For some reason over the last week I have been completely blank on what to write about. Speaking as someone who has written often about this very subject. Talked to a number of our clients about it. And even tweeted about it. Experiencing my own self imposed writer’s block has not been a favorable experience.

As I was shaving this morning and getting ready for my normal Monday routine, I decided to kick myself in the butt and stop feeling sorry for myself. “Writer’s block, you are an idiot.” “Get off your sorry butt and go write.”

That is exactly where this post is coming from too. And what better subject to write about than, writer’s block.

I know a lot of you have this issue. And I know it is a struggle too. The key to avoiding writer’s block is to just go back to what you know. And going back to what you know is exactly what we should be doing.

This post is a prime example of what you can do when you feel this way. Just so you know, I am going to revisit a couple of my previous post and repurpose some of the content here. Why, because that is one of the things you can do when you are experiencing writer’s block. The other reason I am going to revisit those other post is because as we approach Spring and our minds are wondering to our desire to be outside, we need some reminders of the blogging practices we should be doing too.

Our Tools

I have certain tools I use in my office daily. Each of them allow me a way to save post ideas in a place I can go when I need reminded of something to write about.

The tool I probably use the most is Evernote. This app is golden and I would encourage you to give it a try. With Evernote, I can grab an idea right off of another web page. Or I can store a PDF. The great thing about Evernote is the fact you can set up folders and organize ’til the cows come home*. In fact, I have folders for most of the categories on this blog. Storing and finding things could not be easier.

*’Till the cows come home – Cows are notoriously languid creatures and make their way home at their own unhurried pace. That’s certainly the imagery behind ‘until the cows come home’, but the precise time and place of the coining of this colloquial phrase isn’t known. It was certainly before 1829 though, and may well have been in Scotland. The phrase appeared in print in The Times in January that year, when the paper reported a suggestion of what the Duke of Wellington should do if he wanted to maintain a place as a minister in Peel’s cabinet:

“If the Duke will but do what he unquestionably can do, and propose a Catholic Bill with securities, he may be Minister, as they say in Scotland “until the cows come home.”

Sorry, now you see what writer’s block does to me.

Next is my Moleskine notebook. I keep one of these on my desk and in my messenger bag. Sometimes it is just nice to take pen and paper and jot down ideas. And don’t forget, Grandma would be happy too.

The key is to pick 2 or maybe even 3 tools you can use to store and find ideas you come up with for blog post. And believe me, I hit both of them the last couple of days and apparently it helped.

Our Previous Post

Remember your post are the conversation you are having with your niche, audience, target market, potential clients, present clients and even “competitors”. Scan over the last 10 or 12 post you have and pay special attention to the comments on those post. Read over them and really look at what the conversations are all about. I often find the comments I get on my post are better than the post itself. Good comments are a gold mine for more blog post. Write some of the ideas down you are seeing in the comments.

Next, take a look at the post you wrote over these same 10 or 12 post.

• is there some way you could expand on an idea you wrote about.
• could one or two of those post become a series of new post
• if one of those post was just a current event update for your readers, could you take that and write more from your opinion of the current event
• could you take one of the post and repurpose it and make it even better.

The list is only limited by your own imagination. All you are doing is taking advantage of the comments you are getting and your own blog post and expanding on the ideas in both.

Our Clients or Customers

This is a gold mine of good blogging material. Questions you get from potential clients and/or customers. Or just causal questions you get asked on the street. If you are a service provider ask yourself one very important questions, “what is keeping my clients up at night?”

You should be making a list of these common questions. All of these types of questions make some of the best blog post. Not only because you are answering their questions and providing information on your blog. But if you think about the fact, if they are asking you these questions, they are most likely looking for answers to them online. And if you are the one answering them, they are going to find you.

Let yourself go…

…at least a little from time to time. We should allow ourselves to step outside the box. Post about something your readers may not expect you to post about. Give them a refreshing view of you. In other words, be human for god’s sake. Seriously, this is something I have been trying to do and actually wrote it down as one of my plans for 2010.

This is especially true for the business blogger. I think we all get so caught up in trying to always put on that professional dress code we forget who we are. Of course there is a word or two of caution to go along with this. Be careful. You need to know your audience and how they might react just a little before you step too far out of the box.

Blogging should be fun. And it should be fun for both you and your readers. So, go out and have fun damn-it.