For small businesses and self-employed individuals, blogging is often seen as a necessary evil which eats away at your time and productivity. Whether you’re a beautician or a book-keeper, creating interesting content to engage your audience can be hard - especially when words just don't come easy to you.  However, there are some tricks of the trade which can help your content to flow on a blog to blog basis.

1. Ditch the Web!

Use pen and paper.  Controversial perhaps, but for all that I am a self-confessed geek and gadget fanatic, quality creativity lends itself better to the good old fashioned ways for quiet introspection. Why? Sitting at a laptop with writer's block is just begging for trouble.  Before you know it, you're on other similar websites 'for inspiration' .... 'will just check my mail'...'quick Facebook check' ...then BAM! - you're on the eternal scroll of banality through fluffy kittens and skateboard fails.  Once you've done your research, for keywords, blog titles etc, close your laptop and find a comfortable spot to write without distraction. Let the words flow without judgement or overthinking - you can tidy it up when you're back on your laptop.

2. Do peopling.

Regardless of your business, people are interested in people; even people who don’t like people…are interested in people (to CEOs everywhere:) and won’t sniff at a piece which illuminates on their fellow mammals - especially when it’s in an area of interest to them or their business.  Write about your experiences which have shaped the business, improved your service or taken the business in an innovative direction, on account of those you've met, or who have been involved in the development of your business. If you're an avid Facebooker, jot down some personal (appropriate!) stories and allow your audience to get to know you a little.

3. Provide Case Studies to Prop up your Hype.

So you're busy extolling the virtues of your product or service; why should your audience believe you? Case Studies are a subcategory of the peopling concept, giving your clients real life examples of your business in action.  It's a no-nonsense 'show me, don't tell me' section of your site that cuts through the filler and provides clients with information on how businesses like theirs have been enhanced by your product or service. If you have just one client, you have something to blog about.

4. Answer questions they haven't asked yet.

Relevant and insightful FAQs provide two key benefits:

• They allow you to hone in on key selling points of product or service, guiding your audience to the information you want them to digest.
• FAQs suggest that past clients have asked these questions, from which your audience will infer a sizeable client base and with it, reputation.
• They provide great material for blogs!

How does this help you to blow away the blogging blues? Expand on each FAQ item, using where you can, a combination of  peopling, case studies and of course, SEO keywords to ensure that it's relevant to bots and businesses alike.

5.  Take Breaks!

Insomniacs are often told not to lie in their bed if they can't sleep, to avoid their bedroom becoming a psychological war-zone.  If the words are not coming, don't force it.  Go do something productive or relaxing and come back to your blog when you're ready to write,  bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  How you feel about what you're writing when you're writing, comes out in your writing! Happy bloggers are marketable bloggers! ...and if all else fails, there's always outsourcing, which takes away the headache of content creation and lets you get on with everything else.  Something to consider if all else fails...:)