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Nicole Hurley
07-27-2011, 05:27 PM
Hi Forumers,

It's been awhile! I have been so busy working on my companies website/blog/mobi site/marketing materials... and on top of that, trying to close some sales! Busy to say the least.

Anyways, for those of you who don't know.. I am in the mobile marketing business, and wear many hats in my company (if the beginning of the post didn't clearly point that out!). I have recently taken control of many of our online resources, one of which is our blog... It was a baby-baby blog when I took over, and I don't even think that it would have been considered a "blog"... Anyways... I am looking to keep the content fresh, which is a little difficult seeing that writing/posting a blog takes hours! But... do you have any suggestions as to what I should blog about? I want to keep it industry related and have a few ideas floating around, but I am terrified about running out of ideas! Your thoughts and opinions would be great!!

Here is what I have so far: SkyWire Media Blog » (http://www.skywiremedia.com/blog)

vangogh
07-28-2011, 12:30 AM
Hi Nicole. Nice to see you again.

I know you didn't ask for a review of your site, but I read through some of the pages in order to get a feel for your company to help come up with blog ideas. After reading through a half dozen pages or so I really don't know what your company does. I knows it's mobile stuff and I see your company can develop apps and do something with SMS, but the copy doesn't help me know what I'd actually hire you for. It reads mostly like corporate speak. Here's an example from the about page


Lead by some of the top executives in the nation, SkyWire® Media has developed technology and a business model to service institutions poised to take advantage of ever popular mobile technology.

What exactly does that mean? It really doesn't mean anything.

I'm not saying the above to be mean or anything. I was trying to get a sense of who your customers would be since that's likely to be the audience for your blog. But after reading through the main copy of the site I really wasn't sure who your customers are going to be, because I don't really understand exactly what I do. You should be able to sum it up for me in a sentence or two.

Having said that I'll try to offer some blogging ideas. The first thing to do is to decide who the blog is for and what are the goals for the blog. Will it be your customers reading? Will it be a different audience that you hope will build links into the site?

What I see already on the blog seem like good topics. Obviously your company is focused around mobile so anything mobile related can work. Again who will be the blog's audience? Will they be consumers or business owners?

You can write about existing apps people might like. Look at the apps from different perspectives. How are they helping market the company behind them? What's that company doing to market the app? What have they done to help the app sell. You can also go at it from the other side and talk about apps that aren't good or or aren't selling good and discuss why. You can look at the design of the apps, the usability, the experience of using them, etc. All of these things can be done in an entertaining way and help show that you know a lot about mobile apps. Then when I decide my company needs an app guess who I'm going to call. You can sometimes write about your own apps, though I wouldn't focus it solely on your own apps or it could come across as pushing sales. Just tell me about apps I might like and that I might not like and tell me why you think they're good or bad.

If your audience is likely to be business owners you can write more about how mobile in general helps my business. Some of your existing posts already do this. Tell me about the coupons I can offer my customers and how something like Four Square can get more customers in my store. The angle is completely on what advice you can give me to help me make my business better and again the focus shouldn't be on what your company can do for me. It should simply be about helping me.

Offer posts showing stats and infographics about who's using mobile devices and which devices they're using. Tell me how those people are using their devices and how other businesses and have used that information to grow their business.

Here are a few things that have helped me come up with ideas over the years.

1. You want to be plugged into the blogs around your industry. If you haven't already subscribe to as many blogs that deal with mobile as you can. You don't have to read every last post on every blog, but you want to scan the headlines daily and read those posts that interest you. It'll help you see what others are writing about and help generate some ideas.

2. Have something to collect ideas that you carry around with you always. It could be as simple as a small notebook with pen or pencil, but given your business I'd suggest a mobile device. In time you can write a post about how your mobile device (along with the apps you use) helps you generate ideas for your blog. You also want something on your computer where you collect and filter ideas. You can brainstorm ideas for an hour every week or just collect ideas as they come to you. Write down any idea no matter what you think of it. You won't use most of them, but they'll lead you to the good ones.

3. Keep at it. In the beginning you probably won't know what to write about, but you have to keep writing about something. You'll also probably feel like no one is reading at first. Not a big deal since early on you're just finding your way. No matter how hard it might seem at first just keep collecting ideas and writing posts. It will get easier if you keep at it.

4. Be consistent. You don't have to post every day, but you do want to be consistent. Pick a schedule you can keep. If it's one post a week that's fine. If it's two that's fine two. Commit to a certain amount of posts each week and commit to publishing on the same day each week. Morning on the east coast is usually a good publishing time. I find earlier in the week gets more people reading than later in the week too.

