Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
If you are going to continue to blog indefinitely, you are going to have to continue to come up with exciting, effective, and compelling topics that will hold the interest of your readers. Your creativity will be tested.
When it comes to blogging, in general, there are several different schools of thought regarding the writing style. However, if you blog for business, your style is most likely more formal and proper than if you were blogging for pleasure. When you blog for business, it generally doesn’t read like a journal. When you are blogging for business, you must always keep in mind the marketing principle “WIIFM” (What’s In It For Me?). In other words, your objective will always be to help the other person solve his or her problems. If you satisfy the needs of the other person, your needs, in turn, will also be satisfied.
There are many ways in which you can come up with exciting and compelling blog topics that other people will really react positively to.
Pull topics from the news
The news is an incredibly rich topic source. Before the news items ever reach the public, the information has been researched and investigated thoroughly. If you use topics that you have found in the news for your blogs, you will have had some of the background work already done for you. Remember that you should under no circumstances use the exact words that you read in the news articles. That is plagiarism. However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with your borrowing other people’s ideas and communicating them in your own words. After all, you are using their ideas, not their words.
Gather other people’s opinions
If you are a frequent blogger, you may find that it is getting more and more difficult to come up with blog topics on a frequent and regular basis. If you feel that your “well is running dry,” and you are experiencing a blockage, it is an excellent idea to ask other people what they are interested in and what they would like to read about. There is no doubt that you are surrounded by interesting and intelligent people who most likely have plenty of creative ideas about all sorts of things. That is most definitely a resource that you should tap. If you aren’t totally comfortable with directly asking them what topics they would like to read about, you could try another approach. You could bounce some ideas off of them and see how they react and where the conversation goes from there.
Do thorough research
One of the main items that you should be searching for in the course of your research is effective keywords and key phrases. You can use those to come up with new topics for your blogs. Also, those terms will help to drive more traffic to your blog. If you use effective search terms, large numbers will visit your blog as they are searching for those terms. It shouldn’t be too difficult for you to determine which topics are hot and then you can use those topics to your full advantage. As you start to figure out which topics people are really interested in reading about, you can customize your writing for your readers.
Listen to what other people are saying
Another great source of blog topics is other blogs that are popular. There is a great possibility that when you read other people’s blogs, you will be inspired and you will come up with new creative and exciting ideas for your blog. You will be able to identify which topics get the most reaction from readers and you can imitate that approach. Then you can use a similar approach on your own blog and see what type of reaction you get from your readers.
Think about it overnight
If you are still having difficulty coming up with blog topics, go to sleep and try to clear your mind of everything. When you wake up the next morning, try to grab onto the first thing that is in your head and see if you can use that for your blog. Put it down in a notebook so that you don’t forget the idea. Then, try to develop a blog that centers around that idea. You may be surprised at how creative you were during the night and into the next day. Clearing your head the night before can be very beneficial and it can cause you to simplify your thought process and to really get to the heart of your creativity.
Conclusion
Continually coming up with fresh and creative blog topics can be challenging at times. However, if you try different approaches to gathering ideas, you may be surprised at how many wonderful topics you are able to come up with and continue to come up with over time. Speak with other people and their words and ideas may very well be a source of inspiration for you. Your consistently wonderful content is the reason that people keep coming back to you over and over again. The tips that were discussed here will help you to keep that momentum going strong.
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Listening to the word on the street helps a great deal Carolyn. Solve other's problems by learning to listen, and tune into what you hear during the course of a normal business day.
Thanks for sharing!
RB
Enjoyed reading your article. Creating attention grabbing blog titles and content with a unique and fresh angle can also help your blog to get picked up by major media outlets.
Denise
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Social Media & Community 2.0
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
The absolute most important thing, in addition to the tips you offered, is to always have a way to record your ideas when they hit you. Have a notebook in the car, use Evernote on your phone and laptop, a voice recorder app if that works best, but you need some way to get them down in the moment. The only scenario I don't have fully covered yet is those in-the-shower bolts of lightning! Writing in the steam on the shower door doesn't seem to quite work…
Posted by Rosemary
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Books and Writers
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
Now there is the question. Announcements are great but are limited. I'll be interested in all of your answers. Forming an interesting question to answer is the key, starting with some knowledge on the subject.
Posted by Judy
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
I'd say nearly half of my blog posts are inspired by the thoughts of others. I subscribe to, well, too many different marketing communication blogs, and I never miss a chance to disagree with someone. A few of my more popular posts are in a "he-said-I-say" format.
Having a continuation–a different point of view–of a popular conversation is a good way to grab attention; compel interaction; and promote better, more thought-provoking content.
Not only is your creativity tested, but the credibility of your opinions as well.
Evan VanDerwerker
Posted by Evan
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Books and Writers
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
Like your blog, Carolyn! Just came from visiting it. You have lots of great articles there. Saw the one on the value of Twitter hashtags (#). Learned about that about a month ago. It works. Keep up the excellent work!
