It may be safe to say blogging has hit the mainstream. There’s a blog – and in some cases hundreds – on any and every topic conceivable.
Blogs are great outlets for voicing opinions, educating, expressing creativity and, of course, as marketing tools. They provide you or your organization a global platform and an opportunity to create a more meaningful relationships with a niche audience. If you don’t have a blog and you’re thinking about starting one, or maybe you do, but have hit a wall with creating fresh content, there are a few things you can do to get started or overcome creative block:
- Research – what is already being done in this area? Can you fill a niche not currently being filled or approach a common topic from a fresh angle? Discover that and you will have a leg up on the competition.
- Passion – what are you most passionate about? Base your blog on something you are passionate about and it won’t feel like a chore. Topics will come easy, and you’ll be excited to constantly create and share your passion with the world. In turn, you will create better content, because it won’t be forced.
- Voice – find your voice. Your passion will dictate this too, but also think about whether you want your blog to be written, video or audio as a podcast. Blogs are not just limited to the written format. If you hate writing, maybe audio is the route to go. Make it fun.
- Curating content – create an editorial calendar with at least a month or two of topic ideas so you are not scrambling each week. Check in with your audience. What are they talking about? Ask them what they want to know or see in your blog. Crowd source!
A good example of someone rocking the blog world is Liza de Guia of Food Curated.com. She started by analyzing what else was being done in the food blog world, found a void in the online food documentary arena, then determined how she could take her documentaries to the next level.
Though there’s no shortage of food blogs, de Guia managed to create a name for Food Curated and a following by doing something different. See the interview below in which de Guia provided some great tips for rising above the fray and finding your passion.
Hopefully this gets you thinking about what you can create. Just remember to be relevant, have fun, find your passion and make it special.
Question: Have you found a new approach to blog about a common topic? If so tell us about it and share a link your blog.
Resources:
• FoodCurated.com
• Tumblr.com
• WordPress.com
• “Top 5 Business Blogging Mistakes and How to Avoid Them” ~ by Josh Catone via Mashable
For more marketing and PR tips and tools check out JetPack Radio.
Enclosures:
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, M4V
