(Or in other words – #what on earth do I write about when coming up with social media content?!!??)
In true ‘Ask the Expert’ style, this week we seem to have been asked this question a lot, so we thought we should probably give away some of our trade secrets to help you with your social media content….
So the first one is your blog… This is an article that ideally needs to be 300 – 350 words long, and as such it can be the most daunting to write, as it’s where you have to come up with the most content. So how do you start?
Well you just do.
Sit down with a cup of coffee, a glass of wine (or whatever your preferred beverage is) and just start writing.
- You can write about what your clients have asked you recently – just as we’re doing here…
- You can write about something topical – what a fabulous time for local producers to be getting content out about their food….
- You can write about something you’ve read that interested you and therefore could interest someone else…
- You can do some original research and post your findings
- You can easily do a ‘how-to’ – if you’ve struggled to complete a task and found a solution, tell the World, somebody else out there will be thankful
The point is it doesn’t matter too much just get started, over a period of time when writing has become a habit then you can start getting smarter about the content and mixing format types to include pictures, infographics and videos. Just aim to add value to your reader and you won’t go far wrong.
Of course if you are really stuck then why not borrow something from someone else and make it your own… now while this isn’t totally original, you can always add your view, controversy actually gets a lot of interaction so try it!
I recently read a blog post by a chap called Jeff Bullas called ‘Why You Should Steal Content’ and guess what… We did!
He also pointed out that the following artists agree – here’s what they have said:
- “Good artists borrow, great artists steal” – Picasso
- “The only art I’ll ever study is stuff I can steal from” – David Bowie
- “We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” – Steve Jobs
- “I invented nothing new, I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom there was centuries of work” – Henry Ford
Now as I’ve reached my 350 word limit (although actually there is no upper limit, just keep going – as long as its useful!!), I’ll come back to you another time to let you know what you can put into your Tweets and Facebook posts…. Until then we hope you enjoyed the 466 words to get you started!