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How to generate ideas for your blog posts

Written by: Andrew Rondeau

Article Overview: So now you have chosen the topic you wish to blog about, what are you going to write?

How to generate ideas for your blog posts

In a recent post I wrote about the top blogging topics to write about. So now you have chosen the topic you wish to blog about, what are you going to write?

You may have chosen one of the "hot topics" like recipes, but what exactly will you write about "recipes"?

Will it be about the utensils required? Cakes? Healthy eating? 10-minute dinners?

Once you have decided on a specific subject matter, what information do you want to share?

Here are some ways you can generate ideas...

Ask your friends

We all have opinions on certain subjects so ask for your friends' opinions. What would they like to know about ‘recipes'? What are their ideas and suggestions?

You may be surprised with what ideas and things they come up with.

Start collecting ideas

You could be walking the dog, traveling to work and suddenly, a bright idea about a blog post pops into your head.

Are you going to remember that idea or do you need to write it down?

You could always carry a small pencil and paper with you, just for those situations.

Then when you get somewhere where you can add a few more notes, just spend a couple of minutes doing so. Those extra notes will help when you come back and refer to your notes.

And you don't have to use that idea that day, that week, that month.

I have a folder just on ideas of what to write about. When I want to start writing, out comes the folder with all my previous notes, which may have been written down months ago.

Use your own childhood memories

It depends upon the subject you choose to write about as to whether you have any related childhood memories.

But if we stick with ‘recipes', you could write about the great times you had with your parents cooking or making up your own recipes or just having fun in the kitchen.

Perhaps, even write about the cooking lessons you had at school and how much has changed over the years.

You know, "When I was young, we didn't have microwave ovens or fancy things like that. We had to..."

Make a mind-map

Without going off too much on a tangent, a mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas.

Here is a compilation of mind map tools

By using mind maps, you can easily generate numerous ides.

Ask your blog visitors

Conduct some analysis with your blog visitors.

Take a poll.

Do a survey.

Ask them questions.

You can even let them ask you questions.

Gather all the information and you've got some great ideas from your visitors.

Read and collect

Read a great article about recipes in the newspaper or magazine?

What ideas did that give you?

Write the ideas down and file away in your reference folder.

Even better, write the ideas down and file away in your reference folder AND cut out the article and file it away for future use.

Powerful tip: Visit a bookstore or a library or a magazine stand. Read through the books and magazines that are related to your chosen subject. I guarantee you come away with at least 10 ideas.

Search the internet

Of course, you have all information you need, right here on the internet.

On the internet there are forums.

A forum is basically a virtual meeting place for people with the same interest, who post messages and questions on the subject of that forum.

So do a Google search for your subject, for instance ‘recipe' and then add the word "forum", so you end up searching for "recipe forum" (by the way at the time of writing, there are a few!)

Then when you enter the forums, you can observe and study what the participants are discussing.

Forums are places where people look for advice, ask questions and air their concerns.

Using these methods, you'll never run out of ideas.

How do you generate ideas?

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Article Tags: bright idea, cakes, childhood memories, chosen one, cooking lessons, couple of minutes, having fun, hot topics, parents, pencil and paper, recipes, subject matter, utensils



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Q&A: What are your tips for creating a successful blog? - Q: What are your tips for creating and maintaining a successful blog? Hi Ayaan - here are 7 suggestions for you: 1) Focus on a niche - pick an area that you're an expert in and are interested in and stick to that niche. 2) Create pillar content - write a number of posts that are evergreen and interesting. If a new visitor checks out your blog it should be easy to quickly find your pillar content and get them interested in reading more. 3) Create a list - give an incentive to readers to subscribe to your blog by entering their email address. This way you can turn one time visitors into lifetime readers. 4) Have a regular posting schedule - bloggers often post like crazy when they first start a blog and then their schedule fades. Don't start with too many posts and create a schedule that you can't stick with. 5) Build linkbait posts - timely posts that use infographics, top 7/10/50 lists, newsworthy topics, etc can generate a lot of attention and links to your blog. 6) Tweet it out - whenever you post, tweet about it so your followers know to check out your new entry. 7) Engage other bloggers - comment on other blogs that are in your niche. If you focus on adding value then the bloggers will notice you and their readers will also click through to your site. Good luck!
Re: Another Moderator Tip - Hi GT / Trent - great ideas. We run on phpbb3 so if there is a plugin you think we should install I can definitely look into it. It's also based on a MYSQL database so we can run queries against it (like we do for the recent forum posts, contest leaders, and all-time leaders across the top). If you can think of a report we can generate that would help then I can also look into it!
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Re: How do you get fresh ideas for work? - [quote="Anelly":10z2phe0]Thank you all.I need many ideas for writing new posts. A forced brainstorming it's a solution even if I prefer a short break.[/quote:10z2phe0] Hi Aelly, When I need a new idea for blog posts or articles I look around in forums, this is if i have time. I always save the email my affiliates send me with interesting questions and try to make an article out of them. Another tip is to find an old article you wrote: 5 tips to... or 3 steps to... and create a blog post out of each tip or step. This is one way to get 3 or 5 articles from one article. My last tip for you is to keep a stock of titles for dry days, just take one and write an article around it.


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