Guest Post | 3 Ways to Make Blogging Easier

Today’s guest post is from Karin Wiberg of Clear Sight Books. As a writer, she knows how important blogging can be …. but coming up with content on a regular basis can be tough! Who’s with me? Karin shares 3 tips to make blogging easier because we all know that blogging can be such a huge asset to any business. Read below to learn more.

You know blogging is a great way to keep your web content fresh, but it seems such a slog. You struggle to come up with topics. You procrastinate. It becomes a “when I get around to it” chore. Your marketing person has to nag you for drafts or ideas. I feel the same slog—and I’m a writer!

Here are some of my secrets to making blogging easier.

Answer the questions you get asked

As a book coach, I frequently get questions such as: How long should my book be? Do I need a print book and an ebook? What marketing tactics should I use? When I get the same question multiple times, it’s a red flag waving me over to a new blog topic.

Think of the most common questions you get from customers. If you’re in real estate, you may hear: What type of mortgage should I consider? How long does it take to close on a new house? How much do I need for a down payment?

Turn each question or set of related questions into a blog post. And of course you aren’t limited to writing—if you prefer to speak or want to demonstrate a process, use video.

When a customer or prospect asks a question, send them a link to the relevant blog post. You save time while still answering the question—possibly more thoroughly than if you had answered on the fly.

Bonus: If you have strong SEO, these common questions can drive traffic to your website.

Write about your clients’ pain points

When my husband and I had to replace our sewer line, we combed the web for advice. When we found a plumbing company that had a website of useful information, guess who got a call about our emergency?

Clients go online to search for solutions to their problems, so make a list of the problems you help your customers solve. If you’re in the plumbing business, you deal with many pain points: rusted-through sewer lines, clogged sinks, slow drains, cracked vent stacks (yup, had that too—old houses…).

Turn each pain point into a blog (or vlog) post. Pain points are a little different from informational questions. Your reader may have a sense of urgency (as with a sewer line), be looking for how-to’s, or be feeling strong emotions (like panic). Include information that helps your prospective clients feel safe, and confident you can help them with their problems.

Bonus: If appropriate, provide DIY info for those so inclined, and encourage them to call you when the issue goes beyond their skill level.

Map out your content

Have you ever looked at a complicated dinner menu and been so overwhelmed that you order the first thing on the page? Decisions take energy. One of the reasons blogging can feel like a slog is that we create a decision point each time we sit down. What shall I write about today?

Instead, spend your decision energy once—map out a series of blog posts. If you write a post monthly, map out all twelve months. If you write two posts a month, map out a quarter. Having a plan will make it feel more manageable.

Start with questions you answer and problems you solve (see above!). Categorize your topics to make them easier to manage and to uncover other topics in each category. For example, if you do home renovations, you could group blog posts by one of the following:

• Rooms of the house – What are the special issues in the kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedrooms, and so on?
• Types of work – What trades are needed for renovations: drywall, paint, tile, electrical, plumbing?
• Common DIY mistakes – You’ve seen them all, right? Educate your readers on what not to do.

Each of these categories could become a series of posts that you schedule once a month or once a week.

Bonus: If you (or your team) can write a series of related posts all at once, your writing process may become more efficient as you stay “in the zone.”

One final bonus

Identifying your blog topics and mapping out a schedule saves time and energy and makes the process easier. But the biggest bonus is the value it offers customers. By focusing on your clients’ questions and pain points—by regularly focusing on what interests them—you demonstrate your commitment to serving their needs.

Sounds like a win-win to me!

About the author

Karin Wiberg is owner of Clear Sight Books. She works with business leaders who know they need to write a book but struggle to find the time or the words. Whether she ghostwrites, edits, or coaches, her clients develop a clear message and compelling voice so they can engage their audience. Karin’s business experience ranges from climbing Fortune 500 ladders to managing a nonprofit literary magazine. She holds an MBA from the University of Iowa and a business coaching certificate from NC State. You can find her on LinkedIn and Twitter (@karinwiberg and @clearsightbooks).

Categorised in: Guest Blogs, Thoughtful Thursdays