Coming Up with Blog Post Ideas
March 24, 2008 – 1:20 pm
Do you ever get blogger’s block - feeling like you’ve already blogged about everything in your niche, where you just can’t seem to come up with new blog ideas to write about? I do. I’d bet most bloggers do from time to time.
No matter how much you’ve written, you probably haven’t really tapped your niche (even if it’s a pretty narrow one). So, when these dry spells happen, how can you come up with blog post ideas to keep your blog fresh? Here are a few suggestions (using the “making money online” niche as an example):
Update Your Old Posts - If you’re writing about ways to make money online, you’ve probably covered topics such as blogging, affiliate marketing, and different advertising networks. Chances are that at least some of your posts are out of date. Update them, or create a new post about the topic.
For example, maybe an ad network changed their terms of service. Or maybe there’s a new blog platform that bloggers can consider using. Write about those things (especially if the older posts on the topic were popular).
Get Personal - Blogs with no personalization are often boring. If you’re writing about making money online, your readers probably want to hear your own stories about how you’re making money online (and this is true in many other niches as well). Did you have a record-breaking month of income? Blog about it, and tell people how you earned it (even if just generally).
Did your latest monthly income bottom out? Hypothesize as to why, and share your thoughts with your readers. It lets them know they’re not alone with lousy earnings once in a while. Don’t be afraid to open up a bit on your blog. You can also share your personal experience with blog platforms, plugins, affiliate programs, ad networks, payment processors, or even share general case studies of work you’ve done.
Chat up an Expert - Do you have to be an expert at the topic you’re writing about? It certainly would help, but no, you don’t. For example, you may want to start a medical blog about a certain condition to raise awareness because you or a loved one suffers from it. You don’t have to be a doctor (as long as that’s clear on your site), but interviewing some would certainly lend credibility to your blog.
In the case of a “make money online” blog, the same is true. You don’t have to be making a lot of money online to blog about it. Perhaps the point of your blog is to start from nothing and blog about your experiences to start earning significant money online. In that case (or even if you are already successful in the niche area), you can lend more credibility to your own blog by talking to people already earning a significant income online.
You might want to interview popular bloggers, people behind the scenes of a new ad network, etc. Talk to anyone at all that may have insight into any of the topics your blog covers. There are always new people to talk to and interview, so that alone should keep you from running out of blog post ideas. As an added bonus, interviews are a great way to network.
In the News - Another reason you should never run out of blog topics is the fact that news in pretty much any niche is so readily available. Set up a Google Alert for your blog topic, and write a news post whenever something interesting happens. This can be a full commentary on the news, or just a heads-up to readers with a link to the original news source.
Join the Conversation - You’re not alone in the blogosphere whether you’re writing about making money online or anything else. Other bloggers in your niche can be your best friends.
Did someone write an interesting post in your niche on another blog? Then mention it on yours, link to it, and add your own commentary (maybe you agree with them but want to add more to what they had to say, or perhaps you even disagree with them and want to start a cross-blog debate or discussion).
Answer Questions - It’s a good idea to let readers ask you questions directly. If they ask something (privately, in comments, etc.) that others may also be curious about, then answer it in a new blog post. But what if your blog is relatively new, or your readers simply aren’t asking you anything?
Visit popular blogs in your niche, and peruse the comments. Are readers there asking questions? If so, chances are that other people want to know the same things. If you can answer it on your own blog, do it.
Know Your Audience - Keyword suggestion tools can be your best friend. Type in some keywords related to your niche, and see what suggestions come up. Are there ideas in there of topics that are heavily searched for, but that you haven’t covered on your blog yet? If so, write about the topics, and target the high-search keyword phrases to try to drive search traffic to your blog.
Review Something - There’s always something to review. Review a book in your niche, a service you’re using, an ad network and your experience with it, other sites and blogs, tools, etc.
There really isn’t a good excuse to ever say you’re completely out of blog post ideas. We all suffer from blogger’s block once in a while. Use some of these suggestions as a fall-back when you need something new to write about, and you’ll have no problem keeping your blog fresh.
One other thought - if you feel overwhelmed with blogging, perhaps you’re trying to do it too often. If you’re a daily blogger, try cutting it back to 3 or 4 posts per week (even just temporarily). When your blog loses it’s “fun” appeal and feels like just another obligation with deadlines, it’s going to be harder to keep the ideas flowing.
Do you have other tips for coming up with blog post ideas? If so, share them in a comment. 
It’s been a while since I’ve done a freelance Friday post. So here’s some new weekend reading for you with interesting posts around the blogosphere that might appeal to freelance writers.
Being a freelance writer can be stressful at times. That stress may be because you have a lot of work going on at once, or because work is slow and you’re stressing while you try to find new clients. No matter what the reason is, you have to deal with the stress before it completely consumes you.
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