Written on April 16th, 2009 at 08:04 pm by Darren Rowse
Come up with 10 Post Ideas [Day 11 - 31DBBB]
This post is an excerpt from the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook
Ever run out of things to write about on your blog?
If your answer is yes – you’re not alone.
One of the biggest challenges facing bloggers with blogs that have been around for longer than a few months is to come up with fresh content on a regular basis.
Today your task in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge is to do an exercise that will identify a range of post ideas that you can use when stuck for an idea in future.
The key with this process is not to put yourself under pressure to come up with completely new and out of the blue ideas for every post you write. Instead – this process taps into what you’ve recently written on your blog and helps you to identify ways to extend those ideas.
The beauty of this is that you actually end up building a sense of momentum on your blog where your posts build upon and relate to what you’ve previously written rather than just writing a collection of posts that don’t really build in any one direction.
Here’s the mind mapping method that I’ve used (note: I’ve talked about this previously so it could be familiar to some).
1. The Set Up
Get a whiteboard, piece of paper, note book, tablet pc or something else to write on (there are also various mind mapping tools and software options out there – but I find a pen and paper can work just fine) and draw five circles across the middle of the page. In each circle write the titles of the last five posts on your blog (if you want to do this more comprehensively go back further and do it with more posts).
2. Extend Your Previous Posts
Now take each post in turn and spend a few minutes brainstorming on ways that the post could be ‘extended’. Most posts that you write will be able to be ‘extended’ in any number of ways including:
- picking up a question or idea that a reader asked in the comments on that post
- exploring the opposite point of view from the post
- taking a ‘news’ post and writing an ‘opinion’ piece about it
- taking a ‘theoretical’ type posts and writing something that helps people to ‘DO’ it
- expanding upon ideas glossed over in passing in the previous post
The list could go on – really it is about finding ways to take ideas in a previous post and expanding upon and extended them.
For each idea draw a line out from the circle, draw a square (or use a different color) and write the idea inside of it.
The key at this point is to let yourself be as creative and outside the box as you want. Any idea is allowed at this point.
Let me take an older post of mine (why you should use AdSense on Your Blog) and show you how it might work:
At this point I’ve got 7 potential new posts to write that extend upon my original one – coming up with them took me 2-3 minutes – if I were doing this seriously I’d give it more time and come up with 20 or so posts.
These ideas are logical next steps for readers wanting to explore this topic – some of them based upon actual questions by readers. Do this with the other four posts you’ve written and you’ll have plenty of ideas for new posts to cover in the coming week or two.
3. Extend Further
You might want to stop this exercise at this point if you feel you’ve got enough topics to keep you going – however while you’re in a brainstorming frame of mind – why not take it a step further and think about how you might extend the topics you’ve come up with. The beauty of thinking forward even further is that you could quickly come up with a further 10 or so posts and be able to map out the next few weeks of blogging.
Lets do it now with the post above – just for fun (click to enlarge).
You can see that I found some posts easier to extend than others. This is OK as not every post is in need of a follow up one – while others will have multiple next steps (some will even have a longer series of posts that you could run).
You can take this exercise as far as you’d like into the future (you get the idea I’m sure so I won’t keep going).
From the example above you can see that I’ve come up with 15 ideas (not bad for 5 minutes of brainstorming) – some of them for multiple posts (series and ongoing weekly columns). Do it with more than one post and you will find that you’ll often come up with more posts than you can actually use on your blog.
The key when you do it is to let your creativity run wild (because it can take you in some wonderful directions) but then to be ruthless in culling ideas that don’t actually add anything to your blog. Remember – everything that you post on your blog either adds to or takes away from your blog’s perceived value – so not everything that you come up with should make it through to the front page of your blog.
Your Task Today
Your Task Today is to come up with a list of at least 10 future topics to write about. At this point your list should be not much more than the topic or title of your post. If you’re feeling inspired you might like to choose one of them to begin to shape into an actual post – but don’t feel you need to do that yet. Tomorrow we’re going to take the list of topics and help you to take them to the next step by creating an editorial calendar for your next week of blogging.
PS: Another Approach to this Exercise for New Blogs
I know that some bloggers doing the 31 Day challenge have very new blogs and perhaps don’t have too many posts in their archives to base mind mapping upon. If this is you – you can take the same principle but instead of making your five starting circles previous posts – make them ‘categories’ that your blog might cover.
For example if your blog is about personal finance you could make your starting circles sub topics of that overarching topic. They might be ‘budgeting’, ’saving’, ‘investing’, ‘credit’ and ‘Career’. Once you’ve got your categories or sub topics – you can then pick up the exercise at step #2 with extending those sub topics into post ideas or topics within the sub topic.
Update: Share your ideas and see how others are doing over at the forum post for the 31DBBB Day 11 Daily Task!
Want More?This task is a sample of one of the tasks in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook – a downloadable resource designed to reinvigorate and revitalize blogs. Join over 14,000 other bloggers and Get your Copy Today. |
234 Responses to “Come up with 10 Post Ideas [Day 11 - 31DBBB]” - Add Yours
Mr. I
April 16th, 2009 8:49 pm
10 Post Ideas? It will take time for me as I alraedy have 5 drafts lying for publishing. And i am using extending approach with many posts already!
I will brainstorm and post comment here once I come up with 10 ideas!
HazardousPaste
April 16th, 2009 8:50 pm
Mindmapping helps a lot, even if its just on a piece of paper.
Paul Gardner
April 16th, 2009 8:53 pm
Yet another great post Darren.
Personally I like to mind map these types of things. Although I have good mind mapping software on my computer, nothing beats the whiteboard or the legal pad!
It’s actually how I’ve done my last few posts and I already have about four more on the go.
Keep up the good work (although I suspect you have all these posts completed and with post-dated publishing!)
Nicolas Prudhon
April 16th, 2009 8:53 pm
Great ideas! I really like the way you explained it with your chart and bubbles!
Making a calendar of my future posts is certainly something I should do, and will from now on!
Thank you again for this inspirational post!
Phillip Gibb
April 16th, 2009 8:59 pm
wow – where do you come up with this stuff :-)
it’s really about having a strategy right?
Ian | Quantum Learning
April 16th, 2009 9:03 pm
I love this idea.
This is by far the most useful of the programme so far (and some of the other days have been pretty useful too!).
I’ve been looking for a way to generate ideas rather than the random way I do it so far. It’s worked to date – except for those moments when I have a brilliant idea while I’m in the shower and by the time I get to pen and paper .. I’ve completely forgotten what it was.
Thanks for this Darren. Much appreciated.
thom singer
April 16th, 2009 9:04 pm
Darren-
I like the idea of having ideas for blog posts out ahead. I also feel that by having an “editorial calendar” makes the blogger more professional.
Thanks for getting so many bloggers “fired up” with this 31 day project!
thom
http://www.thomsinger.blogspot.com
Sheryl Loch
April 16th, 2009 9:07 pm
ARGH! This is my big down fall!
If I get an idea I have to write it then or I loose all interest. If I wait, then when I do try to write, it comes out as crap.
Kinda Now or Never thing. Maybe it is because my mind normally goes 50 directions at once and if I do have it focused on a topic I have to take advantage of it.
Never been good at Mind Mapping – guess I have to get a GPS for my brain.
Hollie
April 16th, 2009 9:07 pm
Thanks Darren for this, as a blogger I had never really thought about mind mapping my posts before. Thanks for the great idea.
I copied down 10 themes that I seem to be writing on most of the time and will mind map these. Even already have them written down on a sheet of paper which I will carry today, when I go out.
Shane - Inspiring your Success
April 16th, 2009 9:09 pm
I never thought of extending posts. Wouldn’t the readers get bored?
shrewdcookie.com
April 16th, 2009 9:11 pm
Excellent post Darren – mind mapping is a great tool to use – an alternative form of brainstorming – visually representing previous posts allows you to formulate offshoots which can be posts in their own right.
I am interested in pension/retirement planning and having done this exercise with a recent post I have identified no less than 87 areas on which I can expand and write posts!
Mike CJ
April 16th, 2009 9:16 pm
This is fantastic Darren thank you – worth every penny I paid for this course :)
I just applied it to the one blog I struggle to come up with ideas for (the scuba diving one) and in five minutes I had 20 post ideas.
It’s so easy and so quick.
jan
April 16th, 2009 9:20 pm
I can’t wait to learn more about the making of an editorial calendar for a blog. Coming up with one for my blog will make me more confident about my blogging. And it’s what a professional blogger should come up with. Gives a blog secure legs to stand on and as you aptly put it – giving and building momentum to one’s blog.
