How to find content for your blog and keep track of ideas
I’m often asked “How do you find ideas for your blog”? All blog posts start with an idea, a topic, a concept. These ideas to use as blog content can come to you in many ways, from reading trade journals, books and other blogs, to something dropped into a conversation with a colleague.
If something makes you want to say “Yes, but…” or “Just a minute, you’re wrong about that because…” then there’s the potential for a blog post right there. Of course you have to sift the idea, put it through a mental filter, and check if it’s appropriate for your blog.
The 28 varieties of blog post that I teach in my blogging courses are a great way to start if you’re the kind of person who sits down to write a blog post and hates looking at a blank screen. They can help you plan your blog substantially in advance so that blogging never becomes a chore.
Another knack is to “think blog”. If you’re at a meeting or conference or reading a great book about your industry don’t take notes with no end in mind – think blog – use your notes to spark a blog post and write them with the blog post in mind.
Keep track of your blog ideas – exactly how you do it is up to you.
- I often email myself ideas and have started to use a hashtag [“What is a hashtag?”] in my subject line “#myblog” . Then I set up an email rule to filter all the blog post ideas into a folder in my inbox. Next time I sit down to blog, I can glance through the folder for the ideas.
Other ways of keeping track of blog ideas are:
- In a folder on your computer’s desktop (written simply in Notepad and deleted once you’ve used them)
- Store on your mobile phone or PDA
- Use your hands-free mobile in the car to dictate blog post ideas to an answering machine
However you keep track of those ideas, remember to leave time to refine and edit them into an interesting and helpful blog post.
Originally published on reachfurther.com