Eating Around for Business Bloggers

One sure-fire strategy for idea-generation is what I call “reading around”, scouring other people’s blogs and articles, magazine content, and books. “Learning around”, I teach newbie content writers, means staying alert for tidbits and teaching tools (after all, what is a blog if not a teaching tool?) to keep fresh ideas flowing for your business blog posts. But eating around??

Yes, the other day I discovered a new “recipe” for locating content treasure – enjoy breakfast or lunch in different and unusual venues – and stay alert! At the Best Bet Breakfast in Fishers, where each table is decorated with poker chips and mini-posters with betting related trivia, I devoured interesting information along with the cinnamon toast.

Whatever industry or profession you’re blogging about, research tidbits from the past. Here’s one about the gambling I found at Best Bet: Back in 1910, games of chance became a crime in the state of Nevada.  But then, a public prosecutor ruled that draw poke was a game of strategy (talk about “spin”!), and, for the next twenty years in Vegas, while roulette was verboten, poker became the game of choice.

The value-add here? History tidbits engage readers’ curiosity, evoking an “I didn’t know that!” response.

Use the tidbit to emphasize your unique “slant” or approach to your business or professional practice. One of the stories shown under the glass of my Best Bet Breakfast table was about Binion’s Horseshoe. Benny Binion, I learned, bought the Eldorado Club and Apache Hotel in 1951, re-opening them as the Horseshoe.  The Horseshow was the first casino to have carpeting and the first to offer “comps” to all gamblers.. When he first opened the Horseshoe, Binion set the craps table limit at $500—ten times higher than any other casino in Las Vegas at the time. Unlike other casinos, the emphasis at Binion’s was on gambling, not on big performing acts.

The “comp” for business owners and freelance blog content writers in sharing such a history tidbit with readers? First of all, the success of your blog marketing efforts will be very closely aligned with you (or you client) being perceived as expert in the field. Even more, presenting a definite perspective on your industry or professional establishes you as a leader.

I highly recommend “eating around”. You just never know what appetizing information you’ll find on your blogging plate!