A New Generation Marketer

We’ve all experienced it: the blank stare at the screen, an idea in our head that we just can’t put into words, or an outright empty bucket of blog ideas. In fact, I just experienced it yesterday while coming up with two blog posts to write for today for my company’s blog. Thankfully, I came up with two solid posts here and here.

I always end up coming through with an idea or two, but have certainly been in that spot where you just have no clue what else to write or don’t know how to start or finish a post. I write 7 to 10 blog posts a week for Backupify, one for BostInnovation, and 2 to 3 on this site. That can lead up to 14 posts a week, or two a DAY! I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this either, especially those who blog for their job at places like Mashable and TechCrunch.

While you could choose to just wait out the block, there are ways to be proactive and search for fresh new ideas.

Here are 10 effective tips to overcome writer’s block:

1. Spin Offs. Skim through some of your favorite blogs and pick up an idea or two and do a unique spin off of them. This could be refuting their point, making it an opinion piece or taking a whole new perspective on the same topic.

2. Coorelation. Pick a very unique object laying around you and relate it to something that you like to write about. For example, I’m sitting at a desk right now and a pen is to the left of me. You could talk about how pens once were crucial to our productivity but now we hardly even use them for to-do lists anymore. Almost everything is computerized, etc, etc, etc. You get the point.

3. Read a book or watch a movie and do a review of it. I usually do this after I have read a great book. This past winter I read Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah of Hubspot and loved it so much that I decided to blog about it. You can take mental or written out notes while reading/watching and then come up with your review of it that many will enjoy reading before buying a new book or watching a new movie.

4. Write about your surroundings. Go for a walk and take in everything around you. If you live in a city, observe the hustle and bustle of people, the smells, clothing styles, ethnicities, houses, animals, noises, etc. If you live in a rural area, take in the vast amounts of land, big yards, serenity, open skies, cars passing by, and calm lifestyle. Wherever you live, give a new appreciation for your surroundings by writing about it; maybe others will feel inspired to do the same.

5. Write about something you are doing at work (as long as it is not confidential). A month ago our company had a major press release go out. Around the same time, I expressed to my boss that I was having writer’s block and felt terrible that I was ignoring my own blog (this one). He suggested that I take something I have learned while working here and write about it. I decided to write about how social media can help leverage a press release online.

6. Interview someone. Is there someone you admire in your industry? Do you look up to your parents or grandparents? Was there one teacher or professor that had a profound impact on your life? Do you love your little cousin’s quirky comments? Interview anyone you find interesting and write about your experience talking to them. Appreciating the viewpoints and personalities of those around us can be more valuable thank you think.

7. Event Recaps. Write about an event that you went to for work. I try to attend a few marketing events around Boston every month, and if I go to a good one or met a lot of great people, I’ll blog about it. Those that attended will appreciate the recap too. This February I went to an event in Fenway Park called #Soxup where social media marketing professionals all met up to network. I blogged about it here. I also went to a CRM Acceleration event sponsored by BrainSell and Sugar CRM and blogged about it here.

8. Create a content list and calendar. Some days I find myself flowing with great blog ideas but never write them down. When I go to write one, my mind goes blank. To combat that, I keep a Google Doc list of content ideas I have both for my personal site, Backupify and BostInnovation so that I never forget a good idea again. You can then make it very organized by noting when it needs to be published by.

9. Write about old posts. Maybe you have something new to add to an old posts, want to list your most popular blog posts, or want to summarize a few posts into one. Any of these are a great refresher and polisher both for you and your readers. A few months ago I blogged about my most popular blogs thus far based on retweets, Facebook shares, number of visits and comments.

10. Invite a guest blogger to write. If you are out of ideas and can think of a writer who could provide a really good and unique perspective on something related to your blog, invite them to guest blog for you! Most people love to do this as it gives them exposure and a link back to their site if you offer it. Usually if you give them a link back, they can do it for free since an inbound link has power in terms of Google’s ranking. I have had several guest bloggers on my site whom have all provided great content for my readers.

What do you do to combat writer’s block? Do you use any of these tips or have some of your own to add? Let me know in the comments section below!

Related articles by Zemanta

• 4 Amazing Tips for Overcoming a Writer’s Block (dailyblogtips.com)
• Beating Writer’s Block (advancedfictionwriting.com)
• Top 11 Free Resources To Improve Your Blog’s Content (socialmediatoday.com)