Ideas for content writing – a neverending process
It’s not like you are a news reporter where ideas for content land on your table hourly. They probably have it easier, right? All they have to do is wait for things to happen and the write about them. As a content writer, you have to do both – come up with the ideas and write about them too. And if you are trying to maintain a blog and post at least once or twice a week, it is not long until you are scraping the bottom trying to find anything to write about and completely running out of ideas for content. But take heart, ideas can come from thousands of places, and you can use lots of sources for generating them. Here’s 13 of them.
READ EVERYTHING
You can’t be a content writer if you do not spend a lot of time reading – about your niche and about related niches. Ideas for content don’t come out of thin air. You have to carve out time every single day to read and keep up on trends in your niche. You should also watch the news and all of your favorite social media sites because you never know from where an idea may come. Here’s a fully current example.
Everyone has been reading about and watching the news reports on the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe. The suffering is just horrific. So, if you are an entrepreneur looking for a content idea, how about combining help for these innocent victims with sales? Write a blog post that highlights the issue, engender some empathy for these people, and offer to donate a specific amount for every purchase over the next two months. Share that on all of your social media accounts – appeal to people’s sense of decency. You have accomplished two things. You have begun a campaign to help and stimulated sales. And you have content ideas for the near future – you can keep your readers posted on how much is being donated, what relief organizations the money is going to, etc. Keep the topic always in readers mind with short tweets: “Remember when your use our services (or products), you will be supporting refugee families.”
GET YOUR WHOLE TEAM INVOLVED
Coming up with ideas for content is never a one-man show. Everyone needs to get involved. Hold weekly brainstorming sessions and write everything down, no matter how off-topic the idea may sound. It could become a great idea later one. Out of each brainstorming session you should be able to come with at least 20 ideas – some will be great, some you will never use, but the point is you have some ideas.
SURVEY/POSE QUESTIONS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS/READERS
This is simple to do through your blog, your emails and your social media pages – ask questions, listen to what your customers/followers have to say. It’s a quick and easy way to help with ideas for content.
GO TO COMPETITORS AND RELATED NICHES
Check out what your competitors are writing about; scan their social media pages. You can bet they are doing the same to you, but you can get some ideas. And don’t just go to direct competitors. Check out the sites and blogs of businesses related to yours. If you are in real estate, go to home improvement and decorating sites – you will be able to turn some of those ideas into content for your niche.
SET UP RECIPROCAL WRITING
Find related businesses and offer a reciprocal agreement. You will post on each other’s blogs. Then, you can take posts you have already produced, re-furbish them and send them over. Your collaborator will do the same thing.
USE SOME GREAT IDEA GENERATION TOOLS
Trapit: All you have to do is enter keywords for your niche, and this great app will capture related articles and posts from all over the web. Use them as content ideas
Sonar Solo: This is a great word mapping tool. Type in a word and get all sorts or relates words and phrases that are currently trending.
Ubersuggest: Same idea – type in a keyword and get lists of related words
USE QUORA
This is a social media site for lots of discussion. As a question and get all sorts of answers that might then generate topic ideas. There is also a search bar – you can type in a keyword and find discussions going on.
JOIN HELP ME WRITE
This is a community of writers, and members continually help each other out with ideas.
SPLIT UP CONTENT IDEAS
When you get a content idea, think about it very carefully. Is there more than one topic within this idea? See if you can split the idea up into two topics.
ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS
What about your niche are you passionate about? How did you get started in this business? Why is your product or service the best? What is changing in your nice? Answers to these questions will generate ideas. And don’t be afraid to get personal. Readers love stories!
USE CONTENT IDEA GENERATOR V2
Enter your topic and immediately get the latest news, articles, and blog posts related to it.
LINKEDIN FORUMS AND DISCUSSION GROUPS
Check out all forums and discussions within your niche and related niches. Hopefully, you are a member of these groups and are getting ideas every day.
You will always be searching for content ideas – it’s just the nature of the business. However, the best thing you can do to avoid stress and writer’s block is to always have a pile of topic ideas to draw upon as well as use current events to your advantage. You will find it amazing how you can weave almost anything into something that you can ultimately relate to your business.
