You see the value of creating a blog for your website as a way to provide fresh content and give those search spiders something to munch on. You also know it’s important to blog frequently and consistently (at least once a week).
But when you sit down to write it, something happens — the dreaded White Paper Syndrome.
That term comes from my newspaper days when we still used typewriters (remember those?), deadline was approaching and it was time to crank out the copy. So I rolled in a piece of white paper…and then stared at it. And stared at it and stared at it some more, hoping words would magically appear, or that inspiration would come.
Deserted by inspiration
No idea what to write. No idea where to begin, just knowing that I had to do it. White Paper Syndrome had struck again!
It’s not so different today, except our “paper” is now a fresh, blank document, as yet untitled, just sitting there with that accursed cursor blinking hypnotically, just waiting for us to begin.
Sometimes we suffer from a complete brain lock on what topics to cover. Other times we know what we want to write…we just don’t know how to get from the beginning to the end.
Let’s take the topics piece first. Here are some ideas to consider when you’re fresh out. Remember, your goal is to set yourself up as an authority in your area of expertise, which will gain followers and, eventually, customers.
Blog topics for business
- How-to: Many of us take our own skills and talents for granted. Or think that it’s so easy for us to do, everyone knows how to do it. Wrong. Pick a topic in your field and take your readers step by step through how to get ‘er done. Use screen shots to illustrate.
- Common mistakes: Here’s another area that’s rich for exploration. Point out common errors in your industry and offer solutions on either how to avoid them or fix them.
- Lists: Lists are perfect! Review your business and come up with the top 10 reasons to do thus-and-such. Fifteen ways to get more whatevers. How to recognize when something else.
- Lessons: Pick a celebrity or a current event and create an article on “Lessons we can learn from…” These can be tremendous fun. I recently did a coaching article on “Everything I learned about life, I learned from my car.”
- Trends: There are several ways to approach this. You can do your own trends predictions about your industry (great idea with the new year coming up), how accurate last year’s predictions were, or what the experts in your field are saying. Don’t be shy about adding your own comments to those other experts.
- Debunk common myths: Every industry has to contend with myths. What do you hear from people yourself? Use that information, as well as other research you do online, and set people straight.
There are many, many other types of content that can help you kick-start your own writing (see link below for a more complete list), but let’s now go to the other part: Writing it. You know what you want to talk about, but that cursor is mocking you.
How to write your content
The easiest way to begin is…begin.
Just spew! Start writing. When you think of your topic, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Write it down, and keep going. Just write down everything and don’t stop until you don’t have anything else to say.
There will be plenty of time to go back later to rewrite, rearrange, spell check, find the exact word you want, tighten up, add, delete and so on. Don’t let the piddly things stop you.
(My piddly thing: Interrupting the flow of writing because I can’t think of the exact word I want. Now when that happens, I either highlight the inadequate word or put in ??? and keep going. I can’t tell you how many trains of thought have been derailed as I interrupt myself to search for the perfect word.)
And don’t forget to add images to your blog article. These help articles perform better and break up your text into more easily digestible pieces. What works for you when you get stuck? Please share! P.S. For other ideas on how to jump start your blog content, click below. And happy writing!
