People are spending money on their homes. They’re also spending money on their backyards.
They are buying things like pools, swing sets, trampolines and a lot more. They want their homes to be places for recreation.
This trend will likely be around for at least a decade. Even Baby Boomers are likely to get in on the action. Many have savings and aren’t going to be traveling a whole lot. They will want things to do themselves and for their visiting families.
This is good for business, but it also means competition. Depending on your situation you may need to find a way to stand out. Blogging can be one of those ways.
Here are a few things you can do with a blog for your backyard business…
1. Multiple Audiences
One of the tricky things for this will be writing for multiple audiences. But most will be homeowners that you’re writing for. But you also may be looking at the children that are interested in fun things to do in their backyards. And some homeowners will be young adults with families. Others will be older and will be looking to entertain themselves and their friends and also possibly their families and grandchildren.
Look at your current customers. Find out as much as you can about them. use that information to guide your blogging strategy. Once you know who they are look at the questions they’re asking and use your blog to answer those questions.
2. Writers
You’re going to need a dedicated writer for your blog. It’s not a part time job that someone can do. Actually what I hear the most is that blogging is given to someone on the team. But then other “priorities” come up and the blog is eventually shoved aside.
Whoever is doing the writing needs time to research potential questions to use for titles of posts. Then they need time to do the writing and then they likely need time to promote the posts. This has to be part of their normal schedule. And it needs to be given priority so that when new things come up the blog isn’t pushed aside.
3. Photos
Photos are likely going to be a big part of your blog. It’ll depend on your business, but if you’re going to the customer home and installing something then try to make it part of the process to take photos. Then use those photos for the blog. You can do specific case studies, but you can also use the photos when you’re talking about a relevant topic.
For example, if you install pools you can take photos at the job sites. You can do a case study for specific projects, but you can also use those photos if you’re answering a question like, “What is the benefit of using cement for a home pool?”
4. Archive Content
Most businesses have a lot of archive content that can be used when ramping up the blog. You probably have a catalog of photos from old jobs. You probably have all kinds of brochures and marketing materials with answers to all kinds of questions.
You don’t have to start over entirely with a new blog. Give the writer access to all of your old content. Let them figure out how to use it for future blog posts. This can also be a great way for the person to really learn about the company and the industry.
5. Distribution
Part of effective blogging is the distribution. You can share the post title and link on social media. That’s the first step. But social media sites don’t really like when their users leave their platforms. So native content often does much better.
This would mean posting your entire post right on the social channel. You can use full posts on Facebook. You can also use snippets as descriptions when you’re sharing photos and videos on Instagram.
Also look to start and old school email newsletter. Use the blog content to fill the newsletter. If you’re posting 3 times per week you can send a newsletter every month with 12 posts in it or the links to the posts.
Conclusion
Blogging isn’t the only way to help your business stand out. But it’s one that fills a need in the market. People are looking for information. And not every business will want to sustain a blog. They won’t do it because it’s harder than most realize. An individual post isn’t difficult. But sustaining a regular blog for years is. And that’s the opportunity.
Hopefully the tips here will help you if you decide to start a blog for your business.