Do you want to start a blog? Perhaps you want to revive an old blog. Like anything else, it can be difficult revitalizing old hobbies or pushing ourselves to try something new! For the last few years, I've wanted to write more and take my blog to the next level, but it's been hard to find motivation. One of my biggest struggles was letting my ideas get to big and feeling like I had to have all the answers or ideas thoroughly planned out before writing new blog posts. It's overwhelming and difficult to know where to start. Here are four tips to get started:
1. Set Realistic Goals
Set realistic goals for anything you want to achieve. Break it down into small steps to make it manageable and prevent burn out. For example, my initial goal was pretty simple: write and publish 1-2 posts each month. Since then, I've developed a strong writing pattern that's motivated me to write more frequently. Now, I write and publish one blog post per week, which is manageable for me.
If you're passionate and creative, it's easy to get swept away by big ideas. However, I know first-hand how easy it is to lose interest and motivation if I set my initial goals too high and don't met them as effortlessly as I envisioned in the beginning. Setting realistic goals to start helps turn goals into habits. Remember: slow and steady wins the race!
2. Write Notes
Whether it's in a notebook or the notes app on your smart phone, keeping notes is a game changer! Sometimes you get your best ideas on the fly, so keep a collection of all your ideas on your phone or in a notebook. This will help you when you’re actually ready to write your next post and could also help if you ever have writer’s block. Tracking your ideas and keeping notes also prevents forgetting ideas or pieces of an idea.
3. Batch Blog Posts
You might be wondering, "What is content batching?" Later Media describes content batching as a productivity technique where you create your digital and/or written content during a set period of time. Instead of spending hours planning, creating, and posting one blog post, you'll dedicate that time to creating and scheduling more content to cover a longer period of time.
Batching at least 1-3 posts ahead can save you time when your personal or work life is unexpectedly busy and you might not have enough time to write one week/month. Next time you’re creative juices are flowing, try to write an extra blog post or two to help yourself get ahead. This where your list of ideas will come in handy.
4. Establish A Niche
Coming up with topics or ideas for your posts can be difficult, especially when we're experiencing writer's block. I recommend finding a niche. Are you passionate about marketing? Do you movies and television? What do you want to share in your writing? Start of broad, and then get more specific. For me, I want to write about marketing and my personal interests so those are my two main content pillars. From there, I've broken each down and included subcategories.
For example, within my marketing content pillar, my subcategories include social media, resources, and behind the scenes. My main area of expertise is social media so I like to discuss updates or news within the social media industry. I also like to share my marketing insight and resources to help other marketers, which covers the other two subcategories. Establishing 2-3 content pillars will help you narrow your focus while still giving you room to be creative and dive into other topics.