The Best Excuses We Tell Ourselves To Avoid Blogging

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We’re often our own worse enemies. One day we set out to do something, like a renewed commitment to blog regularly. Then the next day we argue with ourselves and provide excuses as to why it would be better to blog tomorrow than today.

Here are some of the top excuses I’ve used (or heard from others). Which ones do you use? What techniques do you use to overcome this internal pushback?

It’s been said before

This is the killer. Yes, of course it’s been said before. But do you prefer that people read about this topic on other blogs – especially on your competitor’s blog?  One way to make your post stand out is to try a creative angle on a common topic that your customers care about. You can also infuse some of your personality into the post. Has anyone infused YOUR personality into their blog post? I didn’t think so!

I’m not a good writer

Look. In the beginning, most of us are pretty bad blog post writers. I know I was! But the only way you’ll get better at writing in a way that works well for a blog is if you practice. Practice makes “better” (is there perfect?). If you want a step-by-step tutorial for blog writing (kind of “write by numbers”, check out the blog writing workshop).

I can’t think of anything to say

We’ve all felt like this but it’s really a cop out. One of my favorite ways to think of topics that my customers will care about is to think back to conversations that I’ve had with prospective or past customers. What mistakes were they making? What mistaken beliefs did they hold? What questions did they ask me? This can help you generate some ideas.

You can also look back at blogs you like (or your own blog if you have comments) and see what questions people have in the comments.

One other piece of advice. Write down or type up any blog post ideas that you come up with when you go to the gym, drive your car, take a shower, take a walk, listen to someone give a presentation, or wake up in the morning. These moments seem to generate the best ideas for my blog. So keep a blog post ideas document where you collect all of this inspiration and refer to it when you’re feeling a bit uninspired. If you want a cheat sheet, you can get my blog post idea generation toolkit here.

“Everyone” already knows this!

Sometimes we talk ourselves out of writing because we think it’s silly to write about a topic that “everyone” knows about. Well, each person is at a different stage in their education. There are always people who haven’t learned even the most basic of things about your industry yet. Did you know that phrases like “How to” and “What is” are extremely common searches in Google’s search engine?

"What is..." and "How to..." are very common. People need the basics too!

No one’s reading my blog

One reason for this is that you’re not writing often or you haven’t practiced enough to become a better writer. And if you’ve become a better writer, but still don’t have a lot of regular readers, there are a still lot of ways that your blog can help your business. For instance, a lot of people check out your website and blog before they consider doing business with you. Are you filling it with content that shows your expertise and gives them a sense of your values and personality?

It’s low priority right now

Since people are increasingly comfortable with using the web for personal and business matters, establishing a strong online presence is important for any company. Your website is completely under your control, so this makes it an ideal hub for your online activities (versus depending on the ever-evolving social media sites). If you agree with this philosophy then shouldn’t you put blogging higher on your priority list?

I need to fix my blog design first

Some people really want to have everything perfect before they move on to the next item. If you’re waiting for your blog to be perfect before you fill it with words, you’re making a big mistake. Your content and your development as a writer is actually more important than getting everything perfect with your website or blog. So, don’t use this as an excuse for not writing!

The dog ate my blog post

No, people don’t use this one (at least I don’t think so). I was just checking to see if you really read to the end. Did you?

If so, what excuses have you used to not write for your blog? How do you overcome these self-defeating excuses??

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