8 Simple Brainstorming Tips To Easily Boost Your Blog
By Hillary Gale
My clients are often worried they don’t have enough ideas to write a blog post once a week (or, if you’re really trying to get after SEO, more than once a week). I get it. Trying to come up with that many ideas for your blog can be daunting, to say the least.
But consistent blogging is important for your firm’s success. Research shows that websites with a blog produce 67% more leads per month than sites without a blog. And you can’t just blog about anything. Google will only rank your website if it sees the benefit for its users, so the content you blog about should be educational and focused on answering users’ questions.
Luckily, there are ways to make coming up with topic ideas easier. Here are 8 simple tricks to kick writer’s block to the curb and do better brainstorming when your creative juices just aren’t flowing.
1. Listen To Your Clients
This one is at the top of the list because all you have to do is listen to your clients. Easy, right? For instance, re-read the first sentence of this post. I’ve had multiple clients share concerns about coming up with enough topic ideas to make content marketing worth their while, so I know it’s a common question and many people need help with this.
Most of the time, you don’t need to look any further than your email inbox to figure out what to write about. So, think about the questions your clients are asking. Could you answer those questions in a blog post? If you’ve heard your clients asking these questions, it’s more than likely that other people are asking these questions, too.
And here’s a bonus: Every time another client asks you the same question, you can link to your blog post in your response email where they can find more detailed information. Who knows? Maybe they’ll share your article with friends and family who have similar questions.
2. Think About Problems You Solve
You spend a lot of time solving problems for your clients. Can you take those daily problems you solve and turn them into blog posts? I’m betting you can. Don’t worry about sharing your expertise with the world “for free.” This is an opportunity to get more readers and thus, more people who know you exist and may want to hire you to solve their ever-so-complex problems.
People trust bloggers who are sharing really good, exclusive information. This is a show of goodwill and an opportunity to showcase your expertise. The returns you’ll gain from sharing your expertise cannot be overstated, because you immediately gain credibility in front of potential clients. Here are some other reasons why it’s always a good idea to help people solve their problems in your blog posts:
Readers will share good, useful, problem-solving information with their friends and family
Your SEO will increase because you’re answering people’s questions, which Google loves
Your potential clients know exactly how you can help them, so they’ll come to you first when they need help with a complicated problem
Also, you’re a finance professional! No matter how much “free” information you share on your blog, people will still need advice and help with their financial problems. Unless they have the credentials you’ve worked for, the experience you have, or even the software you know how to use, they’re going to need you at some point.
3. Be A Myth-Buster
In the finance world, people have different beliefs about money and approaches to their own finances. They might come into your office (or pop onto your computer screen) with views about money that just aren’t grounded in reality.
For instance, I thought I needed to save at least $300,000 before I hired a financial advisor. Turns out there are advisors out there for young people like me. Who knew?
So what financial myths could you bust in a blog post? What financial secrets or lessons can you share with your readers? When you share good information for free, your readers will say, “Wow! They’re willing to share this for free? I can only imagine how good the paid-for service is.”
4. Use A Content Idea Generator
When you’re really stuck, use an online idea generator like HubSpot's Blog Ideas Generator or this one from Buzzsumo. All you have to do is type in a keyword, like “taxes”, and the generator will come up with at least 5 ideas for you. You can add different combinations of keywords to get more narrow if you want to (like “taxes” and “Social Security” if you really want to go nuts).
5. Join Social Media Circles
You might also think about where your ideal clients are hanging out on social media. For example, I follow Facebook pages like Dave Ramsey Planner Girls and Tips for Financial Success because I want to see what people are talking about in financial spaces on social media.
Simply scrolling through the posts on these pages lets me see problems people are having. If the financial advisors I write for serve clients who fall into these groups of people, these problems are good topic ideas that my clients can post about. So think about your ideal client. Are they on LinkedIn or Facebook? Pick a platform and search for groups they might belong to.
6. Piggyback A News Story
Piggybacking the news means you’re using what’s in the news to come up with content ideas. This method should only be used if the news you’re commenting on is relevant to your client base. For example, the COVID-19 crisis has been having major impacts on our economy, which is relevant for advisors’ high-net worth clients who are invested in the markets.
When financial advisors share their thoughts – and in some cases, their advice – in blog posts based on breaking or relevant news, clients find this commentary reassuring. They want to know what people like you are thinking about when it comes to breaking news, especially when it relates to their finances.
7. Do Some Thought-Mapping
This is advice I give to my freshman college students. When you can’t think of an idea, just start jotting things down. At first, the things you write down might not be useful and might not lead to anything – at least not yet. But the point of thought-mapping is to write down whatever pops into your head. You could make a list, draw a cluster map, or use a fun online tool like MindMeister.
As you move through this process, the act of writing things down allows your brain to “unblock” itself and come up with more and more ideas. You just never know what might end up on your paper (or your screen). I encourage you to give it a try.
8. Hire A Personal Finance Copywriter
As a finance copywriter, I live and breathe finance content. I’m privy to all the conversations going on right now because I follow other finance blogs, I listen to finance podcasts, I read finance books, and I stay up to date on financial news. Plus, I have a financial life, too. I have questions about my financial situation, and I know I’m not the only one.
Stop worrying about how you’re going to come up with ideas for 52 (or more!) blog posts next year. Hire a personal finance copywriter and let us take that struggle off your plate. Say goodbye to writer’s block once and for all and give me a call at 480-353-1608, send me an email at hillary@galecreativeagency.com, or schedule a free 15-minute consultation here.