10 Ways To Generate Creative Blog Ideas for Your Business [+ a Bonus Tip!]

Blogging benefits your business in so many ways. But if you want your audience to stay engaged, you need to keep coming up with creative blog ideas. 

Generating fresh ideas for your blog isn’t always easy to do…especially when you’ve been doing it for a long time! (We know this from personal experience. 😉)

To help you keep your blog new and exciting for your website visitors, we’ve compiled a list of ways to come up with creative blog ideas for your business. If you need to brainstorm topics for your next blog, you’ve come to the right place!

1. Keep a Blog Ideas File

You never know when inspiration will strike. So the first step in coming up with great topics for your blog is to give yourself a place to keep track of ideas as they come to you.

Start a Word or Google doc where you can keep a list of blog ideas. Keep the doc in your Google Drive or other online storage system so you can access it from wherever you are. Alternatively, use the Notes app on your phone. 

Whenever you think of an idea, pop it into the doc. Then, when it comes time to pick a topic for your next blog, you’ll have a whole list of ideas waiting for you.

2. Look at Current Trends in Your Industry

Write about what’s happening in your field: trending topics, advancements in your industry, and so on. Share information about those topics along with your thoughts and opinions on them.

For example, if there’s a trending news article or popular book in your field, write a blog sharing your views on the topic the article or book addresses. This isn’t a book report — it’s a chance to add your voice to the conversation around the topic.

Also, do some keyword research to find popular keywords in your industry. Using a tool like Keyword Finder can help you find keywords people are searching for that relate to your field.

Sites like Google Trends, Quora, or Reddit can also give you a boatload of topics of interest in your industry that you can use to bolster your content marketing strategy. You can see the questions others are asking as well as which topics are trending.

3. Draw Inspiration From Competitors’ Blogs

Keeping an eye on what your competitors are writing about can help you identify topics others in your industry are talking about. (But notice we said “draw inspiration from,” not “copy.” 😉) 

Take a look at your competitors’ top-performing articles as well as the keywords they rank for. Consider writing your own blogs on those topics, sharing your unique viewpoint to add value to what’s already been written. 

Look for content gaps as well. What ideas are missing from the digital conversation? Notice what topics no one in your industry is talking about and write about them. Keyword research tools like Keyword Finder, Answer the Public, or Ubersuggest can help you see what your competitors are ranking for and find content gaps.

4. Answer Client FAQs

Think about the questions you most often hear from clients and prospects (or ask your sales team what objections they hear most often). If your contacts are asking these questions, it’s likely your internet audience wants answers to them as well. Take those questions and turn them into blog posts!

You could gather all the questions into one post (like this one we recently did) or write separate blogs for each question.

Bonus: if you don’t yet have a FAQ section on your website, you can build one by repurposing the information in your FAQ blog(s)!

5. Invite a Guest Blogger

Take a break from writing and invite an industry colleague to guest blog! Think about who in your industry (or an adjacent industry) your audience would like to hear from. Who would have a unique perspective on a specialized topic within your field?

We did this a while back with our favorite photographer, Dan Iverson. He shared tips on improving your business photography for your website and social media. You can check that article out here.

Having a guest blogger write a blog for you is a great way to bring interesting, relevant information to your audience about topics that may be beyond your expertise. (It’s also a great way to get a blog posted when you’re out of ideas. 😉)

6. Share Your Story

Give readers a behind-the-scenes look at your journey by telling the story of how you got where you are:

• What made you decide to start your business or enter your particular field? 
• What challenges have you faced? 
• What have you learned over the years? 
• What would you go back and tell yourself at the start of your career?

As you tell your story, be sure to share your “why” — why you do what you do, what you love about your work, your goals, motivations, vision, and so on. You may also want to share your best advice with others who are just starting out.

7. Highlight Clients or Members of Your Team

Your blog is a great place to introduce readers to the members of your team, and even your clients!

Personal interviews help offer more of a human connection through your blog and give readers a chance to get to know your team better.

Interview individual team members, asking questions about both their work and themselves. Share their area of expertise, highlight awards or recognitions they’ve received, and get their opinions on hot topics in your industry. Ask them about their kids, pets, and hobbies as well, to bring even more of a human touch to the blog.

