Each blog post on your blog should do a job. Think of your blog as your team and each blog post as a team member. Do it right and your blog post can act as your…
Best salesperson – that will deliver you actual direct sales (as well as be helpful)
Knowledgeable customer service advisor – to help your potential customers make the right buying decision
Knight in shining armour – to protect your time from those who are the wrong fit
Advertiser – encouraging lots of footfall (i.e. web traffic) to your business
But we’ve noticed that some of our blog posts are the ‘shining stars’ – they work really hard for us (and other businesses too). They pull their weight by saving us time, increasing sales, and getting lots of traffic to our website.
And the best thing is, you can create content like this too. And if you’re not sure where to start with blogging or need some help, then read our ultimate guide: how to write a blog post.
So in this blog post, we’re going to tell you about 5 key killer blog post ideas that will work hard for your business.
1. Blog Post Idea One: How much does it cost…
What’s the one thing you Google?
How much does it cost.
How much does it cost to hire a marketing coach/personal trainer/book editor?
How much does a shark hoover cost?
How much does a swimming pool cost?
How much does a mansion cost in London? (I already know this one – way out of my budget)
You get the picture.
And better yet, creating a ‘how much does it cost’ piece of content is easy because you already know the answer inside out. You’ll know and understand the variables that can make the cost of your product or service go up or down. And you’ll know and understand the market and what the minimum/maximum price might be for your product or service.
Top Tip for this Blog Post Idea!
The one thing I would recommend when creating content like this, is that you give someone an indication of what you charge within the content too.
For example, you could go into details about how much it costs for a website, what the variables are, what can make the price go up or down etc. And then you could say, I charge between £x and £x or I charge ‘from £x’.
How Will This Content Work For You?
One of the biggest benefits of this content is that it ranks – especially if your competitors shy away from this topic. This is something we learnt from Content Marketing master, Marcus Sheridan in his book, They Ask, You Answer.
The reason we recommend you also include your costs is because…
- It’s just good customer service if you do this
- It saves you time -it prevents people from getting in touch with you when they don’t have the right budget. This can save you hours on emails, calls and writing proposals.
Key advantages of ‘how much does it cost’ article:
- Rankability
- Time saver – you can send it to new prospects once they get in touch, providing help and advice and preventing you from spending time with people who don’t have the right budget
Example of this blog post idea in action!
Fit Roots Martial Arts School do a great job at this with their article, How Much Does Martial Arts Cost? And it shows how this can work not just for B2B business but also a B2C business.
2. Blog Post Idea Two: Everything you need to know about x service/product
I personally follow a lot of people because they deliver thought-provoking, helpful content.
They give and give and give.
And…I don’t have a clue what they do. Not specifically.
Their website might be unclear. Or I just soak up their content on social media and never actually visit their site.
This is the danger when you only give helpful content. There’s got to be a point where you ask for the sale and explain what it is you do.
This is where a piece of content can help. We love ‘everything you need to know about my x product/service’ or ‘how to work with me’ type content.
This is a very specific piece of content that walks the reader through the key features and benefits of your product or service in a simple way. It’s a great way to get eyeballs on your products and services. You can share it on social media and email it to your list.
It grabs the attention of those who love you but may not have considered working with you before. Or it gives those people who have been considering you a little nudge in the right direction.
Top Tip For This Blog Post Idea
This content isn’t a sales page. So try to avoid over the top, unnecessary sales copy. Imagine this content is a good customer service advisor, providing helpful advice on a particular product or service – that’s exactly how it should sound!
How Will This Content Work For You?
This isn’t content that ranks on Google. And that’s okay. Not everything has to rank. This is something very much aimed at people at the ‘decision stage’ of buying from you – where your potential customer is looking at different companies to buy from and weighing up which one suits them best.
This content delivers good customer service and it fills in any gaps missing from your sales pages. It also shines a light on your products and services as you can share this on social media and in your email.
Key Advantages of an ‘Everything You Need to Know’ Post
- Sales generator
- Customer service
Example of this Blog Post Idea in Action:
I love Adele’s blog post all about her Greek Retreat. It tells you everything you would need to know without being salesy or overly promotional. It’s frank and informative. Exactly what’s supposed to be.
We also published an Everything You Need to Know post about our 90-day content marketing challenge. In exactly the same way, this is an unbiased overview of the product – the exact opposite of the sales page!
3. Blog Post Idea Three: ‘How to find the right x’
We all hate making a bad buying decision. We fear wasting money and time. We fear looking silly. We fear getting ‘ripped off’. And that’s also why we do a lot of research before we invest in things. I can’t buy a bloody toaster without doing a deep dive on reviews.
That’s why it’s a good idea to hold your audience’s hand when it comes to buying the products or services you sell (even if they don’t directly buy from you). This is where the ‘How to find the right x for you’ content comes in.
