When You Run Out Of Things To Post

bybryonbrewer

10.5K followers

Updated 10 years ago

Hey all,

How's it going?

I've been having one of those crazy weeks where I come up with the content idea for my Thursday post on my blog about five different times.

On Monday I thought, "I know, I'll write it about that thing..."

(I would tell you what 'that thing' was, but I forgot by Tuesday).

On Tuesday I thought "No, I'll just write about XYZ. That makes so much more sense".

Fast forward to today and when I was getting around to writing, I had already forgotten all my previous ideas.

What do you do when you run out of ideas, hit a wall, or can't remember what you were supposed to write about?

There are a few things I tend to do, so I'll pass them on to you in the hope that you get some benefit next time you walk into a wall.

1.) Check your drafts

I bet there's an abandoned post or two in there. Now is the time to consider dusting it off and finishing it.

2.) Go through your previous posts and expand on one.

Quite often you can go through some of your previous posts and write a follow-up post expanding on one of the points you made. This is great for internal linking and keeping your visitors engaged as well.

Make sure you link the old post to the new one!

3.) Write something personal

Nothing wrong with writing a little bit about your life. I've written about trips to Hong Kong and Kenting on my blog in the past. Didn't earn any money or get any rankings off them, but I showed my human side.

Don't abuse this and write about your cat though.

The Internet really isn't interested in cats.

Oh wait, maybe it is.

4.) (My favorite) Write a "best of" post.

If like me, your blog is over a year old, there must be a bunch of old posts just begging to be noticed again. I get new visitors and subscribers all the time, so how do I get those old posts in front of them?

Well today I wrote a best of post and emailed it out to my list. It's got the best 25+ posts I did over the last year.

You can check it out here if you want to get some inspiration. http://www.humanproofdesigns.com/best-of-humanproofdesigns-2014/

Shameless plug? Well maybe a little, but there's immense value to go along with it :)

By the way, if your blog is still new and not got much content, a "best of" might not really work. If this is the case for you, move on to number 5.

5.) Write a roundup of other blogs in your niche

As well as writing a 'best of' from your own archives, why not write a 'best of' from other sites in your niche?

It's going to do you wonders to reach out and let those site owners know you've done it as well. Want them to tweet your site? This is how to do it.

Example two: http://www.humanproofdesigns.com/internet-marketing-case-study-and-experiment-roundup/

6.) Ask your audience.

If you've got an idea or a loose concept of a post in your head, why not write a little bit for it, and ask your audience what they think? You'll get a ton of comments, and make your blog feel more mutual and cooperative as well. Huzzah!

Notice something is missing?

I didn't mention keywords at all. Sometimes (most of the time), it's better to just think about what people in your audience need, and then write about it.

You can do some kw research afterwards if you want to choose a nice title, but it's not essential. The post I did today was just "Best of HumanProofDesigns", and I tweeted it out using hashtags and sent it to my email list. It doesn't need a keyword in order to get views.