Write About What Excites You

Nothing will turn a blog reader off faster than an author who is obviously not enthusiastic about the topic at hand. The same goes for passion—if you’re not passionate about your topic, readers can sense that and will wander away from your site to find a blogger who is. Not every niche has the appeal of, say, celebrity style or auto industry prototypes, but a big part of business blogging is sharing not just information, but passion—because passion helps create engagement. Google is getting really good at detecting engagement, so the days of blogging just to create lots of dumb SEO pages are dead. Really, really dead.

Don’t think that the topic that gets you excited will excite others? Business owners who contemplate a blog often avoid blogging specifically because they assume that others will find their niche boring. But the fact is that so much of what makes an interesting and compelling blog is not subject matter, but rather the enthusiasm of the writer. You’ll excite your audience—even if your niche is, say, laser hair removal—by sharing your excitement, candidly and sincerely.

In other words: Your job, as a business blogger, is to show your audience why they should be excited about the things that excite you! Don’t be afraid to tell people online exactly what to do! When you are brainstorming your editorial calendar, keep a few questions in mind:

• What are the questions you hear over and over again from clients and prospects? What are the issues that make your customers lose sleep?
• What knowledge could improve your customer’s experience with your product/service?
• What hot trends in your industry are top of mind right now?
• How can your topic be funny or controversial?
• What would customers find most surprising about what you do?
• How can you frame your blog’s niche to make it stand out among other industry blogs?
• What gaps in the online information about your business can you fill?

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