FIVE WAYS TO PUT THE WIND BACK INTO YOUR BLOGGING SALES

Have you ever found yourself in a blogging rut, completely void of creativity, inspiration, and a passion to write? I would have to say that I recently was in a “Blogging Black Hole” with no real motivation to write anything. It was a real chore to come up with any worthwhile ideas and it just seemed harder and harder to squeeze out the time to blog.

You know how baseball players get into batting slumps where they literally couldn’t hit the ball if their life depended on it…..Well, I have to confess…. I was in a blogging slump!

As I tried to assess the many reasons why I lost that “love n feeling” for blogging, I started to recognize some of the ways that I could put the wind back into my “blogging” sails. As I have started to implement these different strategies, I have experienced a renewed energy and passion for blogging.

Here are five ways for reigniting a passion for blogging (This is what worked for me anyways….)

1. Take a Blogging Sabbatical (Vacation) – If you find yourself in a blogging rut, then I recommend taking a short and temporary break from blogging. Some bloggers would disagree and say that you should not stop writing and just blog your way out of a rut. I personally think this is not the best choice especially if you are writing uninspired, “blah” blog posts that are only hurting your blog readership. I believe that a short break (maybe 1-2 weeks) is a good time to “recharge your batteries” and reflect on why you began blogging for your business in the first place? This time will help you to re-define the overall purpose your blog has in your business objectives. Essentially, it is important to get “back to the roots” and figure out what this blog means to you and your business!

2. Read Other Blogs – During your “blogging vacation”, I would recommend replacing the usual time you take to write your posts and just read more industry-related or relevant blog posts. Read blogs that inspire you and cause you to think critically about your work and life. As you read these blogs, make a list of the types of topics they are blogging about and try to determine those areas that seem to peak your interest. Also, read bloggers that are clearly passionate about what they are writing as they just might “rub off on you”. They did for me!

3. Talk to Other Bloggers – In addition to just reading the posts, it is helpful to also talk to other bloggers about why they do what they do, what inspires them and how they continually inject new, creative ideas into their posts. These conversations might give you some helpful hints for breaking out of your own blogging slump.

Also, I love to listen to other bloggers’ success stories – that fires me up as well. Just last week, one Virtual Assistant who has done some work for us in the past shared how she had landed this great new client via one of her blog posts. She had actually been listening to our “Product Launch Success Strategies” event at VAClassroom and decided to write a blog commentary on it. Well, her blog post was indexed by Google and this new client found her post and VA business by searching for “Online Product Launches”. This one blog commentary ultimately resulted in a great new client – isn’t that cool?

It is that kind of inspiration that I am refering to here…. blogger testimonies that help you to remember why you started blogging in the first place!

4. Change Up Your Blogging Schedule – I am not sure what kind of regular blogging schedule you keep, but I would recommend switching your current schedule and try something new and fresh. If you regularly write blog posts at three or four different times during the week, then maybe switch it up to pick a set time per week where you write all three or four posts in one sitting…. Or vise versa. Try a different approach that will help to revitalize your blogging efforts!

5. Focus on your passion! When you are going through these “lulls”, it is important to write posts that matter to you or areas that you are passionate about. These are NOT the times to be writing posts that you think your audience wants to hear. Write posts on topics that really “charge your batteries”! If you are super passionate about Social Networking, then gear your current posts to that topic. If you love shopping cart technology, then write some posts on tips for setting up shopping carts for clients. The key here is to identify those topics that you are truly passionate about it and just blog! This just might get you out of the slump:)

So, there you have it…. Five ways that have helped me to really climb out of my blogging rut. One last thing…. I truly believe that blogging is one of the most powerful tools for connecting with your target client audience. It can truly have an awesome impact on your business. So, the key is to not give up, but implement some of these strategies and others that will help you re-gain your focus, purpose and love for blogging.

Now, I would love to hear any ideas you have for staying inspired and passionate about blogging – Please share