People who run a business tend to fall into one of two camps at extreme ends of the spectrum. They either love talking about their industry and want to do so at every opportunity, or they struggle and assume nobody is interested.
Those in the second camp are no less passionate and dedicated to their business, but because it’s second nature to them and they know the sector inside out, they think they will be talking at people rather than to them. They worry that it’s unlikely their specialist knowledge of what they do will grab the attention of their listener.
At Engage Web, when we explain to potential clients that blog writing is a service we can offer, some of them need some convincing that they have anything worth blogging about. Those working in dry or unglamorous sectors might think that nothing that goes on in the industry is engaging or sharable, but there’s always a way of rooting out an interesting and useful angle to even the soberest of subjects.
Some tips you could follow are:
Keep an eye on the news
The news reports on anything and it never runs out. You would never switch on BBC News or pick up a paper only to find that nothing was being reported on.
If stories about your industry are making the news, it’s in your interest to know about them and offer your own angle on them. You can simply rewrite the news story, or if you’re feeling more adventurous, you could editorialise a little and add your own perspective as an industry specialist. As an example, I did something along these lines yesterday when I added to a story about an online bullying story with my take on YouTube’s stance on hate speech.
What questions are people asking?
When people use search engines, they tend to type in questions. In fact, if you’re trying to work out how to do something like change a car tyre or ask for a loaf of bread in Czech, the 2019 solution is usually to ask Google, and the search engine regularly lets us know what it’s most popular ‘how to’ questions are.
No doubt people are searching for the answers to questions to do with your business too. Using tools like Google Analytics or Google Trends, you can find out what questions people are searching for, but you probably have an idea already.
What’s that question that everyone asks about your job that you’re sick of answering? Why not write a blog about it? Not only does this mean you can direct people to the blog if they ask the question, and potentially limit unnecessary phone calls and emails about the question, but it also means you could rank highly on Google for that question, and even feature in one of its Snippets. That means your site will be the one people are directed to if they’re looking for an answer.
Be funny
At a recent networking group I visited, two attendees started having a conversation about a subject relevant to both of their businesses for different reasons – death. This is about the most serious and depressing topic there is, but somehow, the tone of the discussion made everybody at the group start laughing.
I’m not suggesting funeral directors, will writers and pathologists should go round making Weekend at Bernie’s jokes at every opportunity, but it does show that any subject can be humorous. On social media in particular, look for the lighter side of what’s going on in your industry, and don’t be afraid to use careful humour. It can really hook people in if done well.
For further advice on blog writing, and how we go about it, speak to Engage Web.
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