Good Blog Content Isn’t About What You Ate For Lunch Today
Source: pingpong.com.hr via Larry on Pinterest
Blogging has become so common place that it can be difficult to come up with fresh ideas. You can always join the hordes of people who somehow still think that it is witty to talk about mundane stuff like what they ate for lunch, but let’s face it no one wants to read about the boring details of your daily life. I know that I do not want to, and I can guarantee you that you will never attract a big audience without offering content that is more unique and engaging.
People prefer blogs that post regular content that is kept brief. Although you can get away with the occasional impassioned long post, you should try to use small paragraphs and keep the entire length relatively short. This will allow you to keep someone’s attention long enough to dazzle them with your knowledge and insight into whatever topic you happen to either know a lot about or are pretending to know a lot about.
The theme of your blog should be the main driving force behind what topics you choose to discuss. In other words, if your blog is all about pop-culture, you should not randomly decide to post your top ten tips for taking great wildlife photographs inside of the Serengeti National Park. It is okay to stretch out the confines of your blog theme, but if you do not keep your topics at least somewhat relevant, then you will have a hard time keeping a regular audience.
Coming up with fresh blog content does not have to be a difficult experience. There is inspiration everywhere you go, but you have to be looking for it. Pay attention to the conversations of strangers at the grocery store. Go to a bookstore and spend a few minutes reading random paragraphs from several different books.
Watch a documentary that was filmed at least two decades ago. Use StumbleUpon or Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” option to land on some random websites. The list can go on and on, but the important thing is to look for something new that sparks your creativity.
Avoid Blog Content That thousands of others are blogging about
If you want to write a blog that keeps people coming back for more, then you need to avoid becoming blogger number 50,001 to write about the same topic. In the aforementioned pop culture blog example, you might have recently been tempted to write about the split-up of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Unless you happen to have had their house bugged, however, there is no way that you can provide a new or interesting perspective on the situation.
Instead of writing about them, you could take their situation and use it as an excuse to write about the ten craziest celebrity divorces or celebrities who have denounced Scientology. These topics may not be completely new ideas, but they would allow you to write a topical post without getting buried in a sea of similar information.
Another great source for blogging inspiration is other bloggers. You do not want to take their ideas, but you can write response posts. If one blogger tries to claim that “House of the Dead” is the best horror movie of all time, for example, then you can write a rebuttal in which you question the sanity of those who see any merit in director Uwe Boll’s work.
Your Turn:
What are some of the tricks and tips you have on creating unique blog content?
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Blogging is not supposed to be easy. But, it is not that difficult. I find the best ideas come from a morning or evening walk!
To stand out from the crowd, I always try and insert humor into my posts…at least once. Hmmm…I may have to proof the post I just wrote, and make sure I have at least one little chuckle there.
There is always something for a blogger to do!
Hi David, I disagree blogging is suppose to be very easy. I think the whole idea behind blogging is to just be able to express yourself, or report events going on around you.
I use to think blogging was hard when I first started, but after years of doing it I find that if it’s a decision between starting a blog or starting a static website I think blogs are 10 times easier..
That’s just my opinion, thanks for commenting.
Hi Larry,
If you are working your business on a daily basis, there is usually a lot of happenings going on that if you think hard enough you will come up with a blog topic.
If you can’t find something to write about from with-in look outside your business and always provide value. about something that is related to your blog.
Thinking on how you can help others is the way to go.
Terry Conti
Hi Terry ,
You bring up a great point there is so much going on around us day to day that, you could find a blog story around every corner. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Its true when your site contents of random stuff. You cant get regular people too but rather random readers 🙂
Hi Ellaine, thanks for the comment. Random stuff can bring in new readers, but to much random stuff will drive a way readers..
I think the best way to find new ideas for your next blog post is to visit your niche forums regularly. There you can see the problems, questions and doubts of users then you can try to resolve them in your blog post.
Hi Aarti, thanks for commenting. I have done that a few times 🙂
As a new blogger I have to say I was initially worried about coming up with interesting topics to write about. But just incorporating everyday life experiences into your blog posts really does help. Also I have to second Aarti with forums being a great place for inspiration.
It’s true, there are way too many blogs out there, providing ‘samey’ content, but that’s not the boat I intend to sail in.
Hi Mena, I think at first people copy cat what other people are doing. Eventually though you kinda grow your own wings and soar in your own direction.
A good blog is one that is memorable..
Thanks for stopping by and commenting
Hi Larry,
Yes you are right blogging has become so common that new ideas are not easy to implement.But writing about different topics from different domains can help a lot.it will also enhance your knowledge and you can know about different fields as well.Writing about a particular domain such as technology all the time will not add to an advantage.If your blog contains information about different information then it will create an interest among readers that you are not writing about the same stuff always.Trying something new always helps a lot.
Hi Aditya, after you been blogging for awhile you start to get a feel for what your readers want.
I think a good blog caters to the readers interest. Depending on what your objective is writing about to many different things may end up costing you traffic.
That’s how I ended up with many different blogs, I realized that I couldn’t talk about duck and cars in the same blog.
I could, but I would never get any rankings that way.. Unless of course I was writing on an authority site. (that’s another story 🙂 )
Thanks for commenting
Hey Larry, interesting article and always a good topic for a blog post. Finding topics in your niche to blog about is really not that hard. Some of my blog post come from webinars, trainings, MLM Network Leaders, books and other bloggers in my niche.
Before I start a blog post I look at who my target audience is and what value can I bring to them. If you focus on providing value and solutions to your audience you will find that blogging is fairly simple.
Thanks for sharing and to those who commented!
Galen
The Handyman Of Network Marketing!
Hi Galen, great comment bro 🙂
Now your comment is an example of a really good comment , the only critique I have is wheres your gravatar?
Anyhow thanks for sharing your thoughts
Popular post widget at other blog can also be very good for getting ideas for next article title, I use this and it works best.
Hi Larry,
You’ve mentioned some great tips in the article one can use for getting new ideas to write on. One factor that plays a big part in the exposure you will get is the Title and the introduction paragraph. Having an interesting and intriguing title will help to drive more potential users to the post. And also depending on how competitive the niche or topic you are writing or blogging about also has a large influence on the ideas you will use and implement.
Great advice. Blogging can get tiring when you don’t know what to write about. But one important thing to note is to write about what you love. A writer who likes what he’s telling his audience will usually have a pleasant and witty tone to his blog. Even if it is a mundane topic (like what you had for lunch), if you are an interesting person/writer, it can be made into an interesting blog post.
I really enjoyed reading this article. I can really say I learned a lot. I’ve been having trouble with getting ideas for blog content for a while now. I believe that if I apply what I learned in this post, I’ll be able to get my creative juices cranking and I’ll get to have better content ideas. Thank you so much for posting this article.
A very nice post
I’m managing a carpet cleaning website and it is always a challenge to find new, and original content to write about, but i will try some of your advice, like maybe looking for ideas in stumbleupon.com.
Wait…so you don’t want to know what I had for lunch? lol Thanks for the post…helps encourage me to keep my blog interesting.