Recently I listened to a great speaker on the topic of blogging. Many examples were given to help explain how providing audiences with valuable content (in the form of blogs) would ultimately help generate leads. Filled with inspiration I hurried back to my office ready to work.
As I sat at my desk the next day with my laptop, coffee, and a burning desire to produce something amazing, nothing came to me. After a few attempts at writing, followed by frustration, and inevitably me giving up, I came up with an idea. I would write a list of things I HATE about blogging. Hopefully, if you ever find yourself stuck like I was, you will find inspiration in this post and be able to GET BACK AT IT!
1. Coming up with ideas!
I think that most people would say this is their biggest struggle when it comes to blogging. It can be a challenge to take a step back and figure out who your audience is and what they will find valuable. I’ve found that it can be helpful to ask the following questions when I get stuck:
- What are the reoccurring questions that are asked about my job and my company?
- What are the questions that our sales team is asked by customers?
- What are the new and upcoming trends in my field?
- What resources have I found helpful in my job?
- What questions are people searching for about my industry online?
2. Finding the time to write.
For many of us (myself included), creating content is something that we do in addition to a whole host of other responsibilities. But using the excuse “I don’t have time to write content” is like saying “I don’t have time to talk to my customers.” So, it’s important that you make time to blog.
Try putting an event on your calendar each week for 2 hours and give yourself time to write. An uninterrupted block of time will allow you to get in the writing zone so you can get your creative juices flowing. This might be hard to do at first, but just stick to it and I promise it will get easier!
If you need more motivation, read this blog post: “6 Reasons You Must Blog”
3. Finding images to use in my blog posts.
I am a very visual person, so I love to add imagery to my writing. But whenever I do a quick Google search to find some awesome images to include, I struggle to find ones that look nice and don’t step on any copyright toes. So my next thought is to look through my own small collection of images, but no luck there either. I always end up thinking, “Where can I find images to use for free?”
If you’ve found yourself asking this same question, try some of these resources our content writer Connor suggested: Pexels, Pixabay or do an advanced Google search that allows you to filter out images based on legality per usage rights.
4. Creating a plan that makes my blogging cohesive.
It can be difficult to write a series of blogs that make sense and support the goals of the company. It is so much easier when you have a plan. So how can I get my blog ideas down in a way that makes sense? I use the content calendar downloaded from this Gather Content blog to keep my posts organized!
With all these great tools to help us with our blogging we are all out excuses. Time to get to work!
If you want more tips for starting and maintaining an awesome blog, then you might be interested our Lunch and Learn series.
