Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog. 52 Ideas. 52 Weeks. Part 2

There are so many ideas, this piece is divided into 2 parts. Begin with Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog, 52 Ideas. 52 Weeks. Part 1, then continue to ideas 27-52 below:


27. Visit the graves of local celebrities. Talk about their lives. The word “celebrity” is used very loosely here. Just do some research and you’ll find some fascinating people buried within. Tell your readers about these past lives and they’ll be hooked on your blog.

28. Write about the genealogy software you use. Comment on any tips, tricks or complaints you may have about the product.

29. Write about your favorite genealogy web sites. It seems like a new web site pops up every day. Tell us about the ones you like best.

30. Write about your experiences with social networking tools for genealogy purposes. Do you use MySpace, Facebook or Twitter? Are you a wiki kind of person? None of the above? Tell readers about your experiences with these tools and watch your own social network grow.

31. Have a family member be a guest blogger. Let a family member take the reins and provide a different perspective for a post or two. If you can’t find anyone to take the job, interview a relative and spotlight the person yourself.

32. Update older posts. If you find more information related to a previous post, create an update post. Link to the older posts to refresh readers’ memories, then give us the details on new discoveries.

33. Highlight the good work of others. List your favorite posts of the week/month/year. This is an easy way to give some blog love and write an easy post. You can use this idea as little or as much as you want.

34. Share a photo that conjures mixed emotions in you. Explain why this is the case as you detail the who/what/when/where/why of the subject matter.

35. Talk about an orphan picture containing people you do not know. Provide comments on your best guess about date, place, subjects.

36. Talk about military battles and your ancestors’ connections to them.

37. Talk about historical events and your ancestors’ connections to them.

38. Talk about natural disasters and your ancestors’ connections to them.

39. Did your ancestors come by boat? Talk about the documentation that records their departure and arrival.

40. Discuss on your ancestors’ land records.
Where did they live? Who were their neighbors?

41. Talk about any unusual occupations your ancestors had.

42. Campaign for the politicians in your family tree.
If you don’t have one, research the political leaders in your ancestors’ city, county, or state and share the information on your blog.

43. Go directly to jail and talk about your ancestors in the slammer.

44. Dig around the patent office. Talk about your creative ancestors and their inventions.
You can also pick a patent and research the registrant.

45. Extra, read all about it! Do you have an ancestor featured in a newspaper article that wasn’t an obituary? Share the article (or a bit of it if there are copyright concerns) on your blog.

46. Comment on obituaries in your collection. Obits come in all shapes and sizes. Share some of the stand-outs with readers.

47. Seek help for records that don’t make sense. Do you have a census page or family record that contains information that just doesn’t add up? Discuss it in your blog and see if readers can help.

48. Open up the ancestral military and pension files. Talk about the records contained within.

49. Use your blog like a sounding board for research plans. Sometimes it helps to write down what you want to do, so you can plan how to do it.

50. Ask questions on your blog. Get answers from readers. Need to find a record? Need to know the parking situation at a big repository? Throw the questions out there and see what happens.

51. Talk about the email discussion lists to which you belong. Are they great? Too quiet? Informative? Let readers know.

52. Discuss your favorite genealogy publication. Why do you like it? Is it worth the money? How would you improve it?

There you go! 52 blog writing ideas for 52 weeks of the year. Use these prompts for times when you’re stuck about something to write about. Hopefully, genealogy blog writing will evolve from a resolution to a wonderful habit that’s automatic.


[Edit: Due to spammers targeting this particular post, I've had disable comments here. I am very sorry for this. If you'd like to comment on this post or have questions, feel free to email me using the address listed on the side of this blog. Thanks!]

5 comments:

  1. Great list. If you can't find blog topics in there give it up! Now, can you find me the time?

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  2. Developing this list was such a clever idea! Thank you for sharing it.

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  3. Great prompts. I'm already thinking of possible posts throughout the rest of the year. Thanks!

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  4. Fantastic. I'll be sure to use more than a few of these ideas! Thanks for sharing.

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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