Three Questions to Kick Start Your Blog and Article Writing

One of the biggest challenges coaches, thought leaders and industry experts have today is deciding what to write about in their regular blogs and articles. Many of them have had decades of experience in a market sector or industry and consequently have vast knowledge about multiple subjects. In fact, they have enough knowledge to write multiple books/eBooks about topics that they are very passionate about. Yet at least once a week, they sit in front of their keyboard and wonder, what will I write about today?

Here are 3 questions to kick start some article and blog topics for those exact moments:

1.   What is it like being you for a day?

No doubt you have a daily routine and habits that keep you on track, healthy, productive and focussed. Have you shared those with your followers/clients in writing? Do you have a set of productivity tips that enables you to work a 4-day week and/or slot in your training for your next fun run or current fitness regime? People love short cuts, bite size pieces of information that they can implement on the spot. Do you have a sure-fire solution to bouncing back from rejection? Sharing that may be exactly what one or more of your followers needs to read today. And if they like what you have written, with one click they can share your information with their network.

2. What do you know, that your clients don’t know, that they may be interested in learning about?

And most importantly long term would be willing to pay for. At one point in time you had to learn a skill that you had no previous clue about. Now you are consciously competent in this skill and take it for granted. Yet there are potentially hundreds maybe even thousands of people who would like to master that skill and just don’t know where to start, or who to turn to. Until you write your blog/article sharing that knowledge.

3. Can you identify where your passions, special interests and your life experiences overlap with a current market need?

I once had a client who was passionate about breeding peach face parrots and this interest was not remotely related to his work as an accountant. Yet he had an entire network of other bird breeders and bird lovers who got together regularly and did business with each other based on ‘the peach face link’ as he referred to it. His passion had nothing to do with networking, business development and billable hours. Yet, he was very generous with his knowledge, often wrote about his breeding highs and lows and basically built trust with his network. 

As an author and a ghost writer, I encourage my clients to share their knowledge and be generous with the ideas they write about even though it may have taken them years to learn or perfect that knowledge. Sometimes, they challenge me as to why they should do that when they have spent thousands of dollars and/or years of study/working perfecting that craft and what if their competitors steal their ideas?

My response is simple – writing gives you the opportunity to build your credibility, often with total strangers, who you don’t know, but your followers know. When you write something that is useful, people may share it with others. There is a remote chance that your competitor will steal it – but if they are a smart competitor, they will quote the ideas as coming from you and long term potentially form a collaboration with you.

The more of your work that people read, the more they get to know you and eventually trust you. Each time you write, you share more of your beliefs, passions and ideas and the bottom line – some people will like your ideas, and some won’t. Trust is really the glue that keeps relationships strong and healthy and communication forms the basis of trust.

What better way to build trust than to share your knowledge unconditionally.    

For more article by Robyn Henderson visit www.networkingtowin.com.au or check out my LinkedIn profile. May I encourage you to send me a LinkedIn invitation - let's connect.