Get your blog on!
by Geeta Nadkarni on Dec 20 at 6:00 am
Stop being afraid of the big bad blog and jump in. Here are some fun ideas to get you started:
1. Studio/Company Culture:
Blog about some of the fun people you work with and what makes them so special. Share behind-the-scenes information on projects your working on. Take photos of the team having a laugh and sharing lunch. Revealing your human side makes it easier for your readers to relate to you and like you. And that will give them a stake in your company’s success!
2. A day in the life of:
This is a great way to educate clients about how much love, sweat and tears you put into your work. Write short 200-300 word pieces about the challenges of a design project, or how hard it can be to balance work and family. Write about the way you source your raw materials or how much energy you put into training your employees. This is also a good place to do mini “profiles” of fellow employees. Just come up with a template and almost anyone can fill it in! If you’re a journalist, you can blog about the challenges of pitching or proofing or answer the question, “where do I get my ideas”. Share tips that younger writers will enjoy.
3. Customer Profiles:
Everybody loves to be acknowledged and customers are no exception. Doing an occasional piece about a valued customer is a great way to build community. Interview them the way a journalist would (a template is a fuss-free way to do this). Include photos. You could also have clients tell stories of ways they’ve benefitted from your product or service. Carhartt (blogs.carhartt.com) is an outdoor clothing company that does this brilliantly: they have a blogger dedicated to “field testing” their clothing in all kinds of mad conditions and they invite customers to share photos and similar stories. Journalists Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell started a blog where they interview editors and even created a job board to get writers coming back regularly for more! www.therenegadewriter.com
4. “How-to”:
Customers love useful, relevant information. So if you’re a spa, share DIY kitchen spa tricks and recipes. If you’re a cafe, share a quick-fix recipe that busy moms will thank you for. If you’re a beauty salon, think about what your clients struggle with at home and share tips on looking fabulous in minutes. The content need not be directly related to your product; in fact, this works best if it’s simply related to your field of expertise. Freelance consultants and writers can offer free “how to craft a profile” or “how to decide if Living Social is worth it” (like on my blog).
5. Guest bloggers:
Guest bloggers can be a great way to make your blog dynamic and to have a ton of fresh, original content (without it turning into a full time job). Just know that you’ll already need to have a bit of profile in the blogging world before people are likely to jump on board and blog for free. Guest bloggers are also an excellent way to drive more traffic and acquire fresh clients, so choose a strategic partner– usually someone who offers a service complementary to yours. Always make sure to be clear about style guidelines and what is (and is not) okay to publish ahead of time. Control can sometimes be a dealbreaker.
6. Reviews:
If Amazon has taught me anything, it’s that the honest reviewer has tremendous power. Use this power on your blog. A washable diaper service can do “mom-and-baby” product or restaurant reviews. Consultants can review products or books that fall under their area of expertise. Again, it’s almost better if the products and services you’re reviewing are peripheral to what you sell. So a car salesman or knitting shop owner might do reviews of audiobooks (that customers can listen to while driving or knitting). Or a restaurant owner can review their “can’t-live-without” kitchen gadgets. Blog about what you love, and people will read! Happy writing!
These are some of our ideas. Do you have tips that worked for your company’s blog? We’d love to hear them!
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