Table of contents
- What is a motivational blog?
- 10 topics for motivational blogs
1. Discuss your brand origins
2. Tell a success story
3. Offer a fresh perspective
4. Share a relevant personal story
5. Discuss topics that interest your target market
6. Offer practical tips and advice
7. Share a cause you’re passionate about
8. Write about how your product benefits others
9. Share interviews and case studies
10. Go behind-the-scenes - 35 subject areas for motivational blogs
- Why write a motivational blog?
- Tips for writing motivational posts
1. Make your title stand out
2. Don’t shy away from debate
3. Be personal (if it’s appropriate)
4. Pair with strong visuals
5. Format for readability
6. Seek consent
7. Write to your audience
8. Be upbeat!
What is a motivational blog?
People and companies set up motivational blogs to engage with their readers’ emotions and inspire them to make a change in their lives and/or habits for the better.
Motivational posts published on that blog typically share stories or advice about how to live a happy and successful life. If you’re thinking that this doesn’t apply to your industry, then you're wrong! The great news is, businesses of any size or type can benefit from writing motivational pieces from time to time. Here's why:
Motivational blogs work on the power of positivity; positive voices are infectious and can contribute to a greater good.
That’s why motivational blog writing performs so well on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. If they perfectly capture the mood of your audience, they can even go viral!
10 topics for motivational blogs
We know it’s hard work coming up with topics for motivational blog posts so we’ve provided 10 motivational content ideas and examples you can start pencilling into your content calendar right now:
1. Discuss your brand origins
If you have a rags-to-riches story or you want to chart your business’ evolution and success, talking about the core idea or history behind your brand can make a great topic for a motivational blog post. There are lots of people aspiring to build their own businesses or enact social change, and sharing your journey can also help remind readers of your values and provenance.
Read More: How to tell your brand’s story
2. Tell a success story
As humans, we love other people’s successes, especially if they’re achieved against the odds. You can tell the story of how one of your clients or employees achieved record sales they never thought possible. Or tell the story about how you learned a new hobby or ran a marathon and what that has brought to your life. These kinds of posts give you plenty of opportunities to share images and videos, and if you publish a series of posts along the journey, you can also build momentum.
3. Offer a fresh perspective
There is always a demand for advice on topics like happiness or positivity in a cynical world! Perhaps you could take a philosophical teaching or inspirational quote and write about what it means to you. Maybe you could write a letter to your future or past self about what you know now, or you could create a bucket-list style post, such as ’25/30/40… things to do before you turn 25/30/40…’. The nature of your industry will dictate the direction.
4. Share a relevant personal story
Anecdotes can be a useful way to engage a reader and illustrate a more complex point. Did you witness something on your morning commute, in a meeting or while standing in a queue that triggered a revelation? Perhaps it made you think about how we could be living better or more meaningful lives? Share it with your readership and start a conversation!
5. Discuss topics that interest your target market
If your product or service is aimed at a certain demographic (e.g. women in the UK aged 18-25), then this can help you find the kinds of motivational post ideas that will interest them. These could be social and political issues, cultural stories or trending hobbies and lifestyles. Use social media and trending topics in other relevant sites and publications that can help guide your content plan. But the most important thing is to keep it relevant!
6. Offer practical tips and advice
No one’s life is perfect; to be human is to be fallible and strive for something better. That means whatever it is you’ve got to offer, you can share advice that can help others turn things around. Maybe it’s healthier recipes, ways to become more confident, workout tips, money-saving strategies or morning/evening routines. Whatever your specialism, by sharing your knowledge you can share the success.
7. Share a cause you’re passionate about
Companies are increasingly purpose-driven. If you have a corporate social responsibility policy that details how you give back to one element of society or a cause you’re passionate about, then why not do a series on this? You’ll create greater awareness and show a different side to your brand.
8. Write about how your product benefits others
The key here is not to be too sales-focused, but instead to focus on promoting the wider benefits of your product or service. Has it helped someone transform their health, cement good habits or connect with others? Using the words or experiences of your customers can lend an air of authenticity, and new customers are more likely to buy from you if they can see the real-world benefits.
9. Share interviews and case studies
Interviews are another great way to convey authenticity. They usually offer a glimpse into the secret life of the interviewee and can let readers know about the person’s background, struggles and tips behind their success. If you’ve gone to the trouble of setting up an interview, readers know you’re invested in building your brand and reputation rather than simply profit margins.
10. Go behind-the-scenes
Behind-the-scenes stories allow you to show a more human side to your subject matter or company. These could be profiles on a member of your team, what their day involves, what they’re passionate about outside of work or a glimpse into one of your customers’ lives and habits.
