One of the challenges faced by newbie writers is on how to generate fresh content. Every new writer faces this. It’s alright. I faced it too. Actually, every writer worth his salt faces it. It is pretty normal. The difference between a successful or failed writer is the willingness to keep banging till he gets those creative juices flowing. However, sometimes it’s smart to use tools that help you develop content ideas. Some of the most effective tools I have used include:
A Jotter or and a Pen:
This is the first and most efficient tool I ever used. Ideas tend to sneak up on you. The only way to make sure you catch it is to make sure you are prepared. Learn to write down any ideas that you get. You heard someone ask a curious question? Write it down. Do you have a really brilliant idea? Write it down. Did you get an email inquiry? Write it down. Did you find out an inadequacy in the way certain content has been covered? Write it down your own version.
By the time you do this, you will realize that you have a number of actionable ideas. Some of these ideas end up being gold nuggets. This isn’t to say that the ideas you get will be instant quality. No, In fact over 90% of the content you jot down will not be of much use. However, the 10% you do end up using would more than suffice.
Daily Learning Apps:
Like I said earlier, I also suffered from the question of how to come up blog-post ideas. One way of ensuring you always have content to write is learning something new each day.
I am particularly fond of Curiosity, Feedly and Futurism. Using Feedly, you can receive latest industry news and content on almost any niche you are interested in. Usually, I make the habit of jotting down topics from this immediately I read the news articles. You can now bounce around ideas and connect interrelated content. Before you know it, you will have a new blog-post ready.
Friends and Colleagues:
In a work setting, one of the best resources for any job are your friends and colleagues. Let us face it, you alone cannot keep track of all the content that is created each day. However if you have friends that are big social media users, you could use that to your advantage.
There are a couple of techniques you could use to help you draw content. You could ask them to tell you the most exciting things they heard or read throughout the day. From there you could make a list and then brainstorm topics and jot down your thoughts. When you are done, you will probably have a list of 4 or 5 really awesome topics. Now read all about these and make sure you write the very best you can.
Quora, Reddit or other Q&A sites:
This is one of my most favorite techniques. Content creators create content as a means to solve problems. Using platforms like Quora and Reddit, You can easily keep track of questions being asked. You also have the added benefit of having other people’s opinions to work with. I particularly love this technique as it lets me estimate people’s reaction to the topic. This is a really under-exploited tool that has a lot of potential.
Another really important tool is Answerthepublic.com. Using this, you get an aggregate of questions that have been asked by people all over the internet. Using this you can now export a CSV file with all the topics you have generated. This should give you a headstart on a bunch of content ideas.
Topic generation tools like Buzz Sumo:
Today, there are a number of content generation tools that help writers generate content ideas. One of them is Buzz Sumo. Buzz Sumo is a very useful tool that allows you to keep track of important content on the internet. It is really simple to use as well. All you have to do is use their search button. Here you can search using specific keywords or websites. The result you get lets you see the content that readers have been consuming. Here you can see the metrics that measure how well the articles had performed. You can now use this content as guides to developing your own content.
Another really useful content idea generator is HubSpotʹs Blog Topic Generator. This works out in a manner similar to Buzz Sumo. It is simple and really direct to use and comes up with 5 really interesting actionable blogpost ideas. It is a real lifesaver when you need help.
Google:
Today Google is a mega giant of sophisticated tech. However, one of their most important tools is the search tool. Using this tool, a writer can come up with content in a few minutes. All you have to do is search for keywords in your chosen niche. The results you see will be of the best written content relating to your keyword. You can model your articles around this. Make sure you do not go plagiarizing the content. Just draw inspiration from it.
Another really useful tool is google trends. This allows you to see trending content from all over the internet. Now you can use these ideas as starting points for your content.
Opinion Polls:
Opinion polls are incredibly useful. Recently I started using it to generate topic ideas. For example, I recently conducted a poll that allowed me to see that people don’t always like free stuff. Polls like this let us know how a particular group of the population will react to a topic.
Using opinion polls, you can come up with an analysis of public perception, generate hype for a new article. You can also come up with content that you are sure will be widely accepted.
So now you know, some of these are potential gold mines, all you have to do is make sure you keep trying. It won't all click at once for you. But however, it will all fall into place as time goes by. But please tell me, do you have any secret writing techniques you love? Please let me know as I would love to hear your thoughts.