Freelance Business Writing

How ironic that I am writing a post about getting ideas for blogs when I have spent the past 2 weeks struggling to come up with some myself! I had promised to write a post about where to get ideas, but when it came time to write I drew nothing but blanks. I’ll blame it on the short vacation I took.  

The source for your ideas depends in large part on the type of blog you are writing. Since I am concerned with blogs used for small business marketing, I will limit my focus to the two main types I have encountered. There is the how-to blog, kind of like mine. And then there is the “current affairs” blog. I will discuss the latter in another post.  

If you are writing a how-to, your professional knowledge is your best resource. But how to translate that into a series of blog posts? 

The key is to plan and I must confess that this is my biggest downfall. Since I am a writer and spend much of my time writing for others, I tend to do my own writing in batches. In theory, that should make planning easier but it rarely seems to work that way.  

I have thought a lot about how to generate and track my ideas, so here is an example of my system. Even if I can’t manage to follow it all the time, I do manage to do at least some of these things.  

To start, write down a list of the services you provide. Then make a point-form list of the types of things people need to know about those services. Look at the FAQ pages on your site or someone else’s if you need help. Each item could be at least one blog post. Here’s a list that uses my services as an example:

• Web Content - search engine optimization (could be several posts), use of bold text on sites, meta tags, how many words per Web page, how much content on a site
• Article Marketing – what is it, how do you do it, ideal article length, getting ideas, reference tools for writing, editorial calendars, managing article files
• Social Media Marketing – what is it, how do you do it, popular social media sites, social bookmarking

You could also start tracking topics that your clients may have asked about. For example, when I started my blog I began with the theme of hiring professional writers. I thought of questions I had been asked.  Why would anyone hire a writer? What difference does a professional writer make? Who can afford a professional writer? 

From these questions I spun off 4 blog posts. Remember that posts are intended to be short. So even a 100-word answer to a commonly asked question can be a post. The next time a client asks you something or you find yourself explaining something for the hundredth time, make a note and then turn it into a blog post. 

As far as where you should track your ideas, try using a spreadsheet. Set it up with each broad theme in bold, each potential topic beneath and a column to indicate whether you have completed that topic.  

If that is too complicated, start a simple Word doc with the theme in bold and the topics in a bulleted list below. Just remember where you save the file.

And if that doesn’t work, use good old pen and paper (my method of choice). Either get a notebook specifically for blog (and, if applicable, article ideas) or tack a piece of paper to your bulletin board and add to it when something inspires or motivates you.