Mr. I
April 16th, 2009 9:22 pm
Darren, I have come up with 10 posts! Here they are:
1. How to Write Blog Posts in Sleep. -A fresh idea that came to mind just now.
2. Why You Should Start Tweeting – I have been observing that most of the readers of my blogs are not on Twitter. So, this is a post educating about Twitter, use of Twitter for Bloggers and soe Twitter resources.
3. How to Add (custom)Social Bookmarking Icons to WordPress theme? -Plugins add boring social bookmarks to posts. I had added custom ones to my theme and now, readers want a tutorial on it!
4. How to Add Drop-Down Nabigation Menu to WordPress -Another Reader request.
5. How to Make List Posts Stand Out – While list posts are good for promotion, longer ones tend to be boring and do not appeal much to eyes. In this post, I will discuss how to make them look better.
6. No Ideas for Next post? 10 Magnetic Techniues to Attract Ideas -10 Techniues that I personally use to get post Ideas quickly.
7. Google Ad Manager Tutorial: Manage Ads Effectively – Recently, I moved to Google Ad Manager from OpenX and to be honest, found it a bit complicated. This will be a small tutorial on basics of Ad manager.
8. How to Add Logo to WordPress Theme – Recently, I did a tutorial on designing a professional logo. This is extension on adding logo to themes that do not let edit Header image through functions pahe.
9. Long Posts! Are they Effective? Recently, a reader wrote a very long guest post and others complained that it was too long. I analyzed post for reasons and I will discuss these in this post.
10. HeadSpace: Ultimate meta Manager for WordPress – I use HeadSpace SEO plugin to manage meta information. This plugin has oads of other features as well but they are hard to find and set up for newbies. This is a basic guie to this plugin.
These are my 10 post ideas!
Cath Oehlman
April 16th, 2009 9:27 pm
I keep an ideas journal for my blog, because as a full time Mum I don’t always have the time to write when inspiration hits! The journal means I always have ideas up my sleeve for the days when I have blogger’s block too. I like the idea of mind mapping to extend some of my posts at http://mysquiggles.com though, so will give that a go!
Bryan R
April 16th, 2009 9:36 pm
This is a great blending of mindmaps based off the foundation of what you’ve previously published. I love it. Thanks so much for the concept!
Now, I just have to fashion that time extension machine so I can get done the ones I already have in que to write…
Michael Nielsen
April 16th, 2009 9:37 pm
Once again, a great tip to improve our blogs. I have mapped (and started drafting) 6 articles. 5 more are still in my head and will be added as empty subjects to my list of unpublished posts on my blog.
- 2 Book reviews
- 1 How-To DIY
- 2 More information about a subject
- 1 Describe a technique i used on one of my photos – In Detail (with a poll before)
Best regards,
Michael Nielsen
http://www.photofolio.dk/ – http://www.photofolio.dk/blog/
Internet Business With Purpose
April 16th, 2009 9:50 pm
What ’s been great about the 31 days project is that I’,ve been able to generate ideas for posts from your daily task.
Now with the lessons learned from this task the possibilities are endless.
My mind is racing and I haven’t even started mapping out my posts.
Greg
Baker @ ManVsDebt
April 16th, 2009 9:50 pm
I actually have been doing this one well already!
I’ve got a list of so many great ideas, I just can’t get ahead on them. I still am writing the article a day in advance for the next day, but hope to be able to jump ahead sometime soon!
venkat
April 16th, 2009 9:56 pm
@dareen Rowse
10 posts idea is great ,that’s good concept to think of future posts as they will be helpful when short of ideas,writing posts from readers comments is great
Dominique
April 16th, 2009 10:02 pm
Interesting use of mind mapping. haven’t really used it in planning my blog posts but will try it out as it seems to really help the ideas flow.
Janet
April 16th, 2009 10:04 pm
Here are my ten – GREAT exercise… I do brainstorming once in awhile, but had never thought to do that by “extending” previous posts. My immediate five previous were a little tricky for some reason, but I know if I go back a little farther there are some good ones with lots of follow-up potential.
1. Challenges that tall riders face.
2. What to do when you’re ready for a bigger bike.
3. Scope and purpose of Christian Motorcycle Association.
4. Why are “Bike blessings” so popular?
5. Summary of latest accident safety data
6. In favor of helmet laws
7. Season’s niftiest new helmets (retro look is in!)
8. Feature on Marian “Miss Showtime” Peterson, road captain of all-male Los Angeles MC
9. Feature on Donna Palladino, star of “Ride Like A Pro” videos
10. Ride report from one of my planned Iowa destinations for 2009
Roseli A. Bakar
April 16th, 2009 10:09 pm
No doubt, this is indeed one of your best post on the 30 day challenge Darren !!
Excellent tips .
Mystic Madness
April 16th, 2009 10:15 pm
very useful tip Darren. Yes it feels many times that your head has become numb. You post will help to clear the rut. Thanks for sharing
Matthew Lang
April 16th, 2009 10:15 pm
Great post Darren. It’s good to see mind mapping as a technique for generating new posts.
If people are finding it difficult to create full post titles than concentrate on building up single keywords from your 5 original posts. Keep to 1 keyword per branch and you should be able to generate the same number of post ideas as Darren did.
Don’t discount keywords if they don’t make sense at first, expand on them and you’ll soon find that have a relevant place as a post idea because they relate to other keywords.
Happy mind mapping everyone!
Vicki@collegeparentcentral
April 16th, 2009 10:20 pm
Great suggestion once again.
I find that working with pencil and paper for this kind of brainstorming actually gets me thinking differently than I do when I am in front of the computer. I’m sure there is some science to say that it taps a different part of the brain.
I’ve learned to carry paper and pencil everywhere I go. This is a great exercise for those few moments when I’m waiting for something or in a boring meeting, etc. Having ideas down on paper also means I’m never frustrated trying to remember some great inspiration that came and went again from my mind.
Thanks once again.
Cathy Bryant
April 16th, 2009 10:21 pm
I’ve done this on my blog and had tremendous success with it. I also keep a clipboard next to my computer. As I come across and idea that I want to write about on my blog, I write it on my clipboard, so that I always have topics at my fingertips.
Another idea that I’ve seen other blogs do, and that I’m doing right now is come up with a theme for several posts. The one I’ve seen on another blog lately is “Community.” My blog is about fiction writing and reading, so my latest theme-related posts are about characters and emotion.
Thanks for all the great ideas. I’m really enjoying 31dbbb!
Girish
April 16th, 2009 10:21 pm
again another wonderful post , Darren
A few more ideas to get sparks for your new posts.
1. Stumble thru your niche
2. Go thru tweets
3. Just google with your niche keywords
4. Read blogs of your same niche bloggers
5. Read the comments you got for earlier posts.
6. Listen to the questions you get on your daily life
these helps a lot to get more ideas
Mario
April 16th, 2009 10:22 pm
This is a great idea. Why didn’t I came up with it?
I will not take my last 5 posts to do this but I’m going to check out my stats to see which post were the most successful. These are the best to follow up on, I guess.
Keith Jenkins
April 16th, 2009 10:22 pm
Thank you Darren for another great lesson. I especially love the mind-mapping aspect of it – putting ideas or thoughts down on paper in a bubble or graphic format is always a great idea! I always have a notebook next to my computer which I use regularly to scribble down new ideas for blog posts so I have a pretty extensive list of ideas for upcoming posts. With this lesson, taking the five latest posts and expanding on them, I’ve come up with quite a few more!
Joshua Elliot
April 16th, 2009 10:31 pm
That’s a great way to write your blog.
Another way that I recommended which is almost the same as yours, is to write your blog like a book.
The categories will be like the chapters of the book, where you follow though time.
This is what I feel like it too. Your idea is great too, if you have new sub-niche in your topic. This will work very well.
It will be better if bloggers plan what the topics will be, surrounding the theme.
http://www.WebsiteMakerNovice.com
ChristiaanH
April 16th, 2009 10:51 pm
What if you still have tons of ideas in your head? I’m already posting daily and thinking about posting even more often just to get things out there..
But I realize that wouldn’t help with getting more viewers… I could write several posts each day at the moment. Every post snowballs into ideas for two more posts…
I think I’ll just write them for now and have a few as backup for the off-day when I don’t have my laptop with me.
Your approach to getting new ideas looks a bit like a mindmap I must say. Great idea, now where did I leave my whiteboard. My writing desk is becoming more and more an organized are to write on and to get new ideas.
Samuel McCrohan
April 16th, 2009 10:54 pm
This is definitely a useful thing to do, not just today but as an ongoing thing.
Believe it or not I actually have a list of over 200 article ideas (some more extensive than others) and I add to it as often as I update my blog so I can’t see myself ever running out of ideas. To be honest, my actually problem with this method is that I can never decide which topic to write about next as there are so many to choose from.
