5 ways to brainstorm blogging ideas that will wow your readers

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If blogging is one of your marketing strategies (and I certainly hope it is!), planning is essential. Just sitting down and diving into your next post isn’t an efficient way to work, and it doesn’t produce high-quality content. Having a supply of blogging ideas will keep you from drawing a blank when it’s time to write a new post and ensure that you provide your readers with useful content on a regular basis.

The following brainstorming methods will help you to generate hundreds of blogging ideas.

  1. Consider books you’ve read lately, or movies you’ve watched. Would any of them be useful or inspiring to your clients? Think of how you can tie that in with your business in some way.
  2. Answer questions that people have asked you in workshops, emails, and consultations.
  3. Every month, week and day, there are some really strange, fun and downright funny holidays and observances celebrated around the world, which can often help you generate ideas for your blog. Some of my past blog posts have been inspired by such events as Entrepreneurs “Do It Yourself” Marketing Month, Mother’s Day, and even Jell-O Week.
  4. Research what people in your target market are talking about in forums or on social media, and write about those topics.
  5. Repurpose content that you’ve already created. For some creative examples, read 10 Simple Ways to Get the Most Mileage from Your Content from my September newsletter.

As you’re brainstorming, capture as many blogging ideas as possible. Keep a list of possible topics using a program like Evernote or OneNote, a paper notebook, or a simple text document on your computer, tablet or phone – whatever works best for you. Choose something you can easily update when new ideas come to you.

Then, go through your list and identify the topics that are most relevant to your readers. For example, if your blog is about the digital nomad lifestyle, your audience might be interested in travel tips, learning languages, and ways to make money, but their biggest concern may be how to get started in the first place. If this is the case, that topic should be at the top of your list.

A blogging plan will make you more efficient and a more valuable resource to your target audience.

Set aside specific times for blogging. Draw from your ideas list to plan and write several posts in advance. You can then pre-schedule them in your blog or simply publish posts you’ve written in advance when the time comes.

The Editorial Calendar plugin for WordPress is a popular tool for managing a blogging schedule, but I prefer having my calendar at my fingertips. Currently I have a Marketing calendar set up in Google, separate from my regular calendar, but before that I used an Excel calendar which I could access from all my devices. A paper calendar works well too. The best tool for you is the one that you will use.

Following these steps will make you more efficient, and more importantly, you’ll be a more valuable resource to your target audience.

Photo by Negative Space / Pexels

Casual Photo of Janet Barclay

Janet Barclay

I eliminate stress for my clients by hosting, monitoring, and maintaining their WordPress sites so they don’t have to worry about security, downtime or performance issues. When I’m away from my desk, I enjoy reading, photography, cooking, watching movies, drinking tea, and spending time with my family.

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15 Comments

  1. Linda Samuels on December 4, 2017 at 7:34 am

    These are great suggestions for keeping the pump primed. I use a blog calendar that gets set every 6 months in conjunction with a blog ideas folder. Ideas get captured from thoughts, clippings, books read, and other source material. I use my calendar to cue me as the overall topic and then go the idea folder if I’m stuck on the specifics. In addition, I have a few features that I have like “What’s Interesting?” and keep a separate file for just those ideas.

    • Janet Barclay on December 4, 2017 at 12:42 pm

      Linda, you’re one of the most organized bloggers I know! I love how you have specific themes for every month.

      • Linda Samuels on December 11, 2017 at 4:33 pm

        Wow! That means a lot coming from you. I appreciate your support and wonderful ideas about blogging and marketing.

  2. Seana Turner on December 4, 2017 at 9:30 am

    Suggestion #4 has caught my eye. I think I will pay a little more attention to what my client base is talking about, and then see if I have something helpful to say on those topics. Great idea, because blogging on a specific topic can start to feel stale.

    • Janet Barclay on December 4, 2017 at 12:55 pm

      There’s always something new, or a new angle on a topic you’ve covered in the past.

  3. Sabrina Quairoli on December 4, 2017 at 12:14 pm

    Great suggestions, Janet. When I started doing newsletters, I created a monthly topics list so if I couldn’t think of a particular thing to write about, I would refer to the topics for that month on the list.

    This year, I started using The Editorial Calendar plugin for WordPress and I have to say, I really enjoy the quick edit feature on the calendar. For some reason, I really enjoy writing an outline of what I want to say in this little window. It works great. Definitely, something to get for planning out posts.

    • Janet Barclay on December 4, 2017 at 12:57 pm

      I used to have monthly topic lists too, but somewhere along the way I stopped.

      I also use the Editorial Calendar for WordPress, but not to quickly create outlines. I will create a post, then save it as Pending for someone else to review before it goes live. Having them on the calendar makes it easier for the other person to find what needs to be done.

  4. Hazel Thornton on December 4, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    I tend to write about things that I find myself explaining over and over. (ala #2) So, I can not only explain it to those who haven’t asked yet (via blog subscription, newsletter and social media), and send it to the person(s) who asked (to reinforce what I already said), but I can also send it to new and prospective clients dealing with the same issue, to be helpful and establish credibility.

    I’d like to add one to the list: 6. If you keep thinking, “I should write about that,” then you should write about that!

    • Janet Barclay on December 5, 2017 at 12:38 pm

      Great addition to the list, Hazel – thank you!

      Something I’ve been thinking “I should write about that” came to mind again when a certain situation arose for the third client in a month. Come back next week to find out what it is!

  5. Liana George on December 7, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    Great post-Janet! I try to repurpose as much content as possible – why re-create the wheel?! I like your idea of listening to our social media comments. I posted a question one day and received a ton of comments. I’ve decided to use that for a future video blog! I may have to go back and see what other comments may inspire me!

    • Janet Barclay on December 8, 2017 at 3:36 pm

      That’s great, Liana – I’ll try and watch for it!

  6. Emily Brown on December 8, 2017 at 1:03 am

    This article was super helpful and on point, thank you so much. I’m reading all the other articles as well, you’re very insightful and encouraging. Thanks!!!

    • Janet Barclay on December 8, 2017 at 3:42 pm

      Thanks you, Emily – that’s good to hear!

  7. Stacey Agin Murray on December 11, 2017 at 11:38 am

    Just about anything can be organized–that gives us A LOT of ideas to blog about. And inspiration is all around us if we choose to listen and look for it. I use Evernote to capture my blog post possibilities and I check them off as I use them. And now you’ve made me really curious about Jell-O Week…

    • Janet Barclay on December 11, 2017 at 3:00 pm

      I couldn’t agree more! Some of the bloggers I admire most are those who are able to take an event or experience in their own lives and find a lesson in it for their readers.

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