Melinda J. Irvine

Here’s a quick post to make sure you never, ever run out of blogging ideas. Mix and match these 10 blogging topics with your business, products, and services — and you’ll have a content plan that lasts the whole year. There’s no formal intro and conclusion in this post, just 10 business blogging ideas (plus a few more) you can apply to your web content today.

Before we get started, why not download my free eBook A Quick Guide to Business Blogging Strategy?

1. Answer a question

One of the best topics for business blogging is responding to the questions that your customers (and others) are asking. Of course blog the queries received over the Help Desk, but remember that questions aren’t always asked directly to your people.

They could be:

• Questions asked on Quora and Wikihow.
• Questions on industry-related forums or in Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
• Questions in comments on news stories, blog articles, and social media posts.
• Questions asked during product installations or customer training sessions.

And just because you’ve answered a question once, doesn’t mean you can’t write about it again — and again. Let’s say you own (or manage) a camera store and are constantly being asked for the best way to hold a camera. You could answer this question every year and even make a bit of a joke about it. It’s time for our annual post about holding the camera, you can include photographs of you (correctly) holding newer camera models (the ones you sell) and the techniques required for achieving different shots.

2. Your application of an industry development or change

The government introduces a change to taxation law or reforms the aged care industry, maybe a new invention is turning traditional business practices on their ear — now show your expertise by blogging the way your business is adapting.

Blogging about current events, industry changes, and trends keeps your web content fresh and in touch with the latest search terms. Examples include:

• An aged care facility blogging their response to COVID mandates.
• An accounting firm addressing tax cuts in the federal budget.
• A home computer service discussing the latest version of Windows.

3. Interview with a customer who uses your products

The Harvard Business Review reports that case studies are the most effective piece of content you can publish. Why not interview one (or even a few) of your regular customers and create a living example of how someone is using your products and services?

It’s great publicity for your client and you can demonstrate the way your product is solving a problem in the real world — plus give your readers a look into the relationships you build with your clients.

Here are a few possibilities:

• Carpentry business — blog about a bespoke timber deck that was designed for a challenging backyard. Write about the consultation process with your client, including before and after photographs of the yard, and direct quotes from the client about how the timber deck has increased the value of their home.
• Online Retailer — blog about your same-day delivery service for printing consumables and stationery. Interview 3-5 customers focusing on one step of the order cycle for each of them ie, Customer 1 (placing the order using your dedicated App), Customer 2 (receiving the order within 3 hours every time), Customer 3 (quality of packaging), Customer 4 (accuracy of orders), Customer 5 (customer service team responding to a missing item).

Case studies are invaluable for big-ticket items where the purchasing decision may rest with an executive or project committee. Says Frank V. Cespedes and Russ Heddleston in the HBR:

“Being able to demonstrate how another organisation has successfully integrated and used a new product , service, or process (to decision makers) is more important than sweeping assertions.”

Harvard Business Review

4. Resource list

Create a resource list related to your industry or employment sector to support your reputation as an industry authority and help your readers too. Here are a few generic examples, but try to come up with something unique:

• Freelance writer — creating a list of websites, magazines, and newspapers that pay writers.
• Hospitality Training company — publishing a list of government websites that will help students while they are getting their Certificate IV in Hospitality.
• Work Health and Safety consultancy — creating a list of government publications and factsheets about risk management.
• SEO Agency — listing websites that allow guest posts in return for a link.

If you have a lot of content on your page you might consider creating a list of the most popular blogs or eBooks you’ve written on a single topic. This is also good for SEO.

5. Sharing your support of a community cause

If your organisation actively supports community service projects and social causes, make sure you blog about it — with lots of photos. Perhaps you are sponsoring a local soccer team or donating items for sale to raise money for bushfire victims, sharing your generosity encourages others to do more good in their own communities. Plus it’s nice to give the public a glimpse of the real people behind your logo and corporate stationery.

6. Recognising an ‘international day of …’

If you’ve ever been on the United Nations website you might have stumbled across the page that lists all the UN International Days. International Day of Women and Girls, World Equal Pay Day, World Toilet Day — there’s more than 30 of them just between March and April, so there’s plenty of material for blogging over the course of a year.

