So you are an aspiring blogger. And you have been in business for a few months. Are you finding yourself out of ideas? Do you keep going back to your top posts and try to rehash them or find new angles? You are not alone. There are literally hundreds of thousands of bloggers who struggle to come up with new posts on an everyday basis. In fact, there is no shame in being stuck. If you never get stuck, then you are doing something wrong. Blogging is not a smooth ride. It’s not supposed to be a fun vacation. Blogging is not supposed to entertain you. You’ve got to work hard to earn the trust of your readers and set yourself apart from your competitors. And as long as you are not stuck, you may not push yourself hard enough to move your business to the next level.

There is a difference between being stuck and staying stuck. Those who stay stuck accept the fact that they are not good enough bloggers to make it big. That’s what sets apart superbloggers from mere mortals. Superbloggers never stay stuck! If you have no idea what to blog about next, don’t fret. There are plenty of resources that you can use to come up with new ideas. Here are some that I personally use for my own blogs.

• Yahoo! Answers: if you are looking for ideas for your next blog post, what a better way than figuring out what people are curious about. Yahoo! Answers is your best friend. The sky is the limit here. Don’t forget to participate on Yahoo! Answers to drive traffic to your blog as well.
• Facebook Groups: here is a gold mine that not a lot of people use. By joining groups in your niche and other markets, you can connect with other people and find out about their needs and questions. That’s how you can come up with new ideas for your blog. Bingo!
• Twitter Search: I don’t know about you, but I am crazy about Twitter search. There is just so much information there, and the sky’s the limit. If you can’t come up with a blogging idea from Twitter search, you should probably quit this business (stay tuned for more blog posts on Twitter Search).
• LinkedIn Q&A: you thought Facebook was a killer? Wait till you check out LinkedIn Q&A. It’s designed for folks to ask questions, and you can not only answer them but also use them for your next blog posts.
• WordTracker Questions: it really doesn’t get more simple than this. Type whatever you want to blog about in WordTracker Keyword Questions and find out exactly what people are asking.
• Fluther.com: a great Web 2.0 site that shows you all kinds of questions that people are asking. Another great tool to come up with blogging ideas.
• Wis.dm: another great Web 2.0 service designed to help folks find answers to their questions. And that’s what it all comes down too. If you know what people are asking, you can provide more value to your readers.
• Ask500People: Ask500People is a site that I have started using recently, and it is been very helpful for me. Call me biased, but I love sites that allow people to get answers to their questions. And these sites are all goldmines for blogging ideas.

There you have it. Told you it was simple Here is the reality: blogging is hard, and it takes a lot of work. But if you do your homework and research your topics, you are going to have a lot of fun and learn a lot of new things too. And you’ll be a better individual for it. That’s what blogging is all about!

Now, I do plan ahead and have emergency posts that I use in case I can’t come up with an idea, but you can’t rely on your emergency posts all the time. The practice that has worked for me is using PLR articles to get an idea what topics to talk about. I am not talking about one time PLR packages that you can buy for $20. I am talking about PLR memberships that send you fresh articles every once in a while. The good thing about reading an article on your niche is that in can kick-start your brain. It’s certainly the case for me.

Some argue that reading magazines could be a better idea. I do agree that magazines can be great for brainstorming and coming up with ideas. But sometimes your niche is too narrow that even your favorite magazine won’t give you any post ideas. That’s why getting PLR membership works. You define what articles you want to receive, and these guys send it to you. You don’t copy the articles in the package, but read one to kick-start the brain. This approach has worked for me too many times to question it now.

How about you? How do you get over mental blocks when it comes to blogging?