Take A Boring Subject and Make It Interesting
Are you constantly looking for ways to make your business more interesting to the general public? Sure it’s interesting to you, but when you talk with people at a networking event and tell them what you do for a living, do their eyes gloss over?
That can be a problem as you write the blog that you need to market your business (and you do need that blog).
Let’s take an example most of us are familiar with. Remember John Candy’s character, Del Griffith, in Planes, Trains and Automobiles? The eternal optimist and shower curtain ring salesman? Shower curtain rings seem like the very definition of an item you don’t think about unless you need to toss some in your shopping cart.
Here’s how to take a mundane topic and make it interesting:
- Find the right angle. As a journalist, I can tell you that this part is crucial. Here are some ideas off the top of my head for posts: How did we arrive at the modern shower curtain rod and ring system? What are the advantages of a “good” shower curtain ring? What makes them worth the investment? Where are most rings produced? Can rings accentuate the beautiful design of your bathroom? What are some other, non-traditional uses for shower curtain rings?
- Listen to your audience. What kind of posts on the subject matter seem to get a lot of traffic? What kinds of questions is your audience asking in other places? Pay attention to the conversation, and shape your content around the best fit conversations. Here are a few questions about shower curtain rings being asked on Yahoo! Answers right now: What can I put on my shower curtain rod to make my rings slide smoother? Any ideas for creative, rustic bathroom shower curtain rings? How can you repair broken shower ring holes in a plastic shower curtain? These are the things that your built in audience wants to know. You could also check other social networks and forums for more questions.
- Find the bigger story. If you’re going to write a blog focusing on shower curtain rings, you’ll probably want to spend a decent amount of time talking about bathroom redesign. This will allow you to focus on a broader subject that’s more likely to produce more worthwhile ideas, and keep your audience interested. You can also write about all of the things you’ll need to buy in the moving process.
- Find your writing voice. Ultimately you need to learn how to write like you talk. Not everything needs to be a hard sell. Picture yourself explaining these topics to a friend over coffee. How would you do it? What kind of word choice would you use? This is exactly how you should write it.
If Del Griffith had a website and a blog that he could direct people to, he may not have pissed Steve Martin’s character off so much. That hellish trip could have been just a little easier. With a little effort, you can create the type of content that will draw readers in as well.
Remember, the trick is to be useful and provide value. Not everything needs to be a hard sell. With a little effort, you can take any subject and make it just a little more interesting.
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-based marketing writer and copy editor.
