Where do you get ideas for blog posts?
Every blogger I know has hit the occasional dry patch when searching for ideas to write about. What we all have in common is that we feel blogging’s important enough to bust through the writer’s block and work to generate ideas for posts. Here are some of the ways I generate ideas for my blogs:
1. I read other blogs and react to their most compelling posts. I use this tactic a lot, in fact, because reading someone else’s blog almost always makes me think about my own take on the topic at hand.
2. I subscribe to news releases related to my niche industry and use them as the basis for posts. If you don’t have a niche blog, you can still do more general searches that may turn up some ideas. PRnewswire as a great source for news releases; one of my searches is simply the generic “women’s interests.”
3. I look at past posts and brainstorm ideas that might branch off of them. This can be especially effective with older posts, where new developments may have occurred that justify an update.
4. I subscribe to “alerts” from Google on various keywords relevant to my niche. These alerts are delivered to my email in-box so I don’t have to go looking for them. This not only leads me to other bloggers’ posts, it also gives me a notion of whether a particular topic is “hot” that day.
5. I react to conversations I’ve overheard in real life. Being a blogger doesn’t mean disengaging from real interactions, especially if you want to stay current in your niche. Mine the conversations you have, or that you overhear, for relevant blog posts.
6. I draw on my own personal experiences and challenges. Sometimes all it takes is a moment of personal reflection to ask myself, “What am I struggling with this week that might interest my readers?”
7. I read the daily news and comment on the most controversial or interesting items related to my niche. Or, in the case of my journal blog, on whatever interests me the most.
Have you hit the Blogger’s Wall yet? What was the strategy you used to bust through it?