This is content that helps guide people to find the right person for them. It could be how to find the right editor, coffee machine, graphic designer, estate agent, personal trainer, content writer, social media expert, recruitment agency etc.
Whatever it is you sell, people need help buying it. Your job is to help them.
Top Tip For This Blog Post Idea
When you create this kind of content, it’s not about selling you specifically. It’s about helping your audience find the right person for them.
It has to be unbiased and incredibly helpful. Sure, mention what you do (definitely don’t shy away from it) but that’s not the sole purpose of it!
How Will This Content Work For You?
You can deliver excellent customer service and rank on google too. People often search for ‘how to find the right x’ and similar key phrases, so it’s a good one to go after.
It also builds a huge amount of trust with your audience. Imagine struggling to find the right personal trainer. Then you come across a helpful blog post that tells you exactly how to find the right personal trainer for you.
Who are you going to remember? And who are you more likely to use as your personal trainer? The person who helped you, of course!
Key Advantages of a ‘How to Find the Right X‘ Post
- Rankability
- Customer service
- Trust Builder
Example of this Blog Post Idea in Action:
I love this example from Denise, who actually published a podcast on how to find the right editor for you. It’s great content that really does help the audience. There are so many different factors that go into hiring an editor, and in one piece of content, Denise clears everything up!
4. Blog Post Idea Four: Reasons you shouldn’t work with me
This is the juiciest piece of content you will ever create, and it’s fun and highly therapeutic! But most importantly, it’s the best kind of content for attracting the right people to your business and repelling the ones you don’t want.
This content is a simple list of reasons why someone shouldn’t work with you. It could be something you don’t do – for example, a fiction editor might say, ‘I don’t edit non-fiction’.
Or it could be something more specific to your service, such as ‘I don’t work with people who have a budget of less than £5,000.’
It could even be something to do with mindset or attitude, for example, when we wrote our repelling content (that’s what we call it!), we stated that we didn’t want to work with people who were searching for a ‘yes-man/woman web designer.’ Essentially, we didn’t want to be told what to do and treated as an employee.
Top Tip For This Blog Post Idea
It’s quite easy to slip into arrogance when you create this content. You might not do it purposefully. But when you create a list of reasons why people shouldn’t work with you, it can understandably come across as egotistical.
Just have empathy for your reader when you create it. Come at this from a ‘good customer service’ point of view. You want to help your reader understand if they’re the right fit for you. You want to prevent them from wasting their time (as much as you don’t want to waste yours).
So leave your ego at the door. And if someone isn’t the right fit (if they haven’t got the budget, for example) then point them to resources that can help them too.
How will this content work for you?
Creating this kind of content works well for two reasons:
- You don’t waste your time communicating with the wrong people
- You increase your trust with your ideal clients as they understand you’re exclusive. And you’re not out to make a quick buck from everybody out there. It shows pride and confidence. And people like that.
We use this in our sales process quite often, particularly if someone gets in touch and they’re already bossing us around! But that’s rare now. Just having the content there really does prevent the ‘wrong fits’ from getting in touch.
Key Advantages of a ‘Why You’re Not the Right Fit For Me’ Post
- Customer service
- Prevents bad clients
- Saves time
Example of this Blog Post Idea in Action:
I love this piece of repelling content from the content writer, Debbie Ekins. It’s confident and respectful and hits the perfect tone of repelling content.
If you’d like help creating this kind of content, check out our blog post on how to create repelling content.
5. Blog Post Idea Five: What’s the Process of Working with Me?
How does it work? What’s the process? What’s the next step?
Ever asked yourself those questions when you’re thinking of working with someone?
I have. All the time. And I hate it. I personally hate not knowing what’s going to happen. It makes me suspicious.
I’m not interested in mystery and in the secret formula you promise to show me (once I hand over my cash, of course).
Nope. I (like many other people) want to understand the EXACT process.
And this is where process content comes in.
Process content is extremely simple. It outlines the step by step process of working with you.
There’s an argument to suggest that your prospects don’t need to understand the exact ins and outs of how you work. But in our experience, people do want to know your step-by-step process, even if it’s just a basic overview. And of course, it really does depend on the level of investment. You’re going to want to know more if you’re spending thousands.
How will this content work for you?
Process content can work in many different ways. Firstly, it can actually be a way of generating sales because if someone sees your process they understand you know what you’re doing.
You can also use it at various stages of working with someone. We add our process to every proposal we send and we also send it to each client at the start of them working with us. This means no one has that horrible ‘I’ve just paid money and don’t know what happens next’ feeling!
Key Advantages of a ‘What’s the Process of Working With Me’ Post
- Customer service
- Saves time
- Can lead to sales!
Example of this Blog Post Idea in Action:
This is one of our oldest blog posts but it still pulls its weight 4 years on! This is the blog post where we listed our web design process step by step.
Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.
Leave a Reply