Finding new topic ideas for your small business blog can be very frustrating.

It doesn’t take a long time to come to realize that writing articles to promote your small business can turn into hard work. To make your blog successful you need to regularly write articles that not only attract readers and win their trust, but gets them interested in your content to come back for more, again and again.

To me, the most frustrating part of the blog writing process is coming up with original topics that have not been beaten to death by everyone else. I know… blog topic ideas have been covered a million times over by my fellow writers, but following this quote by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison: “There are no original ideas. There are only original people.”.

When you write articles for your blog you should share stories that will engage your readers and always include at least one shareable image. You can easily create your own image with a free online photo editor. An eye-catching image will help get your article found on social media sites, plus it breaks up your text nicely.

5 Topic Ideas For Small Business Owners

• Pay Attention 

Write about whatever is going on locally or on a global scale; topics that might affect you, your business, and/or your customers. Share your own experiences and ideas on subjects you read about in the news. Google News, the Twitter Discovery Tool, Digg and Reddit are all great sources for gathering up to date information.

• Answer Questions

Keep a notebook on hand, or your iPad, and write down all the questions your customers ask you in person or on the phone. Write a blog post about each question giving answers, adding links (if needed) and solving the problem. Don’t forget to do the same with incoming email questions, and stay on top of your comment section as well. Instead of just giving your reader a quick reply, start a related conversation with a fresh blog post.

Content is the Currency of the Social Web. Top Content Ideas For Your #SmallBusiness

• Share Changes

Inform your readers about any upcoming changes by writing a blog post about it. Are your store hours different during the Holiday season? Have you hired a new sales person? Bringing in new products soon? Write about it.

Has your address, phone number, email or any other important information changed recently? Small business owners are often so busy they forget to update their own website. It happens more often than you might think.

• Network
  

Read and subscribe to related blogs that are attractive to your potential customers. Even if you’re writing about the same topic as everyone else in your industry, you can still put your own spin on it (see quote above). Share your own findings and write about it. Don’t be afraid to reach out and network.

Try networked curation with a service like BagTheWeb to see blog posts related to your own topics or go to an article site like Constant Content and see what others are writing about relevant to your industry. When you come across a site that offers information you think your own readers might enjoy, share the link and have it open in a new window.

• Expand or Summarize

Expand on your best content and summarize complex, longer blog posts into shorter, more digestible articles and link back to the longer version for more information. Take a look at your analytic history and figure out your most viewed articles. Expand upon an idea and include resent research, quotes, feedback or lessons.

Do you have older posts that are still bringing in a steady stream of visitors? You could break the original articles into fresh content  with more fine-tuned, up-to-date information.

Here is a blogging question I received from Celeste, a fellow blogger, a while back:

I am a complete newbie when it comes to blogging. My question is this – Can I blog about any topic I feel like? My main market is Christmas decorating, but I feel that I can write better about different subjects. Especially during the ‘off-season’, I want to promote my brand at the end of the blog like an ad. Is this okay or am I doing something new?

My blogging advice to Celeste: It’s your blog and you can write about any topic you like. I would advise keeping it somewhat related to your topic though. For instance, a brick and mortar Christmas store doesn’t display only bathing suites during the summer months. It would confuse customers. The same is true online. You can write about decorating ideas, seasonal decorations or Holiday subjects without being too specific. Try to inject your own views, humor or whatever it is that sets you and your business apart from the rest.

About promoting your brand on the bottom of the page… once your visitor gets to reading the bottom of your page they should know your brand and what you’re about. Where would this ad take them, they’re already on your site?

Instead of an ad, invite your readers to sign up for your newsletter, ask them to leave a comment, share your content or better yet, place an order. Find a way to get them involved with you and your brand. Every time they think about Christmas or decorating they should think: “I wonder what Celeste from … has been writing about?”.

Over the past five years I have written over five hundred articles on several different blogs and yes… even I will hit a road block once in a while.

Being a blogger is just like anything else in life… the more you write, the easier it gets and the more ideas will come to you. The best you can do is close down any extra programs on your computer, shut off your phone for an hour and simply start writing.

What’s your best tip for getting Blog Topic Ideas? Leave me a comment below.