Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 In my early years of blogging, I used to run out of ideas. But as time went on, I came up with strategies to constantly fill my board with lots of click-worthy content ideas. If you have to be consistent in blogging, you must be able to always come up with content that keeps you going. It’s one thing to have an idea. It’s another thing to have an idea that attracts readers to your blog. Over time, I have lined up my post ideas in different categories: Problem-solving ideas Entertainment ideas Informative ideas Educative ideas These are the main broad topics into which I classify my content. However, as a money-making blogger, I pay more attention to problem-solving ideas as this is where there are many opportunities to generate income. Of course, any of these other categories can make money as well. Each time I have a new content idea, I identify its category before moving on to brainstorm, research and develop it. This way, I will not be wasting time on points that don’t add value to the content. There are ideas that cut across several categories. With such ideas, I can always create long-form contents that do well in search engines. In any case, I will share with you some of the things I do to always come up with fresh ideas. Text content or Infographic? These are principally the two types of blogging content you are going to find out there. Text is simple and straightforward. For the most part, video and images are used to reinforce the message in the text. Infographic content is a different thing put together. It requires creativity and design skills. While there are infographic software in the market, it still requires a great deal of attention to produce viral infographic content. In today’s highly competitive content world, you need to go above average to gain traction in the market. Because of the attention and creativity needed to produce a shareable infographics, this visual content type is far from being common. However, there are many resources online to teach on this content type. Orana’s guide on simple steps to make an infographic may be a good start point for those who are new to it. Cent’s tips will also help avoid some mistakes in making your infographic. If you are not confident with your infographic skills, I will encourage you move on with text or hire an expert in the field. How never to run out of content ideas for your blog 1 – Always think about the problems your community faces The best way to come up with rich content for your blog is to try to resolve problems faced by your readers. There are many ways to find these problems but simply using your brain could just spark off some very attractive ideas. It goes with asking relevant questions aimed at identifying problems and their solutions. A good place to start with is you. Think about the problems you have as your number one community member and how you resolve these problems. One of the articles that do well on my blog came from a problem I faced a few years ago. This was about my Google Adsense earnings and how to withdraw to my local currency. I didn’t know that so many bloggers from countries like mine face the same problem. Once I posted the problem and the solution that worked for me, I understood it was a powerful content idea based on reactions from many of my readers. 2 – Have a notebook with you always. As an active blogger, one of your bad moments is when you struggle to remember a beautiful content idea you didn’t note down. It happened to me several times until I resorted to always having a notebook with me wherever I go. It doesn’t have to be a big and cumbersome book. I’m sure you can find something handy to move around with so that each time you pick an idea from a beautiful sight, you can quickly jot it down to develop into full-blown content at the most appropriate time. With digital devices, it becomes even easier. One of the things I know you have is a smartphone. With that, you may not need a paper book. Use your digital device to note down your ideas on the go. 3 – Read articles on other blogs with the mind to find ideas Successful bloggers read a lot. But you have to read with special attention to pick ideas from other bloggers’ articles. If you read my post here with an open mind to grab content ideas, I’m sure something will spark off your brain. Ideas give birth to ideas. When reading a piece of interesting content, always look at ways to pick sentences or phrases and develop them into fresh content on your own blog. 4 – Turn questions in the comment section to ideas The comment section of my blog has always been a rich pool of content ideas. This is where readers express themselves and ask what you may consider stupid, foolish, idiotic or even pertinent and thought-provoking questions. Very often, I will respond to these questions in the comment section. But many of these keep developing into new topics making it quite interesting. Don’t only read comments to reply. Also, try to find out new post ideas in these comments on your blog and other blogs you come across 5 – Read posts and comments on social media Social media is one of my most active sources of content ideas. It is where people say almost everything in life. While this is the best distraction for many, use it wisely. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any other platform, you can always get inspired by a piece of content posted by someone to write an article that will solve a problem. 6 – Copy other ideas and make the content better Sometimes, you don’t need to re-invent the wheels. There are moments when you will read a blog post somewhere and it catches your attention so deep. In the world of blogging, no one has a monopoly over any idea. If you can pick someone’s idea and do better, that is acceptable. Don’t just do copy-paste else you will be stupid. Pick just the idea and write in your own words while making it better. 7 – Ask questions to your audience I have come to a point where I have to ask my audience what to write about. There are several ways to do this: Have a survey form on your blog Send a message to your list subscribers Post on your social media profiles Etc Generally, you are going to have many different ideas some of which will be weird and off-topic. If the ideas are related, combine them into one single post. Always go in for what adds value and answer questions within your industry. 8 – Re-post existing evergreen content One of the things I tell my blogging students is to focus on evergreen content. This is content that will always be relevant throughout the year and from one year to the next. Don’t get me wrong. Seasonal topics are great especially if you intend to hit a specific point. Event bloggers create content based on events. These are things like Black Friday posts, Christmas-oriented articles, etc. They are meant to promote offers during this event and everything slows down once these events are over. You may want to re-post such articles the following year if relevant. But if you have content that is relevant round the clock, it will be a great idea to tweak and re-post it after some time. That will refresh the article and give it an optimized look. 9 – Collaborate with guest authors One of the ways to constantly have a flow of fresh content is to open up for guest authors to submit to your blog. However, this has to be monitored carefully to avoid your blog being damaged by link mongers who submit trash just to grab a backlink. Be firm on your guest submission guidelines and avoid selling links. Help your guest authors with enough information so they know exactly what kind of content to submit. Conclusion Consistency in blogging is the key to a sustainable blogging business. While I believe these tips help you to have an unstoppable flow of ideas, I know there are moments of burnout. With time, you will be able to deal with dry moments quickly and without stress. Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article was written for Business 2 Community by Enstine Muki.Learn how to publish your content on B2C Join our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage Author: Enstine Muki Follow @enstinemuki Enstine Muki is a full time blogger, coach, Certified Cryptocurrency Expert, Digital Entrepreneur and author of the book Crypto-monnaies au Cameroun with over 10 year experience working online and helping businesses worldwide develop a solid online presence. … View full profile ›More by this author:How to Increase Natural Traffic Using Google Search Console11 Profitable Digital Business Ideas to Become a Successful Online Worker3 Expert Tips to Succeed In Affiliate Marketing as a Blogger