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Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and thanks for joining me for Tips and Talk
Speaker:Day. These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions
Speaker:and things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small
Speaker:business. If you'd like to submit a topic DME over on
Speaker:Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped,
Speaker:gosh, this year I've rolled out a number of new opportunities
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:Here there are the bashes where you have a chance to
Speaker:showcase your business to this entire listening audience.
Speaker:There's the new OWL app.
Speaker:When you have a quick question where you'd like my input
Speaker:and now I'm excited to bring you Gift Biz boosts,
Speaker:think of these as free strategy sessions,
Speaker:leaving you with a clear action plan to boost you forward.
Speaker:Whether you're at the beginning of your business journey and need
Speaker:concrete steps on how to start,
Speaker:or you've been doing this for a while and could use
Speaker:a fresh approach,
Speaker:these boosts are for you.
Speaker:You'll know a podcast is a boost.
Speaker:If you see that word in the title,
Speaker:want to get your own free boost?
Speaker:I'm taking these on a first come first serve basis.
Speaker:Head over to gift biz unwrapped.com/boost
Speaker:and sign up for your session today.
Speaker:What a great topic today.
Speaker:Thank you,
Speaker:Mel, for requesting that we cover this.
Speaker:Mel is wondering what to write about in her blog when
Speaker:you're a maker and sell your handmade products.
Speaker:I talk about this in Tips and Talk episode 67,
Speaker:but let's dive deeper here.
Speaker:I wanna start out by talking about the purpose of your
Speaker:blog. As a product based business,
Speaker:you aren't blogging just to have a blog.
Speaker:It needs to serve a purpose and compliment your business goals
Speaker:in some way.
Speaker:Different articles may feed into different goals.
Speaker:Some reasons to put time into blogging can be to attract
Speaker:new customers,
Speaker:to inform potential customers about the quality or certain characteristics of
Speaker:your products,
Speaker:to educate them on how to use your products or various
Speaker:applications for your products to answer frequently asked questions that will
Speaker:advance someone towards choosing to buy or to share valuable lifestyle
Speaker:information on topics related to your products.
Speaker:All of these ultimately lead a potential customer to trust you
Speaker:and see you as an expert that they'd wanna buy from.
Speaker:For current customers,
Speaker:it reinforces their smart decision of past purchases and reminds them
Speaker:of you when it's time to buy.
Speaker:Again. Now that we've put into proper perspective why you'd want
Speaker:a blog and a few of the general categories of content
Speaker:you could write about,
Speaker:let's get even more specific about how you can find topics.
Speaker:Here are seven approaches to get inspiration and ideas for blog
Speaker:topics. First off,
Speaker:you can do a Google search,
Speaker:either on your product,
Speaker:an ingredient or a use for your product,
Speaker:and then write down in that first initial search screen,
Speaker:you can scroll and see what topic variations come up.
Speaker:This can give you great ideas.
Speaker:I just entered the simple words beaded jewelry and looked at
Speaker:the various options that appeared.
Speaker:One of them was beaded jewelry trends 2022,
Speaker:and that sparked my curiosity,
Speaker:so I clicked on that and it led me to articles,
Speaker:products, and Pinterest pins that all are connected with the topic.
Speaker:While you aren't going to copy someone else's article,
Speaker:this can inspire you and you can take on this topic
Speaker:and spin it in your own way.
Speaker:Another place to look is magazines,
Speaker:just regular consumer magazines.
Speaker:Take a peek at them with a new eye,
Speaker:honestly, a browse through good housekeeping.
Speaker:Real simple cooking light can spark a number of ideas for
Speaker:your own writing.
Speaker:A third way to find blog topics is consider your customer
Speaker:interactions. The next time you're talking with a customer or working
Speaker:at a craft show table,
Speaker:take note of the questions you're being asked.
Speaker:Do you continually demonstrate how to tie your scarves?
Speaker:Do you generally make suggestions about how to barbecue with your
Speaker:unique blend of spices?
Speaker:These could both be great topics for a blog.
Speaker:Number four,
Speaker:pay attention to social media content.
Speaker:How are others even outside of your industry positioning topics to
Speaker:match their offerings?
Speaker:Go on TikTok and look at reels.
Speaker:Even look at Facebook groups for ideas.
Speaker:Again, not to duplicate what's already there,
Speaker:but to prompt new versions that you can do.
Speaker:It gets the creative juices flowing,
Speaker:if you will.
Speaker:Another thing you can do is consider current events or seasonal
Speaker:triggers. Is there a brand new must see movie out that
Speaker:you can associate with your products or the newest out of
Speaker:the norm?
Speaker:Seasonal color?
