Most small businesses blogs are terrible – this means there is an opportunity to separate yourself.
A blog is a great way to showcase your brand and demonstrate authority as an expert. Additionally, SEO is largely driven by content from your blog, making it incredibly important for any small business to do correctly.
With so much on the line, why are so many small business blogs awful? Understandably, writing your own blog can be a daunting task, especially for those who don’t have as much experience.
This is why we developed this step-by-step process for writing lead generating blog posts every time.
1) Attention-grabbing opener (1-2 sentences)
This sentence should grab the reader’s attention and entice them to read the article. This is the why you should read.
Be honest. You probably wouldn’t have read this far if the first sentence didn’t draw you in.
2) Pain Paragraph (2-5 sentences)
This paragraph illuminates the problem in the eyes of the reader. It either describes a known problem or explains a problematic implication of an issue or phenomenon that the reader is aware of.
You need to express a sense of urgency with your words.
3) Sub-points (3-5 points)
Clearly and simply lay out a few pieces of support for your pain paragraph, or the solution you are recommending.
Use statistics or numbers if possible. Those can be very effective here.
4) Solution/teaser (2-5 sentences)
Briefly explain the solution to the problem. Make sure that the reader gets value from your solution, but is interested in learning more.
5) Call-to-action (1-2 sentences)
Clearly promote the next step you’re asking the reader to take. Ask them to subscribe to the blog, schedule a consultation, download a whitepaper, or something else of value.
Bonus) Do whatever it takes to get the words on the screen
When it comes to writing, who says you have to do it in straight lines? I bounced all over the place when writing this very post! If the sub-points come to you first, start there. I find that the opener is actually best written at the very end.
It’s not too late to start writing better blog posts. Just use the aforementioned steps each time you sit down to write. Quite often, I’ll treat this like a fill-in-the-blank.
