Avoiding Writers Block (Day 9-31 Kick Butt)

Anonymous_light_bulb.png 406×408 pixels.jpg If there is one comment I get a lot from clients and readers of Blog For Profit it is usually, “I don’t know what to blog about.” Or, “I have run out of things to write about.” Let me assure you, you are not alone. The key is to not wait until you reach such a point in your blogging.

Today is day 9 in 31-Days to Kick Your Blog in the Butt and we are going to tackle this problem today.

Let me assure you there is a way to mitigate this problem. And there is a way to keep it from happening. The key is to not let it happen in the first place. You need to keep a ready reserve of post ideas you can use to keep you on track with your post writing.

Today’s Lesson

We are going to do things a bit backwards, but you will see where I am going with this. I want you to come up with at least 10 post ideas you can use to write post from. That is your homework for today, and here is how we are going to do that.

1. Your Tools

This list is in no particular order. The main point is to find something that works for you to use to keep track of post ideas. You need somewhere to either physically write them down or a way to organize them on your computer.

Whiteboard – I use one in my own office
Legal Pad – which is what I used to put all of the twitter post I did in September which connected with this series.
Mindmapping
Evernote – an application, web app and now iPhone app I would not be without
Moleskine notebook – one of my favorite pen and paper methods

2. Previous Posts

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.

3. Client or customer questions

One of your best sources of ideas you should be posting about on your blog are those questions you get on a daily basis from clients and/or customers. 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 your imagination take you places you are not use to being

If you just use the two sources of post ideas we mentioned above, you are going to have a ready source of post ideas when you need them. The key to remember is you are trying to build a relationship with your readers. And if you use the above two sources, which focuses on your readers and your clients, you are well on your way to building that relationship. Answering the questions from commenters/readers and clients is a sure fire way to build trust too. And building trust will keep them coming back.

Your Homework for today

Your task for today is to take those tools and ideas we have above and come up with a minimum of 10 post ideas you can use over the next couple of weeks. Or that you can use when you happen to run out of things to post about.

For you brand new bloggers, who may not have that many post to pick from. Or you are not getting comments from readers, there is hope. Take a look at the other blogs in your niche. What are these bloggers blogging about? How could you expand on or improve on? What are the commenters saying in the comments? Be looking for unanswered questions from the comments or even take comments that have been answered and do it better.

There are no excuses not to use this technique to have a ready supply of post ideas. The only difference between the “seasoned” blogger and the “newbie” is the approach.

Lynne DeVenny

Keeping track of ideas "on the go" is the bigger challenge for me - I tend to have my post epiphanies as I'm driving down a busy interstate or trying to go to sleep. I keep a digital voice recorder with me at all times to record those ideas that would otherwise slip away.

If it's the middle of the work day, I will often email ideas to my personal email address.

Mitchel Goldstein

That is a great idea. I have my ideas while I am working on something else. Sending an email to myself before I forget will work. I tried writing them down, but it usually involves little slips of paper that I tend to lose.

Christopher G. Hill

Sounds familiar! I tend to have them just as I am falling asleep. My "niche" of construction law allows me to use recent cases, old posts, posts from other blogs and tweets as great resources.

Mrs Green

Capturing ideas is crucial - like others have said, you tend to get them whilst driving, at silly o'clock or standing in a supermarket queue! I have a voice recorder on a chain around my neck LOL! and a paper pad and pencil in my car, bag, by my bed and next to the computer. Oh and next to the telephone; when you're talking to someone they might fire off an idea for you.

I currently have about 100 ideas for articles, so no shortage there.... Reading magazines is a good way to get inspiration too; I have a cardboard folder with pages ripped out of newspapers and magazines. If I'm ever short of inspiration I challenge myself to look at just the cover stories and find something in there I can use as creative fodder for my own stuff.

Now my blog is over a year old I need to take your advice and rethink some of the old posts. I've never done this before, so this is new territory for me.

Lynne - I email myself as well ;)

Joe Hafner

For idea capture I also use my own voicemail, which is linked to a transcription service and sent to my email box, which saves me a step. I also use folders and filters set up in Gmail so writing ideas are automatically stored in a specific location and always at hand.

