Launching a CEO blog but the boss isn’t sure what to write about? Here are 8 ideas based on a list we created recently for a client:
1. Opinion/Thought Leadership – opinions/rants/views on the world of [insert your product category here] – the good, bad and ugly. A good place to be controversial.
2. Industry Trends – how is your industry/space changing? What’s different now compared to 1 year ago? 5 years ago? What are you seeing more and more with customers that others may want to take note of? What do you predict as trends to come?
3. Best Practices – strategies, tips and techniques for improving results, ROI, efficiency, productivity, value, etc. Lists works well here (e.g. “Top 5 Mistakes …”, “7 Easy Techniques …”)
4. Commentary/Analysis – as different from #1 (opinion), a written response to a third party article, blog post, report or market event. What’s your take/view? (Be sure to link to the original material.)
5. Guest Post/Interview – pick a colleague, customer, partner, analyst or opinion-maker with a particular expertise in an area related to your space. Have that person answer 3-4 questions via email but present it as an interview.
6. Q&A – choose a common, intriguing or stupid (!) question you’ve heard from a customer or potential customer, or a question you see online (good online sources for questions are LinkedIn, Focus.com, and Quora.) Paraphrase the question to fit your purpose and answer it on the blog.
7. Content Excerpts – excerpt content from a white paper, article or Webinar and post it to the blog. Include a link to the complete paper or Webcast so people can read or view more.
8. Review – pick a product, book, report related to your space (or something that would interest a potential customer or target buyer for your product) and write a review.
Just remember:
1. Keep posts short (200-300 words is a good guideline)
2. Title your post with search results and Twitter in mind (i.e. if the title is the only thing someone sees, would he/she click through to read more?)
3. Grab the reader in the first paragraph.