How To Write a Weekly Blog Even When You Have Nothing To Write About – Part 2
In Part 1 of this series last week, we focused on how to create time in your schedule to write a weekly blog. In Part 2 this week, the focus is ideation. It’s all about consistently generating writing ideas so that you never run out of things to talk about in your blog posts.
To recap, you can find time in your schedule to write if you:
- Make an unreasonable personal commitment
- Block your schedule,
- Set writing time limits, and
- Batch write whenever possible.
Now that you have the time to write, let’s focus on figuring out topics to help keep your blog rolling consistently.
A Note About Writer’s Block
When you first sit down to begin your blog posts, you may find yourself staring blankly at the page, idea-less. This is normal. It’s writer’s block, or more accurately, idea block. However, what I’ve come to realize is that writer’s block is a mindset problem, not a creativity issue.
Whenever I do something creative, my mind starts to wonder how it will be received. Is this information really helping anyone? Is it interesting? Am I bringing any new ideas to the table?
These “am I good enough” type thoughts can stop me dead in my tracks if I let them. Instead, I usually just take a deep breath and write stream-of-consciousness style. I let whatever I’m thinking, or feeling come spilling out on the page. Often it’s some version of the post I want to write but am concerned about the phrasing. If I just let go of the reigns of conscious thought a little bit, my internal judgment fades. Then I’ll find some thread in that stream of consciousness process to tether me back to the writing and finishing the post.
Now that we’ve handled our writer’s block, here’s what you can do to source ideas so that you never run out of blog topics.
1. Check Evernote and the Notes App
Whenever I have an idea or read something interesting, I jot down the thought or link to the article in Notes or Evernote. This running list of ideas becomes the source material for my posts, and I can always find at least one idea that I want to tackle from that list.
In terms of organization, I generally use these apps interchangeably when I’m keeping tracking of source material. Evernote is the app I use when I want to feel organized, and Notes helps when I need to get an idea down quickly.
2. Brainstorm with a Friend
We all know that two heads are better than one. That same concept applies to idea generation too. Talking through my programs, offerings, and business strategies with friends inevitably leads to questions that I can later turn into blog posts. Brainstorming with a friend also helps me hear my own thoughts on how I might better serve the needs of my audience.
3. Consider Your ICA
An ICA is an ideal client avatar. As the name suggests, it is the profile of the ideal client that you want for your business. There are countless exercises on how you can develop your own avatar that you can find on google. And once you create your ICA, a blog post is the perfect place to use it. If you read through your ICA when considering ideas for your next post, it will help you discover issues, questions, and concerns that your ICA might be having right now. These questions and concerns are the issues you want to tackle via your blog.
4. Ask These Questions
One of my favorite idea-generating exercises comes from this post by Hillary Weiss. In it, Hillary suggests that the key to never running out of blog post ideas is to repeatedly ask yourself questions that trigger an emotional response. By asking these questions over and over again while keeping a running tally of the responses, you tap into what’s really important for you in your life and business at the moment. Ultimately these are the things that you want to share with your audience.
Some of the questions Hillary suggests to get you started are:
- What do you love right now about your industry/niche?
- What do you hate right now about your industry/niche?
- What book, movie, song, artist, or public figure is influencing you most right now?
- What’s something more people need to be talking about?
- How do your clients/the people around you influence you?
- What advice do you catch yourself giving over and over?
- What do you wish you knew when you started your business?
- What cool scientific breakthroughs or discoveries are making waves for you and your craft right now?
- What lessons have you learned along the way?
- What lessons are you still learning?
- What makes you feel good about your work?
- What makes you feel bad about your work, and how are you overcoming it?
5. Make A Schedule And If You Can, Stick To It
It’s a good idea to organize your blog post ideas into some sort of a content calendar. This helps you see what’s coming up in your life, business, and blog writing and adjust your schedule accordingly.
This also helps you get a bit fancy if you want to do interviews. Many of the people you want to talk to schedule their calendars for weeks, months and sometimes, years in advance. So having a content calendar can really be a handy tool when you’re adding new elements to your blog that involve more than just you.
Even if you make a schedule and fail to stick to it, the most important thing is to write and publish. The more you write the easier it will be for you to stick to a schedule, write quickly, and generate ideas down the line. You are building a blogging habit that takes time and effort. But it’s definitely worth it.
Got blogging questions? Well I’ve got blogging answers. Let me know what need help with in the blog-o-sphere below, and let’s come up with some solutions together.