The number one SEO tool I recommend to clients is also the one that they never actually want to do.
Write blogs.
Even if you are a seasoned writer, sitting down to hammer out a thousand words or so can feel so overwhelming unless you really love the blinking cursor.
If you want to make blog writing a better habit (and improve your website in your search rankings), then there is a new tool on the market that you’ve probably heard a lot about.
Chat GPT.
I know, I’m a bit of a creation purist. Why am I talking about ChatGPT? Because I recognize that it can be a tool to help you write on a schedule and higher-quality content without having to go hire someone to do it.
Especially if you’re in the DIY part of your business, ChatGPT could be an easy solution for you.
But let me just preface this by saying that it’s a tool; you don’t want to let it do the work for you.
Today, I’m breaking down how you can add this one to your own personal arsenal to make your life a little easier.
Some Disclosures
Look, I’ve been playing with ChatGPT for a few weeks and have even used it for some brainstorming help on client projects.
I want to point out that this technology is not only still relatively new, but it’s only as good as the people who wrote its code.
While ChatGPT is going out to the internet and compiling answers back, it’s not perfect. In fact, while researching for a client blog post the other day it was returning answers that were factually incorrect.
You want to use this to start your blog writing process. Not to write the entire blog for you and call it a day.
It’s also just down a lot and requires you to refresh it a lot. So, far from perfect.
Even ChatGPT Knows its Limitations
Just for fun, I decided to pose this question to ChatGPT: “How can I use ChatGPT to write a blog post”?
Its response:
Using ChatGPT to write a blog post is a great idea! Here are some steps to get started:
- Decide on a topic for your blog post. You can choose any topic that interests you or that you think would be valuable to your readers.
- Use the prompts feature of ChatGPT to generate ideas and content for your blog post. To use prompts, simply provide a brief description of your topic, and ChatGPT will generate a list of related prompts that you can use as inspiration.
- Once you have some ideas for your blog post, use the text generation feature of ChatGPT to write the content. You can start with a sentence or paragraph, and then use ChatGPT to generate additional text that expands on your ideas and provides more detail.
- As you write your blog post using ChatGPT, be sure to edit and revise the content to ensure that it is well-written and engaging. You can use the output from ChatGPT as a starting point, but you will likely need to make some adjustments to ensure that the content is appropriate for your audience.
- Finally, format and publish your blog post using your preferred blogging platform. Be sure to give credit to ChatGPT if you used its content in your post.
Remember that ChatGPT is a powerful tool for generating ideas and content, but it should not replace your own creativity and expertise. Use ChatGPT as a starting point, but be sure to add your own insights and perspectives to make your blog post unique and valuable to your readers.
It’s a Research Tool
Did you notice that it recommends that you use ChatGPT in a few different ways to write your blog post, but then closes it by telling you not to replace your own creativity and expertise?
That’s because what’s going to work to bring customers to you based off of your blog posts isn’t the perfect SEO article.
It’s your unique, human factor. People want to work with people.
The only way to show off your unique value and personality is by showing up online.
ChatGPT is great to get you started. But think of it like a slightly different Google. It’s going to give you some answers and suggestions (without the credit to the original authors, which, sore point), but it’s certainly not going to replace your human touch.
Researching Blog Topic Ideas with ChatGPT
One of the best ways to use ChatGPT is just to start generating ideas. The responses you get will be better when the questions you ask are more targeted, but just start asking questions.
You can start with something as simple as: “What are four blog topic ideas for a bookkeeper.” This returns four topic ideas and even some subpoints you can use.
ChatGPT’s Response:
- “5 Common Bookkeeping Mistakes and How to Avoid Them”: This topic could cover common errors that bookkeepers make, such as overlooking expenses or misclassifying transactions, and provide tips on how to avoid them.
- “The Importance of Bookkeeping for Small Businesses”: This topic could explore the benefits of bookkeeping for small business owners, such as helping with tax preparation and providing insights into cash flow and profitability.
- “Understanding Financial Statements: A Guide for Non-Accountants”: This topic could provide an overview of financial statements and explain how they can be used to make informed business decisions. The post could also include tips for interpreting financial statements.
- “How to Choose the Right Accounting Software for Your Business”: This topic could provide guidance on selecting accounting software that is suitable for a particular business, based on factors such as size, industry, and budget. The post could also provide a comparison of popular accounting software options.