It comes down to knowing your niche inside out as to how much you can write about. Don’t know it too well… then get reading and learning! :)
Thanks,
Sam x
Sharon Hurley Hall
April 16th, 2009 11:02 pm
Thanks, Darren! This is a great idea – kind of like mind mapping for your blog. I sometimes get stuck for ideas and this technique looks like it will work well.
Sudeep
April 16th, 2009 11:07 pm
A real good idea Darren , thanks for the tip. Well i have been working on my blog though its not published just writing and drafting many ideas i could and then working them out . Each day a new topic , a new brain storm and that would help me build a successful blog . Thanks for the all the tips so far .
Healthy Regards
Sudeep
Guillermo
April 16th, 2009 11:12 pm
OMG Darren! It’s 9 am here and I’m already thinking! You cannot do that to me man! ;)
Thanks! I have enough posts for the next two months already!
Bob
April 16th, 2009 11:32 pm
I have been trying to keep a list of ideas as they come up. But, this will be a great exercise to jump start more topics.
Addicott Web
April 16th, 2009 11:32 pm
Thanks for the great tip – it’s just more proof that I need a white board for my home office!
Ching Ya
April 16th, 2009 11:40 pm
I like the idea of this lesson~ To predict, plan, and see further ahead.
I think it’ll work for both series or non-series post as well. Sometimes I think the biggest regret that I have, was not jotting down the ideas sparked while I was writing for the present post. You just never know when it’ll come out. Even you can’t think of 10 now, start working on the ones you had currently; you’ll be amazed how fast your mind starts to update and brainstorming on its own.
Hosting Comparison
April 16th, 2009 11:42 pm
Another great post, I am working on my list now.
Ching Ya
April 16th, 2009 11:45 pm
I like the idea of this lesson ~ To predict, plan and see further ahead. It’ll work well both on series/non series posts.
At times, it was my biggest regret for not jotting down the ideas sparked while I was working on current post. Even if you don’t have 10 now, advisable to start working on the ones you already had; you’ll be surprise how fast the mind reacts, and start brainstorming on its own.
@wchingya
Social Media/Blogging
Robert
April 16th, 2009 11:52 pm
I really liked this post, I think that this topic is one of the major challenges in having a blog. This brainstorming excercise is ok, but you have to be careful in not becoming to repetitive and try to keep each series different to what you already have written.
Also if you cannot get 10 ideas with this excercise you can always see what others are writting and news articles to develop new ideas.
Glenn Roberts
April 17th, 2009 12:00 am
This process has been around for a long time to help in organizing writing projects. Thanks for joggin my mind to apply it here.
Do this three days in a row and you will find your mind has been working on the topics while you’ve been doing something else.
Karen Chaffee
April 17th, 2009 12:10 am
Hello Darren and all
What a great idea, mind mapping. I now keep what I call an “idea bank” in a notebook for post titles or subjects. If I ad the mind-mapping technique to it, I should never run truly dry of blog material. : )
Heather
April 17th, 2009 12:28 am
This is a really clever way to generate new content. I am going to try implementing this technique at my writing site to help me brainstorm addition posts. Thank for the great tip Darren!
Kyle
April 17th, 2009 12:30 am
This has been one of the best suggestions I have seen so far. It seems like you could even expand on this idea and just writing down news bits or other themed items and then expand your way out it into a flurry of posting Ideas. Thanks for another great tip Darren.
thebeaddoodler
April 17th, 2009 12:41 am
Great idea. I come up with ideas and complete posts with no trouble at all for a few days, then my creativity takes a leave of absence and my mind goes totally blank. This method will hopefully keep the ideas flowing a little smoother.
Jennifer Blanchard
April 17th, 2009 1:18 am
Thanks for this great information, Darren! I use mind-mapping all the time, but I never seem to get as in-depth as I’d like. Using your “system” I was able to generate TONS of ideas for future blog posts.
Can’t wait for the editorial calendar post tomorrow!
Claudia Gonella
April 17th, 2009 1:19 am
Darren – Really impressed with your series of posts for 31BB. The goal for each so far has resonated strongly and you back it up with practical steps. Thanks! Hoping for some thoughts on writer’s block after you’ve worked out the topics.
alone
April 17th, 2009 1:27 am
yeah. i got it! thanks for sharing! =)
Terry Albert
April 17th, 2009 1:36 am
Hi- another idea for finding blog topics. I am on several discussion forums and find lots of good topics in the questions people are asking.
I also include the latest post title in my signature line so I include an “ad” without including a blatant ad in my emails.
Terry Albert
terryalbert@cox.net
Visit my Web site: http://www.terryalbert.com
Visit my blog: http://everything-pets.blogspot.com “Canine Lullabies”
My blog for pet sitters: http://www.dearlabby.blogspot.com
“What you can do TODAY to help your pet-sitting business grow”
elizof
April 17th, 2009 1:50 am
Another brilliant assignment Darren!
Here’s the monster in the closet issue that I have… might resonate with some people here; ideas I have aplenty, perfectionism aplenty, mindmaps and 1/2 written unposteds aplenty, time excuses…. that aplenty!
Yes, they call it oversubscribed and procras…. don’t say the word. ;-) I even have 10 days of unposted write ups on our challenge; go figure! The best part is that now that I have named it, I will vanquish it.
Mega thanks Darren and Team 31Day Challenge!
Kayla
April 17th, 2009 1:51 am
I’ve brainstormed post ideas ahead of time, but never like this. I’m very impressed with this post and brainstorming idea. I’ve lost some motivation to write some of the blog posts I had planned, and I really think this method could help me. Thanks!
The Scrub
April 17th, 2009 1:54 am
Another good one Darren!
I just want to add that I discovered that by going through and linking to older posts, which you discussed on Day 8, I ended up with all sorts of ideas to blog about. I would find myself scouring the archives looking for stuff that I thought I had written about, only to find that I had yet to do so.
Jean
April 17th, 2009 1:57 am
Thanks Darren ..
love the content and the fact that you think a pen and paper is fine.. although of course for the blog you had to transfer to software. Talked about this in a mastermind group call yesterday .. need to be able to think and type..
How about a photograph or a video of you doing some of these things ??
there is a wish to connect from our side, too..
Noblesse oblige
Sandra
April 17th, 2009 2:01 am
I just grabbed a sheet of paper from my printer and did it…hmmm…need to go get a white board – a BIG whiteboard!
I can see how using this system can make your blog more coherent and logical. Each post stands on it’s own but ties into the others as well. And I really like the idea of building momentum!
Great system, Darren, thanks!
darya
April 17th, 2009 2:07 am
Great idea! I have never been lacking in ideas department, but will keep this in mind for when I do.
Clara Mathews
April 17th, 2009 2:14 am
I already keep a notebook to jot down post ideas. When I see something that sparks an idea I write it down. Sometimes it might even be a few lines of content or a question I want to ask my readers.
But mindmapping might be a way for me to expand on a few of my most popular posts. On my concierge blog, I started a series called 5Things (based on the Write a List Post task). I could expand upon it in several different ways.
On my Just Chick Flicks blog, one of my most popular posts was about the kind of movies like. I could mind map this topic in several different directions. Maybe examining different genres of “man movies”, do men cry at movies, etc
Nichelle
April 17th, 2009 2:17 am
There’s so much to talk about on the subject of dance education that I never seem to run out of topics. However, I’ve done some brainstorming on topics before (probably more like the category approach you mentioned). Oddly enough, I had not thought of looking back at previous posts and mapping from there. Duh! :) I’m actually thinking that this may help me limit my post sizes too (as I often write too much at a time, I think). Thanks for this useful tip! I’m off to map my mind!
Lee Ka Hoong
April 17th, 2009 2:19 am
We could be able to look back our older post and look for some ideas, as the time going and our mind would come out more opinions or points on certain post, so we could link back to older post and add in more points. You’ve a great system on looking for content Darren!
It’s time for me to think for 10 ideas! :)
Regards,
Lee
Missy Caulk
April 17th, 2009 2:20 am
This one post is worth the whole 31 day challenge to me.
Mike
April 17th, 2009 2:22 am
What a great idea! Already, I have more blog posts and after reading some of the comments here, I’m going to start using a mind mapping notebook.
Mrs Green
April 17th, 2009 2:27 am
Thank you Darren. I find my creativity comes in waves. At the moment I am riding high with enough posts stacked up on my blog to last me through to the middle of May. Yipee!
But I have terrible slumps where I never want to look at the keyboard again and I’m definitely going to try the mind mapping.
I had heard of the tool but never understood it – until now! It’s great that you explained it in such simple terms and I can see it being very useful in the future.
Look out – tomorrow I will wake up with not an ounce of inspiration; no doubt LOL!
Angela
April 17th, 2009 2:27 am
Excellent!!! I actually can’t wait to start “brainstorming” and “extending” new posts. Off I got for my 10 ideas!