You could blog:

• How this day inspires your business — eg, sharing how much the personal connections with your customers, and relationships with your clients mean to you on the International Day of Friendship.
• Something at your business that aligns with the day — eg, introducing the facilities at your restaurant that make it more comfortable for disabled persons on International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
• A business initiative of yours that supports the day — eg, promoting how your business has gone 100% solar on International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.

A client of mine who specialises in Dangerous Goods and chemical storage did this very well a couple of years ago on World Environment Day. They highlighted the environmental benefits of their chemical storage products as well as their overall commitment to improving chemical safety.

And don’t forget about the long list of conservation and environmental organisations that promote international events like World Orangutan Day, or events closer to home like Australia Day. You could even hone in on local events like the Warialda Honey Festival (if you lived in the NSW New England of course).

7. Product comparison

Product comparisons guides are extremely useful, especially if you take the time to expand on the standards list of features and benefits included in the manufacturers brochure. Imagine you sell cameras, your could approach the blog as:

• A product manufacturer comparing your own cameras against cameras developed by another manufacturer.
• An eCommerce retailer comparing the different brands of cameras that you sell.
• An affiliate marketer comparing the different models of Canon digital SLRs.

Product comparison guides are extremely popular, and do well in Google search — just be sure to keep them accurate and up-to-date.

8. How-to guide

How to write a memorable wedding speech (blogged by a wedding speech writer). How to write a set of recruitment questions for your next hire (blogs a HR consultant). How to reduce bushfire risk in your home garden (writes a garden maintenance service). Step-by-step and ‘how-to’ guides are a big help to readers and often rank well in Google search.

Ideally publish:

• Advanced tips and personalised knowledge that is not widely known.
• Each step needed to complete the task.
• Accurate statistics and research that supports your information.

9. A day in the life of …

How about blogging a full working day of some of your key staff, especially the ones who deal directly with your customers. You could bring to life your:

• Help desk agents — story of a single agent working among the entire help desk team. In your blog focus on a single customer interaction from call to closure.
• Computer technicians — out in the field installing cable, or back in the office fixing electronic hardware.
• Warehouse packer — picking a variety of orders and preparing for delivery. Highlight the quality and care when packing customer orders.
• Delivery driver — loading the truck, on the road, getting fuel, delivering orders on a customer’s worksite.
• Managing Director — attending an industry meeting, inspecting the production floor, having coffee with the staff, meeting with a customer in the office.

Day in the life of … blog posts work best with plenty of video and photographs of your people (not posing) actually on the job. This type of blog can also boost morale and break down barriers between management and line staff as people feel more appreciated and acknowledged for the work they do.

10. Mistakes you see all the time (and how your product/service prevents them)

Maybe you’re a plumber and get called out nearly every day to clear clogged-up garbage disposal units, or a commercial chef training apprentices who don’t hold their knives properly. Whatever your trade, industry, or work sector I’m sure you see people making the same mistakes over and over again.

And these mistakes make awesome blog topics because they genuinely help the reader, while giving you the opportunity to showcase how your products and services can prevent them.

How about:

• Chef and Cooking Trainer— a blog (with photographs) demonstrating the correct (and wrong) way of holding a knife during different chopping tasks. Include the potential outcomes of incorrect knife use (injuries, food looks awful, recipe doesn’t hold properly).
• Plumber — blog post that discusses blocked garbage disposal units. You could include: why it happens, potential damage to your equipment, cost of repair, how to safely clear a blocked unit, and how to prevent it from happening.
• Tax Agent — writing a blog that details common mistakes that people make when lodging their own tax returns — and the subsequent penalties from the taxation authority.

BONUS IDEAS:

Let’s finish with a few extra ideas so you have your Content Plan covered for the whole year:

• Things you’ll never do again (in business).
• Crazy things you’ve seen people do with your products.
• Hilarious errors (and how you fixed them).
• Professional history of yourself (or the company), written over 3-5 posts.
• A customer complaint that changed the way you do business.

REFERENCES

Cespedes, Frank V., and Russ Heddleston. 2018. ‘4 Ways to Improve Your Content Marketing’. Digital Article. Harvard Business Review (blog). 19 April 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/04/4-ways-to-improve-your-content-marketing.

Featured image: sourced from Canva.