maine web development, web design, internet marketing

Photo credit: Incessant Flux

I had such a great time at my first #blogchat on Sunday evening. Created by Mack Collier, #blogchat is a hashtag you use on Twitter to turn a series of tweets into a chatroom like atmosphere to talk about blogging. Held at 9pm EST it is a great way to meet some new people who are also interested in blogging and to learn a few things from your peers.

This week the topic was how bloggers deal with burnout. We have all been there. Stuck. Frustrated. What better way to brainstorm ideas then with other people just like you? I came away with some great ideas that I think could help all of us out!

10 Things to do when you feel like you have nothing to blog about:

1. Make sure you are writing about what you are passionate about (if possible) – Writing regularly about anything you don’t care about will just seem like work. If you can, write about a topic you genuinely care about. If you are writing about something broad, narrow your topics down to something more specific that you really care about.
2. Freshen up an old post – Things change, your opinions change, the internet changes, subscribers change. Pull an old blog post deep from the archives and give it new life. Expand on it, disagree with it, add new case studies to it.
3. React to someone else’s blog – **Listen carefully on this one** Take someone else’s blog and REACT to it. Explain what they said and add your thoughts. Feel free to disagree, add a real life example, agree and add to it. Find a way to make your post original. Do NOT repost someone else’s blog and do NOT repeat someone else’s blog without adding original thought by you! People posting mindless blogs just talking about what someone else has said drive me bonkers!

   

4. Read other blogs – perhaps one of the best things you can do for your blogging career is read (and I mean actually read, not skim or read the title and ReTweet). I have my Google Reader jam packed of smart blogs that help keep me inspired. I also try to keep my Google Reader very tidy. If I subscribe to a blog and don’t find they are giving me much value I have no problem unsubscribing.
5. Read outside of your industry – Don’t fall into the trap of only following the most popular bloggers or just people in your industry. You will be surprised at where inspiration to write comes from. Check out books, biographies or some good old magazines or newspapers. Sometimes remembering to connect with the “real world” opens some neurons for some great blogs.
6. Themes and Events – One of the most interesting things I learned at #blogchat is that next month is Pet Dental Month. Who knew? Themed months, holidays or events are a great spark for some creativity. At the end of last year we had the final quarter blues so Kasi and I created the Internet Marketing Advent Calendar. We made a commitment to write one blog post a day. It was fun, we got rave reviews and a bunch of new subscribers from it.
7. Answer Questions – Take some of your most frequently asked questions and make blog posts out of them. Browse LinkedIn’s Question and Answer sections and find some inspiration. If one person is asking about a topic I bet hundreds, if not thousands, have the same question too.
8. Interview Someone – Take the day/week/month off; instead of cranking out another post, interview an expert, colleague, business partner or someone who can offer new perspectives to your topic.
9. Don’t write! Make a Video – Web video is increasingly becoming an important part of your marketing mix. Take your thoughts and make a quick video instead of writing a post!
10. Lighten up – Many of us take ourselves way to seriously. Remember why you started this blog in the first place. Lighten up and just provide something that people will find useful.

    

I hope one or two of those examples is useful. If you want to see many more ideas check out the full transcript from #blogchat last Sunday.