As someone who creates content just about every day of the week, I know just as well as anyone that figuring out what to write for your blog can sometimes be a challenge. That blank screen is just about the worst! Luckily, I have some strategies for you to use so that you will never be starved for content ideas on your blog again.
1. Answer Your “FAQ”
When consulting with medical practices on their Websites, one of the most frequently asked questions I receive is just this…how do I come up with topics for the blog?
I tell them that there must be questions that their staff hear day in and day out. These are the things that patients are asking aloud and Googling about. If you can answer these questions before anyone else, you’re ahead of the pack. So I tell them to interview their front office staff, their nurses, and their doctors, and get a list of the top 10-20 questions that patients have.
Most of these practices are only blogging once a week, so there goes 10-20 weeks of content right there!
You can do the same thing as an entrepreneur. This is even easier if you’ve been around for a while, because it’s likely people are already Emailing you and posting comments on social media with questions that you can answer. This is GOLD because it’s what your readers actually want to know about.
If you haven’t been around quite as long, you can always do research on other blogs in similar niches to see what people are asking in those comments sections.
I wrote a recent post on using FAQs and “SAQs” to write blogs here.
2. Never Start with a Blank Page
A blank page is the worst. Nothing is more intimidating. So don’t start there.
You have two options for filling that page before you start writing.
Option A: Start with “bones”. This means starting by writing everything you know about your target market. Just start writing about what their days must be like and what their problems are. Keep writing and eventually you will stumble across a post idea.
Option B: Just Start Writing. Just write whatever. Seriously. Doesn’t matter what you’re writing, as long as you are participating in the action of putting fingers on keys. Don’t worry about it making sense or even being relevant to your blog. Eventually, through writing something unrelated, your gears will start to turn. Just allow yourself to be open.
3. Look Through Old Posts for Holes
Take a look at the old posts on your blog and read through some of them. I would start with the posts that are most popular with your audience. Then look for areas that could be expanded upon. For example, in my post about Keeping Email and Phone Calls at Bay, I mention that sometimes if you’re really overwhelmed, you may want to consider hiring a virtual assistant.
I don’t go into detail on how to do that, though, so that may be a future post that I write.
When it comes down to it, the best way to come up with new content is to just write more content. Writing begets more writing. The moment you allow yourself to accept that writers block is happening things will get 10x worse.