Mike - never would have guessed you had blogger's block - you've had plenty to say!  Good idea with the local news.  Let me add - don't cut and paste.  Add an opinion or a local perspective.  Let us know how the piece of news connects to real estate.  Great post as usual!

Mike:  I seem to go in waves...  For days I will be highly inspired and have more article ideas than I can post and then...  Whoosh!  Out go all the ideas and I am scrambling to come up with good applicable topics!  I have learned to go with the flow and write like mad when I am inspired and lay off a day or two when I am dry....

Mike, Thanks.  I don't always have time to Blog, but I have idea in my head.  I keep a file with notes.  When I have time, I open the file and post away.

I agree.  I took creative writing in high school.  It is hard to always have something to say, but in creative writing we were forced to just write.  Eventually one idea will come out of what you've written, and then you can refine your work later.

Mike - Seth Godin blog is certainly unique and packed with great information. Seth is not only a great blogger but a best selling author so he should make it look easy! I always found it odd he doesn’t allow for any comments.

Anyway, I think one of the great opportunities for a business owner is to focus locally. Have an area you specialize in? Blog about a local park, or a local store that has been in business for 50 years. You can blog about a local event or charity. There are so many blogging opportunities if you have the time to do it. Blogging (and commenting) works well if it is a daily discipline.

Hi Mike, a few weeks back I had to take medication that put my brain in overdrive- my creative juices were flowing. Now I am "all better" I am a little "blocked"

I agree with not having a home run each time.  Sometimes I will build a heck of a blog then the next few are just announcements.  Main thing is staying active, no pun attended.

Hi Mike.  Good post.  Better to do than not do.  How do you like Keller Williams?

Ken

Mike, I think a lot of us have those moments when we just do not know what to write about. One of the things I try to think about is what do buyers and sellers really want. What are they really looking for? I do add other things like community events and businesses and news, but ultimately I know they just want information that can help them and a connection to take the next step.

Penny,

Ohhh, cut-and-paste is a no-no...

Steve,

Yes, you have to strike while the iron is hot. 

Diane,

I like that system.  sometimes it seems like either the spark has cooled, or the topic is not timely any longer when I pull out the note.

Ace,

Yes.  It helps to have the time free to chain oneself to the keyboard, though.

Internet, (Is it OK if I call you "Internet?")

Agreed across the board.  Seth solicits responses through third party sites, but comments?  Well, SETH is the Star.

Ellie,

Is that a prescription pill?  Or OTC?  Overdrive sounds good, if I could sleep at night.  comes back to striking while the iron is hot, making hay when the sun is shining, etc...

Dick,

Yes, the thing is to whack at it, rather than to hide from it.

Ken,

Thanks!  KW is good.  No issues at all.  But in all large companies, local conditions rule.  I know that KW is not perfect, but at least Gary and Mo are not on CNBC and in the press smugly saying that "Home Prices will fall another 10% this year."

Stephen,

And we need to feed the google folks, too, or they go somewhere else.

I'd say you hit a home run with this one Mike.  You picked a fine example in Seth Godin.  :-)

Brad,

Thanks! 

Seth spoke at KW Family Reunion this year.  I was fortunate to sit right up front, and we could see the energy field around him.  ;)  This was after he had walked down 62 floors in the hotel because of a power outage.

My thoughts...  Although I agree with the advice in the original post, sometimes I find just going with the flow of the writer's block and taking some time off helps.  Eventually the interesting thoughts start to flow again - and always in a flood I find!!!  Sometimes you need to work through tough patches and try harder, other times it's best to just go with the flow and take a break.

- Andrew Kyle

Andrew,

I agree.  We all need a break, and we need to put recharging our sanity ahead of blogging.  I am SO looking forward to a week at the beach later this summer.  Sweetie will let me take my computer, but there is no internet access in the cottage...

Maybe I will stock MS Word with blogs for when I get home.

great post..my blogs are simple compared to the ones I see with all the whistles.

I enjoyed your post. I'm very new to the blogging world and I think we all get a little "frozen" trying to think about something brilliant to write.

Your article certainly deals well with that and offers some great insights and perspectives.

By the way, I'm located in Durham/Raleigh... Hope to run into you some time!

Michael,

Thanks!  I think you have a good plan.

Don,

I'm headed up the road to Chapel Hill in two minutes.

Mike, great tips! I have suffered this too off and on and I have found that if I find what is going on in the local happenings and take my video camera I have a ton to write about. I think it is letting go of constantly thinking about real estate and blogging and having fun and then the light goes on - I should blog about this! :) Have a great real estate weekend!

That sounds like Seth, he's a man on a mission and you can definitely see that "force field" around him! :-)

great post. there is nothing as scary as a blank computer screen.

Jo,

Thanks!  Sometimes we "overthink" and create barriers for ourselves.

Brad,

Oh, yes!

Duane,

Obviously, you haven't been around when I get on my Sweetie's nerves.... LOL  But I'm sure that blank screen is a close second place!  :D

Writing like everything else takes practice...and hopefully, the more you practice the better you get. Lotsa different reasons to blog...biz, information for the profession, localism....do it...just do it...and it gets better in lotsa areas !

