So you’ve set up a blog for your business—congratulations! With content marketing picking up steam, and client hunger for insightful content growing, there’s definitely no knocking the benefits of these marketing tools. Blogs establish credibility, get your name out there and remain excellent search engine fodder. The only trouble? Finding a steady stream of content to publish.

 

If you’re having difficulty posting regularly because you’re not sure where to find appropriate content, here are a few tips:

 

  • Research competitive sites. This doesn’t give you a license to appropriate other people’s ideas. But it can give you insight into what other industry players are talking about. Armed with those basics, chances are you can spin off their original ideas with opinions, insights or an angle of your own.

 

  • Ask your experts. Find people inside your company that are very good at what they do and interview them about it. This not only lets you profile your people, it’s also an authentic way to share the expertise residing within your company.

 

  • Ask external experts. Guest blog posts are always popular, particularly if you invite posts from people who are well-known and/or well-respected in your industry. Yes, this sounds easier than it is. There’s an art to identifying and lining up guest bloggers—including finding people already writing on the topics of interest to your audience, determining if they’re available to write for you and deciding whether or not you want to pay them. As a rule of thumb, professional bloggers typically charge—but it’s a fee that may be worth paying if you’re getting access to regular, on-point content. On the flip side, some of your vendors, distributors, suppliers or business partners may be willing to blog for you without charge in exchange for exposure or an affiliation with your company. This is particularly true if your organization has clout—and a large distribution list. The best way to find out is to ask. You may be surprised by the people you can attract as guest bloggers by simply giving them a forum to write about the things they know best.

Not every blog post has to be an original masterpiece. Sometimes, the best posts are those that direct readers to relevant content on related sites, such as industry associations, magazines or research companies. You don’t want all your posts to be curated, but it’s entirely valid to share relevant data with your readers on topics of interest to them. In addition to saving your readers time, linking to other sites improves your searchability as well.

What tactics do you find particularly useful in keeping the content flowing?
photo credit: Day 220: What the heck am I writing via photopin (license)