So today I thought, it's time to write another blog...but what to write about? What do people need? What's useful I could share? Then I got an email from an online-business-blogger I follow called "The Results Lady." She was writing about using Twitter (which is one particular social media I admit that I don't "grok" at all.) I wasn't so interested in the post about Twitter, but I did click on a blogging-made-easy YouTube that she shared as a link (which is another really good idea...imbedding short videos into your blog or Facebook posts).

Remember, the reason to create a blog...preferably one that is in WordPress or Blogger and not necessary on your website...is that it can create links back to other cool stuff on your website, which in turn helps you come up in the natural rankings in search engines. Blogging, unless you are trying to monetize it, is about building your overall presence on the internet and bumping your website up to the top of Google, Bing, Yahoo, and all the others. The Results Lady's ideas (illustrated here by me) for quick and easy blogging include:

1. Find cool blog content from other people and repost it (with credit of course) and a little commentary of your own.  For example, I have an interest in the sociology of ethical business practices. Here is an interesting article on the "7 Principles of Adminrable Business Ethics" that I am happy to share. If this were the entire post, I'd do an introduction about the subject and a short closing paragraph with the link.

2. Find a book or YouTube video to review. You can post a link to the book/video you like, other people's reviews, and add your own intro and outro and your good. This link is to a book I really like published by good friends of mine at Redwing Books, The Blue Economy: 10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs! This is brilliant and I hope someone sends the book to every member of congress not to mention the White House.

3. Get ideas from other blogs, chat groups, and websites in your industry. What ideas are being discussed? What questions are being asked? What do people want to know? For example, today on the Chat It Up! Acupuncture Forum on Facebook there was an entire thread about treating insomnia. I could certainly create a blog about insomnia treatment from one or another Chinese journal article and then lead people back to our book Chinese Medical Psychiatry or The Treatment of Disease in TCM, Volume 1, both of which have information on that subject. This would create links back to my site in addition to the useful information in the blog, if anyone were wanting further resources. In your case, if you posted an article on your site about what Chinese medicine can do for insomnia, you could put a link in your blog that linked back to that article.

4. Repost one of your own popular blogs from a few months ago (you may not have these yet, but if you keep blogging, you will!) For example, I have about a 100-blog archive here at Blue Poppy. I could take any of the early posts on business success that are still relevant, and post them on my Blogger blog. I could have that project done in about 5 minutes! (I might do that right now, actually.)

5. Ask your readers what to write about. Put a question on your Facebook page or in your Twitter account or on your blog about what your readers would like you to discuss in future blogs....that way you get ideas directly from your readers which can help increase your readership! You could just get on your blog and say something like, "I'm not feeling creative today...and I'd love to know from my readers what you'd like me to write about." So I'll do that right here: what sort of articles would you like me to write about? How can I help you be more successful with my writing? I'm open to your ideas and you can comment right on this blog, send me an email, or comment on my Facebook page or on the Blue Poppy Facebook page!

If you're a blogger with writer's block, there are some ideas that I hope will help!

Good blogging to you.