Michael Cunningham
April 17th, 2009 2:29 am
Great idea. Just 10 for us when you came up with 31 to help us out. Thanks for doing this.
Faryal Humayun
April 17th, 2009 2:40 am
Idea mapping is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Guess it’s the right time to start. I suppose this is how “authority blogs” emerge.
LaTosha Johnson
April 17th, 2009 2:42 am
Thank you Darren once again for sharing this information. Lately, I have been experiencing a bit of writer’s block. I will definitely needed this exericise!
Bridget Casas
April 17th, 2009 2:52 am
This is a really good idea. However, I can’t quite figure out how to do it on my photography weblog. There are days when I ask myself, “what will I photograph today?” It depends on where I am, what I am doing, or what I happen to see that inspires me.
I guess I could plan some things I would like to photograph. I think I will try that (sorry, I was thinking outloud)! I will work on that today.
Anyone have any suggestions how I can apply this task to my kind of blog? I would appreciate it.
Thanks again, Darren!
Bridget
Midwest Guest
April 17th, 2009 2:53 am
I started keeping a list of possible blog topics before I even started my blog, and it’s a running list I constantly add to, or take topics off as I cover them.
I’ve made a concerted effort to look at each destination I’ve covered to try to generate several story ideas from it. An afternoon trip to a local museum recently yielded two posts–one more general and upbeat http://www.midwestguest.com/2009/04/walk-through-detroit-history-at-citys-historical-museum.html , one focusing on the automobile-centric display and a little comment on the state of that industry in general http://www.midwestguest.com/2009/04/assembly-line-at-detroit-historical-museum.html (I’m in the Detroit area, after all).
It’s been years since I’ve done the mind-mapping technique…I’m thinking since college days. Sounds like something to revisit to generating still more blog topics!
Thanks for another great post, Darren.
johnG
April 17th, 2009 2:56 am
WOW THIS HELPS A LOT!! THANK YOU
Psynister
April 17th, 2009 2:58 am
I can see the value in this one already. This is another example of a simple concept that has great potential. I have thought a few times of doing this, and to some extent I already have, but it wasn’t focused like this is. I will definitely put some effort into this one tonight.
Shantanu
April 17th, 2009 3:01 am
Hi Darren,
For once I am ahead of the task. Unknowingly, while doing the last task I prepared an outline of posts I want to do in the next week.
I use a software called FreeMind for mind mapping and must say its very useful.
This is a very nice tip for those who suffer from the Blogger’s Block once in a while.
Thanks for the tip.
Best.
Shantanu.
http://www.threetipsaday.com
@threetips(twitter)
P.S.: We are celebrating Twitter week on http://www.threetipsaday.com next week, with loads to learn about Twitter in 18 posts in a week.
opinionatedant
April 17th, 2009 3:20 am
i always doodled on paper bubbles or ideas but not in such a cohesive way. i’ve been sticking to my categories (like sidewalks, sweets, rambles…) and haven’t really sat down and built one post off of another.
thanks, i can do todays homework at work!
Cathy Stucker
April 17th, 2009 3:51 am
One method I have been using lately is to expand on list posts. For example, if I have a post of “7 Things You Can do to…” I would write seven posts, each going into more detail on one of the seven things in the list posts.
Angela Mills
April 17th, 2009 4:00 am
What a great idea, and one I do, but with lists, so it will be nice to try something new. However, my blog is only 4 months old, so I imagine this will be something I’ll need in the future. Right now I have tons of ideas, so I like the thought of organizing them to expand on one another!
Bridget, what if you came up with different aspects of photography to highlight? I have seen a site where people have to contribute something that shows lighting, or shadows, or lines, etc. on certain days. Or maybe different finishes you can explore?
I don’t know much about photography, but that might spur some ideas for you.
Angela Mills
April 17th, 2009 4:02 am
One more thing, Darren. I just started homeschooling my kids this year and I had read about mind mapping for note-taking. I wanted to teach it to my 7th grader, but never followed through because I didn’t really get it. I love your examples, now I have a visual to work with. Thanks!!
Rita
April 17th, 2009 4:02 am
I write about consumer issues so I always have many topics to write about. My problem is how to focus on consumer issues to draw readers in my niche.
My blog The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide at http://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com is on baby boomer consumer issues.
I wrote a column for people 50-plus for The Tacoma News Tribune for 18 years.
Rita
Nicole/MadlabPost
April 17th, 2009 4:05 am
I have some good plans for this Day 11 exercise of the 31DBBB challenge. Since I recently wrote about film festivals, maybe I can do a list of festivals by state or film festival resources that readers can find useful. I also have another series on my blog that could possibly be expanded before the end of this month.
I like Cathy Stucker’s previous comment about expanding on list post ideas. I may try that one and create a general list post template such as “10 Items you Must Have to….” etc. to expand on but I’ll have to figure out a way to make it relevant to the topics featured on my blog.
Your Day 11 exercise of the 31DBBB challenge to Come up with 10 Post Ideas may finally be a great way for me to expand upon the series posts that I have on my blog. Right now, I have two Series, which is a film festival series and an actor series so this is a great opportunity to make come up with ideas for those and keep them flowing on a steady schedule.
Robert Bravery
April 17th, 2009 4:15 am
A great Idea. But the trick now is to put it into practice.
I have known about this technique, but could not find the time to do it. I was always thinking, if I have time, write, write, write.
But when you actually see in in practice, you can visualise the benefits.
I think the idea is not to extend one post and write about that particular one all in one go. We need to do this with a few popular posts.
Then you insert those new ideas into you blog, when you have writers block or something. With a link to the originating post, you know, 3 months ago I wrote about ….
Jarlin
April 17th, 2009 4:53 am
Great ideas…will try.
Rakesh Kumar
April 17th, 2009 5:03 am
Very Inspiring post. I never thought of it. This is not only going to help with Blogging but It can be applied in many other situations too.
Rita
April 17th, 2009 5:19 am
Hi Drren,
When does writing about a list of things get too boring?
I just found a list of 43 government blogs at http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/News/blog.shtml.
Would writing about 10 of them in separate posts be too many? Five? Not all of them are of interest to consumers.
I wrote a 12-part series on consumer groups lobbying before the Washington State Legislature with links to their legislative agendas and ways to take action. The purpose was to give consumers a way to be involved more easily in consumer legislation. It was for my blog the Boomer Consumer on the Seattle-Post Intelligencer’s Web site. The series wasn’t a “hit” generator.
Rita at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide at http://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com
Dee Wilcox
April 17th, 2009 6:01 am
This is a great tip! I typically storyboard my series posts in my Moleskine notebook and use FreeMind to mindmap the others. However, there really is something about pencil and paper. It’s a coffee-deadline-coffee day, so I got out my sketch pad while waiting for some documents to print and came up with 22 new ideas in about five minutes. From here, I’ll add these to an actual mind map that I can refer back to and extend further.
Excellent tip! Just need to set aside time to flesh all of these out into actual posts.
Matt Cheuvront
April 17th, 2009 6:38 am
Great thoughts here – one thing I always try to do is write ‘evergreen’ posts that I can have stored for posting later on, that way if I have writers block or am just lacking innovation, I can throw one of these up and keep things fresh on the blog. I recommends everyone doing this.
-Matt
http://www.lifewithoutpants.com
kosmo @ The Casual Observer
April 17th, 2009 6:39 am
I print out blank calendars from Outlook, and then try to plug things into the boxes.
I also have a few different notebooks laying around the house (nice ones with sewn pages, not spiral bound) that I can easily grab when new ideas pop into my head.
Since my blog doesn’t have its own niches, I have created a main topic for each day of the week:
Monday: News (world & US)
Tuesday: Sports
Wednesday: Miscellaneous
Thursday: People, places, events – this includes a “day in the life” series with guest writers
Friday: an original short story
Weekend: misc
The schedule makes it easier to generate the topics.
Kosmo
http://www.observingcasually.com/
Heidi Richards Mooney
April 17th, 2009 6:55 am
Darren,
Another home run! I am so enjoying learning from you. I just did this at the beginning of the 31 Day challenge because I wanted to have enough ideas “in the pot” to write about. Thank goodness I have not yet had to use all of them.
My topic is Tips to Get your blog found, read and followed and so far I have written 9 tips (3 a day) since you started the challenge. I am writing them in between my normal Today is ideas for marketing your business on my blog http://www.Redheadmarketingblog.com. Have had some great inspirations from others and even found a few new plugins to use. Whoohoo!
Thanks for great info and making it easy to understand,
Heidi Richards Mooney
Kelsey
April 17th, 2009 6:59 am
I’ve tried to bank post ideas and drafts but for some reason, I had never thought of brainstorming so systematically.
This will come in handy.
