How to Write Blogs and Articles that Promote Your Small Business

promote your small business

Posting regular blogs or articles is a great way to engage with potential customers and make your business more visible. This type of content isn’t just for the ‘Blog’ section on your website. You can also include it in email newsletters or post it as of your strategy for growing your network on LinkedIn.

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What should my content be about?

Avoid the hard sell. You want content that’s useful and interesting for your target audience – the kind of stuff that answers questions and solves problems. You don’t have to give away all your trade secrets; the idea is to position yourself as a trusted expert in your field and someone they’ll turn to when they need more extensive help. For example, if you run a pilates studio, one topic might be, ‘Pilates and yoga, what’s the difference?’ – I’d definitely read that. And if I was looking for a class, I’d be more likely to head to your studio.

Of course, you can post specific things about your business too. Perhaps you want to tell your audience about a new product or service you’re launching, how you’re getting involved in a local charity event, or what you’re doing to celebrate your first anniversary.

How often should I post content?

The short answer is: as often as you can. Many experts say you should aim for once a week, but this might not be realistic for a small business. The key thing is to produce quality content, and not just keep pumping out stuff for the sake of it. You also need to keep posting regularly. There are blogs and newsletters I look forward to reading every week and I feel very disappointed when nothing shows up.

How do I make a content plan?

It’s important to plan ahead or you’ll soon run out of ideas and find yourself sitting in front of a blank screen. Make an outline plan for the whole year. Here are some ways to generate topics.

Seasonal items. Think of post topics related to the seasons and regular festivals and events, such as Christmas, Diwali, the school holidays, the end of the tax year etc. For example, you run a tutoring agency and the school holidays are coming up so perhaps you could pull together a list of fun and educational activities happening locally to help parents entertain the kids.

Awareness days, weeks etc. Check out this awareness day calendar – it might spark some ideas.

Anniversaries. This year, for example, there’s a lot going on around the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Perhaps you’re a reflexologist and can provide some simple foot massage tips for nurses and other workers who are on their feet all day. You could even celebrate Flo’s birthday by promoting some cut-price treatments for NHS workers.

See how I’m thinking laterally here? Brainstorming is good – you’ll end up with a lot of random stuff you’ll discard, but some great ideas will come out of it.

News and social media topics. What’s trending? It could be that the government has just announced some new regulations relating to your industry. What does it mean for your customers? Or you could write something on the back of more general news. Be very careful with controversial or emotive topics though! We all know how things can be misinterpreted.

Need some more blogs inspiration?

Have a look at how other people are doing it. Professional organiser Pauline Purves of Pleasant Homes has a great blog. This accountancy firm’s messaging is coming across Loud and Clear. And I love the way this photography blog mixes useful information with stunning images.

If you have any questions or want to talk about outsourcing your content, drop me an email at [email protected]. I’m a journalist and content producer with 20 years’ experience of working with national and local clients.

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