“Hay There” Friends!  Are you a small business owner with writer’s block?  Stumped on what the heck to write about on your small business’ blog?  Here is some insight that will surely get your content juices flowing!

I had a very enlightening meeting this morning with small business owner friends of mine that run a dress shop.  I met with them for a few hours discussing what effective social media really looks like for their business in particular.

Here’s a shot of me with 2 members of the store’s amazing sales team, Ellen & Nora, with Sonia, the owner on the far right.

We spent a good amount of time talking about the power of a blog.  In case this is the first post of mine you have come across, I firmly stand behind the fact that a blog is the critical hub of your effective social media strategy.  Blogging is something that positions you as the go-to resource in your industry, it builds loyal relationships, and its an open invitation for people to feel welcome into your business to see what’s new and happening.

It can be challenging for any small business owner to think of what to actually blog about on behalf of their store’s blog.  I can appreciate this as people think long and hard about what topic they are going to create content around.   So the question was posed, “what the heck does a dress shop blog about?”  It was time to share some specific suggestions to get working on since that’s where the fun begins in my opinion 🙂

It’s important to first note, when you are stumped for blog topics for your small business, keep in mind that you spread messages and stories about your business every single day you go to work.  Your blog enables you to do the same thing with prospective and current customers – just ONLINE instead of in-person.

Here are 3 specific content generating ideas for your small business blog:

1)   Do your customers have a few frequently asked questions?  The answer that you share with them is a fantastic topic of a blog post.   Using posts to educate people is a superior blogging tactic.  In the case of a dress shop, perhaps people regularly ask you about the different dress shapes and cuts and which are the most flattering for different body types.  Bingo!  If one person has the question, it is usually a safe assumption that someone else does as well.  Get that answer out to endless amounts of people via your blog…they will appreciate you for being a valuable resource.

2)   Think about something about your business that you always find interesting and that you enjoy telling people about.  Perhaps you like explaining the process of dyeing fabric or why certain fabrics look better in certain seasons because of how they are woven or constructed.  This is ideal content for an enlightening blog post. Do you have seasonal products?  Share interesting information about what makes the product line new and different this season and make a suggestion on how someone can use the product to better their lives.  Share your insight on why this new product is becoming popular and mention where people may have heard of it…points of reference are always enlightening.

When you open someone’s eyes to new information, they are likely to pass the post along (and more importantly, remember who told them about it!)

3) Time to entertain!  As a dress shop owner, you sell dresses and dresses are an enjoyable and entertaining part of someone’s life.  A great blog post would be sharing a story about a fond memory you had with a dress of your own…personal stories are engaging.  The critical step at the end of the story is for you to pose questions to your readers/customers. Encourage them to share their personal story about a memorable dress or an outfit of theirs and be sure you suggest they share photos — the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Take it a step further and get customers to vote on their favorite story.  Now that is entertaining and that makes a magnetic blog post.

Through these type of blog posts, you are adding value to the lives of your current and prospective customers.  People want to do business with people that they trust.  In my opinion, trust comes from regularly experiencing positive feelings and or/an improvement in one’s life.

Remember, blog posts don’t have to be long. They have to be insightful.   Keep in mind that the more questions you answer in a “blog post” format, the more content you are generating, which can lead to more web traffic.  Also, you are serving a dual purpose by essentially archiving your answers and stories and you will be able to refer to them again.  In fact, you should absolutely plan to refer people to your blog posts overtime and use your social media profiles as means to get the word out about those posts…people can benefit from the information you have to share.

Please leave a comment below to tell me about your small business –I would love to hear what line of work you are in so we can brainstorm blog post ideas for you!

I would love for you to share this post via Facebook or tweet it if you feel it can help a fellow small business owner do some blog brainstorming!

To Your Social Media Success!

~Emily A. Hay