Bret Capranica
April 17th, 2009 7:01 am
Thanks for this simple approach Darren. I have a file folder with a list of ideas that I want to blog about. I have never thought of thinking up future posts along the lines you mentioned. Doing so gave me 14 potential new posts I’m fairly motivated to pursue, and it took me less than 10 minutes to come up with them.
tcalo
April 17th, 2009 7:01 am
This is a wonderfull post! it will be really usefull for those moment when I ran out of ideas :S …
thanks,
t.
@CuriousDina
April 17th, 2009 7:07 am
Great idea (as usual) Darren. I took it a bit further by selecting two current posts and three posts from the last few months to extend. All the past posts had comments so I’m hoping the new extenders will as well.
Question now is: how to weave them in? I don’t necessarily want a consecutive series, rather an ‘ongoing conversation’.And, this list doesn’t really lend itself to an editorial calendar, does it?
Here are my upcoming posts:
Women Bloggers Who Make me Think
Women Bloggers who are Revolutionaries
WomenWho are Mompreneurs
Old People Still Like Sex. Really
Must Reads for Re-igniting That Spark
Saving Your Marriage: a Home Study Course
Is Romance Even Necessary?
Why Can’t Men Buy Gifts More Like Women?
What Now?- Making Final Arrangements
Marianne Williamson Talks About our Second Puberty
Love this course! It’s a thousand times more useful and inspiring than courses I’ve paid thousands for. Thanks again Darren.
Oh, has anyone started a ‘Lessons Learned’ discussion on the forum yet? That would be so great.
Andrew Bennett
April 17th, 2009 7:14 am
Great exercise Darren. Well-timed for me too– I normally schedule posts out for 3-4 days on http://blog.deneki.com , but today I had to pull a future post in due to my bloggers’ block. I’ve now got another 20 ideas to work on.
The benefits of 31DBBB keep pouring in.
Andrew
Mandy
April 17th, 2009 7:24 am
My blog is about women’s accomplishments since getting divorced. So the key for me is to have interviews in the pipeline. I record my interviews so after each one, I do transcribe it and then look to see how many posts the interview would break into – sometimes it’s just one, other times it’s three. Then I look for resources the person used and see if there’s an opportunity for me to review a book. I might also be able to link to a post on a website. Sometimes, I’ve asked my interviewee to write a guest post.
The mind-mapping technique will work great for this.
Coop
April 17th, 2009 8:06 am
I never have a problem running out of ideas, but I can see how it would help me come up with some really good critiques and in-depth articles.
Online Money Making
April 17th, 2009 8:18 am
These are awesome tips about expanding on previous posts. Be sure to tie into the previous posts in your new ones and interlink your posts where possible. Another great post in the series.
Susan
April 17th, 2009 8:36 am
I use Google Alerts to help me stay on top of subjects that may spawn or spin off on an idea for a blog topic.
Ben Licher
April 17th, 2009 8:37 am
This is what I was waiting for! What I needed. Brilliant! I have tons of ideas to write about, but mindmapping it like this will give me the structure I need and I can add the time planning for series I’m writing. I made some pages where I cover the subjects I’m going to write about and link the posts that are written, but this one is just what I needed for old posts!
Tim Jones
April 17th, 2009 8:43 am
I’ve thought about doing this many times, but you really break it down in a nice, succinct way to get me motivated to start. Thanks!
Realtyrite
April 17th, 2009 8:54 am
This was an issue when i first started writing my blog. Now the stories just keep coming out faster and faster.
Kristin
April 17th, 2009 8:54 am
Wow, what a wealth of ideas just in the comments! I love the idea from Susan to use Google Alerts to help spark topic ideas.
I have been carrying around a little notebook with me since a friend of mine inspired me doing the same thing. It has helped tremendously when I feel lost for an idea, I have quite a few already. However, the focus of this excersize intrigues me in a serious way, and I will be waiting until I’m not at work to do this assignment, in order to give it my full attention.
I have two series posts, one is the first half of a DIY tutorial (http://mymeanbean.com/Blog/?p=2247), and one is on tips for using Twitter (http://mymeanbean.com/Blog/?p=1877). Expanding these ideas is very exciting and inspiring!
Amy Jo
April 17th, 2009 8:55 am
Thanks for all these great ideas. I’ve been reading along every day, and while I haven’t yet begun the process, I’ve been thinking about a lot of new ideas from your posts. I plan to try and sit down with this exercise tomorrow!
Kristin
April 17th, 2009 8:55 am
Edited to make URLs into links – sorry!
I have two series posts, one is the first half of a DIY tutorial (http://mymeanbean.com/Blog/?p=2247 ), and one is on tips for using Twitter (http://mymeanbean.com/Blog/?p=1877 ). Expanding these ideas is very exciting and inspiring!
Liz Hover
April 17th, 2009 9:23 am
Will you get mad cos I only came up with 8 ideas? I find post ideas come to me as I read new stuff so I know the other two will come all in good time.
Confession – not always following your post suggestions. But posting almost every day. Just posted ‘4 free tools to help you create an uber cool blog’ http://cli.gs/R36bWt
Have lined up interviews with some rocking folks too. Really looking forward to adding those to my blog. It’s another voice.
Mdc
April 17th, 2009 9:24 am
Just wanted to echo what the majority of people have said already. This task was really easy to do. I generated lots of ideas for future posts from one single posting. I will now look take a look at other things I wrote about to get even more.
Many thanks
Liz Hover
April 17th, 2009 9:26 am
Isn’t it funny that so many of us bloggers end up writing posts to help out other newer bloggers? Reading through the comments here I see many of us trying to help others do what we do. I do it too.
Mister Teacher
April 17th, 2009 10:06 am
Great idea. I have often felt a few days go past with no inspiration, but this is a quick and simple exercise to get the creative juices flowing.
Thanks!
Harris
April 17th, 2009 10:15 am
Good force. my site is just one month old and i already have a list for two months ahead.
As i am not a full time blogger yet, so i post 1-2 times a week. expecting to step in as pro five to six months from now.
thanks darren for this ‘extended post’ ideas.
Sonja Foust
April 17th, 2009 10:16 am
Fantastic post! I struggle most with finding content for my blog, so this was extremely helpful for me. After about 20 minutes of mapping, I have WAY more than 10 new ideas, and I’m excited to see where they lead! Here are just a few I generated:
1. A guest post from my law-school buddy on the legal ramifications of an industry boycott (in reference to recent #amazonfail kerfluffle)
2. Creating a friendly culture at work with a big bowl and a bag of Jelly Bellies
3. Advice for radio/podcast interviewees
4. Top 10 lessons we can learn from romance novels
5. 15 little gestures of love
6. The unglamorous parts of being a novelist
7. 5 great books on writing
8. What not to post on your blog
9. 5 lessons from 5 years of marriage
10. Raleigh-Durham independent booksellers
needmoney.com
April 17th, 2009 10:20 am
Mapping now, awesome post…
Tim
April 17th, 2009 10:23 am
I’ve always been a big fan of mind mapping as a way of recording information, I’m surprised and a little disappointed I didn’t think of this myself.
Coherency between posts is my biggest weakness right now, and this solves that nicely.
Thanks.
enjoygame
April 17th, 2009 11:27 am
Darren-
I like the idea of having ideas for blog posts out ahead. I also feel that by having an “editorial calendar” makes the blogger more professional.
Thanks for getting so many bloggers “fired up” with this 31 day project!
thom
http://www.air-shox.com
Palma | Buddha Trance
April 17th, 2009 11:29 am
This is a really good idea! I have expanded on some previous posts, but never in an organized way, using mind mapping.
Generally, having a blog focused on higher consciousness, I write out of inspiration, what really resonates with me at the moment. It’s never planned. I write only when I have something meaningful to say, and that I feel will inspire others.
Sometimes I google keywords or sentences to get inspired.
Your method is worth a try, especially because I would like to post on a daily basis. I really need to address this in an effective and productive way.
Thank you!
Kelly
April 17th, 2009 12:04 pm
Another great piece of advice!
I don’t have the mental energy to do this tonight, but I will tackle it first thing in the morning and I’m sure I’ll come up with a ton of ideas.
Mister Teacher
April 17th, 2009 12:35 pm
I thought of a few ideas based on an earlier post, and wrote this one which came off of a comment.
http://learnmegood2.blogspot.com/2009/04/grade-no-grade.html
Carrie
April 17th, 2009 12:48 pm
i’m not a big fan of paper myself but i love the mind mapping idea. does anyone have any recommendations for free mind mapping software for mac or online?
JD Ebberly
April 17th, 2009 12:50 pm
Ten ideas for blog posts, Darren?
Easy. I read many blogs and their comments. I read Tweets. I’ve long been following Alerts in my industry.
I’ve got ten articles ready to go all the time and am working on dozens more!!
