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Welcome to the third post in the series “Write Killer Content” for your blog.
The best way to stay tuned to this series in a more systematic way is to take up the course (free!). The course also includes the free audio version of the course material plus “home work” tasks with every module to help you get the most out of it.
In this post I will concentrate on how to find ideas to write killer posts. Not all posts you write on a day today basis for your blog becomes a killer post. This is totally normal.
Even with the popular blogs, not all blog posts are killers. Some do miss the mark. Some are just average blog posts, while some touch the reader’s heart, go viral and become a source of reference for a particular topic.
Killer posts happen. But killer posts usually take a lot of effort and time to write and complete; I mean, they don’t happen easily, just like that. After all, it is a killer post and it deserves that, right?
OK without further delay let me discuss effective ways to brainstorm for ideas to write killer posts.
Extensive research
It takes extensive research to create killer content. And this step cannot be skipped. For this, you need to create a plan for your post. Decide on the topic you are going to write and do extensive research.
Your research should be focused on knowing the ins and outs of the topic you are planning to write about. There is nothing worse than creating a killer post with inaccurate facts or inconsistent theories. You need to know what you are going to write about.
Second, you cannot write an extensive post without some supporting facts or examples to back up what you’re saying. For this you certainly need to find those examples or supporting statements – once again by researching on the topic.
Apart from the reasons mentioned above, researching a topic before attempting to write is a good practice in general. It gives you the necessary confidence and knowledge to write extensively on a topic.
Reading a lot
This point is somewhat similar to what I mentioned above, yet different. Doing extensive research is to get yourself established on the topic and to cross check the facts and figures. But reading a lot helps you find a killer angle for your post and also a killer topic.
For this very reason, it is in general a great practice to keep up with a handful of high quality blogs and read them on a regular basis. You can observe and learn from those blog posts and find out the “killer” aspect or the formula they use, and well…. Steal it.
I mean, steal the formula, not their content.
Idea collection
While you’re researching or reading, make sure you have a means to capture the ideas that spark. You may think “I’ll work on this idea right after I finish reading this blog post” and then you will move on to share that post on Twitter and Facebook… and there you will see a cute cat video on Facebook and then on and on.
Finally the idea would have already evaporated from your brain even without your knowledge.
If you want to create killer content for your blog, you need to have the practice of capturing blog post ideas. No, not all of them will become killer posts, but you need to have a bank of ideas. That’s the point.
The killer idea formula
A killer post should do any of the following (also refer to the previous post on characteristics of killer posts). So choose your ideas accordingly. Your killer post should
(i) solve an acute problem of your readers (a problem that your readers are seeking an immediate/FAST solution),
(ii) be meaty,
(iii) be unique – goes without saying – if there’s already a post that gives the same solution, you should not re-hash the same content,
(iv) need not be long,
(v) serve (at least) one purpose,
(vi) be practically usable (not just a theory but should be applicable).
So when you brainstorm for an idea make sure it can be developed into a post that will comply with some or any of these mentioned above.
Takeaway
Brainstorming for killer ideas is not a difficult thing. If you have a practice of lot of reading (I don’t mean you should be always be reading and not doing anything – but allot a few minutes to an hour every day for reading other blogs) it will be a lot easier for you to generate killer ideas.
Make sure you record every idea (no matter how good or bad it is) that occurs to you.
Find a killer angle to develop that idea into a killer post by cross checking with the killer idea formula.
Next week we will talk how to identify viral content topics. Stay tuned.
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As always, I appreciate your comment.
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Article by JaneSheeba
+Jane is the founder of Problogging Success. She is an expert blogger, consultant, freelance writer and blog designer. Don't forget to get your hands on two FREE Ebooks she offers.
Jane has written 258 awesome posts for Problogging Success.
When my blog was under Jane’s watch, everything was under control.
{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
Great tips Jane.
I read a lot of blogs and I have many ideas in my mind to write about. Some of them for my own blog and some for guest posts. You have created a great post to write killer content.
Thanks
Glad you liked the post Arbaz! It is good to read good blogs in your niche!
Content marketing can work best when there is an amazing content on the blog. With the content always being the king there is no escape from it and this post is quiet inspiring from content framing point of view. Thanks for the great post.
Content is always King! I don’t see an alternate to that
Thanks Jane
” steal the formula, not their content” I like this. by end of this year I will be a Pro blogger
Good luck Khabza!
Writing is not that easy especially for beginning. It requires lots of reading, experience help. But for some people, it’s quite easy if they write based on their passion but how about if you’ll technology—geeeeess!!! Its brain storming!!!
That’s right Marc. Some people can write just like that. But in any case, brainstorming usually helps!
Or you just don’t need to do anything, just let anything new popping up in your mind. Sometimes all of the things you’re looking for are already waiting in your head, and in your heart, just let them out.
Ya but simply waiting doesn’t work always. You never know how long you need to wait before the ideas can pop out!
Those ideas are really important for us especially these days that there are already millions of bloggers in this world..
Great post jane , finding a killer idea is not hard as you think it , when thousands of people come to your blog every month using google , you can looks at the searches they came from and get an idea what they were looking for.
That’s one of the brilliant methods to find what people want from you. Thanks for the addition Saad!
Hi Jane,
You have very rightly pointed out –
Finding a KILLER angle while reading a lot and Giving it a KILLER shape by researching a lot is the cornerstone of making timeless/viral/thought provoking/KILLER content.
