If you read the first blog post in this seven-part series, you’ll remember learning about the value of spotlighting on your blog. This is just one kind of content you can tackle with blogging, but there is a multitude of other topics. This second post of the series will highlight tips and tricks for creating content that your audience will find genuinely useful, and that are easily shareable through social media and email.

Know your Audience

Creating highly valuable content doesn’t happen without understanding the desires of your audience. The key phrase here is “value”. Who do you want to find your content “valuable”? Once you pinpoint your target audience, the next step is understanding what they want. As a coach or speaker, your audience wants advice and tips. Don’t just throw information at them that you think they want. Share highly valuable content. Ask them what they want, or analyze which blogs or speaking engagements of yours they found most interesting and helpful by listening to feedback or reading comments.

One of my favorite techniques is to send a survey. You can survey your audience using a service like SurveyMonkey. Simply send an email with the link. If you ask great questions, you will likely get some great feedback.

Share. Share. Share.

Whether you are a coach or a speaker, you live to give advice and share your knowledge. In my experience, I have observed that some experts are often reluctant to give away their secrets. And the reason is they feel like they should charge for their best ideas. As a result, they end up sharing less than valuable information. So, prospective clients that receive that information, that content, end up not being impressed.

Instead, you need to give away information that demonstrates your expertise. That will attract a following and lead people to a next step in working with you. Once you’ve attracted these people to you by sharing your valuable content, the next step begins. By starting with building trust and rapport you are now in a position to begin offering your services. When people perceive that you are an expert that can help them, and they have a need for your services, they will take advantage of opportunities you share.

Create Clever Titles with Relevant Keywords

These days, a lot of people search online using phrases like “how to” and “best ways” or “best practices”. This is the kind of content people are looking for everyday: tips on how to do things and advice when doing them. This rings especially true within the coaching community.

Create blog titles around common questions your readers ask, but make them catchy. The “catchier” the title is, the more opens you’ll get from email and more links followed from social media.

Sharing a series of tips, strategies, techniques or secrets is a great way to create blog content that can be shared through email and social media.  Not only will readers find value in your content, they will keep coming back to you as a trusted source, and maybe even invest in you in other ways in the future.