How To Write A Blog Post For Beginners

Blogging for Beginners

One of the most popular requests we get is to help interior designers with their blog posts, emails and website/marketing content. We do offer these services either as a custom copywriting service, an email template you can purchase from my website (coming very soon) or a mini blog writing course (coming soon). All of our services are geared specifically for interior designers so if you are interested in learning more about writing and how we help interior designers in all aspects of their business please subscribe to my weekly email. That was a shameless plug, I know – but I really do give out a lot of free info!

Let’s get to the real reason you’re reading. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, I have a bachelor’s in journalism, and I write blog posts and magazine articles on a weekly basis. Writing didn’t always come easy for me and writing certainly wasn’t always fun but over the years I’ve come up with ways that get me writing on a regular basis with a steady stream of topics.

What to write about?

The first question I often get is – What do I write about? As we all know we need to write great content but what’s considered great content?

The easiest thing to do is to write about what you already know. As an interior designer the best blog posts are the ones where you are answering common questions your clients have. You know … the questions you hear a million times, it’s because your clients are interested in that information. Start brainstorming topics that often explain to your clients or prospective clients. I’ll give you some topics to get started.

1.       How high to hang curtains

2.       How to arrange a gallery wall

3.       How to choose the right paint color

4.       How to mix metals

5.       Popular design rules that are meant to be broken

6.       Hottest trends of 2019

7.       How to design a (pick any room) in 90 days

8.       Timeless design elements

9.       How to select the right size of rug

10.   How to mix old and new items

Another type of post clients love is before and after photos. They love to see transformation so be sure to include your own work in your blog posts. It could be as simple as transforming someone’s master bedroom or entry way. This would work well with the ‘How to design a room in 90 days post’. You could do an entire series on how to design a room in 90 days and just use different spaces each time.

When should I write?

Now that you have a variety of topics how do you go about writing about them. First, set aside time to write! I write for a living but it’s not my entire job, so I still set aside time to write. I’ve discovered my most productive times of the day and days per week and I maximize those times. I can tell you that my least productive writing time is Friday afternoon, so I don’t bother writing during that time because I’ll just end up wasting my time spinning my wheels. By Friday afternoon my brain as already escaped to the weekend. Schedule time, gear up and get to it!

How should I write?

To begin writing first you need to organize your post just like you organize your thoughts. I’m sure you’ve verbally explained many of the topics you’re going to write about so many times you may even have a memorized script in your head. Put that script on paper. Feel free to write like you talk because a blog post should be reflective of who you are. Don’t get caught up with spelling errors or improper grammar … that is what spell check is for.

When I write, my personality is reflected in my writing – I was a journalism major which is very different than an English major. English majors are sophisticated and elegant. Journalist are real and raw – when you write a blog post you are writing for your brand so feel free to be you!

I’m not a psychologist nor do I play one on television, but I think one reason why people dislike writing is because it makes them uncomfortable. Having someone read what you wrote can feel so personal and when you write – even if you are just writing about how to hang curtains - it’s like you are baring a bit of your soul. To get past that feeling just write, edit, post and move on. Who cares what people think – if someone has enough time on their hands to critique your writing than you should feel bad for them. Just as with everything else in life – writing takes practice. The more you write, the more comfortable you’ll be.

How to format a post?

Now you have a topic and you’ve organized your thoughts so how do you format your post?

I’m sure you’ve read enough blog posts to see the different styles of formatting and really it just comes down to how comfortable you are in your writing skills. Some writers do a paragraph by paragraph format broken up with images.

Others do a headline and bullet point format broken up by images.

And some do mostly images with just a sentence or two in between, so as you can see your blog post can be image heavy or copy heavy, whichever works best to get your point across. And some will do a video blog post to bypass the writing all together but talking about video is for another day.

Most common Dos & Don’ts with blog post writing

Do – write good content. The most common good content is actionable and helpful. This is why you should write about all the topics your clients ask you questions about. What do your clients want to know and what do you love to teach?

Do – post frequently and consistently. I do one post per week and find that sufficient for me. The more you write the better and faster you’ll get.

Do – write like you’re having a one-on-one conversation. You are engaging the reader with your words and the goal is to teach them something new. Write your posts as if you are talking to an old friend.

Do – be you! I can’t stress this enough. You can view the most successful bloggers out there and they will all have very different writing styles. The right clients will be drawn to you for your personality.

Don’t – worry. Seriously, take a deep breath – tell yourself that writing will be fun and just do it. One of the reasons why I love writing is because I love researching and learning about new things. Then I turn that research into teaching others about that topic. I love helping others and I know you got into interior design to help others design great spaces. So, use that concept to help others learn about the topics that you can teach them about.

Don’t – procrastinate. Procrastinating something you are already anxious about just creates more anxiety. I promise once you start writing you will get more comfortable with it. There are people out there who hire copywriters because they either don’t have time or they hate writing … anyone who hates writing could learn to appreciate it – it’s all about perception.

Start perceiving writing as a creative tool to engage your clients and increase your business. I am naturally a glass-half-full kind of girl so maybe I’m being overly optimistic on how others can perceive writing. If you are a glass-half-empty kind of person there is still a bright side … you at least have a glass. 😉

If you still have questions, concerns or need more help with how to write a blog post I’d love to hear from you! I’m always happy to help.