Writing for business-to-business (B2B) readers is only slightly different than writing for business-to-consumer (B2C) customers. If you think about it, in both cases, real human people read both kinds of posts, so they are, of necessity, similar. The differences come from what is covered and, sometimes, how it is covered. One reason it's tricky to write B2B content is that it's sometimes far more dry than a consumer post might be. But you don't have to be dry. Here are some ideas and topics.
Recently, I met a guy who sells shiny concrete polish. I'm not kidding. Should he be blogging? Sure, if his user base is online. If you're to believe studies, I'd say there are lots of customers online whom we don't know are there. Check Technorati for your company, product, or general industry name. If you find other people discussing you, you might consider getting online and telling your own story, too.
Okay, I won't really list 10 headlines, but the idea is inherent in the headline. Stealing a page out of Copyblogger's book, write headlines patterned after current consumer magazines. They draw our attention in grocery stores for a reason. Alter them to match your business needs. For example, with some minor manipulation, "Five summer makeover tips she needs to know" becomes "Five summer makeover tips your data center needs now." Easy, eh? Try it.
Often, B2B content is written to represent the company. Swell. Except your audience most likely consists of your customer base and prospects. To that end, write your posts with your customers' usage in mind. Think about what they will want to know, and how you can be useful. Some quick ideas:
How-to posts on some of the trickier aspects of your product
Little-known third-party products that work well with your product
Product release road maps (if they're public), and what the customer gets with each iteration
Funny internal bits about the products (I wonder if Will It Blend? started as an internal joke between engineers)
People profiles from the company's staff, especially if they don't exactly relate to the product
Can you do case studies with your customers? Have you heard really interesting things about what they are doing, with or without your products? People love seeing their name in print. Why not write about some of your favorite customers and give them some love on your post? (Well, maybe you shouldn't call them your favorites, because your other customers might feel sad.)
This might be counterintuitive, but your business partners might occasionally appreciate knowing when something is going tough for you. I'll admit that this is tricky. Many parts of your business relationship aren't exactly fit for prime time, and sharing a weakness is delicate, but in the event of a public-facing product or service issue, it's probably better to get it out there than to sit on it. If you want best-in-class examples of handling public concerns, check out the work of Lionel Menchaca and team at Direct2Dell, the Dell computer blog.
People are reading more than your blog site, and they probably like lots of other sites better than your blog. But do you know who loves you (or who should)? Google. The folks at Google love you just as much as the next person, even though they rank you based on your web site's search quality, your site freshness, and a dozen other things I won't talk about here.
To that end, blogging with topical information in mind sometimes sucks you into the Google search fans. If you're in telecommunications, why wouldn't you write about the new Apple iPhone, even if you are the competition? The changes that Apple and, by extension, AT&T, bring to the consumer space must touch you in some way. Look for stories in the mainstream news that might cross over with your B2B customers, and write the tangential article to match.
Finally, make sure that you check in with your audience regularly on posts. Ask them if what you've written relates to their use of your product or service. Ask them what they'd like to hear more about. See what's on their minds. You might find that the conversations that start on your blog, even the negative ones, are enlightening, and you might find yourself getting information that will help you improve your product, service, or maybe the business itself. Be open to it. All of it.
What else might you want to consider? What questions does this raise for you as a B2B businessperson? If you're a consumer, tell me about a potential B2B blog that you wish someone were writing.
Write for your readers, but lead like a leader. Never let the community become bored because you're phoning it in. Be vigilant for that.