What to write about

Figuring out what to write about can be hard so here are some ideas:

• Past oriented articles
  • History/background of your product or service in the private sector
  • History/background of your product or service in the government market
  • Critique of how we got here
  • A roundup of articles already published on your topic
  • A roundup of resources related to your topic
  • Analysis of key texts (e.g. statutes and regulations)
• Current oriented articles
  • A how-to guides on the topic (we do a lot of these)
  • A how-to guide on key aspects of the topic
  • Your thoughts on the state of the market and solutions
• Future-oriented articles
  • What the future looks like in your market
  • What you think the future should look like
• Customer (person) oriented
  • A “system administrator’s perspective on X”
  • A CEO’s perspective on X
• Industry
  • How the topic looks in a particular industry.
  • A round-up of different practices from different industries.
  • A survey about something in your area.
• Financial
  • Discuss the costs and benefits of the product/service from a provider’s perspective.
  • Discuss the costs and benefits of the product/service from a customer’s perspective.
• Your work: If you’ve just completed a contract write about it and any lessons learned (this is one of our favorites)
• Sharing other peoples’ content: Posting someone else’s content is less powerful than creating your own, but it takes much much less time so you should do it, a lot.  The easiest way to find shareable content is to cruise Linkedin and read trade publications.  As you find quotes or even full articles that you like, comment on them, and share them with the link back to the original content.  
• Get ideas from friends: Ask someone you respect what to write about. 
• Crowdsource:  Post a list of potential articles on LinkedIn and ask for recommendations.

Please don’t write about your capabilities

Please don’t write about your company and your capabilities.  No one wants to read about how great your company is at service X.  Instead, share something interesting about service X:

• People are much more likely to read that
• It demonstrates that you are probably really great at Service X