Boring blog?
Is your blog a bore? Are you bored writing it? Obviously, you love what you do. You would have never made a blog if you were not passionate about and invested in your niche. It is just hard sometimes to keep the same topic interesting once you have been working with it for so long. You and your blog are in a relationship. When you were first building it and getting it off the ground it was like having a new love. It is totally normal to fall into a rut or for your routine to become a little mundane as time goes on. So what are some ways to reignite that spark? Here are some helpful things to think about when writing future blog posts, so your readers do not think you have a boring blog too.
Plan before you write
Get inspired! Before you even put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, find inspiration from news, magazines, other blogs, or social media. You are already spending a lot of time in your niche. I am sure you come across new information all of the time. Use it to spark your own imagination.
Not everything you find inspiring is necessarily in your niche. I fell down a rabbit hole of how to make 18th century stays for the past two weeks. I had a lot of fun learning about this new distraction but none of this new information can be used here, on this blog. Make sure your topic is on brand for your niche.
Think about what others would search for. What questions do you have, or did you have when you were first becoming interested in your niche? Focus on putting content into the world that is useful. Doing so will ensure that you are creating a body of work that people will care about and trust.
Think first of establishing yourself as a reliable influencer. Don’t worry so much about what is going to drive the most traffic right now. Staying informative, reliable, and on brand in your niche will create a stronger and more interesting blog than one that flits from trend to trend. When your readers are looking for information later, they will turn to you for advice and trust your judgement. Best case scenario: they’ll find your thoughts/ information/ humor so awesome that they’ll want to share your blog with their friends.
Outline and Edit
Someone once told me, when it comes to writing, your first draft should not be you telling your story to others. You should first tell the story to yourself. When you are thinking of writing to others you could get too caught up in thinking about how you come across to your audience. Instead, you should be thinking of the story itself. You don’t ever want to lose focus of the main points or the core story. Outlining and multiple drafts will help keep you on track. Later edits can be made to adjust for tone.
Once you have filled out your outline, make sure your content flows easily from one subject to the next. Make sure your content is easily understood by your intended audience. Also, break up your content into easily digestible bite sized chunks. Dense copy equals a boring blog. People are less inclined to read a large chunk of copy but if you have it split up into paragraphs and clear headings, it makes it easier to read.
While we are speaking of outlines, don’t just outline the individual post. Build an outline of what your future posts should be about so that they flow nicely together and tell a story.
After you have a draft that you think is ready to be made public, have someone else look at it. Get feedback before you post. A fresh set of eyes can help ensure your content flows nicely and is free of errors. A discussion about your post with a friend who has read it may also bring up some interesting insights you forgot to cover or perhaps just glossed over.
Engage!
Engagement matters, not only with how your readers engage with your content, but also how you engage with your readers. Readers feel more connected to you if you actually respond to their comments. Have you gotten emails asking for clarification on something? Write a blog post in response. Chances are, more of your readers have the same questions.
Did someone else write about something that inspired you or you have thoughts about? Write a blog post about it. Link to the original page. Niches build communities of people interested in them. Chances are others have read the same piece and may have thoughts on it too. Get involved in the discussion. Ask for your followers thoughts.
Happy blogging and keep being awesome!
