5 Solutions for when you don't know what to blog about
Keeping up a blog and publishing posts on a regular basis can sometimes be a real challenge. While in theory there is a multitude of topics to choose from, in real life inspiration doesn't always match opportunity. Writer's block does exist! And when stuck there is the danger of reverting to the same kind of content again and again, making the blog less appealing to your regular audience.
When I faced the challenge to write this week's article, I was exactly in that situation. I had no clue what to write about. However, struggling to come up with some ideas to get this post started I realized that the problem I faced actually would be a great topic to write about. So, what can you do? Here are five tips to break through your writer's block and generate blogging ideas.
Review your audience
I assume that you are writing your blog with a certain audience in mind. If it is a photography focused blog that could be other photographers, or it could be art buyers, galleries and collectors. If you have a travel blog, it could be fellow travelers. If your blog mainly exists to support selling anything from your website, it can focus on showcasing the products or services you provide. Whatever the case, you always can ask the following questions:
Who am I writing for?
Are all articles written for the audience I'm targeting?
What have I not written about that my audience would be interested to know?
Can I write something that appeals to a broader or different audience, without driving away my current followers?
Answering these questions will help you to refocus on your audience and come up with ideas for new blog topics, and maybe even ideas for new projects, products or services.
Review past posts
Another great way to generate new ideas for your blog is to review past posts. Are there any patterns you can see? Is there anything you can build on, maybe a couple of articles that you now can combine into a series to expand on? When looking at all your blog entries, do you see gaps, is there anything you have not written about? Has anything changed since you wrote a previous article and can you refer back to it and make additions or clarify?
Review your portfolio
Step back and have a fresh look at your portfolio. Do you see any patterns or maybe changes over time that you can write about? Are there any images you have not written about? Are there any images you could compare, or that showcase your development as a photographer?
Another opportunity could be to write about the similarities or differences between images and collections in your portfolio. Are some in black in white and some in color? Do you have landscape and urban pictures? Write about the reason for this, and how the use of each impacts the message you are communicating. Making new connections between your collections can be a great way to see your work from a different perspective and generate ideas for your blog.
Read and follow other blogs
Yes, you have to face reality: there are more blogs out there than only yours. And while it sometimes can be overwhelming to see how much 'competition' for your audience's attention there is, it also provides you with a great opportunity. Read other blogs and see what trends there are, what other bloggers are writing about. This not only will help you generate ideas for your own blog, following and connecting with other bloggers will help you to grow your experience and become active in a bloggers network in other ways (hey, another possible blog topic!).
Important here is that you not only use ideas from other blogs, you also will have opportunities to reference these other blogs and link to them. And of course, if you find something to share, always, always, give credit!
Ask someone to write a guest blog
Each blogger has their own distinctive way of writing, their distinctive voice. Having someone else posting an article on your blog will give your audience something 'fresh' and new. Asking another blogger to write a guest post also provides a great opportunity to link back to their blog and give them a broader or new audience. Over time, it also will support you by becoming part of the blogging community and connecting to people with the same interests as you.
I hope this article has helped some of you who are struggling with writer's block. What techniques do you use to fight the dreaded empty page in front of you?
And on a closing note: As you will have noticed, in the process of writing this blog I followed my own advice and reviewed my portfolio, deciding to use some images from my South Africa collection to illustrate this article.
