Five Questions To Ask Yourself When You’re Stuck For Content Ideas
One of my favourite parts of creating online content is idea generation and playing around with different concepts and post ideas. Coming up with enough ideas to fill out your editorial calendar can be tough though, and for someone who creates 10+ pieces of content a week (across this blog and ALO) I've found my feet in a good routine that helps me to brainstorm ideas even when I'm not feeling like my most creative self.
If you're struggling to fill up your editorial calendar with ideas and posts you're excited to work on, today I'm sharing five awesome questions you can ask yourself to get the ideas flowing.
What is a lesson I have learned recently that I can share? Whatever your topic and focus, it'll probably come from a place of knowledge, interest, and passion. If you're stuck for engaging ideas that will be full of value for your readers, figuring out a lesson you've learned recently that you can share with your audience is a great way to conceptualise some post ideas. Sharing your knowledge is a great way to really connect with your readership, and taking them with you on your own journey and sharing the insightful things you learn along the way is one of the best ways to really make your content as fresh and interesting as possible.
What’s a problem my readers are struggling with that I could solve? Whatever your area of expertise, there will be without a doubt so much interesting, useful, and insightful knowledge you can share with your readers. Ask yourself, what are the top ten problems my ideal reader struggles with? Then figure out what knowledge you can share with them to help them along the way. It doesn't have to be a life changing solution, sometimes the smallest ideas can make the biggest improvement to someone's day.
Is there a previous topic I could explore again in more depth? Most of us have months and months (even years and years) of archived blog content behind us. Just because you've approached a topic in the past doesn't mean it's out of the question to address it again. It's highly likely that you've learned so much more since then and can explore the topic in even more depth. Whether it's a follow up to a previous post or a whole new approach to the topic, never be afraid to revisit past ideas.
What have I been talking about recently? What am I passionate about at the moment? Most of us start blogs because we're super passionate about the topics we're focusing on. I don't know about you, but I feel pretty sorry for the people in my life who have to listen to me on a weekly basis discuss my ideas on content strategy, newsletter marketing, social media etc. The best posts usually come from a place where you're excited, passionate, and informed on a topic so if you're stuck for ideas take a look at the all the things interesting you at the moment that you just can't stop talking about.
What’s on my blog post bucket list? Most bloggers I know have a blog post bucket list; a list of blog posts they'd love to write but are just too scared to create them. Stepping out of our comfort zone with our online space is scary, the thought of polarising some of our readers and being more vulnerable with the words we share is enough to stop any of us from being a little braver with the content we share. However, when you're stuck for ideas and feeling uninspired, writing the content that scares you is a great way to bring some life back into your creative process. Every time you have an idea and you tell yourself it's a little too out of the box, write it down in a notebook and revisit that list from time to time to keep yourself on your toes. From personal experience, the content that scares me is usually the most fulfilling to create.
How about you? Do you have a blog post bucket list?
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