Once you’ve been consistently posting for 6 months, you can expect that content block is going to settle in at some point. When you’re posting for your own business it’s easy to forget that you know things that other people don’t know. Something that is very simple for you may be mind-blowing to someone in your audience. You probably don’t realize how much valuable information you have. If you are experiencing content block, here are some tips to help.

 

Have a Content Calendar

Having a content calendar is one of the most helpful things ever for content block. We usually work off of a 2-week strategic rotation. That means we have topics for 6 days a week for 2 weeks. I can go look and see that the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month I’m going to post testimonials and the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays I will post insider tips. If I know this ahead of time I can go ahead and prepare 2 testimonials and 2 insider tips and that’s my Tuesdays for the whole month. It’s much more daunting to sit down every day in front of your computer, realize it’s 4 pm, and try to figure out what you’re going to post today. 

 

Brainstorm

Of course, you need to brainstorm yourself, but also you need to brainstorm with colleagues or team members. We have the advantage of having a team of people so if we get blocked we can brainstorm together or even swap accounts. If you don’t have a team to bounce ideas off of that’s ok. You can take advantage of networking groups, mastermind groups, and associated networking. By associated networking I mean if you are a florist specializing in weddings you can brainstorm with wedding planners, bridal shops, and other wedding-related industries. 

 

Keyword Research

 

Google has a keyword research tool that is free. You can search what you think people are looking for and Google will tell you what they’re actually looking for. For instance, is anyone searching for an “automobile” anymore? More people are searching for a “car” now. That’s important to know if you are a car rental place. Sometimes as a business owner, you get in your own way. I might revert back to the good old days when the Yellow Pages made you list car rental under “auto” but if I type that into Google it’s going to tell me what people are searching for today.

Your Google Analytics will also help you find out how people are finding you. It will give you the terms people are searching for that lands them on your site. It provides you with the individual words and phrases people have used to find you. You can then research those keywords and get even more keywords to use. 

 

Check Previous Posts

 

If you know for a fact that posts containing your face do well, post more of that. If you know testimonials do well, post more of those. If humor works for you, lean into the humor. Past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior. If it’s worked for you in the past, it will continue to work for you in the future. 

 

Go Deeper

 

You can always go deeper with previous topics. For instance, today I am sharing tips for combating content block. I could dive deeper later and give you 3 specific websites for finding content. That would be a deeper version of the same topic we are talking about now. You can use this method with your previous content.

 

Pull from What’s Current

 

What is going on in the news, on social media, on your favorite podcasts, and elsewhere? Tap into whatever is happening right now. Social media is one of the best tools to get ideas for other social media. Twitter and Pinterest are 2 of the most overlooked search engines online. Twitter is technically not its own search engine but it really could be. There is so much information there. You just type in a keyword or hashtag and it feeds it to you. YouTube is another great search engine. You can use all of these for creating content for future use. 

 

Educate

 

You constantly have to be learning new stuff. Whether you’re reading a new book, listening to a podcast, or engaging in training, it’s important to continue educating yourself. It will help you bring new life to old content. It’s a good way to shake things up.

 

Start in the Middle

 

Starting in the middle may seem counterintuitive but it works. Instead of trying to start with a message, start with a graphic that you love and work backward. You can find a caption you love and work backward to the graphic. Sometimes flipping it around can spark your creativity. 

 

Change Your Routine

 

This sounds simple but it can be a tremendous help. Change your location. If you normally work from home, work in a coffee shop. If you normally work in the afternoon, but you’re most productive in the morning, work in the morning. Work in small bursts and get up and move around. Take a coffee break. Whatever it takes to mix it up and get those creative juices flowing. Sometimes walking away for a little bit can bring those good ideas to your mind. 

 

Answer the Public

 

This is one of my favorite resources and very few people actually use it. Answer the Public is a keyword research tool. There is a paid version but you can use the free version once per day. You can type in a word or phrase and it will give you all the questions that have been asked on Google with that word or phrase in it. It does it in a diagram and a spreadsheet. The diagram looks like a flower with each petal containing multiple questions. There is a petal for how, who, what, where, and why. 

 

Say Goodbye to Content Block

 

Now that you have some resources to help, say goodbye to content block for good.