Searching for blogging ideas?

Bloggers, just like journalists, authors and news reporters can find themselves experiencing writers’ block. Maybe you have had a blog for years, but after writing hundreds of posts, you find you aren’t coming up with fresh topics to write about.

What to do? So how do you keep up the pace after the initial excitement has worn off? Or you’ve started a blog and wonder where to get material. It is easy to become overwhelmed with the need for new material especially in a time strapped business like that of the medicolegal entrepreneur. Here are some tips on locating sources for new material that will keep your blog’s content fresh and relevant.

1. Public Domain

Search for relevant content in Public Domain magazines and on government websites. There are tens of thousands of issues of magazines worth of content to use. The US government spends billions each year to produce current, up-to-date content, most of which is Public Domain.

Search CreativeCommons.org or Freebase.com to get started. Look carefully when you use these sources to be sure they are government provided information sites. Respect copyright restrictions and do not copy material from other websites not in the public domain. Note you may use material on article ezine-type sites as long as you keep the original attribution and links to the author.

2. News Stories

Something you saw on the news this morning while you were having your coffee likely had an impact on you. Perhaps you turned to your spouse and mentioned your thoughts on the topic. Now take that same premise and write a post about it. Publish it while it is fresh on your mind. As the story continues to grow and develop, you can come back to the blog post and write a fresh piece, linking back to the original post and perhaps your local news station where you first learned of the information.

Don’t get the newspaper? Then perhaps your home page is a news source such as Yahoo News, CNN, or the New York Times. These pages are also full of news articles and are usually grouped into topics such as world news, local news, entertainment, sports, weather, travel and so forth. Now suppose your blog is about medically related information. You could look in each category for something that sparks your interest in your area of expertise. For example, I have written posts about prosthetics for amputees that tied to articles I saw in the sports section.

Look at each article for evidence that the material is copyrighted. You may quote a short passage and direct the reader to the original source to read the rest of the article. Then provide your take on the material.

3. Another Blogger’s Post

Join the community. Find other bloggers who write about your subject and spotlight their work on occasion. Get to know them. People will become interested in you when you show an interest in them. Read and comment on their posts and they will do the same for you.

4. An Interesting Web Page You Stumbled Across

My day often consists of researching one subject or another and in my travels across the vast internet, I often find myself interested in something I saw, but yet it is not related to my current search. A quick bookmark can remind you to jump back when you have the time and let your reading inspire your next post.

Stumbleupon.com is a neat little add on for your browser that lets you browse random websites at your leisure and based upon your interests. The randomness makes for a fun surfing session that might just lead to your next most popular post.

5. Something a Colleague Said

Water cooler conversation can often spark opinions, comments, and even empathy. If there is a heated debate going on at the hospital, blog about the topic. Share your thoughts and opinions on the matter and invite others to comment on what they see as the pros and cons on the subject. Remember to comment back and keep your readers engaged.

6. Industry News and Related Resources

How many of us receive multiple journals to read each month? If you are like me you may be months behind in reading the information. I typically skim every page and when I find something that is particularly interesting, I read it more carefully honing in on something that is particularly meaningful to me. I find myself highlighting particular passages that I especially like. Sometimes the quotes I have picked out have little meaning in the overall theme of the article, but they ignites something in me. I then keep a stack of these highlighted journal articles on my desk for those times when the blog is bear.

7. Facts, Figures, and Statistics

Readers love facts, figures and statistics. Write posts in lists, like tip lists or top ten lists. This seems like a very simplistic way to present information, but readers love them. To gather some interesting facts, consider fedstats.gov, cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook, IWant Media.com, Stats.org, or InfoPlease.com. There are many other similar websites.

8. Resources

Consider sharing your top research sites or resources you use on a regular basis. Legal nurse consultants, in particular, create lists, bookmarks, or save clippings to One Note http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/ or Ever Note http://www.evernote.com/ to refer back to should they have a similar case in the future. Consider if your reader might also benefit from this information, consider sharing your lists on your blog. Invite others to share their own resources. You might be surprised at some of the items you missed when you were creating your list that others are freely willing to share with you and your readers for your next case.

9. Google Alerts

Set up a Google Alert for your products, services, or business type. Find out what others in the industry are discussing and take an opportunity to not only read the information, but also consider inviting the author of the alerted information to be a guest blogger. Or you could write an article that reflects your thought on the alert and invite them to your blog to comment or to share a link.

10. Social Networks

Jump into a weekly #blogchat discussion on Twitter or check out what is trending. Facebook has Networked Blogs which shares content from Facebook users with blogs. You can get a widget that contains different blogs and use this to inspire your own content. LinkedIn groups are also a great place to find good content ideas. Look at questions being asked and share your blog post as the answer. Slideshare is chock full of presentations where a single slide could inspire several blog posts. Think about Tips and Advice videos from YouTube as yet another source of inspiration.

Use these top ten sources and the next thing you know you will find yourself with plenty to talk about and not enough time to squeeze it all in. Finding the time the time to write, edit, and publish the information as fast as you are inspired to do so is the topic for a future article!

Now that you have the top sources for inspiration and content to keep your blog fresh, join me in this marketing course to learn how to keep from being left behind. Top experts in a variety of areas will share their tips and tricks on exhibiting, giving powerful presentations, building relationships and website development. These seminars are geared to the legal nurse consultant. Over this six week course, these experts will teach you how to market in order to grow your business.

Learn more about blogging. Get more information, see our link the Online Marketing Course for LNCs

Victoria Powell is a legal nurse consultant who presented a webinar on blogging as part of the Online Marketing Course for LNCs.

Med League provides medical expert witnesses to trial lawyers. Please call us at (908)788-8227 or contact us today to discuss your next case.