How to come up with Blog Posts Ideas
Okay, this former football and wrestling star has a secret to share with all of you self-published indie authors out there. I’m a bit of a nerd. Yup. I said it. I’m sort of a nerd. Believe it or not, I carry a mini-notebook and pen in my pocket everywhere I go. My wife and mother-in-law, and children come to think of it, have grown accustomed to me, pulling out my pen and mini-notebook at the weirdest times and in the strangest places.
They giggle a little when they see me scribbling something down in my mini-notebook while eating dinner at a restaurant.
But I don’t care because I know good ideas are fleeting. If I don’t write down my thoughts and ideas, they will be gone forever. And this same principle holds true for blog posts ideas as well. I need to write them down my thoughts immediately if I want to capitalize on this golden idea later for an excellent blog post, my authorpreneurs.
Now, if you want to put a modern-day twist or update on this strategy to coming up and writing down blog posts ideas, then put a notes app on your phone. We all carry our phones on us wherever we go, right? So, when an idea strikes, pull out your phone and make a note of it. Nobody will think it’s weird. Nobody will laugh at you. Most will probably think you’re playing some type of video game or catching up on the news.
When they hit us, writing down our thoughts is a great idea to come up with future blog posts, but it’s not enough. We’re going to have to do some research as well, my authorpeneurs.
Don’t let this “R” word scare you. Research is really not as hard or as dry or as boring as some of us think. Research can be easy and fun. Trust me. Research really is simple.
And one easy way to conduct research for our future blog posts is to sign up at Quora. On the Quora site, just list your preferences that you want to be informed about, and Quora will send you daily emails with articles written about your interests or niche.
Quora delivers the research you want right to your inbox on a daily basis. What could be easier than that? Just skim the headlines and find one or two that interest you. They click away and enjoy your reading. Or, should I say research?
Hey, I was right, wasn’t I? There is nothing hard or scary about doing this kind of research to stay a very informed authorpreneur in your field. Trust me. This is easy. And if you do this, you’ll always have ideas flowing in your direction for future blog posts.
Reddit is another place where we can use this research strategy as well. And trust me, there are a bunch more out there just like Quora and Reddit that can send ideas your direction all day long, every day.
Next, prolific writers are almost always prolific readers. So, let’s read everything we can get our hands-on. And then let’s not hesitate to pull out our mini-notebooks or phones to write down the good ideas we get from our vast reading.
Also, follow the influencers in your field. We should be listening to their podcasts and reading their blogs. We should devour their cutting-edge information. And we should be doing that with our mini-notebook or phone right by our side to jot down our thoughts and ideas.
From following the influencers, and even just reading one of their blogs, I can usually get multiple ideas for my own future blogs. Sometimes these ideas are off-shoots of what the influencers are talking about. Sometimes they are wildly connected ideas that nobody can see the connection but me because of my vast other experiences. And sometimes, the ideas that an influencer’s blog gives me almost mimics theirs.
Sometimes I see a tiny thing they missed in their blog that I know I can write about. Other times, I see something they didn’t elaborate on enough in their blog that I could easily write a follow-up blog on. Maybe, I’ll even submit this to the influencer so I can have my name associated with their name as a guest blogger on their platform.
Now, finally, I know that writing can be an isolating industry for my authorpreneurs. But, my Granddaddy always said that the difference between two people today and ten years from now is the books they read and the people they talked to. Our isolated reading and writing is only half the equation of success. We have to be out there talking to people, too. Others will give us amazing ideas to write about for future blog posts of our own.
Trust me. There is always something to write about. We just need to stop putting roadblocks in our way.
Watch the free video lesson on this chapter!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehhBva-54Ro&list=PL_-39bUXJitwL8cHUpiZ5mO0-JJuaPOVl&index=70