A Blog Post Written By A Cat

Last week, I did talk about content marketing and one thing I said was that your content doesn't necessarily have to be about your product or service. You can write about anything relevant to your target audience.

After my talk, I went for a run and I was thinking about creative content ideas. As is often the case when I'm running, something random popped into my head and I thought it would make a nice bank holiday read for you.

Years ago, I write loads of content for an insurance company that specialised in insurance for freelancers. They didn't want blog posts about insurance (because it's boring) so I came up with lots of ideas for them.

There were posts about how to find work, how to get paid, how to build a network, and the common problems freelancers face. There were quite a few about working from home (it was pre-pandemic so it wasn't as common then). And there were some fun ones like "Blast from the past - the websites and social media posts we miss most" and "Reward yourself - the importance of biscuits."

Anyway, the one that popped into my head while I was running was one I wrote about the joys of working from home with a pet, which I write from the point of view of cat.

I thought it was a fun idea and so did the client. It didn't seem like such a good idea when the time came to actually write it. Mainly because I don't have a cat (or any pets).

But I think I did a pretty good job. And I went back through my old files and dug the post out. I'm not going to share the entire post, but I thought you might enjoy the part that was "written by" my imaginary cat.

“My human isn’t like other humans; she works with me at home. She has a special room where she goes to do her work. In the morning, I like to go and climb on her chair just before she gets there. She likes this because it makes the chair nice and furry ready for her to sit on.

We then play a little game where she tries to gently nudge me off the chair, but I dig my claws in, so she has to try harder. When I finally let her win, she gets her favourite toy out; it’s a little machine that sucks up fur and dirt, and she loves playing with it. She uses it to get all my hair off the chair. I don’t really like the noise it makes, so I leave the room while she has her fun.

Another favourite game of ours is where she gets all dressed up in her smart clothes, and then I rub around her ankles or jump up into her lap. She shoos me away, but I keep going back. She loves it.

If she’s in a particularly playful mood, she’ll leave her blazer laying neatly across a chair so I can sit on it while I wash myself. When I do this, she gets really excited because it means she can play with her other favourite toy – the sticky roller thing.

Most of the time, I sleep peacefully curled up somewhere comfy like my human’s bed or the sofa. But, whenever my human needs me, I go to her office and make sure she knows I am there for her.

I can tell when she needs me because she’ll be tapping furiously on her computer or rifling through piles of paperwork. I help her by jumping up on the desk and sitting on her keyboard while she tries to type or walking over the papers she is sorting through. Whenever I do this, she makes funny, loud noises and calls me names. This is how she shows her gratitude. We make such a good team.

Today my human had an important video call. I know when she has one of these because she shuts the office door. It’s ok though; I let her know that I am still there for her by scratching at the door, clawing at the carpet and meowing as loudly as I can.

Sometimes she will open the door, and I run away and hide under the bed. If she catches me, she’ll put me outside.

It’s raining today, so I go straight for the bedroom when she comes after me. Unfortunately, I’m not quick enough, and she puts me out in the rain.

Not to worry, I’ll head over to number 25 and meow at their door. They like it when I visit, and they always have a nice bag of treats for me.

 When I return home, my human is being extra nice. She probably feels bad for putting me outside. She puts my favourite food in my bowl, but I’m not hungry because the neighbours gave me a lot of treats today.  

My human tries to stroke me, but I turn my back on her and walk away. She needs to learn that she can’t just have my attention whenever she wants it. I’ll forgive her later of course, when she’s learnt her lesson. For now, I want to find a cosy spot to snuggle up in and get some sleep. It’s a tiring job looking after these humans. They don’t half wear you out.

I spot my human’s favourite dress laid out on the spare bed, all nice and crease free. Bless her; she clearly wants to make things up to me. I decide to forgive her, so I climb up onto her dress. She’ll probably want me to get it ready for that important meeting she has tomorrow…”

I then switched to "human" mode and wrote about the advantages of having pets at home, shared some cat facts and some dog facts, and finished with a question that always sparks debate - which are better cats or dogs?

I was pretty pleased with the post and it was certainly very different to what other insurance companies were posting about.

I'm not suggesting you should start writing posts from the point of view of your pets, but if you feel like you're just doing the same as everyone else in your industry, maybe it's time to get creative.

Think bigger picture. What themes or topics are relevant to your ideal clients?

And if you need help coming up with content ideas, why not book 90 minutes with me and we'll come up with some together.