Blogging can mirror mining in several ways. A blogger is not unlike a prospector hoping to strike it big. They are always searching for a rich vein of ore to tap and a mine to open. Unlike the miner who is searching for gold, the blogger is searching for a different kind of wealth – a wealth of ideas for fresh blog content.
Both bloggers and miners face a similar problem. Eventually the vein stops producing ore. The miner moves on in search of a better vein in another location. Bloggers can take a page from a different playbook. There is no need for their content mine to quit producing.
As a blogger, you can do a few simple things to extend the life of your content mine:
Define Your Identity
A blog without a clear identity is like a sailboat without a sail. It has nothing to keep it on course. Defining the identity of your blog helps give it direction. You also discover the identity of your target audience and can get a better idea of their content needs. What do they want to see? What do they want to learn? Knowing the answers can shape your content plan and give your blog a renewed sense of purpose. You can build the right content for the right audience.
Expand Your Niche
Focusing on a particular niche can backfire if it is too narrow. It will be much harder to generate a steady flow of content ideas for a blog devoted to restoring old furniture versus a blog centered on home improvement. Widening the scope of your blog can bring a rush of new ideas to the surface. It can also benefit your blog by drawing in a larger number of followers who might not have visited when the blog niche was narrower.
Mine Social Media
Social media should be your no. 1 resource as a blogger. When ideas slow to a trickle, you can use social media channels to generate new ideas. The obvious step includes linking your blog to a Facebook page and Twitter account. It also includes interacting with blog followers by responding to comments and holding live chats. You can also introduce yourself to the larger blogging community and glean ideas from other bloggers. A ghostwriter blog, for example, might be enriched if the blogger running it can draw on resources in the online ghostwriting community.
Use Intelligent Design
You can influence the direction and volume of blog content through blog design. Does your blog include video clips? Does it feature podcasts? Incorporating visual and audio media into your content offerings can make it easier to expand the type of content you regularly deliver to your followers. A writer can use a podcast or video to expand on ideas that would take several web pages to cover with written content alone. It offers more creative freedom within a blog.
John C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
