Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess
Every morning I sit down to the computer and think to myself (or say it out loud to the Diva Poodle,
Henrietta), "I simply cannot wait to put fingers to keyboard and blog the day away…inspiration surrounds me and I am brimming over with ideas." Sounds great, doesn't it? What's my truth? Somedays I pace the office, take Henrietta for a walk, drive out to grab a cup of coffee from the local fast food place, play around on Pinterest, scan Facebook and hope, pray and beg for ideas and inspiration to strike. Somedays it does, somedays… not so much.
How can you make sure you remain motivated for your pet blogging endeavors? Here are five steps I take (other than the above begging, praying and wasting time on Facebook!):
- Take a blog vacation. You read it right. Step away from the blog and take a break. Yes, you want to make certain you have fresh content and that your readers don't forget who you are, but let's face it, somedays sitting down and writing new content every single day is a drag. This is why blog platforms have a calendar function! Make use of that calendar, make it your friend. Sit down and write several blog posts at one time and schedule them to go live a
few days apart. Whew. This means you can take a breather for a day or so until the next block of time or zap of inspiration hits.
Shake up your content. Do you always blog about one topic? Do you write long how-to posts or interview pet subject matter experts or read and review books? Take a break and make one day at week be your Best Pet Photo of the Week (ps this is something you can do when you're on a blog vacation — follow your pets around and take some photos and use them on your site. Read here about how to take a great pet photo). Ask a fellow pet blogger to guest blog for you. Look at what you usually do and then do something different.
Make sure you're reading the blogs of others. As a pet blogger you should be a voracious reader of other pet blogs, pet magazines, pet industry trade magazines, but you should also read outside of your area of expertise. Pick up a cat magazine or a dog magazine, pick up a computer magazine or a parenting or a female-centric or a magazine aimed at business owners. Reading outside your "genre" may spark new ideas.
Read through your archives. Do you have some posts that would benefit from an upgrade or an update? Use the previously published posts as inspiration. Are there topics or categories on which you'd written more blog posts about? Jump start that idea when you're reading the archives.
A little help from your friends. Ask your friends what they'd like to see you blog about. Maybe it will be some off the wall topic such as, "the best way to host a tea party" but who knows that idea could turn into, "the best way to host a tea party for your dog's next birthday." Don't underestimate the power of networking and attending conferences.
Whether you're a part time blogger that holds a full time job outside the home or if you're a full time blogger that works from a home office, you need to shake up your routine in order to gain inspiration and bring the joy back to your blogging. What can you do today to motivate your pet blogging?
That pussy cat is certainly shaking things up in it’s life!
Some good suggestions -thanks! I’m a newbie to Blogpaws and posting a Wordless Wednesday post made me think of doing something like a “photo essay” post which would be completely different to my normal style.
Also reading through your archives. Some of my early posts are awful in hindsight (all got to start somewhere though) So could now certainly be improved and expanded.