Let Your Blog Flow!

Tweet

It’s one of those days. You wake up with a slight headache, and groan about the tasks that need to be done. First up, you read a depressing message from a friend. Oops. Wish you could take that back and start over, right?

However, what you’re dreading most is writing that blog post. Your brain is blank. You turn on music to stimulate it. For once, it’s not working. What to do?

This situation happened to a current client of mine who just started blogging. We wrote part of the first post together. She IS a good writer, so that’s not the issue. It was typing it and making it real that was the issue.

She wrote the second one completely on her own and we went through the steps on formatting it, adding labels, photos, etc. It was interesting and I couldn’t wait to see the third one. Then I got the email. She didn’t want to do it. I called and encouraged her. And she said that the topics she wanted to discuss had changed. I explained that the first two were actually important and spoke to that, since she had set the scene. I pointed out all the directions she could venture into, based on what she had already written. And she was energized by that!

What I’m saying here is let it flow!

My client has a lot to say and has already inspired a few people by her first two posts. Is that a reason to continue? Absolutely.

Take a step back and think about why you are blogging. That may include:

• A desire to inspire others
• Furthering your reputation by displaying your knowledge
• Creating greater awareness for your product or service
• Being one of the first for getting hot topics out there quickly
• Sharing personal thoughts / reflection
• Sharing a strong opinion
• You want to practice writing often to better your skills
• You want to have an audience to bounce ideas off of
• Journaling

And so on and so on. Everyone has a combination of reasons. I didn’t mentioning make money here because that’s a separate subject in itself.

So, what to do on those days when you’re stumped? Go out of the box and let that river run downstream! Back in January, it was slow going for me. I suddenly found myself basking in the sun in the afternoon with a book and a notepad and some music playing. So, I decided to write about it, even though it’s not about my main subject. That post can be found here.  We all need to take a quick breath sometimes! So be it.

Back to blogging: When you’re going off the usual subject matter, as long as it’s written in your usual prose it will likely strike a chord with your readers. After all, they need a break too, right? And it demonstrates your abilities to think beyond the usual. So, no more constraints…let it flow!

Going outside now with a book and a notepad. Here’s a #1 song from 1976 that talks about love flowing; that includes the love of expressing your thoughts and ideas, right? Click here for that tune.

Thinking about Blogging? Let's Get Started.

Tweet

Blogging. Why the heck do people do it anyway? It takes time and makes you want to pull your hair out thinking of something, ANYTHING to write about. Aggravating, isn’t it?
If you are thinking about starting one, DO ask yourself what you expect to get out of it. A few reasons could include:

•    I’ve always wanted to write.
•    I want to share  something I know about with like-minded people
•    I want to establish credibility in my field
•    Just need a place to vent
•    Write? Are you kidding me? I really want to share something visual:
               Videos
                Photos
                Examples of my art 
•    Someone is talking me into it; they think I have potential
•    I need to practice somewhere before I write that book

Obviously, some of those reasons are more valid than others.  So you’ve decided it’s a go. Blogs are free and fairly easy to set up with a customized look. Check out Google Blogger (blogspot) or Wordpress (the free version), two of the more popular sites. Both are fairly intuitive; not too difficult to upload.

Subject matter. What are you passionate about? Cooking, camping, or perhaps you want to review all those wonderful books you read?  The important thing to remember is that YOU are the subject matter expert; much of what you write will likely be based on your knowledgeable opinion. If someone gives you flack about that, hey, it’s all debatable.

The tricky part: Getting it down on paper. Oh! I need to WRITE today. Good luck with that. Forcing yourself will cause brain freeze, without the delight of downing a Slurpee. Try to write when an idea comes to you, or at the very least, write a few sentences as soon as possible so that when you’re ready to start writing, the initial idea has been retained. Sorry to say, but there’s been so many times when my bright ideas have vaporized into thin air, because I never documented them. Poof.

A bunch of bananas: If you’ve written about one subject fairly quickly and you’re feeling mighty pleased with yourself, why not dig in and peel off another one while the creative juices are flowing? You’ll find that this is a great practice. However, if you do tend to write about recent events, this concept won’t work so well, but why not have a couple of more generic subjects that don’t need to be as timely for posting during those times when you’ve hit writer’s block? The important thing to remember is to keep posting consistently. One post in April and seven in May is not a good idea; try to keep the keel even.

How often must I post? Well, that’s up to you of course. Start out with one or two posts a week until you feel comfortable. This is NOT easy to do, unfortunately.  I’m nodding my head with you, because, yes, I have been a slacker in the frequency department. However, if you want to get noticed, you have to have content. And content IS the most important thing.  More on that later…

This is Part 1 of a 4 Part Series. For Part 2, click here, Part 3, click here, and Part 4, click here.