Winning Post Ideas for Your Small Business Blog

SHOOT: Interviews or profiles are always interesting [have a look at my profile of Liezel van der Westhuizen] . Mashable also suggests research, which is why I have put this up. SHOOT is a resource for understanding social media better, and also an injection of reality in the face of mainstream news that we might not always agree with, and that might not always be true or accurate.

Mashable: Research - Though it won't work for every type of business, another great way to create buzz around your business blog is to use it to offer industry research reports that will be linked to, blogged about, and repeated elsewhere. That's exactly what Internet marketing software firm HubSpot regularly does on their blog. In the past they've used their blog to release reports on the state of the Twitterverse, how web traffic converts to leads, and what sort of web traffic expectations you should have based on the size of your business.

clipped from www.openforum.com 1. Advice or Tips One of the easiest and most effective type of blog posts that you can write for your small business blog are those that give advice and tips.  Sharing your expertise can be an effective way to engage and provide value to readers no matter what type of business you own. The other type of this variety of blog post is advice for your customers. It doesn't matter what type of business you run, it is guaranteed that there are things you can teach your customers or help your customers better understand.  Whole Foods, for example, shares recipes on its blog, and printing company PsPrint uses its blog to give tips related to design.  2. Behind-the-Scenes Another type of post you can offer on your blog is a behind-the-scenes post.  Giving readers a look at what goes on behind closed doors at your business is an easy way to establish a deeper connection with your customers.