So, we’ve explored what a blogging coach is, and why it’s a good investment for your business. But what are the practicalities of having regular, professional support?

A Blogging Coach Brings a Fresh Pair of Eyes

One of the biggest advantages for my clients has been having someone from outside of their business coming in with a different perspective. Of course, you’re the expert, but that also means you’re too close to it.

So it’s a good idea to have someone new to come in and look at things differently with you. People sometimes ask me how I can write about subjects I don’t know about, and my answer is this:

You need your potential customers to understand what you do, and I could be a customer too. So if I can learn just enough to explain what you do and how you can help them, we can find ways to communicate that. Unless your clients are experts in your niche too. In that case they don’t need things simplifying!

Get Help Coming up with Ideas

When you’re doing everything in your business, it’s hard to make time for content creation. And coming up with ideas and then writing blogs can easily get pushed to the bottom of the to do list.

But if you have regular time in your diary to brainstorm topics with someone else, you’ll be able to build up a bank of ideas that you can have ready the next time you want to write a post.

And over time you’ll develop a system that helps you to find ideas outside of your brainstorming session. One which will also work for making the writing of your blogs easier, too.

When I work with blog coaching clients one to one, we start the programme with a 60-minute ideas generation session. We look at what they already have and identify which posts have been popular. This can spark off ideas for new posts, perhaps a whole series.

We look at questions their potential clients ask, feedback they get from past customers and consider different formats for posts. We can also look at competitors, to see how to make their content different. A blogging coach can drill into what your audience wants to learn from you.

Make Your Communications Clearer with Expert Feedback

A blogging coach will work with you weekly to give feedback on the posts you write yourself. The approach will vary, but they’ll share tips on:

• Readability
• Grammar and punctuation
• Clarity and brevity
• Using keywords
• Writing for your readers

When I take someone through my Content Campground programme, I give weekly feedback on the posts they send me. I help them refine and improve each one, and give them the confidence to write blogs (and other content) they know will appeal to their readers.

A Blogging Coach Helps With Content Pillars and Your USP

If you’re going to make your business stand out from the competition, you need to understand what makes you special. And then communicate that with your clients, suppliers and collaborators.

When you work one to one over several months with someone like a blogging coach, you can develop your USP (unique selling point). You find and hone your voice, attracting your best-fit clients and repelling those who won’t value what you do.

Alongside your USP, the brainstorm session and regular idea check-ins allow you to develop your own content pillars. These are three or four main topics that the majority of your content will cover. Getting clear on those makes content creation much easier.

Each reflects one of your core services, areas of expertise or even a business value. For instance, if you’re looking at B Corp certification, a charity close to your heart or perhaps you talk about burnout and mental wellbeing, that can be a content pillar. The more passionate you are about it, the stronger a differentiator it is for your business.

Getting both of these sorted makes all your future communications easier. You’ll know your core messages, values and mission, and everyone who visits your website and reads your blogs will know them too.

Useful Links

• • Service: Ideas brainstorming: Content Campfire
  • Blog: Why You Should Review Existing Content Before Writing New Blogs