How to Stage a Blog Topic Prison Break

I blog about blogging. It was a bad topic choice but it’s what I’m good at.
The specific problem with my niche is that the blogging family is incestuous.
We all feed on each other’s ideas. In hip hop it’s called biting. We take someone else’s beat, copy it, and twist it up just a bit. Every now and again, somebody comes up with something new. But the drive to publish often encourages phoning it in not quality. (but that’s another post).

Here’s the sick part.

I’ve found that I can spend days surfing the bland sea of me-too blog posts. The same stuff rehashed with different titles. Since creativity feeds on experience, my blog output merely mirrors what I’ve read. Unwittingly, I kick out the same old cotton-candy (expletive).
You in the same spot?
Pull out your editorial calendar and take a look. Are you belting out the same flotsam that countless others are talking about? Are you adding to the noise? If you are then stage a prison break.

How to Dig A Tunnel to the Outside

Let’s stage a Shawshank Redemption crawl through the sewer pipe to the outside.
Fire Your Niche for 7 Days.
You need to purge your brain of the same-old-crap. Hid your trusty twitter columns. Resist the urge to read the blogs you read just last week (of course, keep ole’ Pushing Social in the mix)
Stalk an Outsider

I am a huge Kanye West fan. He inspires the hell out of me and he has nothing to do with blogging. But he’s taught me more about marketing in 30 days than I’ve learned in 15 years. I’m devouring every interview, record, and rumor snippet I can find. The “Backpack Rapper” has revolutionized how I will approach 2011.
You need to find your Kanye. Your hero should scare, inspire, push, mesmerize, and confuse you. Don’t you dare pick anyone close to your niche or you’ll screw this up. Trust me.
Ask “So What”
Try this…after you write the first paragraph of any blog post ask yourself “So What”. Now…Trust your first instinct. If you get defensive then keep writing. But, if your brain screams – “this is crap”, then trash the post and move on. Your publishing schedule be damned.

This is Hard Stuff

I guarantee that your Prison Break will be the hardest thing you’ll do this year. Unfortunately, the world is pretty good at creating mediocrity. But if you consciously decide to jam to a different beat you’ll transform your posts into fresh masterpieces.