Stuck on Your Next Blog Post Idea? Change it Up with 14 Blog Post Formats

Photo by Rennett Stowe (flickr)

No one likes the dreaded writer’s block, and let’s face it: If you’ve been blogging for a while, you’re going to get afflicted with writer’s block sooner or later.

But what if I told you that you could write endlessly, without fear of running out of topics or losing interest in what you’re blogging about? Because, yes, it is possible to maintain that same spark of excitement you felt when you first created your blog.

You just need to know the secret how.

If you didn’t have any interest in your blog when you first created it (you just blogged for money), this tactic won’t work – since your blog is probably destined to fail anyway. Harsh – I know. But it’s the sad truth. If you didn’t enjoy writing in your blog from the very beginning, how do you expect to keep torturing yourself 5 years from now and still keep up your money-based enthusiasm? Either you’ll give up in frustration (there is no get-rich-quick method of blogging – your blog takes time to grow), crash and refuse to write in your blog for months (something I once did), or pick up a new profession.

But if you are passionate about your blog topic, but your interest is slowly ebbing and writer’s block is becoming more and more frequent, this tactic just might help you overcome your obstacles by forcing you to try something new.

What is my secret? Well, it’s not really a secret – anyone can take advantage of it, and I’m sure many bloggers have already thought about it before but never really utilized it. (more…)

Why Do You Blog? Be Honest Now…

Photo by Alex Proimos (flickr)

While browsing the Web, I came across the post How to Change Lives with Your Words: A Writer’s Higher Calling by Marcus Sharidan, where he asked one simple question…

Why do you blog?

After stopping to think about it for a moment, I thought about my past and what this blog once was – how it shaped and transformed into what it is today. I thought about my past mistakes, the peak moments in my life, and the people I’ve met along the way in my blogging career. I thought about my goals and what I hoped this blog would become.

Then I thought about all of you and how you helped this blog grow.

You see, it all started back in college. I was a freshman at WCSU – one of those public universities in Connecticut – and I was in the living area heating up a bowl of spicy noodles for dinner. While making my food, I was on the phone talking to my boyfriend (nothing new), and I was agonizing over the fact that I had no job and needed money.

Somehow, blogging came up and he suggested that I start a blog. At the time, blogs were a new concept for me. Strangely, I didn’t know any blogs (didn’t read much of them), and I had no clue what I would write about if I ever did start a blog. (more…)

5 Reasons Why You Should Preschedule Your Blog Posts

Photo by The Italian Voice (flickr)

You’re sitting in your desk chair, face resting on your left hand as you hold your mug of coffee with your right. You slowly sip the dark liquid and watch it pour relentlessly from the cup, only to burn your tongue and swash down your throat. You wince and put the cup down. Then, grudgingly, you go back to watching the cursor on the blank page in front of you blink on and off.

On and off.

Like a hypnotic dancer who only knows how to do one step of the dance, and so does it over and over, perfecting it until it becomes a blur. A bright white blur.

You start to get drowsy, and snap back into reality as you realize you were daydreaming. Again. The blank page stares right back at you, beckoning to you to write and fill its space with words. All the while, your eyes just roam up and down the length of the blank page… trying to reach the dark recesses of your mind for a topic, any topic, to write about.

None comes. (more…)

Dealing with Blog Criticism

Photo by Nasrul Ekram (flickr)

Waking up bright and early today, I headed to a doctor’s appointment with an article on motivation planned out in my head. I was going to publish it on this blog as soon as I got back. However, I decided to check the blog for any pending comments beforehand, as it always gets me excited when I receive comments from my readers.

What I saw, though, made me stop and pause – partly from disbelief and partly because I wasn’t sure if I read the comment correctly. But, when I looked for pending comments again, the message was still there.

The commenter started off with how he thought this blog was “one of the most awful, trivial completely false websites one could find.” He continued on, insinuating that I made up a bunch of content. He finished the message saying that “a moment of brilliance struck” him while reading an article and that he found a “good idea” that he wasn’t going to write about in the message. He then concluded to sign the message with his first name and last initial. (more…)

Using Your Own Name to Title Your Blog: Pros & Cons

Thinking about using your own name to title your blog? Or maybe you’re unsure of a blog title, so figured your own name would be the best way to go? Choosing a blog title isn’t easy, that’s for sure. However, choosing a blog title is also one of the most important steps of blogging. In years to come, people will associate your blog with your blog title. So, you want your blog title to be the best it can be.

Photo by Brian Burger (flickr)

Should you use your own name to title your blog? Well, it depends on your own personal preferences and what you want your blog to offer. Many top bloggers will advise against using your own name, though there have been some successful bloggers who have made it to the top using their own names as their blog titles. For example, Chris Garrett made a blog with the domain name of Chrisg.com and it’s doing quite well. That doesn’t exactly mean that your blog will have the same result. Let’s take a look at why you should and shouldn’t use your own name to title your blog. (more…)

6 Major Benefits of Blogging and How to Incorporate Them on Your Blog

Why create a blog? If you’re asking this question, most likely you don’t know the benefits of blogging. There are many reasons why people blog. Some just do it to pass time. Others do it for money. Still others do it to teach.

Take a look at the most essential benefits of blogging. As you read each one, ask yourself if your blog makes use of the benefit. If it doesn’t, find ways you can incorporate it into your blog. If you do all these steps on a regular basis, I guarantee that you’ll have a successful blog within the next 6 months.

Don’t have a blog yet? You don’t have to make one now, but you should (even if it’s just to try). You can create a free blog on Blogger or WordPress for now, but consider moving your blog to your own hosting as the blog grows. (more…)

What is a Blog?

Have you ever asked yourself what a blog actually is or, more precisely, what the meaning behind a blog is supposed to be? If I chose 20 random people and told them to describe what a blog is to them, how would they respond? More importantly, would their responses be the same?

Let’s look at what famous bloggers have to say:

‘A blog is a type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most recent ‘post’ (or entry) at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the bottom.’

- Darren Rowse, author of ProBlogger

(more…)

Choosing a Blog Title Isn’t Easy: The Process I Went Through

One of the hardest tasks of creating a blog is choosing the blog title. You want your blog title to be creative, relate to your niche and, at the same time, attract traffic to your website. In fact, choosing a blog title can be just as difficult as launching your blog for the first time and increasing your subscriber count. On eHow, I touched on this topic briefly with my How to Choose a Personal Blog Title article.

It takes time to craft a blog title that will turn heads and make visitors on your website want to stay. At the same time, you also want a blog title that goes with your theme and overall brand. A blog on simplicity, for example, wouldn’t have a long or complex title, since the blog deals with simplifying your life. Just like a blog about peace and calm wouldn’t have a logo displaying loud, bright colors, since this would have the opposite effect of peacefulness. (more…)