Blogging for surveyors: how to write a blog post
At Surventrix, nothing makes us happier than helping your business thrive. This is backed up by our range of testimonials from the growing Surventrix community. Today, we're going to explore the world of blogging. It's an effective way for surveyors to reach out to prospects.
The process of writing a blog entry for your surveying firm doesn't have to be painful or overwhelming. Here are a few tips, techniques, and shortcuts to make the process easier.
Surveyors can struggle to find time between client jobs to write a blog post, even when they are convinced of content marketing's value.
The first step is to come up with an idea, do some research, and then begin writing. It doesn't end there: there's editing, proofreading, finding the right image, uploading, formatting...
As a result, this kind of thing keeps getting dropped down the to-do list because you'll have to do it again shortly (there's nothing more sad than a blog that hasn't been updated since 2015).
The good news is that you can write a 500-word blog post in just 30 minutes, from beginning to end. So let's give it a try.
It's based on a trusted blogging system
A great writing process is as follows:
1. Outline. Consider bullet points or notes instead of jumping right in, so you know what to say and how to say it. Time: 5 minutes.
2. Draft. Just bash it out. You can move on if you get stuck by typing MORE HERE or CHECK LATER. Even if they're ugly or imperfect, it's important to get 500 words down. Time: 15 minutes.
3. Edit. Focus on the overall structure and clarity of your writing rather than the commas and spelling. You should get someone else to take a fresh look at it. It might be better to leave it for a day or two before editing it yourself. Time: 5 minutes.
4. Proofread. The next step is to fix the details. If you aren't sure how a word is spelled, check it. Get someone else to proofread if possible; otherwise, read it aloud and you'll find previously invisible mistakes; also, try scanning it backwards. Time: 5 minutes.
That's it, now we can move on.
Although you might treat yourself to more than 30 minutes, even an hour of indulgence is preferable to losing a full day.
Structure your blog
To start with step one above, outlining, there are a few off-the-shelf formats you can use.
The ‘inverted pyramid’ is a stone-cold classic often used by journalists for writing informational articles.
With this approach, you begin with the most important information and gradually provide more detail.
Following the headline, learning the key facts from the introduction, and finding supporting evidence and quotes at the end is what readers should do.
People sometimes refer to the fifty-fifty rule, which states that you should spend about the same amount of time crafting the headline as you do on the rest of your copy.
There is also the explainer, which consists of three parts:
Describe the topic in a few words. This is a summary.
Educate them on something they might not know.
Provide them with advice on how to proceed.
Last but not least, there's the much-derided listicle - not only easy to write, but a great method for making technical content more approachable. You’d want to read ‘Seven ways to prepare your home for a surveyor’, wouldn’t you?
How to overcome writer's block
The process of creativity can be difficult at times.
The words might suddenly start flowing again if you move to another location than your desk - a cafe, or even just a different corner of the office - after struggling with writer's block for hours.
Consider a pen and paper instead of a screen if a screen isn't working for you. Interestingly, sometimes this can unlock things, perhaps because it uses different mental muscles than typing, or because it forces you to be more patient.
Get a sympathetic colleague to help you out if you run into a brick wall. It's amazing how often you'll say the exact words you couldn't type. While you should avoid AI if you can, it can provide a fresh perspective on written content and alleviate writer's block if you're stuck. You can use AI tools to break through a problem, but they cannot be used to create technical information in the way a surveyor would.
There is no such thing as perfection
The kind of people who thrive in this profession sometimes tend towards perfection.
When you're handling someone's property affairs, that's a plus, but less so when you just want 500 words on a page.
Less than perfect blog posts that are actually published are far more valuable than ones that remain purely conceptual as long as they are technically inaccurate. Don't overthink it.
Getting the most out of your writing
The lifespan of a blog post is long, so it's worth remembering that extra value can be squeezed out of it.
A blog post isn't just a piece of writing - it's a tool to drive conversation on social media.
Once it's written, you have an excellent excuse to post it on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Send it to a couple of contacts you think might find it interesting or add it to your firm's monthly newsletter.
Regardless of how many clicks a post receives in its initial flurry, if it's properly optimised for search engine optimisation, it will continue to draw in visitors and potential leads for years to come.
If you update your post with new information and republish it after a year, there's nothing stopping you.
Be persistent
There's one more piece of good news: writing gets easier as you go along. Despite how difficult it is to write your first blog entry, your tenth will seem easy.