1 – Send holiday greetings to your readers in a blog post.

2 – What can your blog readers look forward to this year? Summarize what you’ll be writing about (or hope to be writing about) in the coming months.

3 – How can you help your readers reach their New Year’s goals?

4 – This is typically a slow news time. What news can you announce on your blog and in a press release?

BONUS! BONUS! BONUS!

Bonus tip: Make an idea tree. Get your hands on a big piece of paper. Draw a straight line for the tree trunk. Write down every blog post idea that comes to mind where the branches and leaves should be. Keep the idea tree on your wall and add to it as ideas come to you.

5 – Talk about some of the lessons you learned or things you enjoyed on your holiday vacation.

6 – Did you take pictures from you office holiday party? Post them with fun captions.

7 – Industry outlook. What are other industry leaders predicting for your sector this year? What do you predict?

8 – Pick a charity to support throughout the year. Set up a fundraising campaign on FirstGiving.com. Announce your campaign on your blog.

9 – It’s Cervical Health Awareness Month, Glaucoma Awareness Month, National Birth Defects Prevention Month, National Blood Donor Month, and Thyroid Awareness Month. Do any of these health issues resonate with you? Talk about it.

10 – Book review. Tell your readers about the best book you’ve read lately. What lessons can they apply to their business?

11 – Sign up for Google Alerts. Enter key terms relevant to your readers. Write a round-up summarizing what you see in your weekly or daily summary.

12 – What’s the weather been like in your area or around the world? How has that impacted your business?

13 – Publish a Q&A of a business leader.

14 – Write 10 actionable tips that will help your readers do something better.

15 – Join a new social networking site. Ask your visitors to join you there.

16 – Write a guest blog post for a colleague’s blog. Put together a short summary of that post and publish it on your own blog.

17 – Sometimes it helps to start a blog post with the headline or main idea. Visit Slogan4U and see what you can come up with. Of course, you should make the automatically-generated slogan better.

18 – Look at your sales numbers from last year. Write a mildly “sales-y” post and publish it during your slow times. Your blog is a sales tool, but it’s not meant to be overt. Provide value to your readers and they will buy from you. Shove your marketing message down their throats and they will ignore you.

19 – Take a poll. Ask your readers what they want to read about on your blog.

20 – Write a case study highlighting your work with a client.

21 – January 21st is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. Honor it.

22 – Create a how-to. Give a step-by-step description on how to complete an important task.

23 – Visit SlideShare. Find a business presentation that resonates with you and share it on your blog.

24 – It’s Belly Laugh Day. Tell a joke.

25 – Quote of the week. Did you hear someone say something or read about someone who said something interesting or ridiculous? Share it.

26 – Look at your blog comments. Expand on a commenter’s viewpoint in a new blog post.

27 – What did you write about last year at this time? Revisit the topic with new insights.

28 – Find one of your most active Facebook postings (your original post with comments) and take a screenshot. Now post that image to your blog and extend the conversation there.

29 – Visit your competitor’s blog. What are they talking about? Challenge their ideas (politely) or commend them.

30 – Write interview questions that you would like to ask a dead politician or celebrity. Put those questions in a post and talk about how this individual influences you.

31 – Profile one of your neighbors, even if that person or business is completely unrelated to your blog.

About Sara Lancaster

Sara is The Condiment Marketing Co.’s founder and creative director. She oversees client relationships, strategic marketing plans, as well as a bit of copywriting and social media management.