How do you solve a problem like Maria? Problem solving blogs

Ok, I think I’ve watched one too many musicals – sorry if you’ve now got the Sound of Music song going through your mind now (and maybe the rest of the day).  But did you know that you can use the idea of problem-solving blogs to assist other people’s problem and it can even help you out too?

In the song, the Nun’s are singing about the problems they face with a novice Nun, Maria.  They are asking the Abbess how do we change Maria to be more like us?  Your customers have problems too and perhaps you have a service or a product that solves that specific problem.  If so Why not blog about it – so that when they’re Googling for information to help them, that they can find your blog post.

How to plan these blogs?

Think about your Super-customer – this is your ideal customer. What problems do they have? And how can you help them?

1) Identify a problem – ask your existing followers, ask friends, ask the person on the bus find out what they need help with.  If you’re a cleaner you may find your clients need help with specific stains, cleaning hard to reach places. Torn between needing the right tools for the job and saving the environment

2) Offer a solution, whether it’s knowledge or a service – So going back to the cleaner.  your solutions blog post could be 10 ways to remove carpet stains?  Eco- friendly cleaning products an action review or 3 ways hiring a cleaner can improve your life (promote your business and don’t forget you can clean high, hard to reach places).
As part of your solutions, you could review products or compare their results, or just tell them the most effective or unusual ways to do the job.

3) Add your call to action – get them to sign up to a mailing list, or to follow you on social media they may not want your help now but often once they’ve tried it themselves they decide it’s too much trouble and call in the pro’s.

Why would I want to do this?

Essentially you’re doing it to please Google, but there are some other reasons too.

Increase traffic.

If you offer a service and you only cover a small area for example, your county then you can still turn people around the rest of the country or even the world into traffic for your site.  The more traffic to your site the more Google thinks this must be a good site which in turn helps your search results, not just for the page but your main site too (remember that traffic is just one aspect of the Google Algorithm so you will need to look at other areas of SEO to help Google understand your site and blogs).

New Content.

You’re adding new content to your site – and google loves new content. Do you see a theme here?

Find new clients

Use your call to actions wisely – If you’re doing a post about how to clean your carpet then the person reading it is likely to be wanting to do it themselves.  As I said before this isn’t a problem, but give them a reason to sign up to a mailing list for example, more tips on cleaning.  But also have a call to action for those that fall in your service area of making a booking, or checking out your prices or a post about why they should hire the pro which in turn links to your booking.

Become an authority

Show everyone who read it that you really know your stuff. I wrote about becoming an authority as one of the 7 reasons why small business owners should blog.  Become the Font of all knowledge in your field.

Conclusion

So in conclusion solving other people’s problems is a win-win situation, your readers get the help they’re looking for. You get increased traffic, which hopefully leads to higher search rankings, which in turn means more people can hopefully find your services.

 If you already have a blog then leave me a comment and add a link to your latest post.

 If your small business doesn’t yet have a blog and you want help setting it up then contact me via the site / Facebook or Instagram.


Avatar for Pippa Haines Pippas Web

I am Pippa and I have run Pippas Web - web design for small businesses for 13 years. I help small business owners find their bit of cyberspace. I provide the technical know-how, so they can get back to running their business. If you like what I write in my blogs, you can sign up to my newsletter for more tips straight to your door. All list members get a copy of "How to get your business seen online in 2021".