When you first start blogging, it’s easy to come up with things to write about. Especially if you’ve been contemplating starting a blog for awhile, you probably have a stockpile of ideas you can’t wait to get online.
But after a few weeks or months, you may wake up one morning, turn on the computer and realize, I got nothing.
Some bloggers never get past that point, which explains why so many blogs are abandoned each year.
But it’s not hard to come up with blog post subjects, even when the idea well appears to have run dry.
In fact, after blogging for a while, you may see inspiration for blog posts in almost anything you do, see or say.
When it comes to coming up with ideas for blog posts, here are some common tricks of the trade:
Read through comments your readers are leaving – Are they asking questions? Are there certain things they comment on more than others? If so, those questions or comments could be the kernels of other posts.
Read other blogs – Look for blogs on topics you write about to see if there are common themes or timely topics you could pick up on your own blog, and refer back to the original of course.
Read, watch or listen to the news – Use a news event, commentary or trend as a starting point.
Give advice – Blog readers love how-tos and lists, especially if it’s not something they’re already read 100 times before.
Read posts by popular bloggers – Old pros like Chris Brogan or ProBlogger have written extensively on how to consistently come up with ideas for blog posts. Here’s Christ Brogan’s Best of list of his most popular blog posts ever, and a good one from ProBlogger called A freelance writer is always full of ideas.
Re-read your older posts. Is there a thread or idea you could expand on? Is there something you overlooked the first time you that’s screaming to be said? Does something warrant an update?
Review comments you leave on other people’s blogs. Could your reply serve as the basis for your own post. I tend to do this a lot – hey, as long as I’m writing something, I might as well use it on my own blog, right? In fact, this post started out as reply to a message I read on a writer’s forum from a freelancer who was worried she’d run out of things to say on her almost month-old blog (maybe she should check out that ProBlogger post).
Ask for suggestions. It’s not admitting defeat to ask for help, especially from the people who already read you – they’re there because they’re interested in what you have to say, so ask them what they’d like to hear more of.
I never know when I’ll get an idea for a blog post, and if I don’t act quickly, it could fly away forever. So when inspiration strikes and I’m at my keyboard, I scroll over to my blog and write up a few quick notes. Then when I have time to sit down and compose a post I don’t have to start from scratch. If I pound out a rough draft in the heat of the moment I can capture the emotion of what inspired me to write in the first place. I can always go back later – the next day or even a week or month later – with my editor hat on, rework what I’ve written so it reads better and add links, images, etc.
When I started blogging I had a dozen or so blog posts started in my drafts queue. Nineteen months into it, I’ve got the beginnings of 60+ posts hanging out in my drafts queue – some are a few sentences, others just titles and still others I should probably delete because they’re outdated or I can’t remember what they were supposed to be about.
But I can’t imagine running out of things to say.
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Happily, quite a timely post! I’m doing my first blog-a-thon this month, and the inspiration has been elusive!
Thanks, Michelle. What a great list. My new favorite method for consistent blogging is scheduling posts. I have a post on that today:
http://www.semiosiscommunications.com/blog/2009/07/schedule-social-media/
Top 10 Reasons Why I Should Give Advice on My Blog
[which I don’t, give advice, I mean, but do you think I should start?]
1. Fortify my cred, er, expertise.
2. Stretching. We can all improve. Even me.
3. Giving back, not that I ever got a lot, but still…
4. Feeling superior. I’m very cool with this.
5. Inflating my self-importance, uhm, self-esteem.
Yes? No?
Bravo Sarah. Blogathons are a great way to get into the posting habit. I’ve sponsored one here the past two Mays and they’ve been fantastic motivators. I even created a page called The WordCount Blogathon that explains what it is, and has lots of links to blogging resources.
Michelle R.
Great idea Peter. I scheduled my posts during the blogathon I hosted in May, it was handy for keeping track of posts on certain blogathon-related topics I needed to run. Scheduling posts is also a good way to achieve a nice balance between how-tos, lists, commentary, link lists.
Michelle R.
First of all, thanks for deeming me a worthy enough freelancer/writer/blogger to ask this question. But I can’t answer without knowing on what subjects are you thinking of giving advice. Is it on writing about food? I just peaked at your blog, which covers “the business of food” and your bio, which lists years of experience in food service and magazine journalism. I’d say based on both, seems like you’ve got qualifications and then some. It could just be getting over the hurdle of feeling like you’re not enough of an authority. So if and when you write advice-type blog posts, write from your own experience without trying to generalize too much, or base observations on other people’s situations, polls, surveys, group conversations, etc. That way the advice isn’t just coming from you.
Hope that helps.
Michelle R.