what to blog about

Fiction authors: Blog about these 19 topics

5/12/2010 By Joan 15 Comments

The most fun thing in my office: A miniature replica of my first car, nicknamed “The White Tornado”

Fiction writers often struggle with what to write about at their blogs.

Help is on the way.

Check out these five ideas specifically for fiction writers, at the Writer’s Digest blog. Be sure read all the comments where more ideas are buried.

Here are 19 of my own ideas, most of which work just as well for non-fiction writers.

Print this list and tack it to your bulletin board, so you’ll never be lacking for something to write about:

What writing problems do you struggle with, and how do you solve them?
Share fun facts about geographic locations where your romance novels or other fiction takes place.
Pay attention to questions people are emailing you. Often, these are great fodder for a blog. (Excerpted from the handout “101 Ways to Find Content for Your Blog” from the teleseminar Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging.)
What’s the most unusual thing in your office that inspires, entertains or humors you? Make sure to include the photograph when you post. Mine is a miniature replica of my first car: a 1962 white Chevy Nova we affectionately nicknamed “The White Tornado.”
What sparks your creativity?
Who is your hero? And why?
What one event in your childhood had the greatest effect on your writing career?
If you weren’t doing what you do today, what other job would you have?
Who is your best friend, and what do you like best about him or her? List your best friend’s favorite books. How do they compare to yours?
What “lesson from mom” do you still live by today?
What’s the one thing you want to accomplish, or write about, before you die?
If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be? Would you write or read there, or do something else?
Do you have a pet that keeps you company when you write? If so, write about him or her. Has your pet taught you anything about writing? If so, what?
What’s the worst writing mistake you ever made that taught you a valuable lesson?
What’s the most unusual place you have visited?
What’s the most unusual book you’ve read that’s made a lasting impression on you?
If you could have a quiet dinner with just one author, who would you choose?
Create a survey that’s related to the topic of your book and share it with readers. Report the results.
Create a fun quiz about one of your books and award a cool prize.

Finally, the very best free tool for finding content for your blog is Google Alerts. Create one or more alerts using keywords or keyword phrases that tie into the topics you write about. You’ll have so many ideas for blog posts that you’ll wonder how you ever worried about finding enough.

Authors, what do you blog about? Which posts elicit the greatest number of comments from your readers?

Filed Under: Authors & Publishers, Blogs, Contests, YouTube Tagged With: fiction authors, fiction writers, finding blog content, ideas for blog posts, what to blog about

9 easy places to find content for your blog

1/16/2010 By Joan 3 Comments

If you’re blogging, or you want to start a blog but you’re afraid you won’t have enough content, forget the binoculars!

You don’t have to look far to find it. It’s all around you.

The trick is to be aware of it, learn how to recycle it, and be willing to tweak it, edit it, and repurpose it for different audiences.

Here are nine places to look to find more than enough topics to write about.

In your email box. When someone asks you a question, answer it, and then include the question and the answer in a blog post.
In print newsletters and ezines for your industry. What’s the hot prediction for this year, and do you agree with it?
At other people’s blogs. (Comment on the post at your own blog, and link to it.)
In newspaper and magazine articles. Excerpt a tip or two from an article you’ve just read, with attribution, and comment.
At conferences, seminars and workshops you attend. Mention something you’ve learned and explain how you’re going to apply it.
On your own wish list. Discuss something you want to do in your business, or your life, before you die.
In your office. Write about the best (or worst) computer equipment and other tools you use.
On TV. If a show or character you saw ties into your topic, write about it.
On your to-do list. What are your goals for 2010?

Want 68 more sources for blog content? They’ll be on the handout you’ll get when you register for my teleseminar on “Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging” at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Jan. 20, with Patsi Krakoff.

Only a few seats remain. The handout, which I’ll email on Wednesday morning, has lots of other goodies you’ll love.

Filed Under: Blogs Tagged With: blog content, blog ideas, ideas for bloggers, what to blog about

3 business blogging tips to save time—even if you hate writing

1/11/2010 By Joan 27 Comments

If you aren’t blogging yet, or you’re looking for shortcuts to save time and blog more frequently, here are three ideas to get you started:

1. Can’t write? Then talk!

Too many people don’t blog because they can’t write, or it takes them too long to write well. The solution? A small tape-recorder.

