How To Think Of Great Blog Posts

Most people struggle to think of new content for their blog so I thought I would share some of the ways I come up with posts to help others who get writer’s block when they sit down and stare at the keys blankly. Writing should be part of a schedule as it can be too easy to flick to other sites or get lost on Twitter when you do sit down to write. I treat it very much as a job and see it as a one hour block of work where I have to tune out from all my other distractions before starting. This may not work for everybody but here are some of the tips I use which help me get at least one good quality (my opinion not yours) post out every single day…

Save One Line Titles

I am always thinking of new blog posts. On my bike, in bed, playing football or cooking dinner. We all have hundreds of ideas for blog posts but we don’t act on them very often. I write them down instantly on my iPhone (when I am in bed too) so as I have a reference point in the future. It is amazing how many of my blog posts come from a single title. A title is a great starting point and can be worked into a post relatively quickly.

Have A Posting Timetable

This might seem very methodical and not sound like your idea of fun but I set myself an hour aside to write a blog post every single day. An hour is the very minimum it will take. When you do sit down do whatever it takes to get in the groove be it listening to music or going to a quiet place. If you are really serious about your blog treat it as work and stick to your timetable, people like knowing there will be content when they get to your blog. If you follow the example above and have some titles saved already you will be in a great position to start writing as soon as you sit down.

Read Everything You Can

You should take every single opportunity you can to read as much good content as you can online. Read newspapers and magazines and analyse how the authors put the articles together. Do they tell stories? Set the scene first? Do they use short sentences or short clipped sentences. Find the articles you enjoy reading and try and adapt some of their writing skills in to your own posts. You don’t have to have an A from Oxford to be a good writer, just tell stories in a way that you are comfortable with.

Use Bookmarks

You’ll find loads of great content online during your daily web travels but most of it will be out of your head as soon as you have clicked to the next story. Much in the same way as you write possible blog posts down on a piece of paper you should use bookmarking sites like Delicious to tag good articles and resources that you can come back to later and build into a full post. Use the bookmarking tools every single day and you will soon build up a huge bank of potential posts.

Start With A Picture

A picture can tell a thousands words or in your case a picture can help you write a thousand words. I often use pictures to help me write the whole post as people love visuals and reserach has shown that people take a lot more in when it is paired up with a picture. Using graphs, charts, screen grabs and diagrams will help you to add a great entertaining visual element to your posts.

Follow Great People On Twitter

Twitter can be used to find all the latest news and content that you should be writing about. Take some time to follow the people who send out great links and share the best content. They are doing all the hard work for you. Don’t republish content but expand on other stuff that you see online and put your own slant on it.

Take Inspiration From Your Peers

I get a lot of inspiration for my posts on the blogs of others. That doesn’t mean that I copy what they write but instead I’ll see an angle that they have not gone down or a tangent to the story they wrote. There are billions of people using the internet so your content will always find a niche. Good blogs that I read and take inspiration from include Chris Brogan, Problogger and Seth Godin.