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Tips to Avoid Foggy Blogging and Scrambling for Topics
by Jeff Quipp.
Today is one of those days that I'm glad I'm taking my own advice. I feel really foggy today, as I'm certain most bloggers do at some time or another. I definitely didn't feel like posting to the blog. Fortunately, I prepared in advance for this eventuality, so its not really the issue it could have been.
So, here are my 3 tips to help avoid last minute scrambles to find a blog topic for the day.
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1) create blog topics month in advance … 20, 30, even 40 at a time. To be more specific, I recently made a commitment to myself to prepare a list of possible blog topics months in advance, so I'd never have to scramble last minute to find something to blog about.
2) sometimes coming up with enough ideas at one sitting is near impossible. If that's the case, brainstorm blog ideas with others. The introduction of another mind in the equation can lead to completely new ideas and perspectives, that otherwise wouldn't have been. I've heard it referred to as the '3rd mind'.
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- if you have a brainstorm session with others, make sure all parties come to the table with ideas to begin with. A good way to stimulate ideas is to look at what yet others have blogged about in the days and week previously, including in the comments of those blogs. Often, many bloggers will end their post just where another could begin, or they'll stimulate another though related train of thought.
3) carry a small note pad or voice recorder with you always to record your ideas when you have them. Previously, I'm certain I had hundreds of great ideas for posts, that were lost forever because I didn't take the time to record them somewhere. For me, having a notebook at my bedside for my 3 am epiphinies is crucial … don't know why it happens. It just does!
Tips to Avoid Foggy Blogging:
1) After I've compiled my list of blog ideas months in advance, I commit them to WordPress, and start to fill in the major sections I envision for each as I have time.
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- As I do so, I'll start to see content gaps ie. what I need vs what I have.
- I assess what content I can find myself, and which I need to secure from others
- I can then request the needed content from others well in advance of actually needing it
2) In the end, I've got blogs ready typically 2-3 weeks in advance. So, if I'm foggy that day, I post one already written.
or if need be, the option of last resort …
3) Find a great industry cartoon … post it, and give acknowledgements as due.
That's it! Happy blogging!
As posted in SEO on January 7, 2008.
10 Responses so far: 8 comments and 2 trackbacks
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Wow, these are excellent ideas. I'm totally not prepared for these kind of days and I really should be.
Thanks for the great tips!!
Shana
Nice post. I usually make a one day post ahead of my mind. Maybe I should add more days.
Thanks for enlightening me.
Thanks Jeff. I'm always always horribly unprepared for when I'm struggling with a post, so your tips are great pointers.
What you say about the notebook is invaluable, I carry mine virtually everywhere and keep it on my bedside table for the exact reason you state.
Cheers Jeff.
Nick
Another idea is to just not 'blog.
Sometimes, forcing through the literary constipation with what looks like a topical laxative can often lead a stained article.
With that horrendous analogy out of the way, to summarize: it's as well to sometimes not 'blog than to just churn out something that looks a lot like crap…
@ Shana - thanks Shana. The older I get, the more of those days I have!
@ Guardian Angel - the more in advance … the better. Just in case!
@ Nick - I can't tell you how many great blog ideas this has saved for me!
@ Wayne -
… you are correct. Sometimes it is best to merely concede defeat. I'll never do it in hockey though!
I have a tendency to feel like I'm not doing all I can do going to bed at night thinking there's soooo much more to be done.
it sometimes gives me that blogging 'funk', then I realize how I should've had a back up plan like you suggest.
Thanks Jeff. Always enjoy your blogs. I am going to start using these ideas!
Hi Jeff,
I used to blog every day regardless. And sometimes that meant I didn't put my best post up.
Jim
Hi Jeff,
I meant to say, I love the cartoons you use on your blog!
Jim