New Content Ideas: How to never run out of fresh topics!
The last few weeks I've been thinking a lot about how to get my brain back into "content creation mode". Especially when your blog still has low traffic numbers and the comments section is quiet, it can feel like talking to a wall.
Once you get a consistent feedback loop from your audience & followers, creating content gets a bit easier.
But until then...
We need a solid plan to come up with fresh, new content ideas even when we feel completely drained of all ideas already.
Even if you're burned out today - I think the list below will help you! At least it's been working for me so far.
Luckily, I've been doing better than I thought at finding content ideas - without even noticing that I've created my own little system for it. That's how my lengthy hands-on guide was born, which I've published on my blog FromClickToSale.
In this article here, I want to share the current list of ALL my go-to resources to come up with new content ideas - at a surprisingly consistent rate.
This list is in no particular order, which means that all of these resources can work equally well. Most likely however, you will find one or two that work particularly well for you personally.
At the end of this article I'll talk about my favorite resources. For now, let's go over the list:
- Quora,
- AnswerThePublic,
- Forums,
- Social media networks,
- Authority blogs in your niche (especially their comment sections),
- Product reviews,
- Interviews,
- Personal spreadsheet,
- Questions.
The most important thing when searching for new content ideas is that you let your mind wander a bit.
I cannot stress this enough: Even with a step-by-step process like this, this is still creative work and you must not be overly strict with yourself.
You never know what piques your interest! But when something does, follow it until you say to yourself: "I want to write about that."
The way I go about it is like this:
- I pick any resource from the list and start poking around.
- If there's nothing interesting today, I go to the next resource on the list.
- When I find something interesting, I click it and read on until one of two things happen: 1) I get bored and can't be bothered to read on, or 2) I can feel the itch to share this.
What do I mean with "the itch to share this"?
Sometimes, I simply like this piece of information and I want to tell others about it - this would be the most obvious reaction.
However, oftentimes I realize that I silently disagree with what I'm reading - or I have more detailed knowledge about it.
That's when I know I've struck gold! I can now follow my hunch and start writing down WHY I agree, or WHY I disagree, or WHAT other details I feel were left out.
Sometimes that means I'm curating content and that I'm adding my own spin to it...
But more often than not, it actually turns into a unique piece of content which I could have never come up with on my own.
But it all started with the above list of resources, poking around, and then letting my brain do the rest.
For me personally, forums & keeping a personal spreadsheet with ideas have worked especially well.
You might do better on social media or any other of the resources from the list above - so try them all out!
Do you also have a process for finding new content ideas? Let me know in the comments below!
And if you enjoyed this article, please leave a it a like - thank you!
Recent Comments
20
James, your ideas in writing a content might be what I needed in forming an opinion on the subject or topic. Often, I get stocked wandering around where to find a credible resources filling my ideas on the content. Certainly, this is worth trying by the blogger or content creation.
Hi Noah! Yes, as affiliate marketers we need to constantly keep creating content. Almost every online business thrives with great content! I hope you'll go over the list above and keep a spreadsheet with all your content ideas. Then keep writing and writing! 😄
Hi Jeffrey, glad you've found this helpful! Feels good to hear approval from an Ambassador member 😊
Awesome James! I'm actually struggling for content and my traffic is slowly going down... I need to it to go back up again!
Thank you for sharing this, it should definitely help me to find new ideas. :)
Thanks Audrey 😄 We all have a slump now and then, but at least you've spiked your blog traffic in the past already, which means you can do it again when you're ready to invest the time & energy!
See more comments
Hi James
This is definitely a great list of resources for content ideas. At the minute I have a stack of content planned but I know that wont always be the case so I am bookmarking your post to refer back to in the future.
Hope your business is growing well!
Dave
Hi Dave! The "stack of content" is what I call my personal spreadsheet. It's my favorite content planning tool!
The information I save in my spreadsheet is as follows:
- Title idea,
- Main keyword,
- Estimated traffic data (WA tools),
- Estimated SEO competition score (WA tools),
- Notes row: Additional information, for example if I have a particular story I want to tell in this blog post.
Then, every time I use a content idea I can check it off the spreadsheet - but I don't delete it, so I can be sure if for example 1 year later I have the same idea, I don't duplicate it by accident.
I hope your business is doing great, too!
James