You could quite literally stop there, take those four topics, and start writing.
Writing Your Blog Posts
What I find stops most of my clients isn’t the writing itself, but trying to get that first idea to start the ideas flowing.
While I’ll usually recommend starting with your frequently asked questions or something that came up in a recent client interaction, ChatGPT can be an excellent tool to break out of your own head and get you started.
If you need more assistance and you need more of a “structure” to get you really flowing, then you can ask ChatGPT some more questions. Ask about one of the topics to drill down and get some more concrete inspiration.
While again, you don’t want to just take exactly what ChatGPT gives you and copy/paste it, you can even ask it to write in a certain tone of voice, too.
For our experiment today, I told it to write a blog post on the 5 most common bookkeeping mistakes in a warm tone.
ChatGPT Returned:
As a bookkeeper, it’s essential to keep accurate records to ensure the financial health of your business. Unfortunately, even the most seasoned bookkeepers can make mistakes that can lead to inaccurate data, delayed financial reporting, and costly errors. Here are five common bookkeeping mistakes and how to avoid them.
Failing to Reconcile Accounts
Reconciling your accounts is one of the most critical tasks of bookkeeping. It’s the process of comparing your financial records with bank statements to ensure they match. Not reconciling your accounts regularly can lead to overdrawn accounts, inaccurate reports, and bank fees. To avoid this mistake, make reconciling a regular part of your bookkeeping process.
Mixing Personal and Business Transactions
Many small business owners use their personal accounts to make business purchases, which can lead to a tangled mess of transactions. Separating your personal and business accounts will help you track expenses more accurately, and you won’t miss out on any deductions during tax season. Set up a separate account for your business and use it exclusively for all business-related transactions.
Forgetting to Record Transactions
Failing to record transactions is a common bookkeeping mistake that can result in inaccurate financial reporting and incomplete records. Develop a system for recording transactions regularly, such as weekly or monthly, to avoid missing any transactions.
Misclassifying Transactions
Misclassifying transactions is a common bookkeeping mistake that can lead to errors in financial statements and reports. For example, categorizing office supplies as a business expense instead of office expenses. To avoid this mistake, take the time to accurately classify all transactions when you enter them.
Not Backing Up Your Data
Data loss can be a nightmare for a bookkeeper. It can happen due to various reasons, including power outages, viruses, or accidental deletion. Losing your data can lead to inaccurate financial reporting, missed deadlines, and other costly errors. To avoid this mistake, back up your data regularly. You can use cloud-based storage or external hard drives to keep your data secure.
In conclusion, avoiding these common bookkeeping mistakes will help you keep accurate records and ensure the financial health of your business. Regularly reconciling accounts, separating personal and business transactions, recording transactions, accurately classifying transactions, and backing up data are essential to maintaining a reliable bookkeeping system. By following these tips, you can avoid costly errors and make informed business decisions.
It’s time to Edit and Add in Your Own Expertise
This post isn’t bad and it’s definitely a good starting point, but have you ever read great writing that ended with “In conclusion” and do you feel like it got any of that wrong or is missing something?
Now is where you can open your Google Doc and start editing!
Beef up the introduction, connect it back to why your own personal customers might actually care about this blog post, and then make sure to just edit to add your own nuances.
Do you have a service that you offer that can match one of the 5 mistakes? Talk about it! You can even bring in some real-world examples into your writing to showcase how you’ve helped others solve that exact same problem and got the benefit from it.
You helping people with your services is how you’re going to get new clients. Showing how you’ve helped real people in the real world is going to be far more impactful than anything ChatGPT can throw your way.
Be Consistent with Blog Writing
There’s a lot that goes into writing a good blog post that gets readers coming back for more, but the key here is to help you get some consistency.
When your audience knows when to come back and look for another blog, they’re far more likely to keep coming back to look.
Dropping a new post every week, twice a week, or even just once a month, will do more for your long-term business success than you’ve probably given much thought.
Want people to share your business and your services with the world? Blogging is one of the best ways to get people doing just that!
I mean really, when was the last time you shared a good Services page? But that blog post you found through Pinterest and loved? Oh you bet you hit re-pin on that!
Use tools like ChatGPT to make your life easier, and then when you’re ready to have an even more human touch and some marketing strategy behind your blogging, let’s talk.