35 subject areas for motivational blogs
If you haven’t yet started your business or site and are looking for inspiration, here are 35 examples of motivational topics that are trending right now. These subject niches are perfect for motivational blogs:
1. Fitness and workout
2. Healthy eating
3. Work-life balance
4. Healthy living spaces
5. Self-help and positive life changes
6. Self-improvement
7. Confidence building
8. Motivational quotes and advice
9. Inspirational morning and evening routines
10. Money-saving tips
11. Meditation and mindfulness
12. Productivity tips
13. Self-care practices
14. Goal planning
15. Mental health
16. Environmental sustainability and social change
17. Career changes
18. Upskilling
19. Spirituality
20. Overcoming setbacks
21. Side-earning and self-employment tips
22. Creative inspiration
23. Minimalism and decluttering
24. Parenting
25. Gender discussions
26. Body positivity
27. Hair and beauty tips
28. Property transformations
29. Alternative lifestyles
30. Travelling to unknown places
31. Letters to the past or future
32. Random acts of kindness
33. Heros and inspirational figures
34. Everyday adventures
35. Hobbies and pursuits
Check out these 100 motivational blogs if you want more inspiration.
Why write a motivational blog?
There is a multitude of reasons why you might want to start a motivational blog. Maybe you’ve been through a tough time and found that sharing your experiences helped you to make sense of them and move on. Maybe you’re an expert in your field and you want to share your knowledge and tips with the world. Or maybe you just find that writing is a great way to organise your thoughts and share your passion for a particular cause or interest.
Whatever your reason, there are plenty of benefits to be had from writing a motivational blog.
Here are just a few:
- You can help others who are going through a similar experience.
- You can share your knowledge and expertise with the world to improve others’ lives.
- You can build a loyal following and grow your own business.
- You could gain publicity for a specific cause as well as yourself.
- You’ll become a better writer through the process of constant feedback from your audience.
- You’ll practise and develop empathy and share it with others.
- You may gain more traffic or followers if your motivational posts go viral.
- You’ll get plenty of motivation and tips back from your readers too in the form of kind comments and shares on social media.
Tips for motivational blog writing
Once you’ve chosen your topic, you’ll want to follow some steps to make sure your posts truly are inspirational.
Here are tips to write better posts on motivational topics:
1. Make your title stand out
There is a lot of content out there competing for people’s times, so use a catchy, attention-grabbing headline. This will be your ‘hook’. How-tos and Guides work well if you’re offering practical advice, but if you’re telling a story, then your headline doesn’t have to be explanatory. Write your content first and then if a startling statistic or unusual image crops up, think about using that for the heading.
Read More: What is a hook in writing?
2. Don’t shy away from debate
If you want to get people talking, start a debate. While you need to carefully consider your audience and your business, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there if there’s a cause you believe in.
3. Be personal (if it’s appropriate)
One of the best ways to engage people is to write about topics that other people can relate to and make them think: “I’ve felt like that too”, or “That’s happened to me.” This approach is more suitable to freelancers or hobby bloggers and might not always be relevant for an SME, but it can be if you connect with the mood of your audience and create your content around strong emotions and feelings. Even corporate blogs can start with an anecdote to get the reader engaged and offer a unique way in.
4. Pair with strong visuals
Motivational blog posts make great content for sharing on social media, and a strong image that is clean, eye-catching and a little unusual can help your post go viral. Avoid stock images if you can and opt for quotes and bright colours if they suit your content and brand. Creating an accompanying, upbeat video is another great way to build a connection with your audience.
5. Format for readability
Listicles work well for tips and advice-led content, whereas if you’re writing around a quote, make sure this is indented at the top and slightly bigger than the rest of your copy. Structuring your content with headers will make it easier for people to jump to the bits that interest them.
6. Seek consent
Just because you think an engagement with a client was a suitable illustration of what your product can do, make sure you run this by them first, especially before publishing any names or company information on your blog.
7. Write to your audience
Keep your demographic front and centre at all times; there’s no point writing about a subject if it doesn’t link your brand and your audience together.
8. Be upbeat!
The purpose of your motivational blog is to engage and inspire change in your audience, so remind them what they stand to gain from reading your article. Keep the language active, light and positive. This comes across in your main points too, so offer actionable advice and positive steps over dwelling on the negatives.
Start creating inspirational content today!
Motivational blog posts are some of the most popular content on the internet and they are sorely needed in a post-pandemic world. We can all stand to be a little kinder to ourselves and each other, and your blog could help be the force for good.
With these inspirational blog post ideas you can help people build back their confidence and self-esteem to achieve success in their lives, whatever that looks like to them.