Great advice! I think we all have had this happen a time or two or more. I totally agree, we shouldn't have to stress so much just relax until you figure it out.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the coaching. I suffer from this myself, it's like bloggers brain drain for me. Sometimes I think, what else could I write about in my community? Seems like others have covered r.e. issues so well at times I feel like I have nothing to add. Guess it o.k. to bunt.

Mike- Often, I think, the first sentence is the hardest.  If you can get yourself past that one, the rest will usually follow. 

I agree that every post does not have to be a home run.  It's more important to have the discipline to write consistently.  I've still got work to do, on that.

Thanks for encouraging us all! I appreciate your willingness to share your experience and see how you helped so many.

Ann Hutchens, MDIV, CRTS, Senior Move Manager serving the greater Orlando area through Creating Divine Order in new homes! See www.creatingdivineorder.com

Thanks for highlighting a problem many of us face! I keep a tickler of articles that make for good blogging, but sometimes I find it hard to find inspiration! You offer good tips for that problem!

I've had a bad case of Blogger's butt and blog, thanks for the tips!

Sally and David,

Right. It gets easier as you go.

Terrie,

I agree.  Writing under duress seldom produces good stuff, IMO.

Lynda,

Bunting is good!

Marilyn,

Sure, a good opening line can get the juices flowing.

Ann,

Go get 'em.  Thanks!

Delete,

Keep your tickler timely and it will work for you.

Lindsay,

I sure understand that "Blogger's Butt" reference.  Blog on!

And don't forget to put things in draft when you feel like writing.  You can release them later.

Barbara,

Kind of the Grasshopper and the Ant approach.  It's a good idea.

Mike, Congrats on that gold star.  Lots of good information.  I have lots of ideas running through my head but dang I keep getting busy selling real estate (lol).  At the moment I'm doing good to do 2 to 3 post a week.  You are right though I could do the smaller blurb. 

But, Marchel, you hit SO many home runs!  ;)

Very timely post for me, I just logged on and thought "what's up with this writers block that I am having"

Now I will push through it. You are so right about getting stuck on hitting a home run everytime.

I went through a period where the one thing I kept thinking up blog posts for was something that I wasn't ready to write about... and it is tough.

Great tips and insights here, Mike! I would add one more that I know you can take advantage of -- use a photo for inspiration.

Thanks for the tips Mike. Writing a post that is interesting and well written is a problem for me. I have even considered taking a writing class.

Mike,
Nice tips, congratz for your featured blog, I need to write better, my grammar is not so good, but still I try to transmit what I know and I love to share.
Ray Saenz

Mike- nice post. lots to think about for the next block

Karen,

Yes.  Baby steps... Just hit singles.  They turn into runs, too.

Lane,

"Not ready to write about it."  I've been there.  Being "ready" is so cool when the words fly out of the keyboard...

John,

Yes.  Photos are quite stimulating.

Wayne,

Writing classes can be very helpful.  Sometimes hammering away at it gets easier with some structure.

Ray,

Thanks!  You were away for a while, too, weren't you?  Write more, and the better will come.  Work on the grammar, but don't sweat it enough to let that challenge keep you from writing.  Your thoughts still come through clearly.  Go for it my friend!

Christy,

Thanks!  I hope you don't need any of the tips for a long time!

Mike, You are right - it will happen to all.  Sometimes I will find an older post of mine and see if there is more or newer info to add to it and post on that when  I am stuck.

There's another tip, Steve.

The main thing is not to get "Writer's Block Panic."

Steve,  thanks for the tips on Blogger's Block.  I'm not yet blogging and one of the reasons it that I'm not sure what I'll write about.  The other is that I'm not quite ready to make the committment. To be successful at blogging, I believe that it needs to be consistent so that your subscribers don't leave when you don't post.

Mike,

Read some of the leading bloggers on AR and you will see that there are untold niumbers of topics to discuss.

Pick a niche and be the blog expert.  Local market reports seem to be popular.  Discussion of the steps in the transaction, true stories from your daily experiences.  It only gets easier once you get started, IMO.

Mike,

Great advise to anyone seriously involved in the blogging world. Personally I embrace the first rule. It's impossible, unless you're really gifted, to generate terrific posts time and again. So, don't even try. Just blog and have fun.

Esko,

Complete agreement here, obviously!

I have a block -- I can't log in -- hmm I wonder what that is all about --

"Can't log in."  That seems like a real nuisance, and at least it isn't a mental block, unless you forgot your username and password.

Hi Mike

great post, sometimes I have so many ideas that i want to write about, and other days, I just stare at my keyboard and I can not come up with anything. I have to be passionate about a topic otherwise it won't work

Anne Hensel

Anne,

Do those great ideas hit you in the car, and then sometimes seem less great when you address the keyboard?  It happens to me!

MIKE, It was your localism post that REALLY got me started with Localism.  Now I think the sky is the limit.  We are off right now to the Mercer Arboretium to try out our new lens and of course it gives me a localism post to write about.

Marchel,

The Arboreteum would be great to shoot and write.  I will be looking for you to go "long ball" real soon! 

I don't think I have ever had writers block... I don't always write what I need to be writing though. 

Maureen,

That's one angle to avoid it.  Just keep writing!