The blogosphere is a crowded place, especially now that “content is king.” It seems that business blog posts in particular suffer from a glut of similar posts on whatever the latest hot trending topic may be, from how to avoid a social media meltdown to the best way to tag your Instagram posts. Instead of following the herd, a savvy business writer should seek inspiration outside the norm to present unique ideas that clients will give them something more than another voice in the choir.
Don’t Spin Stories, Tell Them
Instead of thinking about how to create a unique take on a common topic, seek instead to tell unique stories grounded in real life experience. Wildly popular business writer Tim Ferris of the 4 Hour Work Week has credited much of his success to opening up his blog for stories about how his business tenants work in the real world. Start paying attention to the bits of business inspiration you notice on a daily basis and see if you can extrapolate these specific, relatable stories into macro business ideas for a truly unique post. For example, which tables get the most traffic at your local farmer’s market, and why? Why do kids at your child’s school flock to a particular product at a bake sale? Look for ideas in the seemingly boring and domestic and you’ll likely hit upon something more exciting than if you spent all your time cruising the same few business blogs echoing the same tired advice.
Be a Library Lurker
Your public library can also give you some great business writing inspiration. Flip through some business periodicals to get a sense for the latest studies and publications that pertain to business trends. By going straight to the source material, you’ll have a better chance of crafting some high quality content that isn’t just a diluted version of someone else’s post. In addition, libraries can give you a sense of what magazines and books people are actively reading, which can give writers who follow business like publishing and digital media a leg up on what’s hot and what’s not.
Respond, Don’t Rewrite
While it can be heard to avoid certain rehashed topics (SEO, anyone?), a strong business writer can respond to a source article as opposed to simply rewriting it, which is a great opportunity for starting a conversation in the comments section. This means more clicks for the clients, and, ideally, more business blog assignments for you down the road.
Caitlin C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.