6. Start with a Need
One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given by the person who taught me to public speak many years ago was to identify a need that those who are listening to you might have and to use this as the starting point for a post.
People buy into what you are communicating if they have a felt need that they feel you might be able to help them with.
Starting with a need not only helps your audience or readership but that it can also help in the writing process. I’m much more motivated to write if I’m communicating on something I need to learn about myself or something that I’ve found an answer to.
So when you’re looking for that elusive topic to write about (this is after all often the hardest part of getting past bloggers block) ask yourself some questions to help you get in touch with the needs of readers in your niche:
- What questions do I get asked most of all?
- When I first started exploring this topic what was my biggest question or need?
- What is my biggest current need in the area that I’m blogging about?
- What words do people come to my blog having typed into search engines (you can get this from most stats packages) and what does this tell me about what people need?
Once you’ve identified the need you’re well on the way to writing a useful original post that should be popular with your readership – if you can find something worthwhile to say about it that is!
Read the rest of the Battling Bloggers Block Series
