Do you stress out when planning your blog’s content? These practical tips will have you creating blog ideas before you know it!
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Come out with awesome blog ideas your audience will love without stressing out. Check these practical tips below.
As bloggers, we’re constantly thinking about our content.
Among the rules of thumb we all (try to) follow are:
- Write stellar content.
- Create content that is useful and relevant to our readers.
- Focus on our audience’s needs not on ourselves.
- Be consistent with our message.
But let’s face it: sometimes it’s easier said than done.
Most of us aren’t full-time bloggers. We have other responsibilities as well.
To make sure we come up with great blog ideas on a regular basis, we have to:
- Make time for brainstorming our content.
- Organize our editorial calendar.
- Generate new ideas on a regular basis.
- Focus on quality over quantity.
- Use systems that support our productivity efforts.
Let’s have a look at each of these points from a practice point of view.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Practical #Tips on How to Create and Brainstorm Blog Ideas! #bloggingtips” quote=”Practical Tips on How to Create and Brainstorm Blog Ideas!”]
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Make time for brainstorming our content
Time is out there.
Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day.
The difference between those who accomplish more is that they use their time in an efficient way.
Depending on your needs, activities, and goals, there are various ways on how to get the most out of your day.
If you struggle with time management, here’s some tips for you.
What I’m here to tell you, though, is that you’ll need to make room for brainstorming if you want to be successful.
If possible, take a weekend break to focus on generating ideas instead of producing content.
I know it’s easier said than done, but once you make it, you’ll see that the investment is worthwhile.
For those who cannot even dream about taking a couple of days off to work on their content, there’s an alternative.
Take at least 2 hours a day to mind map your content.
You don’t need any fancy tool for that. Just grab a couple pieces of paper (the larger, the better) and start creating.
Mind maps are easy to create and maintain. Besides, you can play around with them and update them as many times as needed.
Want to have your mind map always with you? You can always scan it and save a copy to Evernote or Google Drive for reference.
Organize our editorial calendar
Once you know how your content will look like for the next months, it’s time to build a strong editorial calendar.
One common error I see in bloggers is that they have a reactive approach to their calendar instead of being proactive.
Instead of planning out their blog posts, social media shares, and mailing ideas in advance (proactively), they fill in the blanks after pushing things (reactively).
While I’m sure they think they saving themselves time, they couldn’t be furthest from the truth!
[clickToTweet tweet=”It’s VERY hard to stay on track without having a helicopter view of what you’re doing.” quote=”It’s VERY hard to stay on track without having a helicopter view of what you’re doing.”]
Remember the importance of consistency in blogging?
How can you ensure your message across all platforms is on point if all you have in your hands is a fragment of the whole?
Being organized with your editorial calendar includes:
- Planning blog posts in advance.
- Creating consistent and efficient social media shares.
- Writing coherent and attractive newsletters.
- Streamlining your message across all platforms.
As you become better at it, you’ll notice that not only new blog ideas will flow easier, but you’ll be building a strong and coherent brand too.
Generate new ideas on a regular basis
Think of it as a snowball effect: the more you create, the easier it’ll be to come up with more ideas.
Once you’re clear about the direction to give to your content, you’ll free your mind from a lot of pressure.
You’ll notice that, without stress, you can boost your creative output without much effort.
Just of think of all the times when you sat in front of the computer, without any plan, but you HAD TO write something.
It was probably frustrating, tiring, and overwhelming, wasn’t it?
Now, think of those days when blogging was the last thing on your mind and, yet, your brain was overflowing with creativity.
To take advantage such inspired moments, I always bring a small notebook with me wherever I go. My notebook and pencil case stay in my bag just in case.
When I’m on my desk, I use post-its.
If an idea comes up, I make a quick note about it and put it on my Erin Condren Life Planner.
The next time I have a brainstorm session, I organize my ideas on dated notes in Evernote.
Other methods you can use are:
- Emailing yourself.
- Recording a voice message.
- Curating content.
Make it a productive habit for your growth.
Focus on quality over quantity
Consistency is mandatory if you want to grow your site and business.
Just dropping your audience a line when you feel like or when you need something from them isn’t the way to increase your fanbase.
Who likes it anyway?
Make sure you create a realistic schedule you can keep up with but don’t freak out if things don’t go out as planned.
Yes, it’s very important to stay in touch with your readers, however, sharing low-quality content is never an option.
If for whatever the reason you can’t produce stellar material, think of other alternatives:
Sometimes, taking a step back from your blog is the best solution against brain dump.
Instead of forcing yourself, reassess your goals (short, mid and long-terms) and refill your batteries.
You’ll surely come back to your productive routine feeling much more inspired and overflowing with great ideas.
Use systems that support our productivity efforts
Has it ever happened to you that after a certain celebration had passed, you had tons of inspiration to write about it?
For example, right there, when you’re are at Thanksgiving table, you feel like sharing that recipe you just learned.
Or that frugal Halloween costume you put together last minute for your kid!
In blogging, you have to start on time if you want to take advantage of festive dates to promote your content.
What you can do to take advantage of ideas like the ones I mentioned above is develop reliable systems to collect and organize your projects.
Have in mind that you won’t need that recipe or that costume for another year!
[clickToTweet tweet=”It’s simply way too much time to expect to remember blog ideas when the right time comes.” quote=”It’s simply way too much time to expect to remember blog ideas when the right time comes.”]
In such cases, I also use Evernote to store and organize my future plans.
For each one of them, I create a separate note with a due date. When it’s time to start working on that content, I get a notification.
This saves me a lot of time and headache!
You can also create projects in CoSchedule and date them in the future.
And for the fans of paper and pen, Life Planners from Erin Condren or a simple notebook do the trick as well.
The most important thing is that you choose a system that:
- Is easy for you.
- You won’t lose.
- Supports your content creation efforts.
Your turn
Schedule brainstorming time for your blog ideas TODAY!
[clickToTweet tweet=”The more you wait, the less you’ll achieve.” quote=”The more you wait, the less you’ll achieve.”]
It might even feel like it’s stealing time from your responsibilities. However, I can guarantee you that once you start working on mindfully planning your content, more ideas will come.
That with much less effort than you’re probably going through now.
When was the last time you planned the brainstorming of blog ideas and the creation of content?