If you get bloggers block Social Media can help. This week in part three of our series on Social Media and blogging we look at how it can help you find inspiration for blogging.
Be inspired by others – Blog Directories
I find I am inspired by other bloggers, some that work in social media and others that just produce well written interesting content. But how do you find blogs to inspire you?
There are a number of popular blog directories. Technorati, AllTop, BlogCatalog are some of the most well known. If you’re in Ireland or have an Irish interest Irish Blogs is fantastic. A quick internet search will also provide you with topic or industry specific blog directories.
Search these for blogs of interest and be inspired!
Social Bookmarking Sites
StumbleUpon, Reddit, Delicious and Digg are full of great links and information that can both help you guage what is trending in your industry and inspire you. Search for topics that interest you and they will throw up lots of interesting stuff you might not find elsewhere.
Google Alerts
Google Alerts is not only a fantastic research tool but it can also give you a snapshot of what people are talking about relating to a specific interest. Once you have discovered the current trends write a blog post with your particular insight into the topic.
Linkedin Groups
What are people talking about or looking for information on in your Linkedin groups? If specific questions are coming up write a blog post addressing these questions or topics. Ask your own questions on Linkedin Groups or within Linkedin Answers to discover what others think, aggregate the answers in a blog post or answer the question from the feedback you have received from others.
Click here for part one on research
Click here for part two on finding readers
Do you have any secrets on finding inspiration for your blog? If so I’d love to hear your comments below.
Great trio of posts Amanda! I have two tips to add for bloggers struggling to come up with content. The first is to invite guest bloggers to contribute. Guest bloggers can help fill the blank page nicely and it has the added advantage of bringing along new readers to your site. Secondly, I often find inspiration in the comments section of my blog. Readers may leave an interesting question or comment which forms the basis of a whole new post.
Great tips Marie, thanks. I’ve struggled to get posts from Guest bloggers, do you have any recommendations on how to approach people?
Well I find bribery and flattery helps! Only kidding! I often email someone who has left a well thought out comment and invite them to expand on it in a guest post – they usually jump at the chance. I always provide a context for asking someone to blog – referring to something they’ve written in a comment or a post on their blog, and asking them to tailor it some more for my audience. There is nothing more off putting than being asked to guest blog in a manner that indicates you are just one of a list that has been targetted. As someone who writes quite a lot of guest blogs for others, that always puts me off. A genuine approach which shows that you have read and are interested in the blogger always flatters and I haven’t had to resort to bribery..yet.
Thanks for that Marie, I’ll let you know how I get on 🙂
Great tips from Marie on using guest bloggers and how to flatter them into doing so.I find the guest posts great as it brings a new style of writing and topic to my blog every Thursday but it does take time to organise. I’m doing the occasional guest interview at the moment too and find that is working well.
I have to admit I very very rarely have writers block when it comes to blogging, could write all day if I had the time and felt people wouldn’t get bored reading it!!
Lorna, I never get bored reading you 😉