Blogging

How to Blog for Your Small Business When You Don’t Write Good

(This is Part 2 of our three-part series on supercharging your small business blog. Catch up with Part 1 here, and come back next week when we talk about blogging for “boring” businesses.)

You already know how important it is for your small business to have a blog. And you want to do it, you really, really do. Problem is, writing isn’t your best suit! Should you give up?

Absolutely not.

There are many, many ways to write (ahem, publish) a blog post on the regular even if you aren’t good at writing. Here are a few ideas.

Product Demo

This is especially useful if it’s not immediately obvious how your product is used. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve invented a new kind of vegetable peeler. Maybe you’ve invented a Swiffer-killer. A short video (or even series of photos) showing how to use your product isn’t just a way to fill in your blog quota for the week: It’s actually a necessity.

A product demo is especially low-hanging fruit for cooking implements because, come on, who doesn’t like watching people cook? Teach people how to make classic recipes and how to put their own personal twists on them, and throw in a few tips on plating and food presentation.

Meet the Team

One of the most powerful advantages a small business has over a mega corporation is also one of the quirks of the current generation: More and more, consumers are seeking a personal connection with the products and services that they buy. This is why we’ve been hearing over and over how customers prefer dealing with a real, live person instead of a faceless, soulless entity.

Why not introduce your team? Feature one employee every month. Tell your readers what their responsibilities are and how they came to work for your company. What do they do during their off days? What do they like about their job?

Pictures, of course, are mandatory. Besides a smiling profile, you can take pictures of them during work, too. Speaking of which …

Behind the Scenes

This is just another version of the whole “meet the face behind your favorite cupcakes” thing we’re trying to do. If you’re a bakery, shoot short videos of yourself or your staff in the kitchen, mixing batter or piping icing. Do you custom-paint cars? Shoot a time-lapse of your artists so the future customers can see the process from start to finish.

Not only will you be producing content that’s already above the ordinary (i.e. the typical written blog post), you’re also creating “intimacy” between your business and your customers. You might have said before that your cupcakes are all handmade, but now there’s proof (and really, there are few things more satisfying than watching perfect swirls come out of piping tips). Someone who was just on the fence about getting a custom job is now thinking, “What if it were my car in that video?”

Congratulations: You’ve just turned your weakness into a strength.

Q&A Session or Frequently Asked Questions

Over the years, you may have come across the same questions over and over again. Write them down and answer them. Voila! Instant content! Not only that, but you’ve also saved yourself and your customers time and sidestepped possible frustration.

Been getting a lot of different questions lately? Set up a video camera, read out the questions and answer them! At the end of the video, don’t forget to add a “call to action”: It can be an invitation to come to your store and try out your product, or even to send more questions if they have any.

Whether you need help with ideating content or coming up with a whole content marketing strategy, Mischa Communications has your back. Shoot us an email and let us know what we can do to make your small business blog better than ever!