How to Create Valuable Blog Content Without Using ChatGPT or AI

ChatGPT has made it waaaay too easy to pump out mediocre blog content that we *think* the search engines are going to like, but that actual human beings are already becoming savvy to, wary of, and frankly, just annoyed by. I can tell when a human is writing what I’m reading, and I like it much better than robot-written blogs. I like humans.

I like dogs, birds, beavers, and plants, too, but they can’t write blogs. YET. Actually, I have no desire to see non-human things create blog content. I’m happy that they live their wild and precious lives without needing to be content-generating organisms.

Eww, what if that’s what we start calling humans now? Content-generating organisms. <Shudder>

I think I’d rather be a lanceleaf coreopsis than a content-generating organism.

I asked AI to create an image of a content-generating organism, and this is what they came up with.

This is not to say you shouldn’t use robots to help you, though we do have some arguments against using AI for blog writing. We’ve used it, you’ll probably need it, and it can be useful to create informative content very quickly. It’s not the enemy, but it should never entirely replace human-generated content.

If you’re committed to publishing some blog posts that you and your human staff or co-workers create, here are some ideas that might help you break through writer’s block without succumbing to the gentle lull of AI’s promise every single time. Set aside a day (yes, a day) to work on this, and make it worth it.

Blog Content Ideas for Humans

Interview Someone

This one is fun and surprisingly easy, and ideally the person you choose will be into it because it will benefit them, too. Win win! Yay for winning! I don’t love competition. I was never into sports because competing against others felt really weird to me. I even get nervous watching debates and contests. But if everyone wins? I AM IN.

In the example I link to below from the New Why blog, I interviewed Erin Preston for a series I was doing on helping your small business thrive during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. You could also consider creating a whole blog series that’s relevant to your business, and interview people who have something valuable to say on the subject.

Interviewing Erin was super fun.

Here are some ideas about who, what, and how to help you get started.

Who to interview:

• One of your clients
• A staff member / co-worker
• A community or business partner from another business or organization
• A friend or acquaintance who does something you admire
• A local nonprofit you support, either financially or ethically

Some general questions to ask:

• How did we meet / when did we start working together?
• What do you do?
• Why do you do what you do?
• What do you love?
• Why do you love what you love?
• What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned this past year?
• What do you wish more people knew about your industry, company, or organization?
• What’s one thing you would change about _______? (Your city, your industry, the world, etc.)

How to do it:

• Send an email with your preferred questions and have them respond in writing
• Create a Google Form with these questions and have them fill it out
• Invite them to a video call, record the call, then transcribe it
• Meet with them in person and record the conversation or take really great notes

New Why example:
Interview with Erin Preston on Creating Video to Help with SEO

Video Yourself Talking about Something You’re Passionate about and Transcribe It

Here I am several years ago talking about something.

I love this one.

A few years ago I created a video on why I unplug, which was an unedited take on the importance of meditation retreats and device-free time in my life. When I posted it to social media it got several reposts, with people chiming in on why they also unplug, or why they wish they unplugged more.

Why is this valuable? Because you and your authorship are valuable and you are more than just a worker-bot. Or a content-generating organism. Most people (not all) would rather read about (or watch a video of you talking about) something you feel really strongly about than to read another boring case study. That doesn’t mean you should stop writing case studies! Just make sure the human part of you shines through with content like this.

You don’t even have to transcribe it. You can just upload it to YouTube and embed it on a post on your website and upload it to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Boom. Blog done. Social content done. You’re now the King of Content! The Queen of the Internet! The Ruler of the Web!

If you’re having trouble thinking of things you’re passionate about, you can try to break it down into these categories:

• A hobby or activity that you enjoy
• A movie or show that you love and why it’s relevant to your job / business
• A profound insight that changed the way you do things
• Something you’ve been pondering a lot lately
• Why you support the nonprofits or causes that you support

New Why example:
Why I Unplug

Describe a Problem You Worked Through with Step-by-Step Instructions for Solving It

This one can be time consuming, but in my experience it is the MOST valuable blog content.

In the words of Bille Eilish, “I’ve said it all before but I’ll say it again” in other blogs I’ve written: if you’ve come up against a problem in your job and you’ve struggled to solve it, chances are someone else has had that exact same problem and would be incredibly grateful to read your solution.

This can be both a blessing and a curse. Years ago I wrote a blog post about adding a Facebook admin when things are going wrong on Meta, which they often do. It is the most visited page on our website, and we get a lot of emails from people who have read it and want our help. That’s great, to some extent, but we do so much more than help troubleshoot people’s Facebook issues.

We’ve had one client who has come to us because they read the blog, which is great, but the amount of emails we respond to because of it takes a lot of time. Just be aware that if your solution to a problem is in high demand, it might get you a lot of both wanted and unwanted attention.

New Why example:
Quick Links to Get Google Ads Policy Violations Resolved

Talk About Something You Learned Recently

This is similar to the idea above, but it’s not necessarily a solution to a problem; it’s anything that you’ve learned that might help others.

I do this often on LinkedIn. I’ll summarize something valuable I recently learned from a workshop, book, article, or something else I came across, and then make empty promises about creating more blog content about it. Don’t be like me! Don’t make empty promises. In fact, BEFORE you impulsively post the lesson you learned to LinkedIn, write a blog about it, even if it’s a short blog. You can paste the contents of that blog or a summary of the contents into a LinkedIn post after you create the blog.

Like me, you might already be unhealthily obsessed with researching every single thing in the universe, but if not here are some sources that can provide you with learning opportunities:

• A business book you read
• A conversation with a friend, co-worker, client, etc.
• An article you read in an industry publication (set up Google alerts!)
• A workshop you attended
• A video you watched
• Someone else’s blog
• Someone else’s impulsive LinkedIn post

New Why example:
Using AI to Help Write Code

Get Ideas from Social Media

Speaking of LinkedIn, my inspiration for blog content often comes from observations I make on social media. You might be thinking “But Natalie, your job IS social media! Of course it makes sense for you to get inspiration from it.”

Very true, you.

But every industry out there is on social media, and they’re all saying something that’s either interesting, stuuuuupidly boring, or somewhere in between. Usually in between.

Here are some ways to comb through social media for ideas:

• Look at what your competitors are doing, and if it’s interesting see if you can generate some blog content inspired by it
• Literally ask your followers what questions that have about your business, products, or services and create blogs based on their answers in the comments
• See what stands out to you on your feed, even if it’s not from competitors or someone in your industry

New Why example:
What People Want to See on Social Media

What Can You Use AI For?

By all means, you can use AI to write blogs from time to time. It probably won’t hurt you in search and it can be helpful to fill in some gaps, but it won’t showcase your voice, your personality, your humanity, or the essence of your company.

You can also use AI to give you more blog ideas, but I’ll warn you: they’re gonna be kind of boring. You can coax a more interesting conversation out of AI if you’re lucky, but often the ideas they’ll give you will just lack something. Soul? Heart? Depth? I’m not sure what it is that AI’s missing, but if it helps to use it to give you inspiration, give it a try.

We can also help if you need guidance on how to grow your presence online, and as of last check, none of us are robots.