How to Generate 3,640 Blog Post Ideas in 12 Months
Imagine what it would be like to generate 3,640 blog post ideas in 12 months.
You’d stop feeling like your brain was going to ooze out of your ears every time you brainstormed what to write about next.
Your editorial calendar would be fully fleshed out.
Life would seem so much calmer.
Skeptical? Actually, it’s pretty easy.
Here’s how to do it:
I borrowed this idea from James Altrucher (I highly recommend subscribing to his newsletter. He rocks!). James recommends people exercise their “idea muscle” every single day. That means picking a topic and writing down 10 (or more) ideas. They don’t have to be great ideas. They don’t even have to be very good. You just need to put something down on paper.
This tip changed my life. Coming up with 10 daily blog post ideas is now part of my process. Some days, it takes me less than two minutes to generate my 10 ideas. Other days, I’m searching my brain for that final blog post idea at 9:30 p.m. What I can say is the process has gotten a lot easier over time.
Today, I have pages of blog post ideas. Some of them are better than others, but about 75% of them are OK. “OK” means I can tweak them later. Or combine them with another idea.
Here’s my process:
– I pick a idea theme
Some people may prefer to write down whatever comes to mind. There are days when I can easily do this, but it tends to be the more difficult option. Instead, I choose a theme like, “10 posts about blogging.” This helps me focus and generate ideas faster (especially when I’ve only had one cup of coffee.)
For instance, some theme ideas could be:
- Ten clients you could interview for a case study
- Ten old posts you could update
- Ten common questions you hear from prospects
- Ten things that differentiate you from your competitors
- Ten of your favorite industry stories
- Ten random blog post titles
Heck, one of your idea lists could be “10 possible idea themes!”
– I write down my ideas at the same time every day
I am a huge creature of habit. If I want to get something done–and keep doing it–I have to schedule a time. I write my ideas down while I’m enjoying my first cup of coffee. My brain is fresh and I don’t feel torn in 100 different directions. You may be more flexible in your approach.
If you find yourself forgetting to write down your ideas, or complaining that you “don’t have time,” try doing it first thing in the morning. If you want until your day is done, you may be too exhausted to think of one idea, much less 10.
– I don’t edit myself
Writers love to edit themselves. A lot. Instead of letting our creative juices bubble, we tend to criticize every idea as “not good enough.” You’re right. Quite a few of your ideas won’t be good enough. Some may be downright stupid. It’s OK. Embrace your imperfections. You’re not looking for a perfectly edited and well-considered document. You’re looking for that diamond in the rough idea you can use.
– Sometimes, I need a little help
That’s when I turn to tools like BuzzSumo, HubSpot’s Blog Post Topic Generator and the Blog Post Idea Generator. Yahoo Answers, Quora and LinkedIn are great sources of information too.
– I keep all my lists in one place
I use Evernote for idea generation. I create new pages within my Ideas notebook and go to town. When I’m looking for something to write about, it’s easy for me to quick-scan the subject lines and find something that catches my interest.
Some people may prefer an Excel document, using pencil and paper, or creating separate Word docs. It’s up to you.
Just think about the blog post idea possibilities…
If you generated 10 blog post ideas every day for 365 days, you’d have 3,640 ideas in 12 months.
Even if you limited your idea generation to five days a week, that’s still 2,600 ideas in 12 months.
How easy would it be to flesh out your editorial calendar with thousands of post ideas?
Doesn’t life just seem a little…calmer…right now?
Try it and let me know what you think!
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Photo thanks: © yeahorse | Dreamstime.com – Motivation And Ideas Photo
I Love it! I do topic research once in a while for my clients to gather 10 or so ideas, but not daily and especially not for me. And I really need to! *SMH*
Thanks Heather!
Hello Heather,
I am thankful I found your blog. I just started to create my website and your input is very helpful. I would probably follow your suggestions it seems very effective. Thank you for sharing.
I really needed these tips, thanks for sharing. Now I think I will get writing more blog posts than ever using your tips to generate blog post ideas.
My favorite part of this post is the suggestion to just keep writing. Don’t stop and self-edit or search for links etc. JUST WRITE. This is truly a professional habit and one I need to cultivate this year, for sure.
Exactly, Mia! Easy to type, but hard to do sometimes (especially if you’re used to editing as you write.) :)
Wonderful advice & system. Thanks, Heather!
Heather,
As ever, an excellent post with some very useful advice. Keeping lists in one place, embracing imperfections and sometimes needing help, all resonate with me. Cultivating habits can be summed up by Gandhi – “Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny”.
@Sara, I love that quote! Thanks for posting it! :)
What a fantastic idea! I love having systems to make things easier. Having been telling our clients about the importance of blogging for years we’ve decided to ‘walk the walk’ and just launched our own blog.
What amazes me is that I can think of dozens of blog topics for our clients but it’s not so easy to do it for our own blog. I’m going to give your system a try and see where it takes me.
@Susan, isn’t that always the way? It’s so much easier to think of ideas for our clients!
Let me know how the system works for you! Hopefully, you’ll have 70 new blog ideas by next Thursday!