interviewing a lesser known personality who has some unique outlook that your readers may be curious about or who’s new to the industry and has products that you know your audience will connect with.
3. Reviews
Let people know what you think of a hot product in your industry or a book that relates to some facet of your business.
Of course, if you’re going to review products or books, make sure that you actually use the products and/or read the books. While a review piece is the perfect place for sharing your opinions, you shouldn’t use it as an editorial to critique some trend or lend your two cents on an author whose work you’ve never picked up.
Review posts can pull double duty, especially if you incorporate a contest or giveaway as part of the post. If you’re a food writer reviewing an Instant Pot, consider giving one away to readers who comment on the post or share a link on their social media profiles. This not only drives traffic to your blog, but also drives engagement among your audience members.
4. Comment on Current Events
Did something happen to spark conversation in your corner of the world? Let your readers know your two cents and whether it’ll impact them.
This summer, some popular tech topics include GDPR and the repeal of net neutrality. But there are things happening every day in every industry. Find something that your readers ought to know and share the news in a relevant way.
Weighing in on current events allows you to become a respected voice in your industry. Sure, if you share a strong opinion, you do risk losing some members of your audience, but you can also secure the loyalty of those who really agree with you.
You don’t have to risk controversial posts if you don’t want to. If you prefer, you can report current events in weekly or monthly roundups, or as short news blurbs to round out your blog offerings.
5. How-To Posts
Do your products do something cool that customers wouldn’t guess at first glance? Did you build your empire as a side hustle? Think of something cool and relevant that your customers might not know, and then share with them how they can have a part of whatever that thing is.
How-to posts are evergreen content that can draw traffic to your blog long after you initially post them. They’re also very sharable, particularly if you include robust photos, graphics and/or video.
How-tos, especially those that include videos, are a great way to draw new readers to your blog, particularly through social media shares. So make sure that the content you offer is unique and high quality to get those readers to stick around and hungry for more from your brand.
6. Travel Tips
Whether you travel frequently for business or think your product/service has benefits for frequent fliers, compile a list of travel tips that might be helpful. Travel posts are always ideal for summertime blog content.
While you may not readily think of ways that your product or service applies to travel, you probably have some experience that your niche will find valuable. For example, I enjoy sharing ideas for road tripping with toddlers on my personal blog.
If we were to have a Rystedt Creative blog post on travel, we might highlight something like “How to Schedule a Post to Publish Itself While You’re on Vacation” or “What to do if Your Hosting Crashes While You’re Away”.
7. Case Studies
Dive deep into something related to your product or industry and write up a lengthy blog post that digs into the good, bad, and ugly.
Case studies can cover a broad range of topics, from how to customize and purchase your product from start to finish or a long, detailed interview with a client using your newest product.
You can publish case studies as regular long-form blog posts, or break them up into segments if the content is too much for a blog post. You may also want to incorporate case studies into PDF ebooks or whitepapers that will attract new readers to your content.
8. Tutorials
Whether you’re offering fashion tips or productivity services, compile some of your favorite tips for a process and turn them into a blog post complete with photos and videos.
Tutorials are somewhat similar to how-to posts, but they’re generally a lot longer and more polished than a how-to post. If executed correctly, your tutorials can be shared and referred to for months and years.
If you want to include tutorials as part of your editorial schedule, don’t simply slap them together and hit “publish”. Take your time to make your tutorials outstanding. Look for similar tutorials on competitor sites, see what they missed, and make yours even better.
9. Day in the Life
What does your daily schedule as a business owner or creative look like? Give readers a glimpse into the things you do to make your business successful or to sneak in a little self-care when life gets crazy.
When you let your readers behind the scenes and share something that goes a little beyond the surface, they feel privileged to be part of your following. You don’t have to share your secret sauce or go crazy here, just give a glimpse into your life and work at your business HQ, or wherever you get things done.
You can also use Day in the Life posts to share announcement, like a new product, or to share content from a special event or conference. If your business posts tend to be more formal, you may feature Day in the Life posts sparingly, but utilize them to craft the story behind your brand and what you do.
10. “What Not to Do…”
Posts with advice for looking like a pro, even if you’re a newbie, are traffic-driving gold. Whether you want your readers to know how to avoid looking like a tourist on the Amalfi Coast or want to help your audience avoid missing the most important questions to ask at their children’s tutoring assessment, you can use “what not to do” guides to show them how the pros handle it.
People are drawn to What Not to Do posts because none of us want to go into a new situation (or even an old situation) and look silly. We want the inside take because we want to fit in as quickly as possible.
Regardless of your industry, there are probably a whole host of topics you could feature as part of a What Not to Do feature on your blog.
Fill Your Editorial Schedule
We hope these post ideas have inspired you to get to work on your editorial schedule for the next month or quarter. Feel free to share your favorite blog post types in the comments below!
Having trouble tackling blog writing and editorial schedule maintenance? Reach out to learn more about how our copywriting services can save you time and help you build your audience to boost your online reach!
