9 Ideas for Keeping Your Coaching Newsletter or Blog Fresh

Do you ever get a “writer’s block” when it comes to writing your coaching articles, newsletters, or blog posts?  No matter how passionate you might be about your topic, you may find yourself stuck once in a while. So how do you keep your writing fresh over time?

I have 9 ideas to share with you.

1. See how other writers deal with the dreaded writer’s block syndrome. You have to love the Internet for this; do a quick Google search and you’ll come across millions of articles with tips from a wide spectrum of writers on how they cope with blocks to their creativity.  You’re bound to come across many ways to fuel your writing fire again.
2. Next, see what other coaches in your specialty are doing these days. Of course I’m not advocating pirating or plagiarizing anyone else’s work.  Just read what they’re sharing and see if you find seeds of inspiration that you can cultivate into your own articles or blog posts.
3. Pull article ideas from every coaching session with a client. Jot down words they use to describe their fears and frustration.  Perhaps even doodle around those words.  Somewhere between the words and the pictures, ideas for topics to write about will begin to emerge.
4. Keep a notebook and a small recording device with you at all times. The other day while I was on the phone with a colleague, she said something that gave me terrific idea for an article.  I quickly jotted it down and turned into an article later.  Keep that notebook handy.  For times when you are not able to write, like when you’re driving, recording your thoughts works equally well.
5. Read, read, read—but do so in an active search for things that you can use as a springboard for your writing. Newspapers and magazines, especially women’s and news magazines, contain a treasure trove of information on what people worry about, what they find important, what trends they follow and statistics they fall into.
6. Look through your past articles, newsletters, and blog posts – you may uncover some gems and write a “part 2” on the topic you already wrote about. Perhaps include your new discoveries, observations, lessons learned, or any other updates to the topic.
7. Survey your mailing list to find out what they need help with. I always have a treasure trove of ideas from running surveys – enough to last me for years of article writing! If you see a question repeated over and over again, that might be your clue to create a class or an information product about it.
8. Turn your teleclass transcripts into articles! If you’ve been consistently recording and transcribing your teleclasses and interviews, this might be a great time to turn them into new articles or blog posts. Over the last 9 years I easily have 5,000 pages of transcript material. I can either look through these to pull out an idea for an article, or hire someone to extract several articles from them.
9. When all else fails, just step away from writing for a while and do something totally different. Clean a closet, go for a walk (don’t forget that recorder!), play with your children, listen to music, or anything else that will relieve the stress that an encounter with writer’s block can cause.  Often simply letting that tension flow out of you is enough to get your creative juices flowing once more.

Keeping your blog fresh, sending your newsletter regularly and creating new products for your clients are critical components of a successful, lucrative coaching practice.  I hope these tips I’ve shared will help you do just that.