Not only do I read dozens if not hundreds of blogs, I am fully IMMERSED in Social Media.
I also LOVE to read books on advertising, marketing, blogging, webdev and social media.
Trust me, I’ve got hundreds of ideas for articles. :)
Kuzzuk
April 17th, 2009 12:56 pm
I’ve been learning a lot and I have documented my journey so far at http://www.kuzzuk.net/can-you-build-a-great-blog-in-31-days.html
I would recomment using FreeMind for brainstorming blog post ideas. I’m already looking forward to the next post.
Patricia C Vener
April 17th, 2009 1:26 pm
My problem is a bit different. I have so many ideas for writing that I am overwhelmed. I think what I need to do is calibrate my posting ideas. Maybe list all of them, randomly choose one and play with that.
I also need to decide which topic goes with which blog (and does that blog exist yet).
Joel
April 17th, 2009 1:44 pm
Oh cool. I did this today without even knowing it! A reader commented about how miserable she is in her job. I posted a quick note this morning and got some reader responses throughout the day. I then posted my response tonight, and it actually turned out being a follow-up to a previous post I had written. Lots of interlinking happened as well!
Jay | Niche Q Insider
April 17th, 2009 1:55 pm
This is a brilliant way to come up with post ideas. I did this little exercise and in 5 minutes came up with 25 post ideas and I haven’t even extended those yet (except for 1 i did before I read that section).
I’ve even come up with ideas for regular series that I can run on my blog like a themed day post eg. Friday Night Niche Giveaway.
The thing I love about this is that when you say not every article you’d want to use, well you can use them as articles to promote your blog outside of your blog (article directories, forums etc.)
My head is swimming with ideas.
Blogger Rise
April 17th, 2009 2:00 pm
great tips but it is OK if we take a break for while…will be better not to push ourself so hard..writing need fresh mind and feeling.
Mohammad Afaq
April 17th, 2009 2:17 pm
Great Post Darren.
Thank you very much for such a great post. I usually run out of posts on my blog but I think it won’t happen anymore.
Mohammad Afaq
Free Website Traffic
Michelle
April 17th, 2009 2:27 pm
This is a great idea for keeping us focused and on track. There is nothing like grasping for a blog topic when you feel that you are over-due in publishing something…
And even though I usually use the computer for everything, there is nothing quite like pen and paper for brainstorming and list making.
Thanks,
Michelle
Bridget Casas
April 17th, 2009 2:42 pm
Thank you very much Angela. You have given me some ideas to think about!
Bridget
Tony
April 17th, 2009 3:15 pm
Another great exercise! I used my last five posts and came up with 13 ideas. I’l probably go back to last 10 and see what else I come up with.
CGabriel
April 17th, 2009 3:18 pm
Darren,
The tricky aspect of this assignment for me are the audio (and now video) features that run regularly at Blog Harbor (along with my written posts). By their very nature, they are designed NOT to flow into one another. Rather, like a season at a repertory company, diversity is key.
So, for example, one satirical feature – The Farmland Almanac with Harrison Beillor – is a send-up of Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac. If I wrote similar material to be performed and produced every week, I’d actually lose readers/listeners.
Might the better attack on this challenge, for my particular situation, be to spring topics from my last five written posts rather than the audio features?
My thinking is…Yes.
Joel Drapper
April 17th, 2009 3:42 pm
Another thing you could do is to take 5 good posts on other blogs that you read, and turn them around, and come up with a few more ideas.
Tamikka
April 17th, 2009 4:29 pm
Hi Darren,
I am happy to say that I still come up with inspiration for blog posts and with today’s task, I can see how this will grow exponentially. The best part: I get to use pen and paper, my favorite media. ;)
Nathalie Hamidi
April 17th, 2009 5:06 pm
I also have an other approach to the post ideas: I check my stats at Google Analytics and look at the keywords people used to land on my website. If the keyword is relevant to my interests, and I didn’t come up with an article about it yet, then I consider writing one. Why not letting googlers help you gather ideas? ;)
Solomon
April 17th, 2009 6:41 pm
Hi Darren,
I struggled really hard to write. I just opened your post and found this wonderful advice. I really liked it.
Another thing I found out today is: I wanted to write on branding as I blog on advertising, copywriting and branding.
I wanted to start a series on branding. I would like to extend this thought into several posts: how branding can be viewed and done.
Thanks for the post! I’d follow up with the other posts of yours daily.
Solomon
Bells
April 17th, 2009 6:57 pm
this is the first assignment I’ve really felt like doing and have actually blogged about it. I’ve asked my readers to help me come up with some ideas – not because I’m lazy but because my readers will give me some feedback about the kinds of things they’d like to see! I’ve made a contest out of it.
Anna
April 17th, 2009 7:47 pm
I`m engaged in writing different texts and stories and I have this problem sometimes when I run out of the inspiration and just do not know how to develop the ideas. This post is really helpful. I have already tried to brainstorm addition posts! And made a brilliantly interesting story. Of course it will take some time to take it in constant practice and to get used to it but still thank you for the tips!
Anuan
April 17th, 2009 7:57 pm
Great idea, Darren
Again you are making me exercise my brain. Just what I need. Thank you.
Anne
April 17th, 2009 8:32 pm
Hi Darren,
Finding topics to write on is something I will never be short of. Here’s how I approach topics which might be helpful to others.
Firstly the brief for my blog is quite wide although I can sum it up as simply antiques.
There is just so much to write about and I think some of thes could be transfered to blogs on other subjects. I was recently astounded when a vintage jewellery blogger told me she couldnt think about what to write. Try thinking about a few of these as they relate to your subject:
History, Style, Materials, Makers, Trends, Techniques, A-Z, Events, Celebrity involvement, Shops, News, Book reviews, accessories , care. Valuation, how and where to buy and sell, how to learn more.
The list really does seem endless
Hoping this helps someone
Anne
Wendy
April 17th, 2009 8:37 pm
I didn’t want to do it! I really didn’t want to do it – lots of other things to do! But I did! And it worked – it really worked! I’m beginning to feel in control!
jagrit
April 17th, 2009 9:26 pm
Hey thanks Darren and other posters here, i have got really gud ideas… will share with you guys soon..
:)
Online Business
April 17th, 2009 9:59 pm
Having the future post list really helps to think more beyond. It gives the confidence to write the current post since you have more ideas to write for up coming days. Having this as an practice improves the blogging habit. Also, mapping new post from existing post makes the blogger to give more value to the new post because already he has the similar idea. It will be good if we follow this on regular basis.
I would say, this is something like, “Growing A Tree” ;-)
Kern
April 17th, 2009 10:33 pm
I also try to re-read older posts that I have written and forgotten. It is crazy how many times we promise more information in an upcoming post, but fail to deliver.
Stacy S. Jensen
April 17th, 2009 10:56 pm
Thanks for providing a road map for what to do with all those “blog” ideas, I have sitting on my desk.
Lorraine Ball
April 17th, 2009 11:44 pm
Great suggestion. I think the thing I am enjoying most about this program is the chance to look at tools I have used for other projects, and apply them to my blog.
But the suggestions are coming so fast and so furious it is hard to keep up.
I looked at the one post that consistently gets traffic. Posted almost a five months, it still gets daily traffic
http://www.roundpeg.biz/2008/12/marketing-org-chart/
So I wrote a second post
http://www.roundpeg.biz/2009/03/marketing-organization-chart-revisited/
After reading your notes I know it is time to work on a few more:
Balancing the Business Triangle:Innovation,Price and Customer Focus
Four posts: One looking at each of the four elements: Strategy, Lead Generation, Lead Conversion, Customer Service.
Looks like I have some writing to do this weekend.
Richard Butler
April 18th, 2009 12:12 am
I will totally agree to that. There are so many questions that can be raised on a certain topic. By having numerous questions, it will give you more options on which article to write about.
I am happy to read this post since I also made an article about how to have lots of ideas for blog posts.. :-)
Kristin
April 18th, 2009 1:32 am
I sat down during a quiet moment last evening, and did this exercise. wow…Who can stop at 10 ideas? I have at least 20 to go on, and many are broad and will foster a significant series of posts!
Thanks again! :)
Nikhil
April 18th, 2009 1:53 am
Good Post Darren,
My current idea is to post the resources available on the internet in various topics like photoshop tutorials, illustrator tutorials, logo tutorials, business card designs and much more.
I am taking this campaign under the heading The Ten’s.
You can check my latest post here
http://tinyurl.com/dy3gzq
Jennifer
April 18th, 2009 2:08 am
What a great way to get new post ideas!
I’ve gone through a couple stalls in blog post writing since beginning my blog in January. This exercise was just what I needed! It’s amazingly simple, but totally affective!
Thanks!
delicate flower
April 18th, 2009 2:37 am
Bridget: what about a series of photos based on earlier ones? or write about the photo, it’s inspiration, historical perspective? photo from different time that applies to your pic?