When an idea strikes, simply dictate your blog post into the recorder. Then transcribe it yourself or hire an inexpensive assistant to transcribe it for you and post it to your blog.

Also consider using voice recognition software. Dragon Naturally Speaking turns your voice into text three times faster than most people type, with 99 percent accuracy. I haven’t tried this product, but I know people who have, and they rave about it.

2. Recruit guest bloggers.

Most of your blog content should be your own.

But you can recruit guest bloggers occasionally to fill in when you’ll be on vacation, taking time off, suffering from writer’s block, or when you simply want to expose your readers to another viewpoint. Blogger LinkUp links bloggers who want to write guest posts with bloggers who need them.

3. Recruit others on your team to blog with you.

Don’t carry the entire load on your shoulders. If you work for a company or nonprofit, ask fellow employees in your own department or other departments to contribute to your blog occasionally by writing their own posts. Be sure to include their photos.

If you’re a sole proprietor, ask your virtual assistant, or a vendor, or business associates to write on a topic that would interest your target audience. They’ll probably be thrilled to receive the exposure.

If you like these tips, you’ll love the teleseminar on “Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging” at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Jan. 20, with blogging expert Patsi Krakoff. Everyone who registers will receive a handout that includes 77 ways to find content for your blog, and simple formulas you can use for better, faster blog writing.

If you’re participating in the teleseminar, bring your questions for Patsi. If you can’t attend, you’ll get the MP3 recording the next day.

Make 2010 the year you finally commit to blogging and pulling tons of traffic to your website.

What time-saving tips do you use to make blogging go faster? Share ‘em here. (Shutterstock photo)

Filed Under: Blogs, Nonprofits Tagged With: blog content, blogger tips, Blogging, blogging advice, Patsi Krakoff, what to blog about

Blog content in short supply? 9 ideas for bloggers

7/26/2009 By Joan 9 Comments

If you’re new to blogging, or you’ve been blogging for awhile but sometimes find yourself struggling for something to write about, here are nine ideas to get you writing quickly:

1. Take a poll. Using a free tool like Survey Monkey, you can poll your readers on a fun, controversial or hot topic. You will, of course, write another blog post sharing results of the poll. For blog polls, the quickest and easiest thing to do is use a widget. You can get one at PollDaddy.com (they have a WordPress plugin) or you can use the WordPress survey plugin to put a poll inside a blog post.

2. Use Google Alerts. Create alerts for your topics at Google.com/alerts. Google will email you as often as you wish with great content that ties into your topic.

3. Create Top 10 lists. Letterman made these famous. Readers love them!

4. Create a video. Video is hot, hot, hot and it will pull traffic like crazy. Here’s one I created on how to get your consumer product into holiday gift sections. If you’re intimidated by video, let Mike Stewart help.

5. Comment on somebody else’s video which you can also post to your blog. You’ll find millions of videos at YouTube. I blogged about this video that shows Peggy Noonan, a conservative columnist for the Wall Street Journal, and Mark Murphy, a strategist during John McCain’s 2000 campaign for president, who were caught criticizing McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin for vice president. It happened during a panel discussion on the set of MSNBC, where Murphy is a commenator.

6. Report on interesting conversatons on Twitter. I frequently blog about discussions I have with my Twitter followers, how we help each other, and how Twitter is a fabulous tool for publicity, if you use it correctly. I use screenshots, too, to dress up the blog post. (Caution: Don’t let Twitter and Facebook steal you away from your blog.)

7. Find content at Digg.com. Use the search box at this social bookmarking site to find interesting content on a specific topic. You can guage the popularity of the topic by how many Diggs it has received.

8. Share humorous content. Funny photos, jokes and videos—particularly those that ties into your topic—are a nice break from the serious stuff.

9. Recycle content from other sources. If you’re a speaker, extract content from your handouts. If you’re an author, excerpt from your book. I frequently cut and paste helpful comments I post to other blogs, like the comment you’re reading, and turn it into a post at this blog. I wrote seven of these nine tips this morning for the Blogging Made Easy post I read at the Salon.com blog. (It’s the second comment.)

How do you find interesting content for your blog?

(Shutterstock photo)