When I talk to salespeople about blogging, I get the same response Bob Wiley gives Anna when asked about going sailing: “I've never blogged before; I don't think I can handle it!” The good news is that even though Bob is terrified, he has a great attitude and is willing to try.
Below are some blog ideas that can get you started. Hopefully, when you write a few of your own posts, you can be as excited about your accomplishment as Bob is about sailing!
Common Challenges
What are some of the most common challenges your prospects are facing? Do they have stagnant growth, inefficient processes, reduced productivity? Once you nail down their challenges, you can write articles that talk about how to overcome them.
Questions Your Prospects Ask You
Here's an example: I delivered a proposal for a LinkedIn Workshop to a prospect today. We talked about if we should have one longer session, or break it out into a series of smaller workshops. Learning LinkedIn is a culture shift and behavior change that takes time. Cramming too much information in one meeting will do nothing except turn people off, so I suggested breaking it up into small, manageable chunks. That conversation is the essence of a nice little blog post.
Think back to your last conversation with a prospect: is there anything you talked about that would make a good article?
Your Top Sales Objections
No matter how you slice it or dice it, it's human nature to put up as many roadblocks as possible to prevent having to make a change. Alas, sales objections. Good salespeople know exactly what objections to expect from prospects so they can prevent them from happening in the first place. Great salespeople squash the objection in a blog post!
I just did that with a blog I wrote. One of the objections I get is “I can't blog; I'm not a good writer.” So, I wrote a blog called 4 Quick and Easy Ways for Business Leaders to Blog. Ha! There you go. And by writing about it, it brings me to a higher level of awareness about the objection, and I'll be even better at avoiding it when I'm prospecting voice to voice.
Your Last Presentation
You know that last presentation you created for a meeting with one of your hot prospects? It's full of blog articles. Take a look at each topic you presented, and make it into a short article.
Give it a try!
Once you start writing a few articles, you'll be surprised at how many blog ideas start popping in your head. You'll also be surprised at how great it feels to talk to prospects who have read your articles and think of you as a thought leader in your industry.
Then you can tell all your colleagues in the words of Bob Wiley: “Guess what? Ahoy! I blog! I'm a blogger now! I blog! Isn't this a breakthrough? That I'm a blogger now?”
Comments