Ever Run Out of Blog Topics?

This happens to me from time to time, and now that my readership is growing, sometimes I do panic a bit if it’s been a few days since my last post and I haven’t a clue what to right about next.

I’ve gotten better as of late because of some techniques that alleviate my “blogger’s block”. 🙂

1) Go Off-Topic & Post Something Fun

When you have a loyal following, they don’t mind as much when you have an off-topic post every now and then. 

In fact, people often enjoy a break and it gives you a chance to showcase your personality and/or other interests.

That’s sort of what I did with my last post, If You Had a Website in 1998… It wasn’t completely off topic, but definitely different from the kind of posts I normally publish here.

However, if your blog is very new and you have a small following, I wouldn’t recommend going off topic much in the beginning.  Let your readership and blog identity grow first.

2) Wait Until You Have Something Interesting to Say

When I first started blogging, I felt compelled to post something new, just because it had been 5 or 6 days since my last post.

What I’ve learned is that it’s much better to wait until you have something useful to say than to blog just for the sake of blogging.

I’m sure the majority of your readers would rather wait an extra 2 or 3 days for a useful post than for you to publish something that is low in quality.

3)  Do Your Homework

Sometimes when I don’t have anything to blog about, it’s because I haven’t been reading the latest news in my industry and the blogs I subscribe to.

I often get ideas for my topics by reading other blogs.  I don’t copy the posts, of course, but I may take a topic and re-develop it with a different spin.

For example, as soon as Yaro Starak released Blog Mastermind, it seemed everyone started reviewing it on their blogs.

(And who would blame them? Yaro gave away high-end prizes for the top affiliates and he pays a $48 residual commission for every blog coaching sign-up.)

So instead of just writing a regular review on the book like so many others had done, I downloaded Blog Mastermind, took a single point from the book and expanded upon that. 

This evolved into the post, Most Bloggers are Poor Marketers.

4) Keep Blog Notes

Sometimes blog ideas will pop into my head when I’m not at my computer. Rather than relying on my memory, I’ll quickly jot it down on paper and transfer it to my “Blog Notes” file that I keep on my computer.

Now when I’m ready to write my next blog post, I have a selection of topics to choose from that I can develop.

If it’s a post that will take time to develop, I often fire up WordPress, type the key points and save the draft for later.

5) Highlight What’s Free

A great way to build credibility on your blog is to direct your readers to relevant quality products and services.  If they happen to be free, that’s even better!

If you can’t think of anything to blog about, make a list of some quality, relevant resources and publish them on your blog.  Good quality freebies never go out of style.

6) Get Some Rest

I’ve noticed a direct correlation between how rested I am and my writing quality. When I’m well-rested, ideas flow all over the place.

When I’m tired, sometimes even the smallest tasks like answering emails can be a challenge. 🙂

Rest is so important to the creative sector of your brain. And if you work on your site or blog full-time like I do, it becomes especially important because we have a tendency to take fewer breaks because our work is always accessible to us.

I know people who place alarm clocks on their desks to remind them to take frequent breaks. It’s easy to lose track of time and nothing for me to sit here for hours at a time without realizing it.

It’s good to love your job like that, but not necessarily the best for your health and creativity. Give yourself a break! (In fact, I’m going to take a walk right after this post. It’s a beautiful day!)

Don’t Announce You Haven’t Posted in a While

I’ve seen many bloggers post apologies or announcements about their inactivity and I’m not sure why they do it. If you don’t have anything to write about, won’t it be obvious by the fact you haven’t posted anything?

And if your slump only lasts a couple of days, chances are, most people won’t even realize it anyway.

Of course, there’s always the exception to this. If you have a regular posting schedule and a large following who awaits your posts on certain days, then you may want to inform them that you’re taking a break — especially if it’s a longer break than usual.

However, for the average blog, this is not usually necessary.

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The next time you have blogger’s block, hopefully you’ll be able to put some of these techniques to use. Don’t fret. It’s something almost all bloggers go through from time to time. I think it just comes with the territory.