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Welcome to the sixth post in the series “Write Killer Content” for your blog. We are half way past the course/series.
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.
I’ve already discussed about three topics/angles which can be usually developed into killer posts quite easily.
If finding a killer topic and writing one is what keeps you from producing killer content, then you may use those ready-made topics/angles to create killer posts easily without much effort.
But it is only for the starters. You cannot always rely on those kinds of topics to be able to write killer posts.
This post is just for that purpose. In this post let’s see how you can turn any idea into a killer post.
That’s it, really.
I know that might sound like a tough task and that I mention it as if it is an easy task might even annoy you. But hang on; let’s see how you can get creative to create killer posts, exactly.
Before you get started…..
For this post, I assume that you have a bank of ideas as mentioned in the third post in the series.
It is much easier for you to pick up an idea and work on it if you have a bank of ideas ready.
OK let’s get started….
Analyse the idea with fresh eyes and seek for a complete solution
Sometimes you just need to look at a familiar idea with fresh eyes. That’s enough to kick start your creativity.
Take a break from the idea – don’t look at it for a day or two. And, then analyse the idea with fresh eyes/mind.
If necessary, initiate a quick brainstorming session on the topic so that you can come up with lots of sub-topics or angles for the post.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Why, what, when, how and where.
Sometimes these questions are sufficient to create the whole of a killer post (trust me on this, I’ve done this before).
Or you may use the branching out technique and keep your post idea as the core. Now create branching out ideas for the core idea.
For instance let’s see how I created this course using this very same technique.
My core idea is “Writing/creating killer content”.
Now I started branching out on the topic by asking the questions “Why, what, when, how and where”. Of course, not all questions will lend a meaningful outcome – in this case, the questions that helped me are “Why, what and how”.
“Why” lead to – Why should you create killer content
“What” lead to – What are the characteristics of killer content
“How” lead to – various other sub topics
And then I used the branching out technique for the “How to create killer posts” part and came up with the other titles in this course.
Make sure you set aside some quiet time for this brainstorming session, since this is the crucial part in developing your killer idea to a post – writing comes next.
Play devil’s advocate
I’m sure this technique is quite familiar for all of you. If not refer to what I mean by “playing devil’s advocate” here.
This technique is helpful if you want to fill the gaps in a very popular technique or a strategy. Take up the topic for a debate (inside your own brain J) and list down the pros and cons. Or if you find some controversial aspects, note them down too!
Playing devil’s advocate is not so easy sometimes. But if you practice a couple of times or more, you can really get good at this.
This technique is very useful for your own self and prevents you from taking any strategy or technique for granted.
It gives you a mind set to always question or critically analyse any new strategy or a tactic.
Based on the outcomes of your analysis you can easily create a killer post – it is not a great task to write such a post – you can simply and straightforwardly present your critical analysis. That’s it.
Finding the missing piece
This can be done by simply doing an extensive research on any given topic. If you have a core idea, proceed with doing some extensive research on the topic. Find out what others have talked about it. Find out what is covered and what is not covered.
Your research should be aimed at finding the missing piece.
I’m sure there’s always a missing piece with anything since we’ve not gone that far to have completely covered everything on anything.
So ya, note down the points or questions that no one else has offered a solution to and write a post covering that aspect.
While presenting the post make sure you refer to the popular posts that cover the other aspects of the topic and then tell your readers what you are doing to fill the gap.
The best way to stay tuned to the series in a more organized way is to join the course (for free!). Click here to do so.
As always, I appreciate your comment.
PS: Did you have a chance to check out Danny’s Write Like Freddy training program?
Heard about devil`s advocate before but didn`t tried, will try once and see if it can help me out.
BTW thanks Jane for the wonderful tips
Khaja, it works great. Try it!
In my view publishing the old idea with new look and concept is the key to success in blogging. I like you idea of analyzing the idea with fresh eyes.
Thanks Mohsin!
A great place to come up with ideas to create killer content as well as good link bait is http://www.linkbaitgenerator.com/.
Caleb yes that’s a great place - but only for a short while. Then everything repeats itself.
Hello Jane,
Awesome techniques in creating a killer content. I think I should join the course:P
@Jane, thanks for a free course it will improve the writing quality to earn good traffic and popularity.
You’re welcome Asher.
Its indeed, creating killer contents attract more people eye balls and they eventually like to do anything for the addictive content.
instead of writing an article, we can prepare what our readers interested and what to write according to their interests.
Hi Jane, Great article. You are providing very useful information for free. This will help a huge number of bloggers for writing killer content.
Thanks for free sharing of such great stuff.
Marine says
I think that to create a good content one needs to observe what is going on in their sphere. I write a tennis blog and I am amazed at how many professional blogs just repeat the same thing all the time and do not analyse what is going on in the field at all. With a good analysis you can sense what will be an interesting topic to talk about.
