Author: Cynthia Dora / Source: Jeffbullas's Blog Every year, I greet January with new resolutions. Often, I never end up fulfilling them.
Every year, I greet January with new resolutions. Often, I never end up fulfilling them. But that doesn’t stop me from making new ones every year.
One of the resolutions I made at the start of 2017 – one I thought would be easy to keep – was to write a blog post every week on WordPress.
Easy, right?
But it’s May already and I am way behind schedule.
Not that there isn’t a heap to write about – there’s U.S. politics, the immigration debate, racial justice and healthcare rights. There’s easily enough to have me raring to go every morning. But like I said, I am failing miserably.
What’s the big deal about slacking off from time to time, you ask?
Well, I recently came across a WordPress statistic that says its users produce almost 80.7 million new posts every month. I will admit that made me feel pretty slack!
So a bit of introspection, research and discussion with like-minded bloggers inspired me to come up with this list of ways to motivate yourself to blog when you really don’t feel like it.
Without further ado, here are seven quick ways to generate blogging ideas when you’re seriously stuck, tired or unmotivated.
1. Choose to write on a topic that you know
If you think writing on a trending topic will help you gain followers and industry respect, think again. You won’t provide sound advice or commentary unless you know what you’re talking about, and you may get stuck at the research end of the process to boot.
Try to blog on what naturally interests and engages you – not what you think will get clicks and shares.
For instance, artificial intelligence and cloud software are concepts most marketers and technology buffs are keen to prove they’re super up to date on. But unless they’re industry leaders, they’ll probably have trouble finding anything new, informative or even original to say.
That’s not to say writing on pertinent and current issues isn’t important – but blog on topics that appeal to you as an individual.
If you are a tennis enthusiast then sharing your views on Steffi Graf and Serena Williams’ record would be an ace idea (pardon the pun!).
I am an ardent and passionate reader so both fiction and nonfiction writing appeals to me. This means writing a book review for my blog is much less intimidating than writing about artificial intelligence (and I know which one I’ll do a better job on!).
Unless you are passionate about a topic and know it in great detail, it is unlikely that you’ll have anything ‘extra’ to add to the noise on the internet. You’ll be wasting your time, other people’s time, and the creative energy that could be put to better use elsewhere!
2. Get inspiration from social media
In this article on Social Media Today, it was revealed that the average person has five social media accounts and spends almost 1 hour and 40 minutes a day browsing through their different feeds.
Turning to social media for ideas is like digging in a gold mine. People are constantly sharing, discussing and debating their views as well as enthusing about their interests and passions.
Join a few groups on Facebook that are based on your interests. You’ll not only meet like-minded people, you’ll generate ideas and views through discussion.
If you join a group aimed at writers or bloggers, you’ll also gain a channel for creative inspiration and be able to improve your online presence by actively participating in posts shared by fellow group members
It may surprise you what pops up to dislodge an idea in your brain. I’m a member of ‘Mad Over Marketing (M.O.M)’ on Facebook. They shared an image of…
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