Alternatively, write a case study about work you’ve done for a client. Include the client’s pain points, the solutions you came up with, and the results of your work. This is a win-win for you and your client: it displays the value of your work and introduces your client to a whole new audience.

8. Update (and Expand) Your Most Popular Blogs

Take a look at your blog analytics to see what your most popular blog posts are and update them! 

Write a new and improved version of the blog, refreshing your copy with recent advancements, statistics, or examples. Expand on the topic where possible as well. What can you add to the conversation? What have you learned in the months or years since you first wrote the blog?

Not only will updating older blogs give you blog ideas to work with, it will also improve your SEO.

Learn all about historical optimization and repurposing your blog content in our recent post!

9. Utilize Common Blog Frameworks 

When you’re really stumped for blog ideas, making use of a common blog framework can help you get started. There are so many frameworks out there to choose from — here are just a handful of examples:

• The Ultimate Guide to… Create a guide on a wide topic by grouping older related blog posts together. If you’ve already written several blogs on one topic, gathering that information into one blog will give readers a central place to find all the information they need on that topic. Bonus: you can link to your other posts to encourage viewers to spend more time on your site and boost your SEO.
• Beginner’s Guide to… This is similar to the “Ultimate Guide,” but focused on beginners. Take a common topic in your industry and break it down for new clients or colleagues in your area of expertise. For example: “A Beginner’s Guide to Investing” or “The Beginner’s Guide to Fly-Fishing.”
• Lists. Often referred to as “listicles,” list posts are a great way to break complex topics down into more manageable bits of information. Lists help you relay a lot of information without bogging the reader down with unnecessary details.
• How-To or Step-by-Step blogs are perfect for teaching readers how to do something (or how not to do something!). For example, here’s one we wrote on how to write great newsletters.
• Myth Buster. Address common misconceptions in your field, showing your authority on the topic by offering accurate information with data to back it up. 
• What To Do Before, During, or After… Give your readers actionable steps to take before, during, or after an event. For example, “5 Things To Do Before You Go on a European Vacation” or “3 Things To Do After a Winter Storm.”
• Product or Book Review. Review a popular book or new product that’s related to your field. Share your honest (but kind) opinion about it as well as how you use the product or how you’re integrating the ideas from the book into your work.

Want more blog frameworks to work with? Check out this blog we wrote!

10. Draw From Your Hobbies, Interests, and Passions

It’s important to infuse your hobbies, interests, and passions into your marketing content — including your blogs! 

If you’re an avid reader, consider a regular blog series discussing the books you’re reading. Share what you learned and how you’re incorporating it into your work. 

If you love to downhill ski or fly-fish, think about how you could tie that hobby to your business. For example, if you’re a financial planner who loves to fly-fish, you could write a blog about the correlation between getting ready to fly-fish and preparing for your future. What tools do you need? How much time should you plan for? How do you find the best fishing spots/right mixture of financial products?

You get the idea. Take something you find fun or enjoyable and incorporate it into your blogs. Doing this will make blog writing much easier and will also help you connect with your customers and prospects. Plus, you never know — maybe it’ll help you connect with a client who just happens to love fly-fishing!

Bonus Tip: Incorporate Your Personality and Voice

When we think about marketing our businesses, all too often we forget something very important: that people do business with people, not businesses. It’s important to connect with people and be authentic in all your communication, including your blog posts.

Take a look at the website of one of your favorite brands. Then go to their biggest competitor’s website. Which one draws you in? Which are you more likely to buy from? I’d be willing to bet you’d choose your favorite brand all over again. Why? Because you connect with them and their messaging.

Infusing your personality and voice into your content writing will make it easier for your prospective customers to identify with you and more likely to want to buy from you. Don’t hide your larger-than-life personality, your calm, soothing tone of voice, or your goofy sense of humor. Embrace it all and use it in your writing!

We hope this list gives you some fresh ideas for your next blog post! Looking for more blog writing tips? Check out our other content-focused blogs.

If you still find yourself stumped and want help generating creative blog ideas (and writing those blogs!), the Figgy team is here to help. Schedule a quick, FREE exploratory call to talk about your needs and learn how we can help you write your blogs and develop a content marketing strategy that will get you seen online.