The secret to becoming a good writer is first taking the first step which is to start writing. There is an adage that states “Practice makes perfect”, and that is the case with blogging.
The more you keep writing the better author you will become. Great article Sheeba, keep informing us on how to become better bloggers.
Hi Jane,
With no doubt,i agree with you that we have to write killer content.Content should always be a killer,otherwise it will not catch the readers eye.
But the Killer content should be re-analysed so that it can reach more and more people and you will get what you want.
Yes, i am agree with you. Really this is great technique is beneficial if you want to complete the breaks in a very well-known technique or a technique. Take up the subject for a controversy, within your own mind J and record down the benefits and drawbacks. Or if you find some questionable factors, observe them down too…Thanks for sharing me..
Thank you for not only sharing this guides, but also for explaining their functionality to us. Overall I can definitely see how they would help you tremendously. Great article and great information as well thanks.
Something that I find works really well is to find a post that an authority blogger already wrote and then try to make it better. By doing this you can really come up with some great blogging ideas. Next, all you need to do is come up with a killer headline for it and you are good to go.
~Adam
Great piece on writing good content. One of the things I recommend in my SEO classes is to always do 5 minutes of keyword research, prior to publishing your post. Just tweaking your titles, headings and body copy to fit the keyword you’re pursuing, can be the difference between a #1-#2 ranking, and a #8 - #9. The difference in CTR for the top of the SERPs vs the bottom of the SERPs can be substantial.
Tommy
Amod says
Thank you for sharing tips about writing good content for blogs. Thanks for a free course.
Yes it really helpful. I will apply it for creating killer content for my blog.
Thanks for sharing it……….
It can be difficult for me to come up with fresh topics for my blog sometimes. I try to keep a notebook on hand to record ideas when out and about. Thanks for these helpful tips!
Jovan, having a notebook is one of the simplest and the most effective ways to capture ideas!
Very good analysis Jane. There is always a missing piece, indeed. People always look at the same things in different ways, we just have to find our own unique perspective.
Exactly Mariella! Since we all have different perspectives, one can never say that a story is complete
There is always room for more thinking in different directions!
Richard says
Wonderful tips for writing killer content Jane! I usually just spin my ideas off previously mentioned ideas and creates sort of an internal web.
I am still new at this but your site has a lot of great techniques that I’m going to learn and implement.
That sounds like a wonderful trick Rich, keep up
Thank you so much Sister Jane, I really very glad to read out this article and the series of writing killer content very awesome specially when I really like read a funny line in your article “Having good design is not enough but should be killer content can be kill someone”.
Thanks and you’re very welcome Dilawer~!
Hi Jane,
Killer Content always attract more traffic to blog. Really I enjoyed the post and learnt many things.
Thanks for sharing!
Killer content is the key Ajnabii; all our promotion and marketing tricks will go waste without the meat on our site.
Hi Jan, I got detailed information on how write killer content, thanks for sharing and keep posting
You’re very welcome Erwin.
Thanks Jane for this awesome post.
been following your posts and i must say that this one was totally awesome.
Thanks Derek!
Hi Jane,
Sorry I didn’t comment yesterday but for some reason when I pull up your blog in Google Chrome or FireFox, your content is all scrunched up. I had to download a whole other browser just to read your post. Talk about strange.
Anyway, it was a post worth reading and I think my problem sometimes is I just start writing about what I want to share instead or remembering all your great pointers here. Sure, I need to write for my target audience but I assume a good bit of the time that what I’m learning, my readers want to learn as well.
I really have to get much better at this Jane and I really appreciate what you shared here. I have to get back to the basics of what I learned some years back which is part of what you’re sharing so thank you for that. Great series by the way.
Enjoy your week.
~Adrienne
Adrienne,
So sorry to hear about all the trouble. It is all caused by a naughty plugin and I have deactivated it yesterday. I so much appreciate your interest in downloading a new browser to read my post - I’m so honored.
So glad to help you with writing for your audience Adrienne. It is one of the most crucial aspects of biz success.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Cheers,
Jane.
Hi Jane,
You’ve actually harmmered it all when you said look at it all from a different angle. I truly believe that is how you can bring in creativity into the content. Others may have written about that same subject, but putting your own spin because you are seeing it from another angle brings in your creativity. Thanks for sharing.
Chadrack, I believe that’s how creativity is born. We all are unique in “seeing” things (problems, or issues). Thanks for stopping by.
Does Commentluv help you in getting more feedback from your users? I never know if I’m doing it right..
Loved your sense of humor… I am afraid there will be those who did not read your disclaimer and go about trying to do some of those things you wrote… oh, too bad for them!!
Hi Jane! Thank you again for sharing these strategies! In my case ( I am yet a newbie in blogging), all your content is helping me a lot!
practicalh says
Hi, Jane. Can you please discuss in any of your future articles why you prefer or why it’s better to use disqus comments over native wordpress comments?