Take Pride In Your Content & How To Get Great Ideas
As a content marketer we can get hung up on deliverables, frequency and length of our content. It is easy to find yourself in a slump and be bored with your content. You see this throughout the web where content is being written with no purpose or no value. We are here to tell you, STOP. Stop writing content for length, frequency or keywords; write for purpose. We are going to show you several ways that we encourage ourselves to write with purpose, and it actually works.
Use Evernote, Everywhere
You are never going think of great topics to write while you are working on other things, we think it is safe to assume that you come up with ideas while out at lunch observing people, shopping or while getting ready in the morning. Next time that idea comes up or you see something interesting, pull out your smartphone (if it isn’t already out) and take a note in Evernote. We find that this is an effective tool on how to gather great topics for writing. You will be surprised at how many topics you can come up with throughout the week by just taking notes on things you hear, see and do. The only problem is, we always forget these and they go to the wayside.
Read, Read and Read Some More
Read industry blogs and news sites, but never copy. It is so easy to steal a subject from an author on a blog and re-write their content in your own words, but don’t do this. As you read, you have different viewpoints as the author and can come up with many different topics from an article you read, or even drill down on one segment that the author is discussing. For example, Cyrus at Moz wrote an excellent post explaining the new authorship algorithm update and we thought hey lets do that, but why? Why would we re-write something that is already great and written by a well-respected author in the industry. Everyone will know that you are regurgitating the same information.
Refer To Your Clients
Your clients are the best source of content ideas. Think about how many questions you get on an ongoing basis. For us, we get questions all the time about SEO ranking factors and methods. This is a great way to come up with topics and write a post focusing on that one question a client asked. So next time you get that question from a client in person or on the phone, write it down or throw it in Evernote. Not only is this a great way to come up with topics, but it is also a great tool to use for future clients. If you get asked the same question all the time, write a post and refer clients to it for more information. The more resources you have on your website, the more credibility it adds to your business.
Brainstorm With Employees
Take a few minutes every week to discuss what your team has learned this week. There is a breadth of knowledge that your team has and most likely isn’t sharing with the entire group. Not only will this generate great content for your website, but will help your team grow and learn together.
In conclusion, there are many techniques to come up with great content. The moral of the story is this, don’t force writing content based on a specific schedule. Write great content as it comes to you, and every time you have that great idea; for crying out loud write it down!