Speaker:If you can catch the wave on anything that's trending,
Speaker:it will attract new viewers through search.
Speaker:When you have a title of an article that has the
Speaker:wording of that current trend,
Speaker:finding ideas for blog topics.
Speaker:Number six,
Speaker:if you wanna do a blog article around your newest product
Speaker:launch, create an angle that goes beyond discussion of what the
Speaker:product is and where to buy it.
Speaker:How about what inspired you to choose this direction,
Speaker:a challenge that you had in getting the product completed and
Speaker:available for purchase or what you learned in the process.
Speaker:Maybe you have a story behind your launch that would be
Speaker:inspirational to your reader that they can use and apply in
Speaker:their own life.
Speaker:Or if a portion of your product's proceeds go to a
Speaker:cause, definitely highlight that cause and why it's important to you,
Speaker:so you get the idea here.
Speaker:Finally, number seven,
Speaker:how might your readers answer this open ended question?
Speaker:Ever wonder about fill in the blank.
Speaker:Here you can write about what you know in relation to
Speaker:your product that others might be curious about.
Speaker:If I were to brainstorm some examples here,
Speaker:what's the best yarn to use for a knitted beanie?
Speaker:And then you can go into various yarns,
Speaker:the pros and cons,
Speaker:and then your suggestion or what determines how long a candle
Speaker:will burn.
Speaker:Here, you can talk about different sizes and waxes and the
Speaker:advantages of each plus how to get the most time out
Speaker:of a burning candle.
Speaker:That could actually be a separate article entirely.
Speaker:And one more.
Speaker:As I'm thinking about topics on this,
Speaker:how about a recipe that includes your fresh herb mixes,
Speaker:recipes, how-tos and checklists make great content that will be saved
Speaker:and shared?
Speaker:So to summarize,
Speaker:here are the seven ideas that I've just given you in
Speaker:ways of gaining inspiration.
Speaker:To find great topics for your blog,
Speaker:do a Google search.
Speaker:Look in consumer magazines.
Speaker:Consider customer interactions.
Speaker:What are people asking you?
Speaker:Pay attention to social media.
Speaker:Think about current events and seasonal triggers.
Speaker:Review your next product launch,
Speaker:but in a way that's interesting to your reader and not
Speaker:just selling.
Speaker:And finally,
Speaker:answer this open-ended question.
Speaker:Ever wonder about blank?
Speaker:Regardless of the topic of your blog articles,
Speaker:keep in mind that it needs to be titled and positioned
Speaker:so it's interesting to your readers.
Speaker:You can talk about the exact same thing and have it
Speaker:be read or rejected solely by the words you choose for
Speaker:your title.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:instead of saying Introducing our new autumn designs,
Speaker:which we all know means you're leading to sell us something,
Speaker:title a blog.
Speaker:Why We always incorporate pumpkin into our autumn spice blends.
Speaker:In this example,
Speaker:you can talk about health benefits of pumpkin or some fun
Speaker:little known facts about the history of pumpkin.
Speaker:It still ties back to your products,
Speaker:but brings additional value to the reader.
Speaker:Observe your own style.
Speaker:Take a look at what entices you to click through and
Speaker:read others articles.
Speaker:Now, having said all that,
Speaker:I'd like to conclude by reminding you that your blog articles
Speaker:should be housed on your website in a section dedicated to
Speaker:them, but just because you've written an article doesn't mean your
Speaker:job is done.
Speaker:You need to let people know it's there.
Speaker:Not count on Google.
Speaker:Search entirely for traffic to your blog.
Speaker:That's where other forms of promotion come in.
Speaker:Social media for one,
Speaker:creating posts stories or going live and directing people to your
Speaker:blog articles to do this,
Speaker:your messaging should be explaining what the reader will get out
Speaker:of reviewing your article.
Speaker:Don't give it all away.
Speaker:Poke at their curiosity and then include the link to the
Speaker:article that sits on your website.
Speaker:Another great way to draw people over to your blog articles
Speaker:is through email,
Speaker:and that brings up the topic of a newsletter.
Speaker:Also, do you have one tune into next week's tips and
Speaker:talk where we'll continue the conversation of promoting your blog articles
Speaker:through emails and expand on email content overall and what's appropriate
Speaker:there, because blog copy and email content are not the same.
Speaker:I know this is a huge obstacle for many of you.
Speaker:You've started collecting emails but don't know what to say in
Speaker:them on a regular basis.
Speaker:That's what's on tap for next week,
Speaker:and I'll see you then.
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl,
Speaker:and this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn.
Speaker:Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.
Speaker:Share your handmade products with us.
Speaker:We want them,
