Content Writing FAQs. 18 Questions Business Owners Ask About Creating Content

I spend a lot of time talking with business owners about content, and while every business is different (just like these folks walking on the street), the questions aren't all that different. Business owners mostly want to know:

What should I write about?

How often should I post?

Does anybody actually read this stuff?

Can I use AI?

Do I need a blog?

Should I be on LinkedIn?

And perhaps the biggest one, Is all this content actually going to help me get business?

Here are my answers born out of 3 decades in business and I don't know how many words written for myself as well as clients!

What should I write about?

This is easy. Start with what your clients and prospects want to know. What do they ask you on sales calls? What confuses them? What mistakes do you see them making? What do you wish they understood before they hired someone like you? All of those are great content topics, because you don't have to continually invent brilliant ideas. Pay attention to the conversations you're already having, and you'll see there's content everywhere. DON'T OVERTHINK THIS. That is often the problem most of my clients have.

How often should I post content?

The simple answer is as often as you can be consistent without making yourself crazy.

Posting five times one week and disappearing for six weeks isn't much of a strategy. For one business owner, three LinkedIn posts a week might work beautifully, someone else might publish once a week and a monthly blog. Another person might have a newsletter, blog, LinkedIn presence and Instagram account. I have clients in all of these categories.

There isn't one magic number, and I'd rather see you create good content consistently than become a content-producing machine for three weeks and then never want to look at LinkedIn again. (Yes, it happens!) The old cliche, what works for one, might not work for another is especially spot-on.

Does my business really need a blog?

Yes, I think blogs remain extremely valuable, especially because they give you room to answer the questions people are searching for. A social media post disappears pretty quickly, but a blog has a much longer shelf life. It can also be repurposed into LinkedIn posts, newsletter content, videos, presentations, emails and other materials. One good idea can work pretty hard for you, making it both cost and time-effective.

How long should a blog post be?

My short answer is long enough to answer the question. If you can provide a useful answer in 500 words, terrific. If the subject needs 1,200 words, write 1,200. Don't add another 600 words of fluff because somebody told you that Google likes long articles. Your reader asked a question, now, answer it, and don't add filler.

How do I make my content sound less boring?

A good start is to stop trying so hard to sound like the smartest boy or girl in the room!

Write the way you speak and use examples. Tell stories, explain something the way you would explain it to a client or friend sitting across from you having coffee, and most importantly, read what you wrote out loud and see how it sounds.

Be honest, does it sound like YOU! If you'd never say it that way, there's a pretty good chance you shouldn't write it that way either.

Can I use AI to write my content?

Of course, but there's a difference between using AI and letting AI become you.

AI can help you brainstorm, organize ideas, tighten and edit copy, find holes, create outlines, provide verbiage, and get past the dreaded blank screen.

What it doesn't have is your lived experience. It doesn't have your client conversations or the story that happened to you Thursday morning that illustrates the point you're trying to make. Use AI as a tool, prompt it impeccably, and then put yourself back into the content.

How do I get ideas for content?

This one is also easy.

Listen to your clients.

Look through your emails.

Think about the questions people ask during networking conversations.

Consider the objections you hear during sales calls.

Pay attention when someone says, "I didn't know that."

Or, just pay attention to the world around you.

If something happens during your day that makes you think about your business differently, there's probably content in that too.

Should my content be personal?

It can be, but personal content still needs a reason for being there. A story about your vacation, your dog, your kids or what happened at the supermarket can be engaging, but if you're using content to build a business, ask yourself what the reader gets from the story.

That's my "so what?" test and I used it extensively in sales training.

When someone finishes reading, you don't want them thinking, so what? Give them the connection and provide some value besides learning about your personal life.

How do I get more people to engage with my content?

Give them something worth engaging with. Remember that engagement isn't a one-way street. If you post and disappear, you're missing a big part of what social media is supposed to be. IT'S A CONVERSATION. Comment on other people's content, respond when people comment on yours, and be social.

Should I write content for Google, LinkedIn or my customers?

