5 ways to fall back in love with your blog
Love is in the air! Okay, yes, I know Valentine’s Day has passed but I love sticking to a theme, especially for my writing. Which brings me to today’s topic: Blogging. Like any good love affair, blogging requires effort, consistency, and keeping that spark alive.
Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint and you’ll need to think about the long-term benefits blogging brings instead of quick wins that eventually fizzle out.
When you get to blog about things you’re passionate about, it’s a lot easier to stay in love with your blog and be excited to craft your next post. But when you blog for a brand or business, that excitement can go stale after a while. Even quicker when you work in an unsexy or boring industry.
If you’re finding yourself bored with your blog and need to bring some TLC into your relationship with your writing, here are five ways to fall back in love with your blog and reignite that flame!
1. Look at it from a new angle
You may feel like you’ve maximized all the different things to cover when it comes to your industry or niche, so go get a new perspective. Ask your friends, family members, or a partner what questions they have about your industry or what they don’t understand about your business. You may even survey your customers or audience and ask what they’d be interested in seeing you write about or if they have questions they’re still looking for answers on.
A common keyword research tactic is looking at Google’s related searches to find long-tail keywords or alternatives of your targeted term, and this tactic could help you realize new topics you can cover in your blog or find ways to build on or repurpose older blog content.
Take a look at what your competition is writing about or what unique angles they’re covering in your industry. Do they have a unique take on a certain subtopic or are they sharing foundational information in a new way?
Another way to see it from a new angle is to read interviews with industry influencers. What questions are they being asked? What are they predicting for your industry? What topics do they consistently bring up? Are there different takes on the same topic between influencers? How can you add your voice to the conversation on these same topics or questions?
2. Change up the format
Just like a change of scenery can rekindle that honeymoon feeling, a change of blogging format can make it seem new and exciting. Try different mediums, like creating infographics, videos, or podcasting your blog content.
You might even look into testing out episodic content or developing a series of blogs to focus on one topic but get different posts out of it. You can start small by starting with a monthly staple, like a news roundup or case study feature, and then build on that as it gains traction and popularity.
3. Involve your community
Survey your customers or industry partners to get ideas of what you can cover in your blog this year. This could also include interviews or industry research that you can repurpose for other marketing initiatives.
4. Attend an event
Nothing gets my creative juices flowing like attending industry events and seeing what my peers are talking about or educating others on. You can turn this into a blog post in itself and share key takeaways for those who couldn’t attend, or you could add on to a session you enjoyed, or provide a rebuttal for points you don’t agree with. Jot down stats or best practices in your industry and add your own commentary to the topic in a blog post.
This also works for workshops or webinars if you can’t get to bigger industry conferences or events.
5. Have fun
Blogging is meant to be fun and a creative way to connect with your readers or potential customers. Go back to your roots and think about fun ways to share your brand’s story or connect with your audience. Don’t be afraid to try writing about a new topic or trying a new format. Sometimes what your audience loves the most isn’t what you expect.
Have any tips for content marketers struggling with their blog? Share them in the comments below or share your blogging tips on Twitter!
