If you have ever tried to come up with exciting ideas for your blog posts, you’ve likely come face-to-face with the archnemesis of productivity: Writer’s Block.
It’s common for many people to sit down at their computer, ready to churn out content, only to be met with a dreadful lack of ideas. Though even world-class writers can suffer from writers block, it can be a frustrating experience, particularly when you have an ever-growing list of tasks piling up as you wait for inspiration to strike.
Rather than banging your head against the keyboard or cycling back and finding comfort rewriting the same type of content again and again - try these six tips to come up with valuable topics and post them with pizzazz.
Find Your Voice Again
Generic, technical writing isn’t going to make anybody build a connection with you. Your personality is your greatest asset; it’s what you’ve built your brand and reputation on – so try to write in the same manner that you speak. Injecting your articles with a bit of personal flair will go a long way towards making the reader feel like they have a connection with you.
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Posting eye-catching images and graphics are among the simplest and most effective ways of sprucing up your blog. Posting big blocks of text on a screen is only going to make peoples eye glaze over. Share photos of new properties, company events, happy clients and yourself hard at work. Your job is to captivate their attention, and that’s easiest when you’re sharing captivating images that will help to tell your story.
Idea Starters
- Most people start with an idea for an article, and then think later about how to structure and format it. What if you reverse engineered that thought process? Think about an interesting format you might like to try out, and then brainstorm the content that could fit with it.
Here are 3 different thought-starters to get the wheels turning.
- Create a Top-10: psychologists have discovered what they call “the top 10 effect”; people are automatically drawn to information organized in even numbered lists. Try writing a Top 5 or 10 list that relates to your service, and you’ll find people won’t be able to resist their curiosity to learn what number one is.
- Write a how-to: everybody loves to learn. Try writing an article that teaches people something new.
- Analyze a key market trend: Leverage your position and your expertise to shed some new light on the latest trends in real estate. You could build out a mini-series of blogs or a whitepaper dedicated to this.
Have Clear and Engaging CTA’s
Your blog should always include clear and engaging calls to action. Studies have shown that people like a big shiny call to action buttons. Use bright colours with simple commands like “Subscribe”, “Follow”, or “Learn More” to garner the best click through rate.
Go Mining for Themes
Never underestimate the power of your CRM holds – and the untapped potential waiting to surface from it. Knowing how your customer feels, what their pain points are, and what they want from you, is some of the most valuable information you can have. You can develop content for your blog and e-newsletters based on the insights you gain from your CRM. There are hidden gems of knowledge embedded in the cracks, like notes you took from a client meeting months back where they voiced their concern about buying in a hot market, or the trouble about finding contractors for their home. Your CRM has gold – if you’re ready to dig a bit.
Let’s say the information you find in your CRM is telling you that a number of your clients want to know how much their property is worth. A blog post could address this question from several angles. You could write a how-to post outlining the steps necessary to find the value of your home, you could write an explainer post about the difference between assessed value and market value, or you could write a list of the top 10 resources for finding the value of your home. Scour through the correspondence you have with leads and prospects to look for patterns. Once you have a sense of that what your clients care most about, you can use that information to set up your content strategy for the next while.
Quick Takeaway Tips
- Show off your personality in your blog posts; this is a chance for you to build trust and let your clients get to know you better
- Experiment with different structures to add some excitement to your blog and shake up the formula
- Use eye-catching images, graphics, and CTA buttons to your advantage
- Leverage your CRM in order to find out what your clients are interested in, and tailor the content on your blog to those interests
- Have Fun With It!
Blogs are the ultimate online relationship builder – but letting your topics go stale can be the kiss of death to your readership.
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