You probably already know that you need a blog if you hope to get more traffic to your business website. The problem is coming up with content on a regular basis — that’s way more difficult than you expected! Don’t give up just yet. Below are some of the most common blogging difficulties and tips on how you can overcome them.
Blogging Difficulty #1 – Too little time and too few ideas
Most of us are not natural born writers. Even simple 300 word blog posts can become time consuming when you’re worrying about perfecting the language, incorporating keywords, optimizing images, and so on. And even before those worries come the challenge of finding something to write about. Not all of us have a great creative vein, and depending on the subject matter, you’ll find your ideas can become even more constricted. Let’s face it, how many earth-shattering accounting articles can you write?
To help you keep your blog current and overcome your “blogger’s block,” you can try these three simple tips:
- Make sure your publishing schedule is both realistic and manageable. If you can’t publish twice a week that’s ok — aim for once a week. Can’t do once a week? Aim for once a month. The important thing is consistency, and getting started with a new routine is always the hardest part. Once you’re in the habit of posting once a month, bump it up to twice a month — then three times a month. You’ll find blogging becomes easier when you are accustomed to setting aside the time.
- Out of ideas? This happens to even the most seasoned writers. There are various ways to avoid running out of things to blog about: try keeping an idea file where you can write down any ideas you might have about blog subjects. (At Panoptic, we stash our ideas in Evernote so they are easily shared among our writers and editors). Take a look around you and see what others are blogging about. You might be inspired by something you read elsewhere. And don’t forget your customers — their concerns and comments can also become material for future blog posts. You can kill the proverbial two birds with one stone by addressing these issues in posts.
- Enjoy your blogging. While writing every blog post might not be a joyride, try to have fun with your blogging. Remember why you’re doing it. You’re promoting your business and the best way to do that is to keep the post enjoyable. It helps to show your enthusiasm for your business, which in turn promotes the business itself.
Continue to Part 2 of “How to Overcome Blogging Difficulties”
