How Do I Choose a Blog Topic?

There can be many sources of inspiration.  

Do I have anything important to share? Why would anyone be interested in my thoughts? Isn’t what I do boring? Doesn’t everyone know this stuff? There’s so much going on; how do I choose what to write about? All of these are great, if self-deprecating, questions. One reason it’s hard to come up with topics is that we take for granted what we know as experts and find it humdrum. Asking ourselves what people want to know about is one approach to choosing a blog topic. Another is to ask, “What do we want people to learn about?” If you look at it that way, you could pull topic ideas from relevant issues or changes, address common questions, and expound on your differentiator.

You Have the Inside Track 

You are an expert at what you do. What’s day-to-day for you is unknown territory for your prospects – interesting or scary. When changes, issues or deadlines arise, you understand the implications. There’s an opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge by providing your audience with valuable insights and next steps. Many of my accountant’s newsletters explain changes to tax laws and how they affect his clients. My financial advisor and real estate agent’s articles provide their interpretation of what the markets are doing and what might happen next. If a new requirement or sudden problem pops up in your field that you think is important to be aware of, write about it. What could it mean for your clients? What should they watch out for or do? Strike while the iron’s hot!

Common Questions or Knowledge Gaps

There are definitely questions asked again and again by clients in all lines of work. Also, regular misconceptions or pitfalls occur. This is where FAQs come from. The A part of FAQs tends to be brief and practical. Maybe the Q part could inspire informative blog posts. You can address the question in a different and more comprehensive way, like through examples, to help people better understand and relate. Now that I’ve planted the idea, when you recognize that the question or misconception someone just raised comes up often, make a note of it for a blog topic. Even pet peeves, whether with clients or how work in your field is typically done, can be fodder for an article. Let it flow; just edit out your annoyance later. Imagine being able to reply to a repetitive question with, “Actually, I just wrote an article about that. [insert article link]”

Explain What Makes You Special

First of all, identifying what truly makes you special is difficult. It’s not what you think it is or what you say first, and probably worthy of its own post… hey look, a topic idea for me. But I digress. Why someone should buy from you versus them is often less about what you do (i.e., we have a proprietary process) and more about how you do it (i.e., what is that process and how do you use it?). Pick an aspect of your genius and explain in detail how you do it, why you do it that way, what clients get out of it, etc. Idea: demonstrate practical applications of your swanky process case-study style or even anecdotally. It’s a great chance to explain your differentiator at length – the way you can’t in your About section. And toot your own horn.

Just One Source of Inspiration

Part of my advice to help fit blog writing into your schedule is to brainstorm topics separately from writing. Add ‘What do I want people to know?’ to your list of inspiring questions. Sharing what you think they should know about your industry is a great way to position yourself as an expert, pre-empt common questions and further explain what you do differently/better than your competition. With this to get you going, you’ll soon get feedback and questions that will lead to what people are looking for and even more ideas. If you still aren’t sure how to begin, help is available.