It’s one of the most common scenarios and it happens to all professional writers at some point.
The tyranny of the blank computer screen.
Now you’ve got your blog set up what are you actually going to write?
Actually it’s simple. The techniques below will tune your ideas radar. Once this is activated you’ll never you’ll never be at a loss for inspiration, no matter what subject you are writing about.
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1. What’s new? Give your audience a reason to read your blog, tell them something they don’t know. New ideas, new research, new rules, new trends. Maybe you agree with them, maybe you don’t. As an expert your readers will be interested in your opinion and they’ll appreciate you keeping them up to date.
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2. What’s popular? Find a link to popular culture and the news including books, movies, TV shows and celebrities. Linking your blog post to something or someone prominent creates an irresistible hook for readers.
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3. What are people talking about? Listen. What conversation is your target audience having right now? At the water cooler, at drinks after work and in the blogosphere. If you listen carefully you’ll hear a gentle hum of conversations all over the world. Tap into relevant topics trending on social media, join the discussion and link to other blogs, tweets and hashtags. Retweeting and commenting on relevant high profile articles about the topic is also recommended.
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4. Cultivate a target audience and ensure you write about topics that impact them. People are fascinated by what happens in their own community (even an online one). Amazing things happen all over the world every day (ho hum)– but when something happens in their own backyard, now, that’s interesting.
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5. What topics are causing controversy in your area of expertise? Know enough about the subject to speak your mind. As an expert in the field your opinion counts, but standard rules of courtesy apply.
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6 Use real life stories to illustrate your points, from your own experience or from clients or colleagues who don’t mind you telling their story. Writing about a personal experience with a challenging problem can be instructive to potential clients and anecdotes, or small stories, add spice to your writing.
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7. Human interest. Fluffy animals, car crashes etc. Human interest can mean different things to different people but in general it is something readers find compelling. Case in point – “Funny Cats in Water” has been watched by over 40 million people on You Tube.
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8. Everyone loves a list. Seriously. Can you think of 10 ways your clients can have a better outcome? The 10 most common mistakes made in your industry? The ten hottest trends for the New Year? The ten biggest myths in your area of expertise. Don’t get me started, this could go on for a while and we haven’t even covered the incredibly popular negative lists, such as 10 mistakes to avoid when…….
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9. Timing. Topics that are current are good news. But with the fast pace of information topics can date quickly. That’s one reason why blogging is so great. You can respond to something current almost instantaneously.
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10. Possible future impact. What are the possible changes in your industry? Consider the consequences your target audience needs to know about. The topics you blog about have to matter to your target audience, that is they have to impact them either now or in the future.
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11. Curate content. Save your readers the trouble and gather the best information available on the web. Summarize why each website qualifies and don’t forget to attribute and link to all websites referenced.
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12. Solving problems. What are the current problems in your area of interest? What are the solutions? If you are hearing about issues causing problems chances are your readers may also be experiencing these issues. As an expert in your area your readers will be grateful for the solutions and inspiration you provide.
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13. Interview. Interview someone already well known about a relevant topic aimed at your target audience. Ask their opinion about a controversial topic, or ask them to predict the future. For instance, ask them to predict biggest trends for the next 12 months.
What are your tips for producing regular quality content?
Want to learn more about creating compelling content?
Check out the gurus:
Darren Rowse at Problogger.com
http://www.problogger.net/how-to-write-great-blog-content/
Jeff Bullas at jeffbullas.com
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/10/24/how-to-write-a-blog-with-great-content-every-time/
Jonathan Morrow at copyblogger.com
