Proofreader, Book Editor, Content Writer & Coach
If you run a gift boutique, you may be wondering what kinds of things you can write about on your blog. It helps to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What are they looking for?
Think of blog ideas that will help solve your customers’ gift-searching dilemmas. When you take that approach, you will come up with so many ideas you can’t wait to write.
Continue reading “Blog Ideas for Gift Boutiques”E-books are useful for your business website. They’re great for giveaways, trust-building, and info guides for your visitors. But how can you write an e-book when you’re already busy running your business?
One of the simplest ways to write content for your e-book is to start with a top 10 list. Whatever topic you want to share, make a list of the top 10 things your visitors need to know about that topic. Write those 10 things down. For simplicity, I’m going to refer to those 10 things as your main topics.
Next, write five things people need to know about each of those 10 main topics. Don’t worry about full sentences yet. Just capture your ideas. What you have now is the outline for your e-book. Each of your 10 main topics is a chapter. Each of the five need-to-know ideas is a page. For simplicity, I’m going to call those five ideas your page topics.
Now that you’ve got those page topics written down under each main topic, I want you to focus on one page topic at a time. How can you help your reader understand that one page topic? Would you want to explain it? Give examples? Tell a story about it? Share wisdom? There’s no right or wrong answer. The question is how would you best explain it to someone sitting in front of you right now?
Go ahead and write (or record) what you would say. Keep going till you’ve given your reader the main takeaway for that particular idea. That’s a page of your e-book! Don’t edit yet; just get the content written down in whatever form it takes.
Repeat this process for each of your page topics. That will give you the content for your e-book. Now you can go through and lightly edit, tweaking anything that sounds awkward, filling in gaps, clarifying anything that might confuse your reader.
You’ve got it: the content for your e-book, ready to share.
When someone clicks on your website link and arrives at your homepage, they are still in scan mode. They are searching for the answer to one specific question. If they don’t find the answer quickly, they will move on to another website.
Continue reading “Does Your Homepage Answer Your Visitor’s First Question?”I’ve been asked how to write a short blog post to keep your business blog going when you’re crunched for time—as you might be now during the lead-up to Christmas. You can write a helpful, valuable, one-paragraph Q&A post answering a common client question. Lead with their question, as I did here. Then answer it quickly but helpfully, as you would if they were standing right in front of you. Pair it with a photo, and hit publish. Your blog will be active and visible, and clients will appreciate that one helpful tidbit you share. One paragraph is all it takes to answer a client question and share the answer with your current and future clients. Merry Christmas!
Continue reading “Crunched for Content Writing Time? Write a One-Paragraph Q&A Blog Post”January is just a few weeks away. Are you wondering what you’ll be writing about on your business blog in the new year? Take some time this week to pause and reflect on the past year. The questions people asked, the lessons you learned, the highlights, challenges, surprises, and wisdom you’ll carry into the new year, those are all potential blog topics.
Continue reading “Capture Last Year’s Highlights for Your New Year Business Blog”Many small business owners want to grow their blog. But it’s hard finding time to write. You’re busy growing your business. The good news is you don’t need to set aside hours of writing time. You just need 10 minutes at a time.
Continue reading “Need Time to Write? Start with 10 Minutes”It’s that time of year when the days become shorter. You are busy, maybe feeling a little tired. You have little time to work on your blog — and even less on the horizon with the holidays coming up. You’re just not able to write those long posts you want to share with your clients and prospects.
You’re concerned your blog will go into hibernation till January.
But you can keep your blog going by matching the rhythm of the fall season: shorter days, shorter posts.
Continue reading “Shorter Days, Shorter Blog Posts”The fall season is settling in. Perfect time to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte in a cozy nook while writing your business blog posts. When you write in a relaxed atmosphere, your blog posts are more likely to be simple, welcoming, and warmly engaging—which is exactly how your readers want to feel at this busy yet beautiful time of year.
Continue reading “Pumpkin Spice Blogging: Simple, Warm, Welcoming”One of the many things I love about blog articles is how they provide great material for other types of communication, like social posts and email newsletters, as well as round-up-style blog posts for those weeks when you are short on time.
Before you head into your next month of blogging, let’s take a look and see how last month’s blog posts can give you more communication mileage.
Continue reading “3 Ways to Repurpose Last Month’s Blog Posts”It’s that time of year when schedules change, days get busier, and you have more priorities than fingers to count them on. Keeping your blog going during this busy season? Seems impossible.
But with a simple strategy, you can keep your blog going to stay connected with your clients and prospects. Let’s take a look.
Continue reading “Quick and Easy Blogging Tips for Back-to-School Season Success”
Janet Eriksson 