23 Mar How to Choose a Topic for Your Blog Part 1: Niche Businesses
When starting a blog for your business the first thing you need is a topic. Obvious, perhaps, though you’d be surprised to learn the number of people who don’t think establishing a topic is essential. There’s a belief that if you just start writing, people will come. That might be true when writing a personal blog, but it doesn’t apply in business.
With a business blog, you need to ATTRACT your audience. With a personal blog, you’ve already got people who have a vested interest in what you’ve got to say. Just because you work in a specific industry and have knowledge of your craft doesn’t mean you’ve got a voice that people want to listen to just for the sake of it. You’ve got to give them something to lure them in and keep them coming back. That all begins with picking the right topic.
Choosing a topic in some industries is more obvious than others. A business that already has a very specific niche, such as a dental clinic that specializes in cosmetic dentistry, has a topic built in. In a specific field like that, you simply need to think “what information would clients exploring cosmetic dentistry be looking to read about?” Once you have the answer to that question you’ve found your topic. Write about the benefits of the procedures, explain how they’re done, explain oral health following a procedure, and explain the health issues that can lead to the need for cosmetic procedures. Any business with a specialized field can choose this approach when selecting their topic. To make sure your blog is memorable, use an obvious approach, but make sure your blog is different from others in the industry.
Put yourself in the shoes of your clients or do some independent research to determine what aspects of your niche business interests them, and what they’d like to learn more about. It’s essential to stop looking at your blog focus from the perspective of a business owner, think like your existing clients and your target market, make a connection and people will read!
When you’re in a niche or specialized business, choosing a blog topic still isn’t easy, but it’s harder when your business attracts a broad demographic of people or doesn’t have a distinguishable target market. So stay tuned for part 2 of this series for guidelines on choosing a topic if this describes your business.
Beth Graddon-Hodgson is a professional writer/blogger and the founder of WriteSourcing a professional blogging, writing and editing service. For more about Beth, read my interview with her.