Blog ideas for a Soaper to Write?

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Paul M

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Hi all, I see some bigger companies write beautiful blogs about things that I wouldn't even think of. Does anyone have a website WITH a blog? How do you think of creative topics that folks will want to read? I guess I'm not that creative when it comes to words... šŸ˜£
 
I started a soap blog mainly for my own records, to keep track of recipes and process. So each blog post is a soap project. Over time it has evolved, at some point I was doing tutorial style blogs, but it was too time consuming, so I simplified it. As a soap projects record, it has come handy several times. However, if it was not addressed to the soap making community, but to the consumer, I might try to find, write or share information about soap, skin care, cleansing tips, etc. Christy Wright from business boutique says to think of your customer needs, and which of those fall within your company scope, when writing content.
 
Your readers will have questions or curiosities, give them a chance to ā€œshineā€ by spotlighting a chosen question every week or so....make the reader feel involved. Make them feel listened to (aside from the common and overused ā€˜what do you think? Post your comment belowā€™ type) . I love the history and cultural aspects of soap, so I would include info on Aleppo, Marseille soap, vintage soap brands (Ivory soap and why it floats), old soap myths busted, new soap myths busted. Fun things like...whatā€™s the strangest hotel soap you ever had, or what is the strangest fragrance you ever had, would you ever like a soap that smells like French toast or gunpowder. Other uses for soap....like soaping windows at Halloween, soaping a thread for sewing, soaping tools to preserve them.

And showcase a maker you admire. Show your mistakes or things youā€™ve learned.Maybe invite them to contribute to an article. Or hire a marker who know what theyā€™re doing.
 
From a marketing perspective, I think your starting point should always be your target audience. This would apply regardless of whether you are soaping for fun or commercial gain. This is why I think that being clear on your branding and brand objective(s) is very important. From the time you create a niche, you will already know the type of content that will engage your target audience. Their interaction will definitely give you ideas. When in doubt, come right out and ask, 'What would you like to hear about?' and or ask followers to vote. It appears to me that having a YouTube and Instagram following is ideal for this.
 
Here are some of the top soap-related questions people search for on google. If you make a post that specifically addresses this question (i.e. make it the title of your post) and optimize for keywords, you may get some general traction. The above poster is right about targeting your audience, however, niche generally trumps going for mass appeal.

I'll give the question that gets typed and the ballpark monthly number of searches in the USA
"how to make soap" 27,000
"What is castile soap" 8,100
"How to make foaming hand soap" 6,600
"how to make soap at home" 5,400
"When was soap invented" 4,400
"How does soap work" 3,600
"Is dove soap antibacterial" 3,600
"why does cilantro taste like soap" (this is an oddball one but fun) 2,900
"how to make antibacterial soap" 2,400
"how to make soap without lye" 1,900
"who invented soap" 1,900
"does soap expire" 1,600

Hopefully a few of this might be inspirational!
 
"why does cilantro taste like soap" (this is an oddball one but fun) 2,900
Ooh, ooh, I know the answer to this one!

There are several chemical compounds in cilantro that give it its flavor. One of them, the stronger one, has a citrus sort of flavor (at least to me). The other, much fainter, tastes like soap. There are other flavor chemicals in it besides those, but those are the main ones.

Some people have a gene for the ability to taste the citrus flavor, and since it is stronger than the soapy one, they don't notice the soap taste.

Other people lack that gene. They can't taste the citrus, and with nothing to mask the soap flavor, soap is all they can taste.

This is part of the reason everyone has different food preferences. Everyone tastes everything a little bit differently than everyone else. There are probably quite a few genes involved.

Since your sense of taste and your sense of smell are very closely linked, this is also why some people like certain fragrances, and other people hate those same frangrances.
 

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