Posted by Denise
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: For Women Entrepreneurs
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
Agreed! I am constantly emailing myself ideas as soon as the come into my head. It is challenging!
Posted by Jennifer
Well covered Carolyn.
Evan has a good point, I try to stir up a bit of controversy. I find that my different background allows me to see things from a different angle. Some of my best read posts are decidedly politically incorrect.
On my business blog, I try to provide helpful suggestions for small businesses.
For all 3 of my blogs, I rely on the news, Google alerts for relevant keywords and a big list of RSS feeds into Google Reader.
Like Rosemary, I also carry a small recorder and / or notebook at all times. Inspiration comes from so many sources, I get ideas often while riding my horse, clearing snow with my tractor or walking with my dog.
If all else fails, I review old posts to see if I can re-write one from a different angle, or if applicable for a different audience on one of my other blogs.
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: "Write It Down"-A Website for Writers
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
Watch the news or read a newspaper. It's amazing what stupid things people do. It is apalling what they do to each other. Fodder for almost any kind of writing.
Posted by Ruth Ann
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: For Women Entrepreneurs
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
Your clients are the best source of topic inspiration. Do a survey and ask them about their challenges, struggles, uncertainty and such. There is compelling copy in the information they share!
Posted by Katie
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Freelance Editing Network
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
… also, if I may add, Carolyn, it is equally important to get the word out (i.e. market) so people can find your blog. Caveat: If your topic is cutting-edge, ahead of its time or in other ways challenging to the majority interest or status quo, be prepared to keep up your effort for however long it takes to develop a sizable following. By 'keeping up' I mean both adding content & coming up with creative marketing. Been there 4 years & still doing it…
Posted by Dina
Really,you have great writing style. Fresh and has unique content, you can attract the more traffic to your blog.
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Freelance Editing Network
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
I would also add, CJ, that tagging your blogs helps people find the blog, then your content will hopefully keep their interest and engage them.
Posted by Jennifer
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Group: Social Media & Community 2.0
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
Couldn't agree with you more Rosemary. I have found that I use Evernote the most, but also voice memos on my phone.
Posted by Jason
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Group: Social Media in Science – Applying Social Media to Laboratory, Scientific & Health Professions
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
This is where contracting with a creative professional can come in. Someone who can help you brainstorm, lay out an editorial calendar, and then generate content.
Posted by Meg E.
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Group: ForbesWoman
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
Informative article.
I often read articles and feel something has been "left out" or realize that I'm doing something that others might like, too. So I'll go to my blog and stick up a tip or article
Posted by Maria
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Group: Social Media in Science – Applying Social Media to Laboratory, Scientific & Health Professions
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
I agree with Meg. As someone who worked in the publishing industry before moving into marketing, wrangling up topics can be a difficult task – even for seasoned professionals. That's where the beauty of the "angle" comes in. Taking a topic and finding ways to branch out and create sub-topics that take different and creative approaches to the general subject matter.
Another thing I'd add to Carolyn's advice is to utilize as many interviews as you can. It's an easy and quick way to get targeted advice from experts, and it (usually) takes less time to edit an interview than it does to generate a 600 – 1000 word article yourself.
Posted by Lauren
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Social Media in Science – Applying Social Media to Laboratory, Scientific & Health Professions
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
Other ways to keep content rolling are to:
Solicit content from other professionals with whom your organization collaborates–or would like to collaborate. They provide important information for your readers, you provide them a larger audience for their message or expertise, and when they share their contribution with their networks, you reach those networks too. This can also strengthen your relationship with colleagues who can be ambassadors for your product or mission.
Solicit content from staff. Staff in various departments may have information your readers need, or a hands-on connection to a project that your readers would enjoy learning about.
Solicit content from readers. One client of mine invited readers to share a certain kind of story for potential publication on the blog in exchange for a chance to win a prize. The client was then able to pull a couple of stories a month from the pile of submissions.
These three types of content require less writing from the primary blogger, but may need more astute editing. They also have the potential to make your blog seem too scattered, so the editorial calendar becomes more important. If you lack such editorial skills on your staff, this is something you might contract out to a freelance editor and content manager who supports your mission wholeheartedly.
Posted by Meg E.
I have found that social listening is a very effective method for generating content ideas. Depending on whether you are trying to generate awareness or engagement, you should consider different types of content.
One tactic that I have found to be useful is looking at competitor's pages, sites and blogs to see what concepts and topics have created engaging conversations between users and experts.
Then I suggest recycling these topics and rewriting them from an original and unique point of view. It is always great to come up with NEW and EXCITING topics, but there is no need to reinvent the wheel every time you want to deliver engaging content.
I recommend this tactic to many of my customers and can tell you first hand that it has been very effective for them.
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: For Women Entrepreneurs
Discussion: Finding Effective and Compelling Blog Topics
I don't find it hard to come up with blog topics. Many of my blog topics come from questions that my clients ask or problems that I see a lot of single women have.
Posted by Erica
Great post, Carolyn! I use Google Trends, Yahoo Buzz, etc. to get more ideas, too.