How to Stay Inspired as a Lifestyle Blogger

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How to stay inspired as a blogger - Just Bee

If you’re a blogger like me (or a writer in any aspect!), then I’ll bet you’ve had moments where you sit in front of the computer, knowing you want to get something up on the blog, or get material written, but wondering what.

Staying inspired is one of the most difficult facets of being a blogger. It’s certainly not a magical process, where we simply upload a couple good pictures and the post basically writes itself! 😉

The funny thing that I’ve personally realized is that it’s not for lack of the general urge to write that I don’t write; I definitely always have this desire to script words, to sculpt paragraphs – to get my ideas onto a page! The difficulty is in staying inspired with a wide variety of ideas to share with readers. Maybe I could go on and on about how fun it is to feed the horses at my in-laws’, or how much I love rural sunrises or my husband – for multiple posts! – but if I want my blog to have an outward focus of encouraging, helping, and inspiring a variety of people, then I’ve got to come up with a variety of post topics.

Although I do have times when I struggle with ideas, lately I’ve been so excited and on-fire about blogging that it’s been easier to glean ideas from things around me! I want to share with you what has been most inspiring for me (and my blog posts) recently! That way we can all stay inspired when those drier times hit. 🙂

How to Stay Inspired as a Lifestyle Blogger

1 // Consider your life experiences. Really consider them. Not just the big trips you’ve been on or your most embarrassing moment (although each of those could be wonderful posts themselves!). But think about smaller experiences, too. Did you witness a touching moment shared by an elderly couple at Starbucks? Or watch how a mother played enthusiastically with her son? How about the way the book of Isaiah spoke to you during an especially difficult season of life? How you process and describe these situations will hopefully point your readers toward a bigger lesson or a useful train of thought!

2 // Explore Pinterest. This one needs to be accompanied by 2 words of caution: first, make sure that scrolling through Pinterest doesn’t take up your entire day! It’s got crazy pull that way. 🙂 Second, know that Pinterest shouldn’t be your sole source of inspiration – you’ll need to be careful that you’re not seeing someone else’s idea and deciding to do exactly that for your own post. Respect others’ intellectual property. But, with all of its beautiful images and focused, varied content topics, Pinterest can be a huge fountain of ideas as to what general topics you may want to write about. And new ideas can stem from there!

3 // Pay attention to what you’re Googling. Chances are, if you’re wondering how to do something – especially if it’s hard for you to find an explanation online that you like and understand – others are wondering about that too! For example, you may get an idea for a DIY post as you find yourself searching for a specific one that doesn’t exist yet! 🙂

4 // Allow (even ask!) for feedback. If you’re writing for yourself alone, then your feedback would solely be coming from yourself. But if you’re also writing for an audience, you want to know what they want, right? But remember, we’re not actually playing the “be who others say you should be” game: knowing what people want should not entirely determine the feel and look and topics on your blog – it’s crucial to stay true to YOU! I recently introduced my first reader survey (more about that at the end of this post) and I am already feeling inspired by and grateful for your responses! I want that feedback – it is so valuable for countless reasons.

5 // Do the “over a cup of coffee” visualization trick. Sometimes, when trying to write effective, clear content for our audience, we get caught up in the formality of it. A goal I’ve had for Just Bee from the beginning has been to maintain authenticity of voice. Yes, I have different facets – sometimes introspective, sometimes silly – but what’s important is that I never stop sounding like myself. So try this: close your eyes and imagine your audience not as an expectant, imaginary entity, but as a couple of good friends sitting around the table at a coffee shop! And hey – if you’re anything like me – even imagining a coffee date makes you smile and feel comfortable. And most of all, it should make you feel as though there are countless fun topics to talk about! Life updates, your dreams, goals, worries, fears, a road trip you went on – goodness, even a book or dress recommendation! We’re all friends here anyway. Let’s act like it. 🙂

6 // Evaluate compliments you receive. Fictional examples: Perhaps you made a cute bracelet and someone in line behind you at the store exclaimed over it – then maybe you want to do a tutorial for that craft! Or maybe it’s on a deeper level – someone brought up how you just radiate joy during a terribly difficult situation. Then you may want to speak to that in a blog post. It could inspire and encourage people considerably more than you know!

** And while we’re on the topic of, well…topics, could you please do me a favor and fill out this short reader survey? I’ve already been reading and taking to heart the responses I got from having the survey in my book + mug giveaway post. But I’m also including it in this post. Thank you, friends! You are part of the heartbeat that keeps Just Bee alive, and I so appreciate your feedback!

Were these tips helpful to you? Where do you turn to get inspiration for your writing?

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18 Comments

  1. Hi Hannah, this is an AMAZING post. I hope a lot of people read it. Your tips go outside of typical blogging advice, which I really appreciate.

    As far as staying inspired, I’ve learned to be more observant (as you said, thoughts that cross my mind, compliments I receive, even things I google), and I consider how those observations might be relevant to other people.

    Anyway, I really really liked this!! xo

    1. Aww, thank you so much, Daisy! We’ve all heard the typical advice so I was really trying to hand people the useful tips that worked for me. I love how being more observant in that way has helped you to stay inspired! It’s funny to think of the little things that may inspire an entire post or series! Thanks again for your kind words. 🙂

  2. It is hard not to waste time on Pinterest, for sure! But it’s just such a fount of amazing creative ideas! 🙂 I’m glad you found these tips to be helpful nonetheless! They really could help anyone who is feeling a bit stuck in their writing in a general sense. Thank you for following along, Rebekah! 🙂

  3. Lifestyle blogs can feel all over the place if they don’t have a list of major categories, I think! I’m so glad you found these tips to be helpful!! And it’s crazy the things we find ourselves Googling sometimes – that can definitely give us some fresh, new ideas of things to write about!

    1. Thank you!! I’m so glad to hear it helped you out a bit as you start out! Best of luck to you – it’s always so exciting to begin a new endeavor or project! 🙂

  4. I love these ideas, Hannah! I try my best to live out #1 by keeping my eyes and ears and heart open for small moments that can inspire 1) reflection, 2) gratitude, and 3) posts. I’d never thought of the “over a cup of coffee” trick, but I love that! I will definitely do that the next time I feel stuck (which, in all honesty, will probably be today!). 🙂

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