What to blog about?

  1. Re-blogging or link blogging
    Finding something that someone else has posted and adding your spin to it. This can be really useful to start conversations between blogs and means that you don’t have a completely blank piece of paper to start with. Quote the blog or site you’re talking about and always link to it in your post. Only do it if you can add something useful though, with extra information or informed opinion.
  2. List posts
    5 things you need to know about cheese or Top 10 bridges in Birmingham give you a chance to link to lots of other sites and highlight what you think is important about them – adding some context.A good tip for an early post in a blog’s life is to make a list of the top 10 blogs in your subject area
  3. Report an event
    A lot of time, money and effort is often expended in organising events and unless they are filling Wembley Stadium, precious few people can actually attend. Which is a shame because a huge amount can arise from face-to-face events but is often lost once the evalation forms have been handed in. If you are able to take some notes, a few pictures, link to the presentations or record a video interview, you can create a valuable record of what happened.
    You might have been doing some of these things already, so why not share what went on with a wider audience. If you’re organising an event you might get some interest for the next one if you write about it – Social reporting.
  4. How-tos
    If your blog is in a niche subject, there is a good chance that you have some valuable knowledge about a place, product or process that you could share. Perhaps it is something you are asked over and over again and are constantly replying to lots of different people with roughly the same information. It could be something as simple as a particular application form, but if you write a clear, detailed explanation with some useful tips, your expertise could quickly become well known and refined through comments it attracts. Screenshots (if web-based) or photos and video all help but can be time consuming to do properly.
  5. Reviews
    If you know about a subject, then your opinion counts, so why not review related things to do with it. It might be a book, website or new gadget but a thorough review can really be useful to your readers.

So you don’t have to have a completely blank post facing you when you’re trying to answer the question what to write? Here are some other suggestions:

  • Asides or suggesting ideas: blog posts don’t have to be 500 words and published on a strict schedule – in fact one idea per blog post is a good guideline, so if you have one at 3am, stick it up, see what people think. It doesn’t have to be the finished article either (see What makes the web social?) it can be the beginning
  • Interviews: Highlight someone who you work with or a volunteer and find out more about them. Either just text or with video and audio and make the most of your assets – people
  • Pose a question: Once you have some readers, then don’t try to give them the answers, ask a question – you might be surprised at the responses.
  • Guest post: Let someone else post to your blog and give a fresh point of view. If they already have a blog then some of their readers may start following your posts and vice versa

More info

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