It’s a beginning of a new day. You have another 24 hours to work and take a step closer to your dreams (at least that’s how we see it). You take a look at your calendar to make sure you’re not missing anything, only for you to come across that dreaded four-letter word “blog” and you immediately get a sinking feeling (that’s not how we feel about blogging and we’ll share our secret with you).
By definition, a blog (short for weblog) is a frequently updated online journal or diary, usually written in a conversational, informative, informal or semiformal style depending on the writer or clientele. It’s where you share your passion. It’s a time to have fun. But is it not fun for you? Are you finding it dull and boring, and you just can’t find anything exciting to write about? Why is blogging boring? Is it because blogging is not beneficial to your business? Of course not.
- But how do you flip something dull into an inspiration?
- How do you find inspiration to write a blog post in the first place?
- Do you remember the last time you had an interesting idea you couldn’t wait to share with your friends and family?
Now, remember what it felt like sharing those ideas. That’s exactly the same approach you should use when blogging. Here are some of the secrets we use in finding inspiration and interesting ideas for blog posts.
Books, Magazines, TV, and Movies
You can get lots of ideas from books, TV, movies, and magazines. Just think of ways you can spin ideas into something relatable to your audience. You’ll be surprised how you can creatively find a trait in your favorite character or book that you can actually link to your readers. Here’s an example of a hypothetical post title you could create: “What Tyrion Lannister Teaches About Content Marketing.”. Such a title could instantly grab attention from the fans of the books series and the well-known tv show ‘Game of Thrones’.
Visit Forums
You can find diverse views, opinions, questions and arguments in forums. And soon you will be itching to express your views about a topic or help answer some of the questions. Other times, you may be inspired to read more about a topic you will be craving to share in your next blog post. Now do you understand why we say blogging is inspiring?
Comment Section and Email Inquiries
If you have an active comment section on your blog, review the comments and see what readers are asking about. If you get email inquiries, you can also write about issues that your readers or customers often inquire about. Alternatively, you can visit the comment section of blogs of your key influencers to find inspiration and learn about the current issues people might be discussing, this could also help you have a better idea of who your customers and what you could do to help.
If you thoroughly understand your buyer persona – who she is, where she shops, whether or not she is married, etc – creating content for her will be as easy as talking to a friend.
Do Interviews
Make a list of people you would like to interview that you may think are beneficial for your company and find their contact online.Then send them a short, polite message asking their permission.
You can also interview your customers and active readers. Reach out to them and ask why they use your product, how they use it, what they will like you to write about, what their challenges are and so on. This is also a good way to increase your knowledge of your buyer persona. By writing what customers will relate to, you’ll attract similar people and more customers.
In conclusion, if you follow these suggestions, not only will you find blogging exciting again, but you will reap all the benefits of content marketing too.