I'm adamant about this, write for your customers. You should understand search, and you should use words and phrases people might actually type when they're looking for information, but if a real person lands on your content and it sounds like it was written for an algorithm instead of a human being, what have you accomplished?

How do I turn content into leads?

Don't expect every post to produce an inquiry. Content usually works earlier in the relationship. Someone sees your name and then they see it again. They read something useful, and they see a comment you made. Someone introduces you. They visit your website.They read two of your blogs, and only THEN they contact you. Content opens the door. Sales wins the business. That's why I don't separate content from business development. Your content should help people understand what you do, how you think, who you help and why they might want to talk with you.

What makes content good?

Here's my uncomplicated definition:

Good content makes the right person stop, read, think, think again, and perhaps do something next.

Maybe they:

learn something.

recognize a problem.

laugh.

remember you.

click.

call.

email.

Not every piece of content has to change someone's life, but it should have a reason for existing.

Do I have enough to say?

Your problem probably isn't that you have nothing to say, it might be recognizing what's worth saying.The questions you answer every day, the stories you tell, the problems you solve, the mistakes you've made, the lessons you've learned and the things you know now that you didn't know five years ago are all potential content.

You don't need to become a "content creator." You need to take what you already know and turn it into content that helps the people you want to reach.

Do I need to hire a professional content writer?

Not necessarily. If you're a strong writer, enjoy doing it, have the time and can consistently produce content that supports your business goals, you might not need a writer at all but most business owners don't have all four.

They may know exactly what they want to say but can't get it onto the page, or writing takes them three hours when someone else could get it done much faster. A good content writer doesn't simply give you words, they help pull the ideas out of your head and turn them into content other people want to read.

What should I look for when hiring a content writer?

Look beyond whether they can put together a grammatically correct sentence, and then ask yourself if they can do these things:

Can they capture your voice?

Do they understand your business?

Do they ask good questions?

Do they understand your customers?

Can they explain complicated things simply?

And, very, very, VERY importantly, do they understand what you want the content to accomplish?

Pretty words aren't enough. Your content is an integral part of your business development.

How much does a content writer cost?

There's no single answer. Content writers may charge by the hour, project, article or ongoing monthly package. Pricing also varies based on the amount of research, interviewing, strategy and editing involved.

Is someone simply filling a page with words, or are they learning your business, understanding your audience, capturing your voice and creating something you can use to build visibility and conversations? Those are very different services, and will be priced differently.

Is AI going to replace content writers?

AI has certainly changed content writing, but I don't believe it eliminates the need for good writers. The enormous amount of generic AI-generated content out there may make strong, distinctive human content even more important.

AI can generate information, but it takes a skilled writer to recognize the story, find the angle, hear the voice, make something clearer and understand when a technically correct sentence simply doesn't sound like the person whose name is going on it.

Is SEO more important than good writing?

No, because getting someone to your website isn't particularly useful if they don't want to read what's there. SEO helps people find you, good writing helps them understand you, trust you, remember you and possibly take the next step. You want both.

Can a content writer make me sound like myself?

A good one most definitely should. Speaking for myself, I don't want my clients to sound like me, I want them to sound like themselves. That requires listening and learning the words they use, the words they'd never use, their sense of humor, how they tell stories and how they explain what they do. When someone who knows you reads your content and says, "I could hear you saying this," that's a pretty good sign the writer got it right.

What content should a small business create first?

Start with content that answers the questions prospects ask before they decide whether to contact you.

After you do that, create content around those ideas in different formats such as website copy, blogs, LinkedIn posts, newsletters, emails, short videos, carousels, PPTs or whatever makes sense for your audience.

You don't need to be everywhere, but you do need to be useful and visible in the places where the right people might find you.

Do I need more content?

Maybe, but you probably don't need more content just for the sake of having more content. You need content with a job to do.

That's the intersection of content and sales. Content opens the door. Sales wins the business, and if staring at the screen wondering what the heck to write isn't how you want to spend your time, that's where a good content writer comes in.

Reach out if you have any questions or think I can assist you. I'm always happy to have a conversation.