17. Beginner’s Guides

These posts are “how-to” posts but explicitly geared toward beginners. They teach newbies in your industry valuable insights and skills that they
need to learn anyway.

Examples of this type of post include:

● A Beginner’s Guide To Lead Generation
● A Newbie’s Guide To Running A Marathon
● A Beginner’s Guide To Email Marketing
● A Beginner’s Guide To Social Media

Consider these important items when writing these guides:

1. Make your guide in-depth but not overly technical. You want to cover the subject thoroughly without overwhelming the beginner with a lot of technical terms or industry jargon. Try to keep the posts straightforward, to the point, and relatively easy to understand.

2. Use a variety of media, like screenshots and videos, to clarify your points. Remember, you’re writing to beginners, and people learn in a variety of ways. Some are more visual learners, while others learn better from the text. Try to cater to all types of learners in your posts.

When done well, beginner’s guides can be an incredibly valuable resource to those just getting started in your industry. They can also establish you as an expert in your industry – someone that beginners can look to for advice.

In some ways, these beginner’s guides allow you to mentor newbies from a distance, which can be incredibly rewarding.

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16. Top Takeaways

Top takeaways posts are blog posts where you write about your top takeaways from something, such as a book, podcast, conference, movie, or other items.

These posts allow you to both recommend resources to your readers and show them why you recommend them.

For example, let’s say you read a great biography about Steve Jobs:

● You could write a blog post entitled “9 Things I Learned From The Life Of Steve Jobs”.

● In this post, you would not only recommend the biography itself, but you would also highlight poignant lessons you learned while reading the book.

● You could talk about all the different ways that Steve Jobs inspired you to be a better person.

You’re providing a valuable resource to your readers by creating this sort of blog post. First, you’re introducing them to outstanding resources that can truly benefit their lives. This, in and of itself, is an excellent service. With so many resources to choose from, it can be hard to know where to get started.

But that’s not all. You’re also helping them learn important lessons from those resources that they might not learn otherwise.

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15. Frequently Asked Questions

There are probably specific questions that come up again and again in your business. These are the questions that people email you or that consistently come up when you host live events. Inevitably, you end up repeating yourself as you answer these questions again and again.

Instead of answering the same questions over and over, why not create a Frequently Asked Questions blog post in which you give in-depth, definitive answers to the questions?

When creating your FAQ blog post, try to be thorough and answer as many questions as possible.

Your goal is to create a resource to which you can send people again and again. A document that will stand the test of time. When they email you with a question, you want to say, “Here’s a document I created in which I answer that question.”

If you don’t feel like creating one long FAQ document, you could write a series of blog posts to answer one commonly asked question in each post. That way, when someone asks a specific problem, you can point them to a particular post.

However you do it, be sure to answer the questions in as much detail possible. You don’t want people sending you follow up emails with more questions after they read your post. You want to try to answer each question in as much depth as possible.

Over time, you can add to your FAQ post as people ask more questions. It can be a “living document” of sorts, which continues to grow, change, and evolve.

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14. Inspirational Stories

People love inspirational stories. It’s why millions of people visit websites like Upworthy every month. We love to feel inspired to do more, be better, or pay it forward. We love stories of people who have overcome long odds and tales of those who have accomplished great things despite facing innumerable obstacles.

If you have an inspirational story, consider turning it into a blog post. There’s a good chance it will go viral, generating thousands of social shares and an avalanche of web traffic.

But there’s one thing you must consider before writing an inspirational blog post: what is the post’s point?

In other words, what exactly are you trying to accomplish with it? Yes, you’re trying to inspire others. That’s a given.

But how will the inspirational blog post help you achieve your business objectives?

Your goal is not just to inspire people with your blog post. You also must seek to further your business in some way.

This means that generally speaking, the inspirational story should be in some way related to your business.

For example, if you’re a fitness trainer, it makes sense to share inspirational stories about people losing hundreds of pounds. It doesn’t make sense to share inspirational stories of people saving money. The first type of story will motivate others to want to get fit, which is directly related to your business.

So, as you consider writing inspirational blog posts, always remember to tie them back to your overall business objectives.

13. Data-Backed Posts

Blog posts that are heavily data-driven and backed by research are unique ways to position yourself as an expert. They show that your ideas and thoughts aren’t just your own but are supported by hard data.

Additionally, data-backed posts generate a significant amount of traffic since they are often quoted in other posts and heavily shared.

If you’re seeking to establish yourself as a thought leader and industry expert, you should dedicate a significant amount of time to writing data-backed blog posts.

But data-backed posts aren’t necessarily easy to write. After all, they require data, which must be acquired somewhere.

This means you must do one of two things:

1. Do original research yourself. This takes a lot of time and effort and is usually beyond what most bloggers can do. However, if you can conduct in-depth research, you can generate a considerable amount of traffic for yourself. People will link back to your post and quote it to support their positions.

2. Rely on research others have done to back up your primary points. This isn’t quite as powerful as doing original research, but it’s still a very effective way to write a blog post. If you can find data to back up each of your main points, it goes a long way to establish you as an expert in your field.

Writing data-backed posts takes a significant amount of time and effort, but it’s well worth it. The more you do it, the more people will come to rely on you for proven industry insights that are backed up by hard data.

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12. Behind The Scenes / A Day In The Life

If you have a sizable audience, there’s a good chance that they want to know what a day in your life is like. They want to go behind the scenes of your business and see how you do things. They want to learn from you and see what things are like from your vantage point. Doing behind the scenes / a day in the life blog posts is a great way to let your audience get to know you. Start from the moment you wake up until the time you go to bed. Chronicle what each element of your day looks like. ● What is your morning routine? ● What sorts of meetings do you have? ● What strategies do you use to be productive? ● What do interactions with your team look like? ● What is your nightly routine like? ● What do you do to unwind? Your goal is to give others a sense of what your day looks like. If possible, you also want your readers to learn valuable lessons from how you go about your day. For example, maybe you work out early each morning because it helps you feel energized throughout the day. Communicate that to your readers. Or perhaps you eat a specific type of superfood because of the numerous health benefits. Clue your audience into that. Or maybe you do yoga every evening because it helps you to relax. That’s a great tidbit to share with your audience and something they can learn from. If you don’t want to write a behind the scenes blog post, you could always video yourself throughout the day and then post that on your blog. Sometimes that can be even more effective than a written post.
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