So you’ve already been running your business, getting clients and sales here and there from referrals, Instagram, the occasional person from your email list… but you want to start taking it up a notch with your marketing.
You’re ready to start a blog.
SQUEEEEEE!!!!!! That’s so exciting!!!
I’m a big fan of blogs. They’re a great way to create content that establishes your expertise, nurtures community with your audience, nudges ideal client down the buyer’s journey, and also helps build your SEO.
When you’re just starting your business’s blog, it can be a bit overwhelming to figure out where to start or what to write.
So in this post, I’m going to walk you through exactly what to do to get your business blog out of your head and onto the internet.
1. Check in with yourself that you actually want to blog
A lot of people feel like they HAVE to blog, but the truth is, that’s not true.
Your Leadership Content Platform should be whatever type of content creation feels the most natural to you to create.
You don’t want to have to pull teeth to get yourself to create content.
Because:
- it won’t resonate with your readers as much (they’ll sense your discomfort)
- you probably won’t stick to it!
Blogging has its own unique benefits (eg. SEO), but we can address that in other ways further down the road.
For now, I want to get you creating content and getting in front of people in a way that you love doing.
If that’s blogging for you, great!
If it’s videos, awesome!
If it’s a podcast, fantastic!
Stick with what works for you.
Then go through the rest of this process! I use a lot of blogging language but it applies to all different types of content.
2. Decide how often you want to publish
When you’re deciding how often to publish your blog posts, be honest with yourself about your energy capacities, lifestyle and schedule.
Can you create truly high-value content every week on top of your other work while also living your regular person life?
You don’t have to publish weekly. But you do need to publish.
If pressing that Publish button means only publishing every two weeks instead of every week, then so be it! The world won’t fall apart.
And also, if you start out publishing weekly, and later on something changes and you don’t have the time or energy to maintain that schedule, that’s fine too.
There’s no Internet Law that says you have to publish weekly.
3. Decide on your first few blog posts!
This is the fun part!
Starting a blog (or podcast or video channel) to support your business can feel simultaneously exciting and also overwhelming.
You might be wondering “What the heck am I supposed to write???”
Or maybe you’re like me with too many ideas chasing eachother in your brain, and you're just feeling paralyzed with trying to figure out which one to write first.
Don’t worry!
Just pick one and then pick another one, and so on and so forth. No need to make it super complicated at this stage.
(I like to brain dump all my ideas on color coded post it notes and then arrange them by category or type)
Right now the goal is to just get started!
To get you rolling, here’s a few ideas to get your blogging brain unjammed:
Blog Post Ideas for Service Providers & Coaches
Most of these content ideas could be used for product based businesses, or other business models, too, with some tweaks. I use client-based language here, but feel free to tweak the idea to work for your business as needed.
1. Introduce yourself
Introduce yourself in the context of your business and industry/niche
You could do your origin story, how you got started, or a timeline/history, or why you started your business
2. A list of the pain points/common struggles that you see your ideal client struggling with before they start working with you
(ones that your service solves, of course)
Two things I want you to keep in mind with this prompt:
- With this kind of pain point content, I know it’s tempting to try to solve all their problems, but try to hold back on providing all the answers in this post.
You can hint at them or touch on them briefly, but most of your words/energy here are aiming to just help them feel seen and validated, while also whetting their appetite for a solution to these problems (which you will talk about in other posts, and which you solve with your services). - With this kind of list post, you’ll want to have each list item be a subtitle, with a paragraph or two underneath diving a bit deeper.
Here’s an example where I list my 9 Philosophies for SEO That Doesn’t Squash Your Creative Spark
3. Your manifesto
What’s your purpose behind your business? What’s your Big Why? Your core message. Your Spark. The reason you got started and the reason you went so far as to start a freaking business to have this impact. What does it mean to be in your community/work with your business?
4. A common belief in your industry that you think is bogus
You could also think of this as your unpopular opinion about something in your industry.
My Yoast SEO Review is a good example of this (it's also my top SEO post)
5. Your framework
Do you have a process or method that you always take clients through?
Maybe 3 Pillars of __(fill in the blank expertise)__ . Or maybe its 5 Step __(catchy name)__ Framework/Method/Technique.
It’s fine if you don’t have a catchy name or cohesive framework outlined for it yet, but I bet you have a general process you go through.
Outline it here (in broad strokes) and give an idea of what it’s like to work with you
Alternate idea to the Framework: The Ultimate/Essential/Beginner’s Guide to _______
Depending on your business/industry, this idea may work better for you than the Framework idea.
As a bonus (and again, depending on industry), these tend to be great opportunities for SEO, too!
No matter if you're starting a blog, or decide to go with a podcast or video channel instead, I'm super excited for you!
You're diving into a new level of your content marketing, creating a library of content that shows your expertise, authority, personality, and values, and helps you build a relationship with your audience.
It may feel scary or overwhelming right now, but keep at it. The more you do it, the better you get at it.
The important thing is to get started, and enjoy the process!
Why you should use long-form content to connect with your audience (no matter your niche)
This free training covers:
✨ What even is long-form content
✨ Does it matter what type of content you create? Blog or video or podcast?
✨ Long-form content vs Short-form content