Team Nirvana
April 18th, 2009 2:48 am
This is an amazing tip which I would definitely try in the time to come. While this tip usually does enrich you and keeps you on the track over what you are writing about and more than that, more post ideas from the old posts.
That is amazing.
LaTonya
April 18th, 2009 3:28 am
While in grad school, my feature writing teacher started us keeping an idea journal. I’ve been doing that for 10 years now. The mind mapping takes it a step futher, and I really like that! It has helped me refine some of my ideas.
1. List – What I know for sure (You sparked something in me!)
2. Book review
3. Forty-Tude: Profiling Women in their 40s
4. My memory is running away, and I can’t catch it!
5. DVR, The greatest in technology since pager, VCR
6. Hormones, What I have to look forward to
7. What’s for dinner – Repeats
8. There are ? left of 40
9. The eyes have it. (Revisiting the bifocal post).
10. Spring Cleaning – Throwing in out the basket of socks
(Revisiting the sock post)
Brenda Gelston
April 18th, 2009 3:38 am
Great post Darren. Like many other people who already commented I also find mind mapping and developing an editorial calendar very useful. I would also like to add surveys to that list. Surveys are a great source to tap into the minds of the customer.
Keep them coming…love your 31 Day series.
Brenda
http://brendagelston/blogspot.com
delicate flower
April 18th, 2009 4:16 am
I’ve got a number of ideas generated- a few serious ones.. In the spirit of humor that my blog is written in, I’m taking a new look at alcohol- after reference to packing gin for my beach trip.. Have a look, I’m pleased with part one in my gin series…..
http://delicacies.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/did-you-know-that-there-are-over-45-varieties-of-gin/
Karen
April 18th, 2009 4:40 am
Another great tip!
Keep ‘em coming
Larrie Campbell
April 18th, 2009 4:55 am
So I had a list from a previous post of possible future blog topics. I took a handful from that list and decided to create a poll. So far, my readers are voting for a future blog entry based on the time my sister and I were kicked out of ballet.
I never would have written about that story otherwise. Guess I’ll have to start writing something now, though.
I like having polls on my site. I need more reasons to put them up.
http://larriecampbell.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/day-11-sweet-a-poll-on-future-blog-topics/
JT
April 18th, 2009 5:12 am
That was a great exercise. Yes, I tried to do it and it’s great. Definitely valuable in helping us plan our future blog posts. Read your lessons just when I am about to put up some blogs for my web 2.0 marketing strategy. Surely it helped me a lot.
Thanks for that
JT@creditrepairproject.com-seemore.info/
Robin Taylor Roth
April 18th, 2009 5:22 am
I’m going to use Visual Mind for this exercise. That way, I won’t run out of space on whatever size piece of paper I choose, AND I’ll have an electronic record.
Interesting activity.
Maddie Grant
April 18th, 2009 6:15 am
I think this exercise is totally awesome, although I tend to have way too many things to write about already and have a bunch of posts in draft at any given moment – but this is great and if I ever run out I will try this.
Patricia C Vener
April 18th, 2009 8:11 am
I am replying to the post by Anne (the Antique Blog) , Your post gave me a jolt. It seems to me that the best brainstorming technique based on this exercise is to narrow the focus to one simple element and then, as if delving closer into the geometry of a fractal, see what other topics can come out of that narrow focus. That’s what your examples as an answer to the vintage jewelry person’s dilemma said to me. And I think that’s the answer to my opposite problem of having too much to say.
Thanks!
:)
Bridget Casas
April 18th, 2009 8:21 am
I want to thank the members for making some suggestions to me about what I can do on my photography blog. I greatly appreciate it.
I have a lot of work to do and I need some quiet, alone time with a piece of paper to get it done!
Bridget
Brook Lenox
April 18th, 2009 9:08 am
This post really got me thinking. Love the graphics of the way to think about this. Helped a lot. Keep em coming!
Robin Taylor Roth
April 18th, 2009 10:33 am
This has been a wonderfully valuable exercise! I have generated 18 ideas, starting with the 6 posts I’d written so far. (I’m one of the people with a new blog.) I did extend the original 6 by 2, so now have 8 branches to work with.
And, I had been “dry” for a few days.
This is something that I can keep up, and use for planning, on an ongoing basis.
Visual Mind works beautifully for this activity! I now intend to use it for my other blog – once the current series of 10 posts is completed.
Many thanks, Darren.
Ark Lady
April 18th, 2009 3:00 pm
I like the idea of mind mapping for posts. I have a general guideline and then take off from there.
Over the last year what I have done is written different slants on a hot topic for a full five days. What I have found is that it helps me take advantage of the interest in the topic and gives me better SEO.
Sometimes this results in a temporary spike but I find that over time the topic comes up again and my ranking is better for the term so that I get new visitors.
Wondering what your thoughts are on that versus spreading the topic out over weeks.
Neil
April 18th, 2009 3:52 pm
Wow!
Sir:
Your so smart, you give me not just and idea but you also given me a great help about this.
From now on I will always read your blog for more infos.
Thanks.
Gala
April 18th, 2009 6:37 pm
What a simple, but powerful idea about generation of topics for blogging! Just yesterday I woke up thinking I don´t have a proper idea for writing a new post. Your exercise, Darren, helped me to find out very quickly 12 ideas or topics for posting. Five of them are worth being worked out immediately. They are as follows:
- I often recommend students to use a thesaurus, to build and enrich their vocabulary, to employ good dictionaries etc. Sometimes students seem not to understand accurately the difference between all these concepts. I will write a post giving necessary explanation.
- Since my students are studying electrical and electronic engineering they should cope with technical texts. You find on my blog posts with such texts. Some of these posts are written by students. Now I´d like to emphasize this activity by a slogan “Learn TechEnglish discussing real technical issues” and write about three posts on website design, energy sources and peaceful robots.
- Writing skills and error free writing in English spelling are very important for every specialist I´ve already written posts about articles and prepositions. Now I will write a post with notes about punctuation.
Thank you, Darren.
Sanket
April 18th, 2009 9:18 pm
I basically write a fun blog where I talk about all the random things that I can put randomly. So some post ideas for myself and other bloggers like me would be:
- Things to do when you have nothing to do
- Random facts about yourself (sometimes you yourself will be amazed “dihttp://www.problogger.net/wp-content/themes/problogger2/images/post_comment.gifscovering” things about yourself)
- 5 weird things around me
- 7 politicians who would make great cartoon characters
- The Funniest people ever
- 10 most useful websites to me
- People not to bump into when you are drunk
- How would the daily activities of early man be?
Though I haven’t been able to go up to 10, but each of the ideas above can spark off a bunch of other posts.
Timon Weller
April 18th, 2009 9:54 pm
Good tips on what I refer to as writers or bloggers block. In a way it is very much like brainstorming a topic to its full extent to get many more related topics. Works well..
gabybali
April 18th, 2009 10:55 pm
Honestly, this is getting harder everyday…I could only come up with one extended post for each one I’ve written.
Maybe not from 5 recent posts, but one or two posts from couple months ago, I can do that,can I?
Afzai Afandi
April 19th, 2009 1:00 am
I like n love this idea…brilliant!!
Lorraine Ball
April 19th, 2009 2:55 am
One of the most interesting side benefits of this activity was it forced me to review old posts. As I looked back, I realized I have been writing about many topics of interest to my core audience, but nothing specifically about marketing!
I am a marketing company, and the primary reason for the blog is to drive prospects. Thanks for hel;ing me discover how far off track I have been!
gabybali
April 19th, 2009 3:51 am
Based on my older post about American Idol (my most fav TV Show!), I just make an ‘extended post’ about Danny Gokey,one of the finalist on : http://www.beeamazing.com/the-power-of-letting-go-danny-gokeys-heart/ , and I have 4 more ideas based from this AI post.
Honestly it’s a bit boring to see most of the blog are about : SEP,web 2.0,internet marketing,blogging technique,making money online,etc..etc..I just need to read something different out there
Thanks, Darren!
Meredith
April 19th, 2009 4:16 am
OK, so I’ve fallen a bit behind, because I got overwhelmed by this whole project (http://meredithelaine.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/overwhelmed-already/). I think that some of this may not really apply to me, because my blog is personal, and not to make money.
But this task was a fun idea. Since I’ve only just recently started this blog, I have now come up with a lot of fun ideas as “getting to know the author” type posts, and what I’m all about – regarding the industry I work in, hobbies, my writing history, various issues I have, causes I support.
Thanks for a great tip!
Patricia C Vener
April 19th, 2009 6:52 am
Ugh. I hate almost all of my ideas today. I’m approaching my blog as if it was new even though I have posts that are several years old. The time interval between my most recent and the one before is over a year. Yes, I abandoned my blog. But that’s because it was majorly spammed.
