Are you in charge of blogging or writing content for a type of home improvement industry? If so, like me, you've probably struggled at some point to come up with interesting topics. It can be tedious to write piece after piece on what may seem quite mundane. I blog about home improvement services on a weekly basis, and I have for nearly two years now. When I started and for several months into the job, I had a hard time finding the fun in writing about topics that aren't compelling to me. I have developed a different perspective, however, and I no longer dread writing about various humdrum subjects. In fact, I enjoy it! Let me share a few things I've learned by blogging every single weekday for the past two years.
Boring is a relative term. Most, if not all, topics are interesting to someone. There are boring writers, yes, but boring topics? Nah. The goal is to pick topics that can help real people solve real problems. If you can do that, your blog post will be interesting to a number of people. Home improvement is a pretty broad category and can include dozens of different services. Home remodeling, plumbing, roofing, heating and cooling, and landscaping are just a few examples.
Let’s take a closer look at one subject area that many, at first glance, might consider pretty boring—plumbing. If you’re given the task of having to write blog posts about plumbing on a regular basis, your outlook on your work life may instantly turn sour. “How in the world can I make a blog post about plumbing into a piece of content people actually want to read and that I actually want to write?”
For a title to grab someone’s attention, it doesn’t necessarily need to be the most exciting or hilarious heading someone’s ever come across. What it does need to be is relevant and useful for your audience. “How to Unclog Your Shower Drain” is a good example of a title that’s specific and relevant to anyone with a clogged shower drain—a very common problem. Focus on one specific topic that addresses a common issue. Once you do that, you can start writing.
So, you have a title picked out, which is subject to change. You know what you’re writing about, but you can always go back and jazz up your title later on if you want to. When you sit down to write about your home improvement topic, remember to keep it simple. Don’t get too technical. Chances are, your readers won’t be plumbing, heating and cooling, or remodeling experts. They’ll more likely be your everyday, average Joes and Janes. Imagine your mother jumping online and coming across your blog post. Would she be able to follow technical mumbo jumbo? Maybe, but it’s not likely, and even if she could, it probably wouldn’t be interesting enough to hold her attention.
To explain the process of unclogging a drain, write out easy to understand steps that the average person can follow. This doesn’t mean you should “dumb it down.” Not at all! It means that you’re the one who needs to decipher any technical information and relay it in simple but accurate terms for your reader. As Albert Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
When I write about plumbing, I sometimes try to throw in a little humor to lighten the dismal mood that often surrounds the topic at hand. Often, when it comes to plumbing problems, if you’re not laughing, you’re crying. So, by adding a bit of humor and showing how you, as the writer or the plumber, can relate to the reader’s moment of despair, you come off as personable. Whoever's reading your post, looking for a solution to their problem, may feel a connection with you and be more comfortable approaching your business for help.
If you’d like more writing and blogging tips, take a look at our marketing blog! If you’re interested in keeping up with our blog and would like to be notified via email when we post something new, subscribe here. If you’d rather leave the writing to the experts and focus on what you do best, contact Blue Frog Marketing. We serve customers throughout the U.S. and Canada and would love the opportunity to work with you!