My top 5 ways of finding blog post ideas
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Bloggers occasionally go through periods where we don’t know what to write about. I’ve been in this place for a couple weeks now, since starting a new job. The more “newsy” blogs I maintain are affected the most, since I can’t keep up with the world during the work day anymore.
So, what do I write about? Where do I go for ideas? Here’s my top 5 ways of finding blog post ideas:
1. My logs. I check my analytics logs to see what people are searching for when they hit my blog. From here, I have three options: Give them more of the same, give them what they were looking for but didn’t find, or give them something related.
2. My RSS feeds. The blogosphere is an incestuous place. Lots of people ripping off lots of other people. Scrapers and thieves abound. Rather than go that approach, I look for posts that inspire me in some way to provide my own thoughts. I might react to a post and continue the discussion. I might think I can do a better job providing better information. Or, I might just want to give some link-love and tell everyone to go read something interesting.
3. Google Trends. There are a lot of sites that do nothing but monitor Google Trends and throw up a couple quick posts each day just restating something said on another site simply to get hits from Google searchers. It works, to a certain extent. But, that’s more of a tactical use rather than a strategic use. I use it to brainstorm ideas. Of course, I want to post what people want to read on a lot of my sites, so this is a great tool. But, I probably only use it 5 or 6 times a month. It just helps me generate ideas and it would work better for traffic if I did it in a more timely manner, but I really try to use it for more of my quality ideas rather than quick-crap.
4. Paid-post marketplaces. You don’t have to get paid to write about something in a marketplace if it inspires you. You also have the freedom to reference any site with any anchor text. An added benefit is these are frequently profitable subjects on which to write, as evidenced by the fact that someone is paying for bloggers to do so.
5. People-watching. I’m an introvert. But, I like being around other people, so I’m always watching them, eavesdropping, responding to questions, and imagining what their lives are like. I’ve often seen or heard something funny, cool, or outrageous and thought, “I HAVE to blog THAT!”
Where do you get your ideas?
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