4 Ways to Get More Blog Ideas Than You Can Handle

Do you want to start a blog, but keep putting it off?

Perhaps you’re not sure what to write about.

Or maybe you’re scared you’ll run out of steam.

Fear of running out of ideas is a common concern, and one which stops many budding bloggers in their tracks. But when you think about it rationally that’s almost impossible, really. All you need is a system in place that gets your wheels turning, and you’ll come up with more ideas than you can handle.

Here’s how to do just that.

1. Read. Read. Read.

It’s become somewhat of a cliché that if you want to write you have to read.

That’s not entirely true.

You can write if you don’t read. But you can’t be a good writer.

Unless you read a lot, it’s unlikely you’ll ever amount to much as a writer. Sure, you’ll get by for a while, but there will be a point where you’ll come up short. Your vocabulary will fail you, or you simply won’t find the right turn of phrase.

But reading isn’t just about picking up the tricks of the trade. It’s also about inspiration.

It’s said that good artists copy and great artists steal. You should take this only metaphorically, of course, but it’s also very true.

Reading what others have written is always a good starting point when you’re brainstorming ideas. Look at what others have done and put your own unique spin on it. Inform your writing with your own experience and point of view. And don’t be afraid to have your own opinion. There’s more than enough generic writing out there already.

2. Use online tools to your advantage

Reading for inspiration is all important, but it can also be overwhelming. There’s so much information out there that you might not even know where to start.

Thankfully, there’s a whole host of online tools that can help you turbocharge your research and streamline your reading. Use them to your advantage.

Set up Google alerts on the topics you blog about, follow trendsetters on Twitter and subscribe to relevant RSS feeds. That way you’ll know what’s current and trending around your topic. It’s also a good idea to look through relevant subreddits and to follow threads on Quora. Look for questions that seem common but which no one has yet answered, and tackle them on your blog.

Before long, you won’t need to dig around for ideas anymore, because you’ll have a goldmine of information coming to you.

3. Take notes

Have you ever had a really great idea, only to forget about it completely just a few minutes later?

Yeah, me too.

There’s this romantic notion out there that creativity will simply happen when it will. While that’s partly true, it’s also a very impractical and inefficient way to go about your writing.

For one, ideas tend to strike at the most inopportune times (at least for me).

They’re also fragile, fleeting things. One minute they’re there and the next they’re gone. Unless you want to spend the rest of your life waiting for the Muse in front of your laptop, you need to go about this some other way.

Luckily for you, there’s a simple solution to this problem: taking notes.

Whether it’s pen and paper or the note-taking app on your phone, you should always have a way to take notes handy. Write down your idea no matter how raw or formless. Even two words will be just fine.

Some ideas will fall by the wayside, but others will take on a life of their own. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole list of workable ideas you can draw on whenever you want.

4. Plan ahead

There’s nothing like stress and looming deadlines to kill your creativity.

Flying by the seat of your pants and cobbling posts together at the last minute sounds exciting and artsy, but it’s really an unsustainable way to work.

Set yourself up for success by scheduling all your posts in advance. That way, blogging becomes a matter of checking tasks off a list. It’s much more manageable and far less stressful. Not only will you work more efficiently, but – who knows? – you might even have some fun while doing so.

Do you need help coming up with more ideas for your blog? Reach out to us today.