Some time ago I came across the concept of rapid article writing, which I've found to be a very fruitful exercise. I'm sure you could google it to get more details, but the basic concept is to write down as many little tidbits of information that you know about a given topic in your niche (shooting for 100 thoughts is a good start). Then you write a couple of sentences about each thought. Then you can group and re-group the topics into lists that make for compelling posts.

Lynne DeVenny

Mrs. Green - As much as I hate paper, I have a STACK of magazines and articles - even stuff my co-workers, bosses (attorneys) and friends give me.

Twitter & my RSS Reader are also fantastic ways for me to keep up with things I might want to blog about. Starring posts and saving Tweets to great links as favorites mean that I'm less likely to have writer's block and more likely to have writer's diarrhea...:P

Mrs Green

"writer’s diarrhea" - yup, I definitely suffer from that rather than writers block too LOL!

Marilyn Katz

Grant- I just don't know what to say ;-)

Grant Griffiths

LOL, I don't either...

Lori

Perfect timing! I liked the idea about scanning through comments to looks for unanswered questions and other clues.

I find that I usually don't have any problem with ideas for blog posts. While I'm established, I still am a bit new-ish with my blog, so I know there will be a day where I need some extra inspiration to get going.

I capture new ideas on a 'cyber stickie' and keep them on my Mac' s desktop. It helps me to think through the topic for a few days before I start writing.

Thanks for the ideas! I'm enjoying the series. Have a great day!

Grant Griffiths

Lori, thanks for jumping in and commenting. And if you like 'cyber stickie', you have to try Evernote. It even has an iPhone version too.

Christine Livingston

I'm moving house in two weeks time and am looking forward to having an office there that is just for my online/writing work. My intention is to use one of the walls as an ideas board on which I'm going to put Post-It notes of my thoughts for post titles and content bullets. The reason I love Post-Its is that they're very low tech. You can group them, move them around, change them completely, use different colours for different sorts of ideas, take the relevant notes with my laptop to a coffee shop....

Grant Griffiths

WOW, moving now too. Pictures? I still use Post-its too. They fit well with my Moleskines too.

Patrick MacNamara

A wise mentor friend of mine always said, "Paper is cheaper than brains, write it down!"

To this end, I always keep a notepad handy in my nightstand so that I'm always ready to be able to capture any thought or idea that may come to my mind throughout the night.

I guarantee you that this will aid tremendously in creating your list. If you don't use a notepad, you're robbing your innate from reaching its potential and won't remember that brilliant idea that has the ability to catapult you forward come morning.

Outside of the old-fashioned notepad, I use Evernote and Jott. If I'm trying to organize a series, I'll also throw ideas into either some >mindmapping software</a or an equivalent online version.

Hope this helps!

Grant Griffiths

Thanks Doc for the comment and for reading. And to everyone else, this man knows blogging. Even if you are not a Chiropractor, you could learn a thing or two from Dr. Patrrick MacNamara and his blog - Next Generation Chiropractor

Cynthia

I've long keyed my ideas into my blackberry note pad; I often get ideas while waiting for the train on my commute or waiting in line at Safeway. But now I have another new idea when facing writer's block: write about writer's block! I've bookmarked this page as a favorite. Now I'll never be without inspiration!

Cathy Ribble

Shortage of ideas is not the problem, but prioritizing and just doing it! While I find all of the tools mentioned useful for recording ideas, today I'm falling back on the LARGE whiteboard and have prioritized 10 ideas which should engage my target market.

Let's continue the great discussion!

Grant Griffiths

Cathy-

The key is to find the tool that works best for you and then use it. The problem so many start and drop off because they don't use the tools to keep themselves organized and on track.

Catherine

Ok, I've just gotten to this lesson because I'm not following them in order. Although I'm slightly geeky, my little moleskin goes everywhere with me since I started blogging.

I used to focus more on writing articles before and was always desperate that I would run out of ideas, until I got a heads up from a very experienced writer who showed me how to write 100 articles from one subject. That floored me, then opened the flood gates. There really is no limit.

So in addition to Grant's list, I would add "lists". If you have ever created a list post or a list anything. You could easily come up with ideas for 10 posts from each point.

Ewen Allison

I look often at recent cases in my jurisdiction and field, perhaps summarizing one or two that were handed down in a given week. I have to keep up with the law anyway, and it shows visitors that I'm staying on my toes. Also, it's good content.