5. Do all the above and learn to see post ideas in the daily things you do. Ultimately that's the trick. For example my blog is about web design and development. I can walk down the street see a sign over a store, take a picture and start commenting about what I think of their logo and why I think the sign will bring customers in the door or keep them away. Or maybe that same sign is a good example of something I jotted down an idea about 2 months earlier and now having seen the sign I have an angle for writing that post. This won't come right away, but as you read more, collect, more ideas, and keep at it, you'll find ordinary things in your day become blog post ideas.

Hope that helps.

thebizinator
07-28-2011, 03:26 AM
Nicole,

You're off to a great start. Would you mind me asking you what your target niche is? Tell me in four words or less. :)

Nicole Hurley
07-28-2011, 03:21 PM
Vangogh - You are incredible. Thank you for the suggestions and advice. I have a white board full of ideas right now. I'm looking forward to my next blog. :)
TheBizinator -Businesses wanting mobile marketing

vangogh
07-28-2011, 07:14 PM
Glad I could help Nicole. Do keep in mind that blogging isn't a quick and easy thing. It definitely takes effort to do well. Don't feel bad at all if in the beginning you go through times where the ideas aren't flowing or it doesn't feel like anyone is reading. I can promise most every blogger goes through that. Like a lot of things it's practice and more practice and looking to make improvements here or there. Instead of trying to make tomorrow's post perfect, just try to be doing a better job 6 months from now than you are today.

What bizinator is suggesting is another good way to find ideas. See what people are searching for and see if you can write posts about those things. However I would always write for real people first. Don't force keywords into posts. Above all else your post needs to be something people want to read.

Also think about using video or audio for posts. They don't all have to be written.

scottish
09-12-2011, 05:39 AM
I did a blog for about 3 years but at the end I was really struggling to write about stuff. I guess you need to focus it on an industry that has a lot going on you can talk about and not really be writing a book online over 3 years lol

greenoak
09-12-2011, 08:14 AM
ive slowed way down on mine too.... the few fans i had were in the wrong geographic districts /folks who were interested but were far away and propbably would never come here to my store, and it began feeling a bit egomaniacle like navel gazing.... now my time is on facebook with tons and tons more results....
i liked the blog a lot too so its kind of sad to me... but the customers just werent there....

vangogh
09-12-2011, 10:57 AM
I guess you need to focus it on an industry that has a lot going on you can talk about

Not really. Most every blogger goes through times when they can't think of ideas they like. It's just part of being a blogger. You just have to get creative sometimes. Maybe you don't write directly about your topic, but you write about it from the side if that makes sense.

Georgias Gifts
09-13-2011, 08:35 PM
vangogh, I add my thanks for your suggestions also. You are very creative! My blog is fairly new & I'm struggling to find my voice. But I know it will come.

I just started a book called "The New Rules of Marketing & PR" and I'm currently on the blog chapter. The author credits his success to long time blogging and truly believes in it. So I'm paying attention and learning.

vangogh
09-13-2011, 10:48 PM
You're welcome. Glad I could help 2 people in the thread. Thanks for the compliments too. :)

You're voice will come. I remember when I first started blogging I had no idea what to write about or how to write it. I meandered around a lot, but kept trying to get better and looking to different sources of inspiration. I'm sure early on the only one reading was me. I figured it made it easy to practice since no one would really care what I said. Little by little I started finding my voice and even now I experiment and change things around here and there.

Blogging can definitely help a website. Most people online are looking for information more than anything else and a blog gives them that information. It doesn't have to be a blog, of course, but blogs have other advantages like the more informal style and the rss feed. The informal style also lends itself to connecting with your audience. I find myself subscribing to the blogs of people who frequently comment on mine and I look for them on social sites. I've gotten clients through my blog and have gained one time jobs through it. None of that happened over night, but in time it can happen.

Karon Thackston
09-14-2011, 10:34 AM
While these are technically for articles, you can always use articles on your blog. "13 Article Styles that Deliver Results (http://www.marketingwords.com/blog/?p=1542)."

KristineS
09-14-2011, 11:46 AM
Those are some good ideas, Karon. I'm going to save that article for when I have a blocked day.

vangogh
09-14-2011, 11:55 AM
Karon I mostly write how to type posts, but I think I've written about 8 of the 13 post types you list. All 13 are really good ideas.