We need more small businesses creating content.
Every business can create content. We create content for a lot of people, from insurance companies to t-shirt companies, keynote speakers to roofers. Everyone has a story to tell if you just think about it enough. It’s not that telling stories generates sales directly, but it does lead to people paying attention. And then comes a trust factor, and then a relationship. And then comes someone wanting to work with you or buy from you because they believe in what you are talking about.
But what story will you tell? What types of content will you create? Let’s look at some ideas for different types of businesses, just to brainstorm a bit. Because we need small businesses creating content.
Restaurant
Say you have a restaurant with an Instagram account. Instagram is all about pictures, so organize your pictures into three groups, three types of posts:
1) Food posts (great pics!).
2) Ambiance posts (what does your restaurant look like? How does it feel to eat there?).
3) Behind the scenes (video of the chefs making the popular dishes, interviews with the chef, servers, and yourself).
Cell Phone Case Company
If you design cell phone cases, your customers are going to have lots of stories—stories about all the bad things that happened to their phones, but their phones didn’t break because of your awesome cases. So ask users to call or write in with their stories and to include photos of their miraculously still-working phones. Both Facebook and Instagram are great for this sort of thing.
Teacher
If you’re a teacher, you can post YouTube videos of lessons. Keep them short, useful, and targeted at a certain grade level. You can use your web presence to support a tutoring business or to help earn the trust and goodwill of parents. You could also make posting tutorials online a business–all on its own. Advertising and subscriptions could supplement your income nicely while you provide a public service.
Pool Company
Outdoor pool use is all about the weather. So, if you’re installing and maintaining swimming pools, you could do a podcast interviewing weather experts about the upcoming season. You can also interview landscapers, lifeguards, dermatologists, chefs, and anyone else whose expertise could possibly be relevant to pool-side relaxation.
This idea actually offers a double win—you give great content to your clients and prospects, and you also get your name in front of all the fans of the people you interview.
HVAC Company
If you’re in the heating and air-conditioning industry, you have a great opportunity to offer content, since most people really have no idea what you do all day. All they know is that when their heater stops working, they call you, you come do something or other, and then the heater works again. So start a blog or a vlog and talk about what you do, how and why you do it, and what questions people should ask HVAC companies in order to figure out who is on the up-and-up.
Then put links to your posts all over Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Boat Repair Company
If you repair boats, you have a definite advantage in that boats are beautiful and photogenic. So, take pictures and video! You can even show boats sitting on the shore, not having fun because they are broken, and then the same boats hitting the waves again. Post these images on Instagram and Facebook. You can also interview people who own marinas and associated businesses and post the video on YouTube, on your own vlog, or you can do podcasts.
Property and Casualty Insurance Agency
Let’s say you run a property and casualty agency. You sell home and auto insurance, among other products. What a wealth of stories you have access to! Interview clients about their claims, how they handled the situations, the good and bad they went through in the process, and any recommendations they have for others. A podcast or a YouTube channel would be great for posting your interviews.
Keep the Ideas Coming!
There are many more kinds of small business and many more ways to generate quality content that will get people talking about what you do—and provide genuine value to your audience, let’s not forget that. Do you have a small business you want to develop content for? Do you have some content topics you’d like to share? Let us know. We love talking about ideas!
Let’s get more small businesses creating content.