I have to confess that I never have writer’s block when it comes to blogging. I also have to confess that I have a secret weapon to prevent writer’s block.
Blogging is a pretty new venture for me, although I have been reading blogs for quite a while. I have never been a strong or dedicated writer, either. So how do I never run out of things to write about? The answer is Google Alerts. If you are not using Google Alerts, you need to finish reading this post, then immediately configure your Google Alerts settings.
Google Alerts is a program that notifies you when a phrase you have selected is used online. You can have Google Alerts notify you for any keywords you desire. I have a few of my keywords set to be emailed to me once a day whenever they are used online in either a news article, blog or web alert. Since my blog is about unconventional marketing that is one of the alerts I have set up. Anytime the phrase “unconventional marketing” is used in a blog post, press release or a new Amazon.com book, I will get a notification sent to my inbox the next day. I can promise you that this post will also be in that email as well.
The process takes about 5 minutes to set up, and you won’t regret it. A quick scan of your email in the morning, and you are on top of your keyword and how it is being used online. If you don’t have your daily post lined up and need a little inspiration, you have an email with 10 articles in it all with your keyword in them. It becomes real easy to create a post after reading about something that is related or inspiring. One more great thing about this service is the ability to find new and interesting blogs that happen to be about your keyword.
Remember not to make your keywords too broad. If you have marketing as one of your keywords you, will get a huge email. But being more specific will net you much better results. Also, I recommend starting with your own name. You never know when others are talking about you, and perhaps you have an Internet twin you could learn from.
So quit wasting time, and go get your keywords entered into Google Alerts. It will clear your writer’s block.
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Cool, thanks for the heads up, gonna go set it up now
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Excellent idea. One of my ways to kill the blockage is also getting ideas from others…the alerts would make this quicker and more targeted then just blog hunting.
Thanks!
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Yeah, great post, I use Google alerts and set it to anything “sitehoppin” so the minute a blog post is posted, i get an alert also. But I’d have to try it for getting some material for my niche blogs. Great idea Josh!
Thanks – I am definitely doing the Google Alerts thing. love your suggestion to do it right away – I am!
I found you through a comment you made in the forums on Entrecard btw — helping others in forums appears to be working for you, since I just subscribed and will be checking in often.
Thanks again –
Metroknow
http://www.almostfit.com
metroknow – AlmostFit.com’s last blog post..Did cereal make me fat? You decide
I am gonna give it a try. thanks Josh!
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Very interesting idea. I’ll definitely set myself up with a few alerts!
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