What We Have Done | 
A lot of companies we talk to already know they want and need to start a blog. “But we’re waiting,” they say. “We don’t know what to write about and we don’t want to start the blog until we know we can maintain it.”
First, I want to say, stop waiting. You’re losing valuable time. Don’t sit back and let your competitors and your customers do the talking for you. Don’t get left out of the conversation that has already started.
I also want to point out that a blog is not a newspaper. It doesn’t need to go through dozens of edits and approvals, it doesn’t need to be perfect. A blog is a way for you to engage in a real, informal conversation with your market. If they want to read the same old stuffy marketing fluff, they can go to your corporate website.
Finally, a blog is not just about you, you, you. If you don’t know what to write about, ask someone else. That’s right – you don’t have to stick yourself in a dark corner and type through the night, coming up with brilliant answers to difficult questions. You do not have to – nor should you – isolate yourself in the blogging process. A blog is about engaging in a discussion with others, so why not involve them right there in the article.
Some ideas
– Interview a thought leader or peer. Hear and share what someone else has to say on a relevant topic.
– Invite your peers, customers, prospects to write a guest post.
– Have a customer share a success story (as long as it’s not product-related).
– Propose a question. You don’t have to be all answers all the time. Initiate a conversation on your blog. Chris Brogan does this a ton and his blog is hugely successful for it. (In this post , he even goes so far as to ask his readers what he should blog about!)
By including other people in the blogging process, you both lighten the load on yourself while also making your blog more engaging and interesting. You also get the added benefit that whomever you are engaging will likely promote the article to their network, expanding your blog’s reach and audience.
Hopefully now the thought of launching a blog is a little less daunting.
Author
Ellie is a CMO at Crayon and was formerly a Director of Marketing, Inbound Funnel at HubSpot. She is a hands-on marketing leader with a track record of launching successful marketing programs. Experience ranges from lead generation and marketing automation to product marketing and customer development.
