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PART 2 of a series of BUSINESS BLOG POST IDEAS articles. See PART 1.
We can all get hung up trying to start our next blog post. Let me give you some unique ways to get un-stuck and some tools and resources to go along with them.
Listen To Someone Give A Talk
This typically inspires me to write about something or to take action some sort of action. Speakers can get you motivated to move – just direct that inspiration at your blogging. If there are no speakers coming up live in the near future, find a past presentation on Ted.com or a variety of other sites.
Resources: Ted.com/talks
Follow A Twitter Chat
Pick up ideas by following the conversation in a Twitter Chat session. In Twitter chats you’ll find lots of bite-sized concepts and questions to expound upon. See this post to learn more about Twitter chats.
Resources: Tweetchat.com
Start With A Picture
Usually I choose a picture to go with a post after I’ve chosen the topic or written the post – how about finding a picture that inspires you and developing a post around that?
Resources: Creative Commons, istockphoto.com
Start With A Quote
Apply a favorite quote to your industry or your customers’ situations. There are lots of quotes sites online. If you want to find one by a particular person or topic just run a search in Google or Bing.
Find An Inspiring Infographic
Infographics are ways to display data or processes in a visual manner. They can provide a unique perspective on a topic. Use infographics for inspiration or build a post around one. If you link and provide credit appropriately you can often include the infographic in your post.
Resource: Visual.ly
Long Tail Keywords
Use a keyword tool to look at long tail phrases for your industry or related to your products or services. Long tail keyword phrases are usually the most specific and interesting as they are often longer than the short or mid-tail words or phrases.
Resources: Keyword Tools List
A Book’s Table Of Contents Or Descriptions
Look at related books and their “product description” or table of contents to see what areas the authors thought needed to be addressed or highlighted. Obviously find inspiration here but don’t plagiarize!
Resources: Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com
Another Industry’s Blog Posts
Try perusing the blog posts for a completely different industry than yours to find inspiration or angles for your next post. Alltop.com has a collection of some of the best blogs in a variety of industries and their most recent headlines.
Resources: Alltop.com, Techorati.com
Past Challenges
Detail a problem you’ve had to deal with and how you solved it – the more specific the better. Let others benefit from your lessons learned.
Pop Culture Or Trending Topics
Look at popular culture for themes or stories you can apply to your situation or industry. For example, “the recent interest in XYZ reminds me of…”.
Resources: Google Hot Trends, Yahoo Buzz index
Your Clients’ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What questions do new clients regularly ask you? Write them down as they ask or think back to your last few clients. You may be surprised by what’s confusing to them.
Focus On One Industry Particular
Look at all the parts of your industry or service and cover one important aspect in detail.
Key Events Or Holidays
Find inspiration in upcoming holidays, occasions, milestones or events. Examples include The Superbowl, Thanksgiving, The World Cup and many more.
Use An RSS Reader
Subscribe to a variety of blogs in and outside of your industry – quickly skim them for ideas and inspiration. For industry topics, think about “what’s missing?”. Search Google for “RSS readers” to learn more (Google Reader is one example).
Crowdsource Your Topic Or Content
Ask your readers or followers what they want to hear about or for input on something such as their favorite, least favorite, the most annoying, most helpful (insert relevant topic here). This can be achieved via Facebook, Twitter, Linked In Groups on your blog or with your newsletter readers.
Look At Your Favorite Tools/Technologies
What products, services or technologies do you use regularly? which might be interesting for your audience? Write a review or a how-to post on this.
Newbie-ize Topic
Read a somewhat advanced article on your industry (even one that you’ve written). Then, think like a newbie and think about what knowledge you woul need to have before taking the steps in the article? write about that.
Look At Your Blog Post Ideas Notebook or Document
Refer to your blog post ideas list or notebook – are you keeping notes on your ideas?
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