In the first post in this “How To” series, I posted a video that highlighted tips that any business owner can use to stay motivated to write for their business blog. In that video, I shared that writing about subjects that align with a series topic can help keep you motivated to write. This third post in the “How To” series will focus on blog series topic selection specifically for serviced office center blogs. I’ll share tips that I’ve picked up as I’ve been consistently blogging for Workspace Strategies. My goal is to give you a reliable system for producing successful and share-worthy blog posts that interest serviced office community clients.
1. Poll Your Members
One of the ways to make sure you’ve selected a blog series topic that will appeal to the members of your center is to ask them what they want to read about. This was proven to me back in October 2015 when I first started writing for the Workspace Strategies blog on a regular basis. I had the opportunity to host a breakout session at the Global Workspace Association Conference in Denver Colorado. My session focused on workspace-as-a-service industry best practices. I engaged in a dialogue with my target audience and found out what topics they were most interested in. Their ideas inspired me, and I was able to gauge their responses to my own ideas on the subject. I left that session with a list of 20 or so topics that business center industry leaders were excited about. So, I started my Business Center Best Practices series based on that list. The posts in this series garnered positive responses and feedback. I earned several new followers and a few of my posts were shared by the Global Workspace Association’s social media accounts.
While you might not have access to a conference full of people wanting to share thoughts on a particular subject, you do have the ability to ignite conversation on your social media. Ask questions of your followers, friends, and connections and see what interests them the most. You can also check out their pages to see what they’ve shared most often. If you see a common (business-related) theme, then use that as a blog series topic. Do some research on what’s already been said on the topic and out if there’s anything unique you can add to the canon.
2. Feature Your Members
In How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie says “A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language.” You can select a series topic that features the particular business and name of your center members. Some of my most successful content has been when I share case studies that focus on one of my clients and the success that they are seeing as a result of working with Workspace Strategies. One of my center managers did a series where she featured video testimonials from members of the center that received a very positive response from the rest of that center’s social media audience. When specific people are featured in your writing, that person is inclined to share it to their own social media audience who would not have otherwise had the opportunity to see your branded content.
3. Help Your Members
This How To series and my Business Center Best Practices series are both driven by my desire to produce content that helps you all be serviced office center industry leaders. Even with posts that don’t fit into a specific series, my goals are to help you improve efficiency and effectiveness and to provide valuable tips that can make your businesses more lucrative. As you write for your centers’ blogs, make sure you focus on making your members’ business lives better. I encourage you to consider a series that shares specifics on ways they can use your center’s services optimally. If you’ve recently changed your operations platform, conference room scheduling system, or receptionist services, consider making one of your blog series topics instructional in nature so that they are well educated on how the system has changed or will change. Lastly, your blog series topics can also be helpful by aiming to motivate and inspire, so don’t count those particular topics out.
Final thoughts…
I hope this blog post has put you at ease about series topic selection for your serviced office center. If you are a serviced office center owner and you would like help putting together a blog for your business, please contact us.
