You’ve been blogging for a couple of months, rocking your niche and having fun, when suddenly you get the urge to post something totally unrelated. You find yourself longing for an outlet, a place to post all those other great stories and ideas you have, and you wonder, do I start a new blog? How would I keep up with two (or more) blogs? Is this topic something I’m passionate about and can blog about on a regular basis, or is this just an itch?
Stop.
This is your opportunity to guest post! Go ahead, jot down those ideas, write the stories, and submit them to the blogs you love to read. This is huge! You’re not tied down to a blog, you have no pressure to post on this topic again, you get a link back to your site, and you’ve done the blogger a favor by providing content and a fresh voice to their blog.
A little more serious? Become a contributor of a blogging network or join a community based site or forum. You’ll be able to contribute on a regular basis, in a niche outside of your own and you won’t have yet another site to manage.
I’ve done both, and I can’t tell you the release I feel when I stop to write about something different for a change. It’s a wonderful sure for writer’s block or plain ol’ boredom!
A couple recent out-of-my-niche posts:
Adventure Awaits – Skimbaco Lifestyle
The Big Ones that Don’t Get Away – The Guilty Parent
If you could write about any other topic for a day, what would it be?
Where would you want to post it?
Alternately, consider a niche-free personal place to put whatever you want. It works well for me, I can put the slice-of-life or top-of-mind things that need airing there with no concern of marketing or pushing, it's just there. Does it really matter if it lies fallow for a month or two at a time? I've never even bothered messing with the template, it's just out of the box and here you go. It's a cathartic space with no pressure.
Hey Erica,
All of my guest posts on other blogs have been on blog out of my niche. I find it hard to write enough posts for my niche to have them on other blogs. Writing outside your niche will still bring one some new readers.
Funnily enough I've been commenting recently on a real estate forum, and I got an email from the owner asking me if I'd guest post for him, so I will. Well outside my niche, but something I'm interested in. So forums are one way in to these things.
Yes, that is another option. I have a personal blog, but I don't really do much with it. For me, the itch I get is when I have something really fantastic on my mind, something I want to share, have read, and possibly help people. If I put it up on my personal blog 3 people will see it. If I contribute to a well established blog, it has the potential to reach many.
I'm with you! Blogging here exhausts my ideas for my niche. I do contribute twice a month to a network, and there I post in the same niche, but I usually repurpose/rewrite something from my own blog. I simply don't have enough ideas or time to spread my niche around. haha
One of these days I'm going to submit a lifestyle post to your blog.
Go for it! I've seen other people mention that commenting regularly at a forum got them a writing gig, either regular or as a guest writer. Even if it's not in your niche, it's publicity. It's reaching out, connecting with people, and it's good for you and your blog!
That is a really good point Gordie! I have onyl done one guest blog so far, and I think the main reason is because I am only getting enough post ideas for my own blog.
Erica, I love the idea guest posting as an outlet for wanting to post on something different. I have started to many unsuccessful niche blogs because of this.
This is fantastic, Erica.
One of my goals for 2010 is to increase my guest posting activity, which I look forward to. It really is a great idea and thing to do.
Glad to see you out there!
Traveling! Where would I post it? Maybe from Ireland?
. But seriously, RealSimple would be a fun place to post.
Yep, brilliant Idea. I've been asked to guest post on other sites outside my niche. Been a bit reluctant. But I think it's still a good idea to do so.
Thanks Erica
What a fabulous idea! My son has special needs and we've been doing all kinds of alternative therapies and I've been longing to share them with other parents because they have worked amazingly well. But I felt like I didn't have the energy to sustain a whole blog about them. Never occurred to me to offer to guest blog. Yeah! I'm excited now… thanks!
Bonnie,
Sometimes it is therapeutic to write about something outside our niche, especially when it's about our kids.
Submit a post to 5 Minutes for Special Needs!!