Sharing your Expertise MOVES THE NEEDLE.

We’ve talked about how important blogging is for your small business to be successful. And we’ve talked about how important it is for your posts to include keywords, and branded images. But what we HAVEN’T talked about yet, is getting inspiration for the posts themselves!

Now, I could go through and just make a list of titles for you to use as a photographer, or a yoga instructor, or a realtor. And that would be a solid starting point! However, I think it’s way more fun to teach you how to come up with ENDLESS ideas for the rest of forever, right? Like, that’s more valuable?

I get that those are big words. Because blogging can feel like a lot, and the inspiration can feel like a lot, and the whole “actually writing blogs” thing can ALSO feel like a lot. But the inspiration behind your posts doesn’t have to be rocket science!! I promise, you can generate an endless list of ideas, and I’m not about to like… sell you an AI strategy. Because as we know, Google is officially starting to penalize websites for using AI generated content to try to rise through the ranks.

So…. what do I suggest? For the whole “endless inspiration” thing?

***This is a part of my series on digital business success, and you can see even more (mostly photography focused!) tips and tricks elsewhere on the blog. 

(P.S. If you’re also looking to change the game for your social media, check out my Etsy shop!)

Lean Into Your Expertise

Look. You started a business for a reason. You’re GREAT at what you do. And that means you know a TON about it! And bonus points if you’ve been doing it for years, too. But this still works when you’re just starting out, don’t worry!

Step one, is to grab a piece of paper, or open up a Google Doc, so you can keep track of all the ideas you’re about to come up with. Then I want you to forget why you’re doing this. Stop thinking to yourself “I have to blog”. This isn’t the time for that, this is the time for open, chaotic ideation!! If it takes you a minute to get into that headspace, that’s okay. If it means you read this now and then go through the steps later, that’s also fine! But it’s important that if the whole “thinking about blogging for my business” thing is bothering you and causing the inspiration blockage… you get out of that space. So do what you need to do to make that happen, and then, in order, I want you to think about the following questions:

What do YOU know, that you want your clients to know?

Lean into your expertise here. What do you wish your clients knew BEFORE they came to you? What do you wish they knew about your industry? Are there things you want them to know about the behind the scenes stuff that goes into your work? Things they would otherwise never get any insight into, like how you manage administration for them so that they don’t have to? There are a TON of different blog post inspiration topics you’ll come up with from this question. If it feels too open ended, make it more focused! For example, if you’re a photographer, what do you wish your potential clients knew about a specific type of session you offer? Newborn, for example. Do you wish they knew about all of the safety training you had to go through? How important it is to be fully insured? What about exclusive sessions you offer in locations you’ve scouted. Do you wish they knew about how hard you work to find those unique locations? This is your opportunity to tell them!!

What questions are you asked?

No matter how long you’ve been doing what you do, you’ve gotten questions from people. Whether those questions came up before they hired you/worked with you, or whether they came up during the process… they’re worth answering! And every single one of those questions is a business blog inspiration opportunity. So… what questions are you asked by clients? Do they want to know a specific detail about your services? Things about your industry as a whole? List them ALL out.

If it helps, you might want to go back to wherever you communicate with clients. Sift through your emails, scroll through your messages. Are there questions coming up regularly? Even if it’s just about your pricing! Even THOSE are moments of inspiration. Write them ALL down! Don’t worry about how you’re going to answer the question as a blog post yet, just write them ALL on your blog inspiration list!

What makes you stand out from other people in your industry?

So far we’ve focused on things that fall into “general things about your work” but we’re gonna get more specific now! It’s also super useful to consider what makes you DIFFERENT. What are the unique parts of the experience with your work that make you stand out in your industry as a whole? If you’re a photographer, what do you do to stand out? Is your style unique? If you’re a yoga studio, how does your approach to yoga differ from your competition? If we were using corporate marketing-speak, this basically translates to your “USP” – unique selling proposition.

It’s why people should choose you, among all of the other people they could choose. And you might have a TON of these – I tend to suggest that when you write one down… break it down further into little micro-topics! You know WAY more than you think you know, like 99% of the time.

What searches are your potential clients already making online?

If you’ve gone through all of the other thought prompts here, you’ve probably got enough posts to get through AGES of regular posting without running out. But in case that’s not enough, there’s more!! This one is less “information that already exists in your head” and more “let’s poll the audience”. There’s a few different ways to do it, and we’re gonna walk through my three favorites. So, I want you to take a concept involved in what you do – if you’re a photographer, you could use “brand photography” as an example.

• For strategy one, you’re going to open up a Google Chrome window in Incognito. You’re going to type in that specific thing. And then… you’re going to scroll to the questions listed! These are things people are already asking. Write down those questions. Now you have more!! And you can repeat that with literally anything related to what you do, and you’ll get all kinds of prompts that you can definitely speak to.
• For strategy two, you’re going to do that same thing, but with Pinterest! This is especially helpful if you’re planning on pinning your blog posts, because then you’ll end up with questions people are asking in Pinterest already. The only difference between this one and the previous strategy, is for this one you’re going to pay attention to the things popping up in the dropdown on Pinterest search, not the things showing up in the “questions” section after you’ve already searched. Write down the things that show up in the auto-fill, and there you go… more topics!
• Then we have strategy three, which you’re either going to LOVE, or you’re going to HATE, and there will be no in between. This one uses a really cool tool called “AnswerThePublic”. Head over to their site, and then enter your topic in the search bar! When you hit enter, you’ll get a super cool chart, full of things people are searching related to that topic! And there you have it… more prompts. You only get a few searches for free before you have to upgrade their services, so this is one to use wisely if you don’t want to pay for an account! But if you’ve run out of ideas, it’s definitely a valuable tool to have in your back pocket.

And there you have it!

The thing about these strategies for getting blogging inspiration, is they’re wells that will literally never run dry. You’re never going to run out of questions your clients are asking, and you’re never going to run out of things you wish people knew before they hired you.

Once you have your list of inspiration, it’s time to think about keywords and how you can create a strategic schedule… but that’s a topic for a different day! Happy blogging!!

P.S. Wanna learn more about my mentorship options?

(P.S. If you’re also looking to change the game for your client guides, check out my Etsy shop!)