6 Ways to Find Your Next Blog Topic
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We all have days when we sit down to write a blog post but are stuck as to what to write about. Sometimes you can change your plans and write the post later, but other times you need to get a post up now. Where can you look to get some ideas about what to write?
When you are looking to get inspired for a great blog post topic, there are many different routes you can take.
- Answer a question you have already been asked. Go through your previous blog posts, client emails, posts to various social media platforms and look for questions that you have been asked and provide a more detailed answer.
- Answer a question from a question and answer type website (Yahoo Answers, Ask.com, etc.). There are many sites whose sole purpose is to give people a place to match their questions with answers. Check out these websites for a topic that appears to interest a wide variety of people.
- Use a search engine to find a hot topic. Take advantage of the auto fill features of many search engines to see what people are searching for. Go to the search engine and start typing in a very high level topic and as you do, the auto fill feature will show frequently searched word combinations. Use one of these topics to get you started or click on the topic itself to see what type of information shows in the search.
- Ask your followers for topics they would like to know more about. This won’t give you a topic for a quick blog post but it will give you a list of topics for later posts.
- Check out what your competitors and/or other people in your industry are talking about.
- Use a keyword research tool to find out what word combinations are trending within your niche.
Most importantly, when you get some ideas for future blog post make a note of them. Grab a notebook and write them down! Next time you are stuck for a new blog post, you will have your own list of great topics to write about.
Jen Walker
Owner at Be A Top Producer
Jen Walker is a serial entrepreneur who started her first business while attending university. Since then, she has started a number of different businesses and worked for big businesses including both IBM and ISM. As the owner of Be A Top Producer, she combines her love of business management and technology, her creative flair, her aptitude for math and her bubbly personality to help other small businesses succeed using social media and blogging.
Jen advises and assists small businesses and organizations by creating blogging strategies that include effective blogging to improve their online presence. She teaches business bloggers how to correctly manage their blog and to engage with other businesses and readers using fresh and exciting material. This interesting and current content makes readers to want to return and interact with the blog, therefore expanding their following and, over time, their clientele. She spends all the working hours available to her reading blogs, writing blog posts and meeting with clients so that in her downtime she can play hard with the most important people in her life, her two kids.
@BeATopProducer
WordPress Website Designer, Social Media Consultant, Social Media Mgr at Scrapbook & Cards Today Magazine & of Crop & Create Events .. http://beatopproducer.com
26 Facebook Wish List Pleas For Surviving Social Network Whiplash http://t.co/yFxSAkH54g via @SteamFeedcom - 8 hours ago
Latest posts by Jen Walker (see all)
- 6 Ways to Find Your Next Blog Topic - November 5, 2012
- Does Your Blog Have A Purpose? - October 16, 2012
- Blogging Best Practices - September 19, 2012
Fantastic post, Jen! I think that we all struggle from time to time on finding relevant infromation to blog about that our viewers will actually want to read. I love your idea about the notebook of possible topics. I have been using large sticky notes to jot down possible topics.
Thanks for sharing your expertise!
Thanks Robin! There are so many places to get ideas for blog posts as long as you remember to make a note of the ideas you come up with. Some people use physical notebooks and others use online tools. I am working on a post to show some online tools to use for keeping track of your ideas.
Jen recently posted..Have you heard of the Social Solutions Collective?
Great post, Jen. Full of helpful pointers. I’m going to print this one out so that I can remind myself of your tips when I need an ideas prompt. Thanks for sharing.
Susan recently posted..Speak to Yourself Gently
Agree with Susan–printing now and sharing with clients and colleagues. Thanks for the post, Jen!
Great post! Thanks for the tips! I have struggled being consistent with my blog… a big goal for 2013 is to fix that! This will be helpful in getting me started!
I really struggled with creating posts for my blog this year. I am so glad you shared this again because it will really help me create more content in 2013!
Shannon Baker recently posted..Make Professional Connections on LinkedIn
Thanks for the post. I’ve been searching for new blog post ideas and did not know where to look or what to do. I think that this will help me with future posts in the New Year. Thanks so much!