25 excellent ideas to blog about
A guest post from the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker. Get free ideas for small business and sign up for her IdeaLady Insider newsletter at http://IdeaLady.com/.
Do you find it hard to come with things to blog about? A few years ago, I had a weekly newspaper column. I had to turn in 500 words every Friday afternoon, even when I was not inspired. There were some Fridays when I was an hour or two from my deadline and had no idea what I was going to write about. Even then, I got my column written and submitted on time.
My secret? I kept an idea file, stuffed with topics and titles I could fall back on when I didn’t have anything to write about.
Make sure you never run out of ideas for your blog by starting your own idea file. Create a document and add to it whenever you run across something that would make a good topic for a blog post. Then, when you need a blog post and do not know what to write about, pull up your idea file and start writing.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- What did you learn from the last book you read?
- What scares you? And what are you doing to get past your fear?
- Share a favorite childhood memory.
- Talk about the best (or the worst) customer service you ever got.
- Revisit a topic you wrote about a year ago. What has changed?
- Tell what is in your purse or wallet.
- Do you keep a favorite photograph on your desk, or your computer desktop? What is the story behind the picture?
- What simple pleasure makes you happy? Why?
- Do something you have never done before, then write about the experience.
- Tell your favorite joke.
- Share a video you love from YouTube or another video site. What makes it interesting to you?
- Do you have a favorite item of clothing, pair of shoes or piece of jewelry? How does it make you feel?
- What is a typical day like for you?
- Imagine it is five years from now. What will a typical day be like for you?
- What is on your desk or in your workspace that you absolutely could not live without?
- Go through your email, comments or other messages and answer a question from a reader.
- Describe a time when you failed. What did you learn from it?
- Describe a success you had, whether small or large. How did you do it?
- Tell what you are doing to make the world a better place.
- What is your favorite guilty pleasure? You know, the movie you are a little embarrassed to admit makes you cry, or the comfort food you turn to when you feel down.
- What did you learn this week?
- Set a goal, and make a plan to accomplish it. Give regular updates on your progress. Not only does this give you something to write about, it makes you accountable for working toward your goal.
- List five things everyone should know about your topic. (Chances are that most of your readers do not know all five of them.)
- Who do you admire? Why?
- Share a blog or website you find useful.
Remember to keep your idea file handy, and add to it whenever you think, “I should write about that sometime.” Many of these ideas can be used more than once, so your idea file can keep you blogging for a long time. And if you’re really desperate for ideas to blog about, you can always resort to the one and only Blogtap random topic generator.
Tags: content, guest posts, writing
« New study suggest blog post quantity trumps quality for online popularity
Kidblog.org: a free blogging platform for the elementary and middle school classroom »
Hey, Cathy, this is a really useful list. As a graphic designer years ago, I always had a “swipe file” for idea generation, and I’ve read numerous posts about “what to blog about” but your ideas are unique and very practical. I’ll stick this one “on the fridge” thanks!