“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” ~John Steinbeck
Looking for an idea for your next 10 (or more) blog posts or articles? Find them hiding one of these 5 places:
1. Your Blog Reader
What blogs are you subscribed to and following? Check out the latest headlines and hot topics for inspiration.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you agree with the the post or have a different take?
- Is there an idea or concept within the post that you could write about?
- What else comes to mind as you read?
2. Books You’re Reading
If you’re reading new things and you’ll always have ideas to write about if you’re on the lookout for them.
Some ideas:
- Choose a short quote from a book and share your thoughts.
- Write a review of the book and share your biggest takeaways.
3. Blog Comments
Take a look through your recent blog comments to find:
- Questions readers have asked that you could answer in more detail.
- Topics that caught their interest and got them commenting.
- Replies you’ve posted that you could expand into a complete post.
If you don’t have many comments on your own posts yet, use AllTop.com or Technorati.com to find popular blogs in your niche and see what their commenters are talking about.
4. Social Networking Sites
Visit some popular Facebook groups or fan pages, search for a #hashtag on Twitter or browse groups on LinkedIn and see what the hot topics and questions are that you’ve got information on or opinions about that you could share.
5. Question Sites
Search sites like quora.com or answers.yahoo.com for your topics or keywords and see what questions people are asking.
Your Turn!
What are your favorite sources for blog post or article writing ideas?
I am hosting a special teleseminar for people to ask their most burning event questions on February 28th. While most people will get their questions answered live, each question also becomes a blog post. My blog should be ready to go for the next few months!
That’s a great idea, Daphne! Love it.
Such an easy list that is full of potential blog posts. Thanks, Michelle! I’m printing these and keeping them next to my computer.
Glad this was helpful, Debi. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Michelle,
I really appreciate your posts about how to generate ideas! This one is great!
Thanks, Amy! I find just having a starting point of where to look can be the key to unlocking all those ideas inside our heads. ;)
I either use the research project areas upon which we focus (without divulging trade secrets) or issues that have arisen with our clients re: management, taxation, or accounting. Thankfully, that rarely leaves me short of ideas.
Client issues can be a never-ending source of great blog post ideas. If a current client is dealing with a challenge chances are great that lots of potential clients are, too, and it’s a great opportunity to show what we can help with. :)
I like your point 5, looking for questions that need answers. I think it is important that blogs or any article is geared towards what people are anxious to know. Cheers
Hi John, I agree — the best way I’ve found to get search engine traffic is to share the answers to the questions people are already searching for. :)
I get ideas from the local news (when they’re talking about dogs) and other dog lovers.
Smart – hot topics in the news can definitely draw in traffic, Kimberly. Thanks for sharing!
I ask questions on my Facebook page and turn the answers into a top 10 post, or elaborate answers or comments as a separate post.
I also get lots of ideas from questions/answers discussed in Twitter chats, they are sometimes a great source of inspiration.
Social media gives us so many cool options, doesn’t it? Great ideas, Delia.
Sometimes you have no idea about what to write for a couple of days, then on the same day you may want to write 5 posts! It works for me to start a post and save it as a draft if doesn’t flow very well, and they I have an idea there on hold for a few days later. Nice post.
Hey Javier, it’s always great to have those extra ideas ready for future posts.
Hi Michelle,
It’s my first time here! I found you in Blokube as I was posting my own blog post.
Those are great tips to find ideas to blog about.
a couple that I use a lot is finding ideas from the books I read and also from videos. As bloggers we need ideas constantly, so we need to use all the ideas we can.
Welcome, Sylviane, glad you found your way over from Blokube. :)
The most recent blogs I’ve posted have come from life experiences.
In addition, I like to invite guests to contribute to my blog. It provides my peeps with new & valuable information from a different perspective & they like that.
Thanks @Michelle.
~Debra
I love guest posts, too, Debra! Always bring a fun different perspective. :)
Sharing life experiences is such a lovely way to connect with our audiences.
I often use my reader to get ideas for blog posts. I was also invited to a mommy caring group. I get ideas from their discussions too.
Group discussions go into some cool directions, don’t they? :)
I would love to write on current issues that people are discussing over other blogs or in the comments and see other sides of the stories.
That’s such a wonderful part of blogging, getting those different sides/perspectives in the comments.
Michelle,
My Blog posts ideas come form blogs and articles I read, as well as information and question people ask of me. For example, I attended several networking events last week, and common question was asked of me, so I creating a few blog posts and a slide show to help answer the question for others. “How do I et started using social media?”
I also do what one of the previous commenters stated, type your initial thoughts in and save it as a draft for later when the words just aren’t flowing right at that moment. This has helped me a lot!
Smart approaches, Elana. Thanks for sharing!
Great tips Michelle. I could write an article with a gazillion ways to find ideas for blog posts – my challenge is not finding a topic – it’s allocating the time to write, but, more important, I need to stop second guessing myself and hit the publish button.
First time on your blog Michelle. just started a blog and needed this kind post to keep my post frequency. I have worked on the comments of others and have come up with simple but my best post. Regards.