You’re staring at a blank screen. The clock is ticking. You’d love to get a fresh, insightful post up on your blog today. A post that will inform your readers, connect you with them and keep them coming back for more. And absolutely nothing fresh and insightful is coming to mind. You’re stuck. Blocked.
Don’t get frustrated. We’ve got the remedy: 10 tips for overcoming blogger’s block.
1. Plan your blogs. If you blog once a week, then take half an hour every quarter to plan 12 blogs. By all means deviate from it later, but having blog themes scheduled in advance can help avoid blogging panic.
2. Ask people in your target group what’s important to them. Their answers may surprise you. Additionally, you’ll start to discover some themes. In your blog, you can ask readers what they’d like to read. You may also find ideas in blog comments.
3. Don’t be afraid to be a little controversial or contrarian. Readers enjoy some spice and personality. There’s no need to write offensively purely to get noticed, but a blog that fails to express an opinion can be bland and may quickly lose readers.
4. Write a series about an important issue in your space. If you’re in the restaurant business and want to write about excellent customer service, a 300-word blog post may be too short for such a broad subject. Customer service could provide content for a series of six to 10 blogs.
5. Seek inspiration. Visit popular blogs in other industries and spaces and you’ll quickly gain some fresh ideas – just be sure to make them your own.
6. Keep it current. If you’re an expert in your field, provide advice based on current events. If there’s an important new development in your field, be among the first to blog about it and detail how the change or changes will affect others.
7. Conduct interviews. Associate yourself with influential people in your field to create an air of credibility. Organize an interview with someone who is well known in your space.
8. Go to industry websites and look through industry trade journals. Simply reading about the industry can provide ideas and inspiration.
9. Look backwards. Take a look at your past blogs. Which blogs were especially popular? Freshen up this content, recycle and repurpose.
10. Scan social media. You’ll quickly discover what’s hot and important in your space.
And following on from #10, here’s an extra tip: Try Vocus Marketing Software and its recommendation engine. It brings you the latest Web content relating to your business and industry, so you’ll never be short of an idea to blog about or a conversation to join again.