Thanks
That’s right Nandita. Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Jane,
I always have a notepad with me at all times, so I can jot down ideas that spring into my mind throughout the day.
The more you explore websites, the more ideas I think off. Solving a problem should always be the main focus of a post.
Exactly Simmeon, having something handy to jot down the ideas is a brilliant idea. It can be anything from a simple notebook to an ipad!
well you are right that unique ideas make way for success but currently we don’t see much unique content but simply the copied stuff from the top bloggers/developers etc. there are no doubt hundreds of thousands of bloggers having their blogs or writing content, but successful ones are very few, only those with killer content. Your TweetLine is Great
Find out what people are talking about and what is trending in the news. If you can offer some unique perspective and don’t forget adding pictures to help tell the story and add the alt tags so people find them in image search. My zombie apocalypse blog post was getting 2000 hits per day slowed down to about 500 a day now.
Ken that’s right. Finding out what people are interested and then presenting a concrete post on that topic will easily make it a killer post – much lesser effort!
Finding the killer idea is not so easy but its possible, I guess my idea would be a new house thing, just like this: http://www.troonvillage-azsearchforhomes.com/
Nice Post Jane.I read your articles, these are very nice. Your presentation style is really good.Your second point (Reading A lot) really impressed me. You can’t write without reading anything. Reading gives you knowledge to share something. Good reader can be Good Listener and Good Reader and Good Listener can be Good Writer.Thanks for sharing knowledge with us.
Well said Avinash. Thanks for stopping by!
This post itself is KILLER by any means possible. Kudos, Jane.
I love the concept of stealing the formula (not the content). I get that. Research is important. When you combine the right amount of research with a good formula you have a chance to hit it out of the park. Thanks for the tips and suggestions.
Yes Susan, although most of the times its really hard to find the separating line between researching and copying lol!
Well said! For writing something brilliant writer has to read much. It helps to gather enough information about the specific topic and thus the readers can get an enrich writing. As the ‘killer content’ is a critical topic so writer has to be aware of each and every clue of the content so that readers can keep their interest for finish the entire content till end. Thanks for sharing a superb opinion.
You’re welcome Daniel
Thanks for stopping by!
This post was so reassuring Jane. Thanks so much. I intuitively had separated your points in my mind – research and reading! But somehow your stating it outloud encourages me that I am certainly on the right path. Thanks so much.
Patricia Weber, LinkedIn Group, BHB
Congrats for being on the right path Patricia
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Jane! Excellent tips! I suffer from writer´s block quite often and I bet other bloggers suffer from the same “illness” as well.
I agree when you say we need to read a lot and solve other people´s problems.The best way to do this is to go to forums related to your niche and see what people are having problems with, then write a step-by-step post about it.I bet that information would be appreciated, get a lot of comments and be shared on social sites.
Another thing I like to do when I get the writer´s block is to read other blogs in my niche and see if I could write about the same thing from another angle.If nothing helps, then I go for a long walk
Hey Tom, reading certainly helps a lot to help brain think and generate ideas. All it needs is a bit of fodder to kick start the process
Write something that will help someone . If someone finds your post useful then he/she will definitely share it with friends
That’s right Bishwajeet! That’s what is called going viral
I’m glad I found this blog. I write about ways to come up with great content ideas often since I’m a freelance writer myself, but I’m just now discovering how vital it is to connect with other bloggers in my niche. Great post!
I again have found this post helpful, I also use magazines for brainstorming for ideas for one of my mommy blogs as there is always current trends. But if I need something more technical, I start reading other blogs as has been mentioned above. I am really like your advice and will be using it become more successful at blogging.
Thanks for great tips on idea mining for blogging. I am always out of ideas to write and these tips will really help me.
Great tips! I get stuck running out of ideas quickly since I write so much nowadays (ironically not for my own blog). I need a regular reminder on how to refresh my potential topic ideas!
Reading totally unrelated blogs or books is the best idea to get unique blog post ideas. And stealing? Hmm I do it. But in smart way, I never copy others content but their ideas.
And whenever I read other blogs I write notes(When I find something interesting) and brainstorm on that topic and I’ll deliver that in my own style to my readers.
great post. i like it. I always put a great attention in writing my blog’s article.
My free advice is, if blogger knows writing skills then he/she should write content after researching. Otherwise hire a good content writer.
Really good reminders here especially recording every idea. It is amazing how a little idea can grow and develop and if it is not written down it is easy forgotten.
Your post give lot of good ideas before writing a content research as well as you can and then write a post which tell something new to your audience. Your article are very helpful Jane.
What is also important is that the content of your blog post attracts a lot of visitors. One way that I have experienced can be effective is to use the external keyword tool to see what keywords are interesting to visitors and write a blog post around that keyword.
Awesome advice Jane, as usual. It does take a lot of reading and research to provide readers with an interesting articles.
Hey Jane,
My blog-article ideas usually show up in pairs. I’ll struggle for days to come up with something interesting, and suddenly, I’ll pop off two rough drafts in a couple of hours. It’s an unpredictable process, and the tips you’ve given are useful for getting off the dime. Thanks!
I agree that good content is necessary for our blog. We can promote our blog by doing SEO and SMO but if the content is not good on our blog or website, the bounce rate on the website will be high. I like the ideas that you have given in this post. They have helped me lot. keep up the good work.