So, you’ve hit a wall of blogger’s block and you don’t know what to write about? If that’s you, you’re in the right place today. I have been there! We all have. You’re not alone. Let’s learn about how to generate amazing blog post ideas despite feeling stuck.
When I first started blogging seriously over 4 years ago, I struggled with blogger’s block and what to write about all of the time. It was a weekly thing for me and it was extremely frustrating. Looking back in retrospect now, I can see the root of the problem so clearly… I didn’t have some key foundational needs for my blog figured out.
I didn’t have a set focus on the topics I wanted to write about and I didn’t know who I was writing for. These are two BIG mistakes that many bloggers make when first starting out. It’s common. It takes time to develop your vision for your blog.
Over two years ago, I wrote about How To Come Up With New Blog Post Ideas. I chose to write that post after I had found myself unstuck from the rut I used to be in. I wanted to share with other bloggers what had helped me get back to the peak of my content creation. If you haven’t read that post of mine and you’re here today because you’re looking for inspiration, definitely go give that blog post a read before you continue on here.
[bctt tweet=”How To Generate New Blog Post Ideas” username=”SummerTelban”]
Are you ready to dive in? Let’s do this thing!
HOW TO GENERATE NEW BLOG POST IDEAS:
1. Refer Back To Your “Why” // The first thing you should always do when struggling with what to write about is to refer back to your “why”. Your “why” is your passion and purpose for blogging in the first place. If you’re bummed out that you can’t generate new ideas, that’s actually a good thing because it shows that you are passionate about blogging. What are you most excited to write about? What are topics that you’re not just excited about but that you’re also informed about? How can you offer insight to your audience about those topics? Get back to your passion and purpose.
If you’re struggling with your “why”, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate it and change it if you need to. Our blogs evolve over time just like we do. If you need to make some changes, do it!
2. Consider Your Target Audience // Your target audience is the group of people you’re mostly writing for. For me, my target audience is predominantly millennial women. Now, my demographics show I have other demographics reading my content (not as many as millennial women) but what I set as my target audience is what I have to stick. Your target audience should be very specific and not something like, “Well, I want to write to everyone!” Writing for everyone is not going to grow your blog but that’s a conversation for another time.
Go into your Google Analytics and your different social media platform’s analytics and check to make sure that who you’ve decided to write for is who is actually reading your content. If your readers are more in their late twenties, writing about college-related topics probably isn’t the best use of your space. Again, this is all tailored to your focus and your target audience. It’s different for everyone.
Basically, just make sure that what you’ve written about in the past lines up with who you’re wanting to reach.
After you’ve focused in on what I considered the basics of generating new content, now it’s time for the more fun content creation ideas and tips! 🙂
3. Organize Your Ideas // It’s easy to become overwhelmed when brainstorming new blog post ideas so it’s key that you have an organized system for doing so. If you’re more of a pen & paper type of person, grab a notebook just for content ideas and leave a page (or few) for each topic you write about. If you’re more of a digital person, start a Google Sheets page and organize it to what’ll best be helpful to you.
If you have ideas written down in your phone, on random sticky notes, and just generally have ideas everywhere, you’ll want to take time to sit down and organize them. I struggle with this! I never know when a new idea will pop into my head so I have multiple places I write things down. What I’ve found really helpful for myself is that at the end of each day (or whenever I’ve thought of ideas) I’ll sit down and input everything into my main Google Sheets document for blog post ideas.
Everyone is going to have a different system! Find one that works for you and stick to it.
4. Brainstorm 1 Quarter Or Season At A Time // I think the content creation stress really sets in when we don’t prepare ahead of time. I have found that planning ahead for quarters and seasons is SO much more helpful than planning posts out 1 week at a time. If you can plan in advance, definitely do! It’ll save you stress and time.
What helps me is to brainstorm in 3-month blocks. Now, that doesn’t mean if I have a random idea for later in the year that I won’t jot that down – that’d be silly. My whole point here is to not put pressure on yourself to plan for the entire year at once. You don’t need to do that.
5. Repurpose Old Content // Repurposing old content is a very common way that bloggers can get new content flowing. There are two main ways to do this. 1. Completely revamp your original blog post. Beef it up with more information. 2. Take a blog post that performed really well and write a follow-up post to it. Both are popular ways to quickly generate fresh content for your audience.
6. Have A Brain-Dump Session // Brain-dumps are my favorite way to get new content ideas flowing! Set aside 30 minutes or so and dedicate it to writing everything down that comes to mind – even the ideas that may seem silly. Write it all out! For brain-dumps, I recommend just using pen & paper and jotting everything down and after you go through and refine your ideas, then add them to your permanent list of ideas or Google Sheets document.
Make sure you eliminate any distractions so your time is spent well.
7. Ask Your Audience // If you want to know if your audience is wanting to read about something specific, ask them! You’ll be surprised how many would love to help you out with ideas. The cool thing is that their ideas can also lead to more of your own. There are a couple ways you can reach out to pick their brains…
- Instagram Stories – Instagram now lets you have the option to include a question sticker for your stories. You can type a question in and people can respond there. Everything they reply to you is for you to see only.
- Twitter – If you’re an active Twitter user, this is a huge one for you. You can use polls to see which topics they’re wanting to see more of. You can also ask them to send ideas via DM!
- Reader Surveys – I’m a huge believer in reader surveys. Basically, they’re anonymous forms that your audience can fill out to give you feedback on your current content and you can ask for future ideas. I know this can be intimidating but it’s super helpful. I recommend having a reader survey at least twice a year.
Related Reading: All About Reader Surveys
8. Be Yourself // I think a lot of bloggers struggle with not giving in to the pressure of blogging about what everyone else does. This happens a lot. I think this happens for two main reasons. 1. They want to create what everyone else does to get into the “in” crowd. 2. They’re not secure in being themselves and letting that shine through in the content they create. Being honest, I think this is something we all deal with at some point, whether we want to admit it or not. You don’t want to force content and words that aren’t truly yours. Stop trying to fit into a certain mold. The beautiful thing about blogging is that it’s supposed to be about our certain takes on the topics we write about. For our content to be written completely from our hearts, we need to be ourselves.
PIN ME FOR LATER!
I hope these tips were able to encourage you to get brainstorming again! Be sure to read my other post about coming up with new blog post ideas, too! All of the tips in it are still relevant today.
[bctt tweet=”8 Ways To Generate New Blog Post Ideas” username=”SummerTelban”]
What’s the most difficult part for you when coming up with new blog post ideas? Let’s chat!
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