Coming up with fresh ideas isn’t easy when you’re running a blog. You may have tons of ideas when you first start out, but eventually, these may run out and you have to think of more ideas. Persistently having a bag of ideas is healthy for your blogging productivity, so you don’t spend too much time thinking about what to write. Here are a few tips to start you off…
1. Ask other people
Ask your current blog subscribers, or even your family and friends. You can tell anybody about the blog you’re running and ask if they have something to say about your blog. Or just see what comes up in conversation when you talk about your niche topic. It’s a good way to pick up new concepts even if you don’t entire use their exact ideas.
2. Create a big list
Think of a huge list of everything that is related to your blog, and jot them down. When you’re writing a blog about furniture, you can write about decorating certain venues like churches, wedding halls, family homes, businesses and offices, stores and shops, and everything in between. You can write about furnishing a place for the first time or buying new items. Give your readers ideas about how to do things, when to do things and what they can buy to do certain things. And don’t forget to start with the very basics, too. Even things that sound simple to you might be useful for readers who are complete beginners to your niche.
3. Read other blogs
You should never copy content from other blogs, but it’s a great way to get some more ideas. General ideas cannot be copyrighted, so unless you’re taking something word for word or using somebody else’s photographs, you don’t need to give anybody credit. You might not only get ideas about what to write about, but you could pick up some tips about how to structure your posts, how to make them more friendly or how to design the page to make it easier to read.
4. Use books and magazines
Books and magazines are great sources of blog post ideas. As with the previous tip, make sure you don’t copy anything – simply use the books and magazines as inspiration. Sometimes all it takes is scanning a table of content to get the juices flowing. Magazines are also great for figuring out what’s popular right now in your niche.
I really like #1. Asking people about what they want to hear about, ensures that you know that people are interested. You could also ask your list, ask your social media followers, or even do a survey. For #4, I’ll often go Amazon, search for my topic, and then use the “look inside” feature to scan the table of contents.
Table of content of books is a great topic generator. Another similar one is to look at the headlines of magazines in your niche!
Well, Paul, I have the opposite problem. I have so many ideas and so many notes, I need to cull through them all and pick the 30 best to queue up for the month. The problem is that takes as much time as coming up with a good idea.
(I’ve thought about running four or five blogs for just that reason…)
In my opinion, Roy, it is better to have TOO many ideas and keep them on reserve, then to have too few!
Those are great tips! One thing I need to do more is read other blogs on my blog topic. When I am doing searches for a particular post, I see them here and there, but I need to get much more on purpose about it. Because you’re right, it’s a great source of inspiration.
It is also a great way to connect with those in your niche!
I have started lately to write things down. It seems my best ideas come when l am sleeping though and l am loathe to get up. I really like the first idea and will definitely start doing that. Thanks for the tips.
Try it and see if it works for you!
i need to start writing down those big lists too.. but like Kemkem , some of my ideas come when i am sleeping, driving, in the shower …..:) but i should write down at least the faintest part of the idea
I just pictured myself putting markers in my shower so when inspiration hits me, I can write them down on the shower walls (just like a whiteboard)! I wonder what my family would think!
Thanks, Vidya!