Four Sources For Blog Post Ideas You’re Overlooking

Every (serious) blogger has times when blog post ideas evade him. Great bloggers don’t restrict blog post ideas to “office hours”. They search for them ideas wherever they go. Most fail at blogging because they just can’t bring themselves to keep searching or attempting to write till something happens.

Some want to blog but never start because they are overwhelmed at the thought of creating great content consistently. Here are four sources for blog post ideas you’re overlooking:

Tweets

Careful not to spend much time on contingency planning you end up not planning for success

— Blessing Mpofu (@blessingmpofu) April 25, 2014

I love Twitter. Sometimes I think of something and just tweet. Some tweets can expounded. When you hit a dry spell for blogging ideas go through your own tweets.

There are some blog post ideas are posts from others’ tweets. For example:

Not Who’s Right, But What’s Right: http://t.co/pSj6vYV42W // post inspired by @hermannplessis #lead

— Blessing Mpofu (@blessingmpofu) January 25, 2014

Blog

When I got back into ‘fairly serious’ blogging, I never thought my blog would become my own resource. There are times I don’t start with Google when I search for something. I start on my own blog. If what I’m looking for isn’t there I Google or process it through blogging.

Another way to find ideas for blogging is by looking at the search terms that landed people on your website. That could give you ideas or themes to explore further. You can also read some of your own blog posts! You’ll always discover thoughts to explore. 

You might also find that your perspective may have changed from when you wrote the particular post to your present. You can then blog about what changed your thinking or challenged your perceptions. 

Scroll through your content and you’re soon discover an untapped mine of blog posts.

Readers

Michael Hyatt does a great job in seeking out what his readers would like him to write (or podcast). Every so often he puts out a survey to do that. You can do the same. Ask your readers.

Take note of some of the comments your readers make in your blog posts. Sometimes you cannot respond in a “fuller” way (whatever that is) in the comments section. I’ve always seen on some blogs where readers ask completely out of topic questions in the context of what the post they just read.

Bonus
You can always make the circle of readers bigger by asking colleagues what they’re thinking about or working on. 

Challenges – The Other View

You don’t have to have figured out the solution to a problem to talk about it. Blog about challenges you may be experiencing and the things going through your mind as you navigate them. Blogging is not just about answers, it is also about questions.

Sometimes it is not the answer that is important, it is asking the right questions. Don’t wait till you slay your Goliath to talk about it. Share what you’re learning as you navigate your challenges. 

[image via unsplash]