Crafting effective blog posts is both an art and a science. In addition to engaging readers with content that resonates, blogs often need to achieve SEO goals too. My process can include Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews, SEO/keyword integration, and editorial calendar planning.
Two Bettys Green Cleaning offers both residential and commercial cleaning services in Minneapolis, MN. They wanted to use twice-monthly blog posts to keep in touch with current clients, and give prospective customers a sense of their values and personality.
The challenge for Two Bettys was consistency. They're a small organization, with everyone wearing many hats. Everyone wanted to write for the blog but nobody owned it, and months often went by without a new post.
I worked with leadership and the marketing team to design an editorial calendar that everyone felt good about. We planned ahead for timely topics we wanted to cover, and made sure blog contributors had enough time to plan and write their content. I wrote a number of blog posts for Two Bettys, including this one:
When a Two Bettys cleaner hits a space, they not only want to leave it fresh and clean. They also want to be efficient. This means using the right products, tools and techniques for the job. Below, check out 5 of our best cleaning tips. These strategies can make it easier for you to touch up your home between professional cleans.
1. Microfiber cloths are our friends
Ditch the paper towels and embrace microfiber cloths. The thousands of plush fibers grab waaay more dirt, grime and bacteria than paper towels. Plus, these reusable cloths do a solid for both the environment and your wallet. After a trip through the washing machine, they're ready to go again. While microfiber cloths are not the perfect eco-solution, they beat the disposables while we wait for 100% bamboo microfiber cloths to become more widely available!
2. Vacuums—they're not just for floors anymore
When cleaning surfaces like the kitchen counter, stovetop or bathroom sink, vacuum first. Use the hose attachment to take care of the loose grit and chunky stuff. This makes the wipe-down that follows a lot easier.
Connect Homes is a California-based builder of modular prefab houses. When I started working with them, their website was relatively new. They did have an area for news and updates that site visitors could sign up for, but many of the posts felt sterile and internally focused. Distant photos of the homes were beautiful but clinical. They lacked the human connection and storytelling that might help prospective customers envision themselves in a prefab home.
To create a more cohesive, effective blog presence, I wrote a content strategy that defined our target audiences and blog topic categories. I then developed an editorial calendar that mapped out six months of topics, target keywords and linking strategy.
The agency I partnered with on this project conducted user research, which revealed that people shopping for homes loved looking at photos of new homes. I worked with Connect Homes to source more human-centric, narrative photos, like the ones featured in this post I wrote:
A California vineyard owner wanted to build a new home that felt modern, while also honoring the estate's history and the natural landscape.
Eden Rift Vineyards in Hollister, California is the oldest continually producing vineyard in the state, founded in 1849. In 2016, when Christian Pillsbury purchased the 500-acre property, he moved into the century-old Prairie-style house in the center of the grounds. But it just didn't feel like home.
"I moved to farm country from an apartment in Hong Kong," says Pillsbury. "I'm a city guy by nature, and I missed living in an efficient, elegant space."
He envisioned a new modern residence that would align with the way he wanted to live on the estate: small, light, and out of the way. He needed the house to be close to the center of the business, yet not feel obtrusive. And while the home would be modern, it also needed to complement the historic property. "The estate is the main show," says Pillsbury. "I wanted the house to blend into the environment and feel like a natural extension of the landscape."
First, he tried the traditional route
Like many people wanting to build a new home, Pillsbury began by working with an architect and planning a conventional stick build. But the conversations he had with the architect felt limited, centering around technical details like the foundation, roof, and code compliance. "I wanted to focus less on the pitch of the roof and more on sunlight and airflow."
Capella University hired me to write monthly blog posts to both nurture prospective students and engage current ones. The process of creating each post began with an interview with the subject matter expert(s) to gather source content. I then translated that expertise into polished, accessible posts.
In 2017, there were an estimated 46.6 million adults in the United States with mental illness. This number represents 18.9% of all U.S. adults.
Often, people with mental health issues can feel like it's their fault. They might think that having mental illness means they're "crazy," or fear that others will see them that way. They may worry that they'll be shunned by family and friends or that admitting there's a problem will invite discrimination at work. So they keep the struggle to themselves, hoping it will go away on its own. But without treatment, mental illness can wreak havoc on a career and relationships. It can even turn life-threatening.
"A huge part of the stigma is it's not a visible disorder, and mental health treatment hasn't been understood by the public," says Simone Lambert, PhD, Capella counseling faculty member and President of the American Counseling Association. "There is concern that reaching out for help might be a sign of weakness. Actually, asking for help is a sign of strength. People may believe that if they seek a diagnosis, that diagnosis will define them. In reality, that allows them to receive accurate treatment."
Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of.
It's common and treatable. Here's how students and faculty in online counseling degree programs at Capella University are working to break the stigma of mental illness.
Start by telling me a bit about your project. From there, I can share some initial options and we can schedule a time to chat.