Kibbe on Entrepreneurship: Getting Back On the Wagon

I didn’t understand what some small-business owners meant when they said keeping up with their blogging and social channels was too difficult. I’m a writer, so writing typically comes as easily to me as breathing.

Then I became a small-business owner myself and ran smack into what they meant.

My weekly blogging habit faded, and I am now hard pressed to put out one a month! I developed a startling case of writer’s block, which for me, almost never happens. And when it does, I feel like my world has ended. Most of you have businesses outside of writing, but my business IS writing.

Still, I know I’m not alone when it comes to becoming lax in blogging, running out of ideas to Facebook, and Tweets dwindling down to monosyllables.

Here’s some ideas and thoughts to jump start your blogging/social habit again:

Idea 1: Ally Piper, owner of the web marketing agency Brighteyes Creative, suggested at recent presentation that erstwhile bloggers should make an editorial calendar for the year. That way you will always know what you’re going to write about before you sit down to post. I can see this being very helpful, especially if you’re going to discuss a topic over a multi-part series. You might even see that instead of a single post, it should be a series.

Idea 2: Always be thinking about blog topics. I did this all the time – ideas come from anywhere and everywhere – but I became lazy. Be aware of events, people, places, news, stories around you, and riff on them. One of my favorite blogs was reviewing/critique the Super Bowl ads. Sure, others do it, but no one has my particular form of insight.

Idea 3: Take a hike – literally. My problem lately has been idea generation (Note to self: See Idea #1). I went for a walk, rededicating my mind to the question, “What am I going to write about?” and a couple of ideas popped into my head somewhere around the 1.5 mile mark.

Idea 4: Dedicate time to write. For me, it’s actually Friday morning. That’s the day I’ve dedicated to working on my business (sending out invoices, updating accounts, correspondence, computer work, etc.) as opposed to at my business, aka writing articles. I set my posts to publish on Monday morning, but I’ve actually been thinking of moving to mid-week. Most people publish on Monday, and I don’t want to get lost in the Inbox clog.

Idea 5: Take the cheap way out if you have to. By this I mean, create a blog based on someone else’s. It could be as simple as a paragraph of commentary on a blog or article you found interesting or important. But it’s very important to remember that you have to be giving your readers something genuinely useful. And include the original link or citation. No one wants to read, much less write, blather.

Looking forward to seeing everyone back in the blogosphere!

Cindy Kibbe is owner of Cindy Kibbe Creative Communications, a writing services firm based in New England. She was an editor for a regional business publication for nearly a decade. She can be reached at cindy@kibbecreative.com.