Ever been to St. Regis, Montana?
If you’re planning a trip, it’s probably not centered around a gas station.
Or maybe it should be.
A gas station there is doing something amazing.
While other local stations stay mostly empty, this one bustles with customers. And people all over the country talk about it.
What are the secrets of this family-owned business? Well, many describe it as the M.O.A.P.B.
What is that? It means the Mother Of All Potty Breaks.
That’s right, people love stopping at the St. Regis Travel Center. Yes, you can use the potty. And yes, you can get gas. But there’s also food at their restaurant, and you can browse for hours and buy gifts and knick-knacks at their kitschy, touristy, whole-lotta-fun gift shop.
But that’s just the start. How else does this gas station draw so many people?
Free popcorn (yes, please)
A live trout aquarium (crawl inside the cylinder tank to get a 360 degree view)
A casino (I know, right?)
Ice cream, homemade fudge, and espresso (for those with sweet tooths)
Huckleberry shakes (folks rave about them!)
Easy access off I-90 (simple to find)
St. Regis Travel Center uses smart strategies to draw visitors and keep them there.
And what does that mean for you? The same transferable principles can be used for your business blog.
If you’re gonna spend time writing it, you want traffic, right? Traffic = Eyeballs. Sure, your mom will read your article, but let’s think bigger.
What if you could reach hundreds? Or thousands?
And no, you don’t need to be some fancy pants social influencer to have a thriving online platform. You do, however, need some core strategies.
Let’s use the mindset of St. Regis Travel Center and build your blog as a destination location.
7 Must-Have’s For Your Blog Articles
1) Choose Topics Based On Customer Questions
Are you empty on ideas? Tired of staring at a blinking cursor when trying to write?
Here’s the simple solution: ask yourself, “What questions are my customers asking?” Which means you have to actually understand your customers. I know, crazy thought!
Think about your phone calls, emails, and lunch meetings with them. What topics are continually brought up?
Make a list of those questions, then answer them as blog articles. Genius! Believe me, you’ll never run out of content.
And BIG BONUS! When prospective customers search online for answers, your Pulitzer Prize winning article will be waiting for them. Wham. Bam.
Hello there, new customer.
2) Create An Interesting Title
This is really important. The title is the doorway to your content, and ultimately, to your super-saweet offer.
For instance, which are you more inclined to read?
Option 1:
“How To Make A Delicious Breakfast”
Option 2:
“5 Secrets To Make Pancakes So Good You’ll Want To Slap Your Granny”
We don’t recommend going around slapping grannies, but you get the idea.
And for the honor students out there, here’s a great equation for building head-turning headlines.
3) Tell A Story, Right Off The Bat
Why is Netflix so popular? We love stories.
And what do we remember better — facts or stories?
If you chose stories, you win a million dollars. In Monopoly money.
When you improve your storytelling skills, you also improve your people skills (ooh, that’s tweet-able).
The human brain is hard-wired for tall tales.
The human brain is hard-wired for tall tales. The best communicators know and use this principle. Hey, even Jesus spoke in parables.
So before you offer a potential customer your product, hook them with a story. It’s like placing a nice, juicy worm on the end of your fishing rod.
Stories are everywhere. You’ve got personal ones, the web is packed with weird anecdotes, and if you want the most ridiculous yarns, just watch a news channel.
Once you identify a story, transition it to a main point. Stories and big ideas go together like tea and sugar.
And if you don’t love sugar in your tea, something is seriously wrong with you.
4) Make It Practical
Yes, this is common sense.
But it seems many articles sashay around with multiple ideas and topics, almost a stream of consciousness, and at the end you’re asking yourself, “Did the author write this while sniffing model airplane glue?”
Here’s the tip: Focus on one BIG IDEA.
And keep on coming back to that big idea like a fat guy returning to the buffet.
Build out on your main point by creating action steps around it, such as “3 Ways To Clip Your Dog’s Toenails” or “Practical Ideas For Ironing Your Curtains.” Just make sure it connects with your blog intro and headline.
One other important tidbit: use the pronoun “you” when you write. It makes the blog more personal and mentally helps the reader to apply your golden truth nuggets to their life.
5) Format For Easy Reading
Ok, talking about formatting isn’t the sexiest subject. If you want sexy, go look in the mirror.
But even if you produce the most exciting content in the world, you gotta help your reader out. Make it easy for them to read by using:
Headers (this also helps your SEO)
Subheaders
Images
Short paragraphs
Bullet points
Block quotes
Those tools create plenty of white space. And the human brain needs some white space for processing.
It also helps direct your reader's attention to specific focal points. And, uh, that’s kinda the point of marketing.
6) Link To Other Good Stuff
I’m not talking about cuff links or sausage links.
Your blog should have website links scattered throughout your blog like sprinkles on a chocolate donut.
And let’s make one thing super-duper clear: the majority of your links should be INTERNAL links. That means you’re linking your readers to other areas of your website where they can find more of your awesome sauce.
If you focus on external links, what happens? Yep, they leave. Buh-bye. So you’ve got to give readers plenty of excuses to stay on your site, just like the St. Regis Travel Center offers those tempting Huckleberry shakes, whatever they are.
Give readers plenty of excuses to stay on your site.
By the way, internal blog links strengthen your search engine rankings. How? Because they increase the number of pages per visit and the time visitors spend on your website.
The Google nerds watch that stuff. Keep the nerds on your side.
7) Give a call-to-action
Before you write that next blog, ask yourself: “What do I want my readers to do?”
If you can’t answer that question, it’s back to the drawing board.
Every effective business blog leads to a call-to-action, which is when the orchestra crescendoes and the crowd cheers and the toga-wearing frat boys rag you to chug that sixer.
Give your reader the next step. That can be “Call me” or “Schedule A Free Estimate” or “Download the PDF” or “Watch the Video” or “Make Me A Ham Sandwich.”
And What Should You Do, Dear Reader, As You Finish This Blog?
There is only one path. The way to enlightenment. The red pill.
And that means downloading our brand-new, hot-off-the-press book called, “30 Days of Marketing Mojo."
Go ahead, destiny calls your name.
Happy trails, my friend.
And know that clean restrooms await you at the St. Regis Travel Center.
About Me
Hey, I’m Brian, co-founder of Genie Jar Digital. Born a Tar Heel but now a Virginian, I’m a father of five and the husband of one amazing lady. My family has a thing for Golden Retrievers. Given the right circumstances, I can do a mean moonwalk on a slick kitchen floor.
