What-to-Wear Pre-Holiday Blogging

“Planning ahead is always better, especially when it comes to the holidays,” planoly.com suggests. “What you choose depends on your blog focus and niche, but tutorials attract high search traffic,” the authors explain, using How-to-Dress-For-an-Office-Christmas-Party as a tutorial “model”, with possible posts on creating the perfect casual look, finding the best sales, which boots are favorites for the holidays, and which are the best winter workout clothes.

One point I’ve consistently stressed in these Say It For You blog posts is how important it is to provide valuable information to readers, while avoiding any hint of “hard sell”. The theme of getting ready for the holidays can be used as a jumping-off point for a wide variety of blog posts for different businesses – and for different professional practices.

• Psychologists can write about holiday-time stress management.
• Carpet cleaning companies can list reasons it’s best to have carpets cleaned before the holidays.
• Hair salons can describe festive “dos” for party goers.
• Appliance vendors can offer safety tips for using heaters in guest rooms.
• Trip advisors can remind travelers of things to take care of before leaving their homes.
• Financial advisors can offer tips for managing debt while still celebrating the holidays.

In the Grammarly blog, Lindsay Kramer explains that tutorial blog posts may take different forms: In a how-to post, the blogger explains the steps readers must take to complete a task. In an interview post, the interviewee may talk about techniques or items that work well for them. “Explainer” blog posts are similar to how-tos, but aren’t necessarily present in a linear, step–by-step format.

General rules for what-to-wear/do/say blog posts might include:

1. Make all content as free of professional jargon and specialized lingo as possible.
2. Break technical information into bite-sized pieces.
3. Project warmth, showing your “human side”.
4. Use clear typeface, bullet points and bolding to draw attention to important points.
5. Suggest questions readers can ask themselves while choosing among options.

Providing valuable, usable, information to your blog visitors is a great idea year-round!