I completely forgot to write a blog post yesterday for the 100 posts in 100 days challenge. Technically, I didn’t miss it. When you add it all up, I’ll probably have closer to 500 blog posts by the time the 100 days after January 1, 2010 are over. Currently, I am blogging here on this site. There are also some other blogging sites I have set up where I post material, listed below:

RGV Life
MissionTexas.net
ShaineMata.com
ValleyCentral.com

Some, I update more frequently than others. However, in the spirit of the challenge, I will consider this the blog that is facing the challenge. So, consider this a makeup post for yesterday. There will be another later today.

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When it comes to blogging, a similar approach can help. If you are writer blocked, you should probably go out and do something. Either your activity will form the basis of your writing, or it will jog a memory of a similar experience or idea that you had in the past, which you can write.

What you do is up to you. It can be something new; or it can be something you have done 1000 times. Even if something is not new, you may notice some nuance that you can use as the basis for your blog post. Again, do something. You’ll be surprised how ideas pop out of the strangest places.

My friend Luis Sandoval over at the Daily Slacker is challenging bloggers to write blog posts for 100 days straight. This seems a bit ambitious for me; so naturally, I’ll jump right in.

Earlier this year, I missed NaPodPoMo, which is a 30 day podcasting challenge I would have liked to do. I got so wrapped up in blahness that I could never come up with material for podcasts. I seemed to have been writing and saying the same things over and over on all my other content.

On the other hand, I know that creativity is partly talent; but mostly just a discipline of making something, anything. I’m guilty of waiting for inspiration rather than sitting down and pounding out a post on the keyboard.

With that said, Luis, count me in. Some days may be better than others; but at least I’m putting something out.

If you feel like you need to get your blogging muscles in shape, consider taking the 100 day challenge too.

When it comes to content, there has to be the one topic that defines what you offer. You have to make your name synonymous with a topic. When you hear Richard Simmons, you think Sweating to the Oldies. When you hear Fox News, you think Fair and Balanced. When you hear Robert Scoble, you think Technology Blogger. Some people are New Media gurus. Some are big names in the financial world. Everybody has a topic that defines them. Martha Stewart, for example, is a big name in home-related fashions and crafts. In short, everybody has a schtick that defines what they are all about. Marketers would call this a niche.

If you are having trouble finding an audience for your blog or other content, it’s probably because you don’t have a niche. You have to find the one topic at which you will the expert and the voice. In other words, you have to find your schtick. You have to be known for that one thing that makes you different from all the other schlubs out there. You need to stand out.

So, what’s your schtick?