Savvy B2B Marketing

You feel like you should blog more frequently, but you've just got so much going on. It's so hard to keep up with the Good Blogger schedule. Never fear - here's a down-and-dirty arsenal of tips for creating quick posts that'll save your neck (and your sanity) next time you're up against the clock and you've got nuthin'.

The secret of the trick
Writing and posting even a short and sweet post takes time. If you want to get the most out these ideas, here's the secret: Don't wait until the last minute to write them.

It's a well-known fact that all Good Bloggers write dozens of posts ahead of time and queue them up on their blogging platform of choice, right? Um ... well ... yeah, I thought so. I'd like to say that I have the next two months' worth of Savvy posts written, uploaded, and scheduled, but - truth is - I'm often flying by the seat of my pants ... just like you.

BUT - if you can at least pull together a handful of these quickie posts, you can keep them in your back pocket for those days when you a) haven't got the faintest clue what to write about and/or b) you haven't got a single minute to spare.

The post ideas

1. Single tip - Not every post needs to be an in-depth, ground-breaking monologue on the state of your industry. Sometimes a single tip is all you need to make an impression.
2. Meet the team - Give your company a "face" by profiling various employees. Have members of your team fill out a questionnaire and then just put that info together with a candid head shot off someone's phone and you're good to go.
3. Photo of the day - Is there anything visual about your industry - anything at all? Do a photo of the day. It can be a photo of accomplishment, a guess-what-this-is image, a snapshot from a business trip or a conference.
4. Before and after - Speaking of photos, people love a good makeover. Whether you're making over a Web site page, a slogan, a production process, or a store layout, anything can be made into a quick before and after lesson. Keep it brief and targeted - bullet points only.
5. Single Q&A - Pick one of the questions that you are always asked and answer it. Simple.
6. Crowd-sourced Q&A - Ask a question on Twitter and then aggregate the responses (with attributions to the respondents) into a blog post. Ask the question again at the end of the post to encourage comments.
7. Collaborative Q&A - Post a question to your team and have each member give their answer. It can be something that's very focused on your business (What's the #1 thing you think clients should do to improve profitability?) or a little more casual (Who do you think will win the Oscar for Best Picture?)
8. Something personal - Many B2B bloggers tend to lean a bit too far to the conservative side, opting to keep their personality out of their blog. Don't. You may be B2B, but you're still a human being. People like to know that. When you share a little something about yourself, you give readers the opportunity to connect with you on a more intimate level. That's a good thing.
9. Network wrap up - The Savvy Weekly Wrap-up is always one of our most tweeted posts because it packs a lot of info into a neat package and because we share the glory with our peers. Keep a list of good content you find throughout the week and then combine the list into a post.
10. Best of wrap-up - Go back through your archives and find your best work. Pull it out, dust it off, and give it another moment in the sun by listing your "Best of SEO" or "Best of Lead Generation" articles in a single post.
11. Customer spotlight - Then flip the spotlight onto your customers by highlighting a new testimonial, a mini case study, or how they've used your products and services in a new and unique way.
12. You 101 - We get so immersed in our business that we sometimes forget there are folks out there who are just starting to grasp what we do. Delight these people by running posts that are about the most basic of the basics in your industry. Pull content from your Powerpoint presentations and training decks. Don't discount the simple stuff. It may seem obvious to you, but it's not obvious to everyone.

Final note: don't feel guilty
As Chris Brogan says, "your blog is not your job." He's right, of course. Your blog is NOT your job. Your job is your job. Don't feel like a failure if you can't manage five weekly essays. In fact, if you're posting daily, you may want to rethink your frequency. Does your audience really need to hear from you five times a week? Maybe three would do.

And don't think that sometimes running short posts on basic topics will turn people off. Odds are, they will love it. You're not the only one that's busy and if you can serve up bite-sized pieces of valuable information (even if it's stuff you erroneously think everyone already knows), you'll definitely grab yourself some fans.

What do you think? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for when the blogging gets tough?

Image Credit: joejoe77

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About the Author: Jamie is a freelance strategist, teacher, and copywriter who partners with solo entrepreneurs to define and market their brands. Her specialties include brand development, social media strategy, and content marketing. Enjoy more of her posts, visit her site at Suddenly Marketing, or drop her an email.

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