“I’m a blogger”

I still remember when I started my first blog. I was so excited. I could think of a million ideas to write about and was sure that I would never hit a “creative wall.”

Four weeks in, and I was at a complete loss of things to share. The honeymoon was over and the initial excitement of being a “blogger” (I thought it sounded so cool) was gone. Now, I was just a guy with this internal pressure to post something.

So if you are thinking about starting a blog, or have one but are becoming stale and unenthusiastic, here are a few tips to spark some creativity.

1. Lists– Top 5 lists are easy to read and always attract traffic.
2. Photos – Post a photo related to your blog niche.
3. How-To’s – Show your readers how to do something.
4. Link – Have you read an article that you find interesting? Write a short blog post and link to it.
5. Recommendations – Write-up a recommendation to your favorite book, website, movie, restaurant, etc.
6. Interview – People love interviews. Interview an expert in your field and share it on the blog.
7. Video – Most of the time, a video draws more traffic than a written post. So interview someone or show a how-to in a video format
8. A Personal Story – Everyone loves a personal story. Did you have something funny happen to you today? Did you attend an interesting seminar? Share your experience from the event.

Two final suggestions:
1. Don’t cram too much information into a single post. Pick one topic and stick with it. It makes the post easy to read. Plus, then you can expand your other thoughts into future posts.

2. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to meet a deadline. Sometimes you just don’t have any creative thoughts. Inspiration comes at odd times, and you can’t predict when you will have a brilliant thought. But when you do, write it down quickly so you don’t forget it. Even if it is at 4 AM (done that). Because you might forget it in the morning.

Want more helpful blogging ideas? Here’s a link to “101 Great Posting Ideas“