One common thing I hear from fellow bloggers is that after months of cranking out their content, they hit a creative roadblock. This is totally normal! After you have been coming up with ideas day after day, sometimes it can be hard to think of something new and different.
Running out of ideas can turn blogging into more of a chore instead of the fun part of running a business. We’ve all been there, sitting in front of our computer screen hoping for a brilliant idea to pop up on the blank word document. Thankfully, when I am feeling stuck, I have a few things that get me out of my creative block. These are a few of my favorite tips to get out of my creative rut and cranking out those awesome ideas again.
Brainstorm ideas
Set aside time each week or month to brainstorm. No writing, just brainstorming. Write down every single idea! Keep those ideas in a Google document or somewhere you can go back to again and again. When I am stuck on ideas, I always go back to this document to see if there are any ideas leftover that I haven’t written yet. Sometimes, I see ideas that are on the list and those ideas will actually spark another idea that I really want to explore. Go back and look at what you’ve written and see if anything brings up any other ideas for you. When you make your list of ideas, try to write out as many as you can with a few points that you want to explore. This will help you a few months later down the road, just in case you forgot!
Write about anything
I know this may seem like a no-brainer and besides the point, but whenever I feel like I am stuck on ideas I love to just write. Write about anything! How your day is going, your goals for the year, etc. Getting into the habit of opening a Word doc and just typing away will help you schedule in time each day or week to just write. Don’t worry about if it’s good or not, just simply write. Once you start typing away, your brain will take you down the path you need to go. What you originally started writing about will most likely trail off into something else, and that’s okay! You may end up with a few new ideas that you would never expect. Getting into the habit of writing when you don’t want to will help you write when you do want to!
Check your analytics
One thing that you might not think of is to check your analytics! Check your website stats to see what blog posts are doing the best and what posts are not doing as well as you would have hoped. Is there a way you can expand on the blog posts that do well? Are there any things in common with the blog posts that do well? These are all important things to think about because it shows you what your readers are reading the most! Keep that in mind when you are creating new content.
Talk about changes in your blog
One thing we often skip right over talking about is the changes going on in our business. Our readers never really get a good glimpse of what is going on behind the scenes so you can always dedicate some content to that. Are you offering any new tutorials/classes/etc.? Are you going to be offering new services soon?! Get your readers excited about the changes. Whether you do this quarterly or even monthly, they will probably love getting a little sneak peek of what’s going on behind the blog. It builds a connection with your readers and that’s what you want at the end of the day.
Create roundup posts
Once every so often, it’s helpful to do a roundup of awesome content for your readers. Group together different blog posts that you have written and put them all in one blog post. It’s almost like a go-to guide of your best and favorite blog posts. Not only will you be looking at your older content and hopefully sparking some ideas but you will be creating new content from it. It’s helpful for any of your new readers because this way they don’t have to search your blog for the most important posts to check out.
When you feel like you have nothing to write about, take a step back from your blog for a second! Sometimes, you need to just get yourself out of that writer’s block and start thinking creatively. These are just a few tips to help you get out of your block and back to cranking out awesome content.
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