A big challenge for bloggers of all experience levels is what the hell to blog out. Here's some ideas:
1. The biggest fear around your business or industry. Vulnerability scares the hell out of anybody - but is one of the fastest ways to build rapport. My post about bookfat still gets me emails.
2. The top news story - filtered through your topic. If your an IT firm, talk about the challenges of deploying networks in disaster areas. If you are in marketing, talk about the marketing genius of Karl Rove.
3. The most popular book in your niche. No-brainer. Go to Amazon, find your category, read the top book in your category, blog your notes, make a mindmap, add an entry to Wikipedia, great a study guide, refute, rebutt, advance, expand, expound.
4. The big elephant in the room. Every industry has one. What isn't being talked about among your colleauges? What's the controversial topic? What is pissing people off?
5. A smart blog post from your colleague. Always feature other people on your blog, colleagues, clients, competitors...
BONUS: What you ate for lunch. Whenever I talk about blogging it always comes up, 'Who wants to read about what someone had for lunch?' That's beside the point. Blog about what you learned from your lunch outing that reflect on your industry or niche. Or have lunch with someone fun/smart/crazy.
But when in doubt write something - anything - you can always save it as Draft, unPublish it, revise it, ask for help, etc. Blogging is about completion, not perfection.
Nice to meet you, Andy - and I'm glad to see you starting a new blog about business blogging. Judging by your initial post, this will be an excellent blog to follow!
Posted by: Easton Ellsworth | June 23, 2006 at 03:43 PM
Lack of blog topics
serve a purpose.
If I start to post on my blog
and find the idea well empty,
then I know I'm not staying current.
I should be learning at least one new thing a day on my topic of choice or at the very least finding one good example of something I have found true in the past.
Posted by: K | June 25, 2006 at 04:50 PM
My latest book, "Fixing Performance Problems" started out as a series of blog posts on performance problems. Blogs are a great way to compile a first draft of a book.
Bud Bilanich
The Common Sense Guy
www.CommonSenseGuy.com
Posted by: Bud Bilanich | June 26, 2006 at 10:18 AM
Congrats on being guest blogger-smart on John's part! Yep-I'm often faced with bloggers' block! I find if I just write-save in drafts-I get something!
Thanks for Blog2Bestseller class and all your blogging tips-Blogwild is by my laptop-my blog "bible"!
Marcia the Transition Chick!
Posted by: Marcia | June 26, 2006 at 10:28 AM
Stories! I know that may seem obvious, but a good story makes for an engaging blog post. It makes it personal, it creates context, it shows the thought process that led up to the conclusion or principal message of the post.
Stories create depth that an off-the-cuff opinion, rant or rave, or a simple bulleted list (no offense!) just doesn't.
Posted by: Scott Allen | June 26, 2006 at 11:51 AM
I think the most important thing for blogger is getting people to see your blog.
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Posted by: jacob | May 13, 2008 at 04:28 AM
As a new blogger I find that it can be difficult to get the balance right in terms of quality versus quantity. Thanks for the advice.
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