Business blogging has many advantages. Blogging gives your company a chance to engage with your customers in a less formal setting than on your company website. A blog serves as an online platform for you to let your customers and potential customers in on some behind-the-scenes details about your company, highlight new products, announce special promotions and more. It can also be great for your SEO efforts. However, just creating a blog won't do anything; you need to actually write in it, a lot. Many companies blog weekly or even daily, which means you need some great content to keep your readers interested. Are you dealing with writer's block every time you sit down to compose a blog? Here are 10 great topics to help you get started.

• Summarize an industry-related news story. At the end of your post, link to the original news story and say something like "read the full article here." If you do this often, people will start to think of you as a resource for the latest updates in the industry, which means they'll check back often to stay in-the-know.

• Put the spotlight on an employee or current customer. This allows others to get to know people who use your product or service as well as your employees. It humanizes the company which makes it easier for people to trust and relate to you.

• Share details about a recent company event. Whether you want to make an announcement about when, where and why the event is happening or share photos and details about how the event went, your business blog is a great platform to do so.

• Post a video. Create an entertaining video that pertains to your company or industry and post it on your blog with a short summary paragraph. If you can, make it funny, people are more likely to share a funny video with friends. Funny and entertaining videos will also help keep your brand in people's minds.

• Write a how-to post. How-to's are one of the most popular blog entries. Did you know that 80% of people who visit a blog are visiting it for the first time? This is because they were searching for information (such as how to do something) that they found on the blog. Once they're reading on your blog, they're more likely to search through your other entries, then hopefully your website.

• Describe little known 3rd party products that work well with your product. This is useful information that your target audience (customers or potential customers) would be interested to know.

• Answer a common customer support question. This will not only help your customers but it also shows them that you genuinely care. Potential customers will see this and instantly gain more trust in your business.

• Highlight a product or service. If there's a particular product or service you are promoting this month, feature it on your blog. Include a photo and let your readers know how this product or service makes their life easier, healthier, happier, more successful, etc.

• Provide tips and tricks of the trade. Share some inside information on your industry with your readers. Giving them information they find interesting or useful but can't get anywhere else is one way to get them to come back and read in the future.

• Ask your customers' opinion. Want to know whether or not people liked your newest product? Post a few poll questions as a blog. Encourage people to leave their opinion in the comments section. It's an excellent way to get feedback about your product or service from the people who matter most, your customers. It also shows customers your company cares about what they think and you're working to ensure they have an excellent experience.

The possibilities are endless when you're coming up with things to write about for your business blog. It's important to always put yourself in your target audience's shoes. Think about what they would be interested in reading about. What kind of information would entice them to read then motivate them to share with their friends? Then start blogging! They'll appreciate your thoughtful and original content and return to read. Readers will hopefully turn into customers who will then eventually turn into advocates for your brand.