Content Ideation

Inspiration is a funny thing. It’s everywhere and can leave you dreaming of possibilities for hours, especially if you’re a business owner. 

Your entire business model might come from a streak of inspiration you decided was worth pursuing. However, the not-so-great thing about inspiration is that it doesn’t occur on command…at least not for most people.

When you’re thinking about blog topics for your business, you may feel stuck about what to write. 

You think…Do I simply talk about my business and what I know? Do I need to be creative and go outside of my comfort zone? Is it okay to discuss other things related to my business?

These are good to think about when you sit down to write, but they aren’t particular enough to help with content creation. Strong blog topic ideas should be specific enough to answer a question your audience might have. At the same time, you should make sure the topic is relevant to your brand and can tie into your business offerings. Creating blog topics based on this notion alone can quickly become confusing. So, it’s an even better idea to ask yourself these 4 specific questions, which helps you generate 20 blog topics in less than 15 minutes.

Need to pick up your blogging pace? We can help! Contact FocusCopy to get your blogs written, approved, and published.

Create 20 Blog Topics In 15 Minutes Or Less By Asking 4 Simple Questions

If it sounds too good to be true, all I have to say is give it a try! Even if you spend the next 5 minutes reading AND brainstorming, you’ll get something valuable out of it – you simply have to trust me. Let’s generate blog topics!

1. What Questions Does My Audience Have Right Now?

This should be an easy one! Take a second to think about potential sales calls, meetings, and client feedback you’ve heard. What are the questions you repeat the answers to most?

For example, as copywriters, we often hear…

• What is SEO and how does it work?
• What type of content needs to be on my website?
• How can hiring a copywriter save me time?
• What’s the problem with me doing my own copywriting?
• How long does it take for a copywriter to write a website, blog, etc.?

We have answers for all of these commonly asked questions. We also have a knack for turning these questions into conversation pieces, which gives the answers enough oomph to become a relevant blog for our brand.

So, do you have any questions at top of mind? Write them down! You can easily come up with 5 (or more) questions that you can turn into blog topics.

If your audience doesn’t have too many questions up front, here’s another one you should ask.

2. What Problems Does My Audience Encounter?

To answer this question, we’re first going to get into what you do, why you do it, and why your audience cares.

Our own example is…We’re a cost-effective digital copywriting firm supporting small to medium-sized businesses because it saves business owners time, money, and the extra stress of having to write their copy themselves.

Did you see that?

Right there in our own answer are a few problems we can pick out right away, which includes:

• Small to medium-sized businesses don’t typically have a huge budget for their digital marketing efforts
• Supporting small businesses is critical to our collective success
• Business owners don’t have the time to write for themselves
• Writing stresses most people and business owners out
• Business owners don’t have time for marketing when they have more important responsibilities to attend to

And just like that, we have 5 new topics of discussion for our blog. We’ll even take it one step further to show you how you can create headlines for these points, turning them into digestible nuggets of information.

• 10 Beneficial Effects Copywriting Has On Your Small Business
• Why Digital Marketing Is Important For Small & Medium-Sized Businesses
• How Hiring A Copywriter Can Save Your Business Time & Money
• 5 Tips From A Copywriter To Help Relieve Your DIY Writing Stress
• Why Quality Content Rules Over Quick Copy That Doesn’t Deliver

By now, you should be able to see how fast and easy it is to come up with new blog topics by answering questions about your business – which brings us to our next question to ask to generate blog topics without breaking a sweat.

Still struggling to come up with topics for your business? Hire the experts to hash out the details and come up with an effective copywriting strategy.

3. What Advice Does My Audience Need To Hear? 

This question may seem too general to answer, but try looking at it a different way. When customers or clients call your business after…

• Attempting to do what you do themselves
• Hiring someone less qualified
• Hiring someone whose services are cheaper
• Letting their problem exist for too long

What happens?

If you focus on what your audience has complained about in the past, you’ll find your advice neatly folded into your answers. We’ll switch it up and use a hypothetical client as an example here.

Texas Plumbing Company (a fictitious company) hears from customers all day, every day. And if they could tell their audience crucial information that could save them time and money, here’s what that could look like…

• 7 Major Hazards Of DIY Plumbing
• Why Hiring A Certified Plumbing Professional Matters
• 5 Reasons Why Expert Routine Pipe Maintenance Matters For Your Home Or Business
• Top 10 Common Mistakes Homeowners Make With Their Plumbing System
• Here’s What Can Happen If You Ignore A Leak For Too Long

If you’re a plumbing pro, each of these blogs is full of information you already know about and could probably recite in your sleep. But your audience doesn’t know anything about plumbing, so it helps to offer your expert advice.

4. What Lessons Have I Learned That Would Be Helpful For My Audience To Know?

Have you ever watched Gilmore Girls? Stay with me here because I promise there’s a point.

So, there’s a scene where small town diner owner, Luke, is being yelled at by his ungrateful and reckless teenage nephew, Jess (skip to 1:05). Jess attacks his uncle by throwing Luke’s job and business in his face in an attempt to make Luke feel small and unimportant. 

Sure, Luke only has one other employee. And there isn’t a special parking spot in his name or a mahogany desk for him to sit at. But he doesn’t let Jess get to him for a second and defends himself by saying, “Hey! I own this business. I built it, kid. This is mine!”

The only reason I’m diving into this is to point something out. Entrepreneurs like you have something special that other people will never be able to relate to. You have moxie, my friend! And in case no one has told you lately, you don’t need to downplay your accomplishments or your business. Chances are, you didn’t get to where you are without learning a few hard lessons along the way.

Ask yourself…What have I learned?

The best part about this exercise is that you only need to think of about 5 things you’ve learned. Maybe you learned more about how to value yourself and your services. Perhaps you reached a breaking point when it came to dealing with certain clients. Or maybe you have a story about investing in something that didn’t work out. All of these can be great blog topics for your audience, which should bring your total number of topics to 20.

Find A True Writing Partner With FocusCopy

Don’t have enough time to write for your business (or even generate blog topics)? That’s okay! Many business owners don’t. But that doesn’t mean you should let it affect your digital marketing or brand awareness.

Reach your marketing goals with the team at FocusCopy.