Now, it’s just silent. Which I guess is better, but still not good.
So I have to start with my most recent post, “What Color Is Your Wednesday’.” It’s a post that discusses how I see things symbolically – for example, days of the week are often colors or, as with Wednesday, a collage. I then expanded to “favorite colors,” and from there to how I was disappointed by the fashion industry’s sway over what colors one can find for clothing and accessories at any given time. I tried to encourage readers to have conficence in their own tastes and preferences and to create their own style. Finally I asked what color the reader’s Wednesday is.
So I sat down with pen and paper and thought about extending that topic. But first I had several other unrelated topics I had to put down.
And then I discovered my problem. I can’t seem to pin myself down to being specific. I keep flying off to unrelated ideas. Not all of which I want to include in this blog.
So I’m back to “Who is this blog for?” Can I blog to other artists about inspiration without losing the non-artist readership (that I still need to grow because I don’t actually have any readership just yet). Can I blog about caring for fine art jewelry without boring the artist readership? (Actually, that’s probably a definite yes).
I don’t want to repeat stuff that’s already out there. That’s kind of boring to write (IMHO) unless I’ve something substantially new to add. It’s kind of like the gazillion intro to Astronomy textbooks I have occasionally reveiwed – there’s not always much difference between them besides writing style. Which is, now that I think of it, a fairly important consideration…
Hm. Too much thinking!
?
NIkki
April 19th, 2009 7:02 am
I am reading your book and enjoying all the tips…just found your site and am now getting your feed. Just wanted to say Thank you! I am so new to all this blogging stuff ….. your book is such a great help…..and…..boy do I need help. Now…I am going over to read your 31 Days………
Adios
Life Strikes
April 19th, 2009 7:42 am
Interesting idea to find inspiration from external world to associate to blogging. I usually follow similar tactic to improve my blogging experience.
My friend used to ask, how do I manage to write atleast 1 article per day. It was similar to ideas suggested in today’s article. If I read a topic in news, I try to associate to my blogging niche and see how to create a new content based on that idea. I could be reading a news article that is completely not related to blogging niche, but it is very easy associate that idea from the news article and create a similar one. This goes more in line with creating different kind of posts.
Elizabeth Stanfill
April 19th, 2009 2:04 pm
Thank you Darren.
I just did the task and came up with 38 new post titles. Woot woot! This 31DBBB ROCKS!
Elizabeth
Christine
April 19th, 2009 2:14 pm
I’m enjoying this series. Thank you for your great advice.
As a craft blogger, I recently refocused my blog to center around ways I’ve used my creativity on a daily basis. I was worried I would run out of material but it seems to be growing exponentially.
I find it’s a cleaner post when I stay focused on the project so I keep a list of all the tangents my mind wants to go on. Many times they end up being new posts unto themselves. Also, significant projects get a few days’ worth of posting (and lots of interlinking!).
Cure Your Herpes
April 19th, 2009 4:26 pm
10 post ideas….ha! That will be easy…I am totally all over it! Thanks for the motivation Darren..
richard/eye prefer paris
April 19th, 2009 4:36 pm
One of the few problems i don’t have with my blog is new ideas for posts or things to write about. In fact i have almost too many story ideas and not enough time to write them. I write a blog about things to do and see in Paris and I go around taking photos all the time on the streets of Paris. I have amassed a big collection of usable photos with posts to go with them and sometimes don’t get to use all of them.
kk
April 19th, 2009 4:45 pm
Great advice, I’ve read through the other articles on your site and really appreciate the info as a noob in the blog world this really helps…thx
http://getfreefiles.blogspot.com
Coree Silvera
April 19th, 2009 5:21 pm
This is a great tip. As a new blogger, I’d fall into the group that would need to come up with potential topics and expand from there. I have to admit, deciding what to write about is my biggest challenge so this should be a great exercise for me.
Lise
April 19th, 2009 9:18 pm
Great idea! Thanks! I will do that exercice around the most popular posts that have already been published.
ExcitedByLife
April 19th, 2009 11:17 pm
For this exercise we found a whiteboard a great tool for brainstorming. Small whiteboards are very reasonably priced these days. You can install it on a wall near your desk so it is always visible for quick reference.
We shared some tips in the forum on how to work out what google thinks your categories probably should be. You will probably rank higher in google if you pick the categories that google thinks you are about.
farouk
April 19th, 2009 11:53 pm
this was really creative of you!! great post and you have mentioned a common problem that most bloggers have faced at least once in their blogging life time
blog4movie
April 20th, 2009 12:00 am
I like the idea to use categories as the base mind mapping, thanks Darren.
Rick Vaughn
April 20th, 2009 1:25 am
Thanks Darren,
This is a simple exercise that can save you all kind of time. The hard part about writing blog post daily is coming up with new ideas consistently.
Chad Prigmore
April 20th, 2009 3:19 pm
This is an amazing tool!
I started a series entitled “Designing a Program for Effective Living” a few weeks ago. There are so many sub topics to cover, that it’s been a bit frustrating. But after spending 30 minutes mapping it all out as suggested in this task, I can clearly see what I will be posting every Monday for the next few months.
Thanks so much Darren!
fadithoughtpick
April 21st, 2009 12:09 am
Great post Darren!
Lately I started feeling out of ideas on my personal blog. It is around 3 years old, I used to post around 3 times per week, now I barely do it once! This excersize would help me big time.
Fortunatly, unlike my personal blog, our thoughpick blog still new, there is much to talk about in terms of social media. I wonder how this would turn out in few months :)
Miguel Wickert
April 21st, 2009 2:25 am
Hi Everyone,
This exercise was beneficial and surprising because I noticed how easy it was to build off posts already written. Only 15-25 minutes of your time, and to come away with 10 plus posts ideas, not to shabby. Once you get going, you’ll end up with ideas you could have never put together on the fly. Isn’t that what most bloggers tend to do? Because we fail to plan ahead, it hurts our chance at being excellent, and prevents us from fully tapping into our creativity.
It’s there, we just don’t see experience it because we don’t create room for it. :)
-Mig
Tamikka
April 21st, 2009 2:41 am
This is a great way to update older posts where you’ve gained insight and experienced growth or changed your perspective.
Great exercise!
Kai Lo
April 21st, 2009 10:26 am
What I do when I run out of ideas is to spend time marketing/optimizing the best posts (most traffic) in my blog. Then I just browse through webmaster forums, and eventually I’ll find topics to discuss in my blog.
Jaye L
April 21st, 2009 1:06 pm
You can find my blog at http://artquiltmaker.com/blog. It is about quiltmaking, fabric, design and creativity.
10 ideas for posts in no particular order:
1. how to choose fabric
2. several posts on basic design principles (also page on design books???)
3. getting quilts finished
4. value of finishing projects in the creative process
5. what happens to a project when you don’t finish and go back to it later? How the changes in your personality can affect the project
6. Working with others on the same project, working in a class setting with others on your own project, just working on your own project in the same room with others vs. working alone
7. Creative blogs I like and why – blog reviews
8. Review of articles in a recent magazine.
9. Review of latest Thr3fold journal
10. reintroduce old project
Anne Maybus
April 21st, 2009 1:08 pm
I like this idea. I usually post and move on but this would give more depth to everything. Done and DONE!
Meikah Delid
April 21st, 2009 7:37 pm
Yes, good idea, indeed! Thanks!
Victoria
April 21st, 2009 8:32 pm
Can anyone recommend some of the mind mapping software that’s around, thanks.
dental lab vibrator
April 21st, 2009 10:01 pm
A friend recommended your site to me. Glad he did, as it looks very worthwhile. Looking forward to learning lots here. Vance
StocksHaven dot com
April 21st, 2009 10:51 pm
Very neat Idea Darren, never thought about this :) Ahh… the power of commenting.
Inchirieri Auto
April 22nd, 2009 12:01 am
Hi this is a good article and very usefull.Keep doing the good job.
Thanks again.
virtual web symphony
April 22nd, 2009 3:07 am
Interesting. But I have a question. I have been in to blogging for last six months now. I don’t think, I have written quality stuff. But I definitely want suggestions from you all readers. Can you just let me know about some of the improvements?
Inchirieri Masini
April 22nd, 2009 3:27 am
Hello people! This article was very usefull to me. I will come back frequently.
Tara
April 22nd, 2009 8:37 am
My favorite activity yet! I am a English/Writing teacher so I should know to use brainstorming as a technique, but I came up with TONS of ideas in just a few minutes using the suggestions here!! I have great ideas planned for the entire week.
Kat Rice
April 22nd, 2009 5:08 pm
My problem is less “having something to write about” and more “getting into the writing mode”. I keep a folder of bookmarked ideas to write about, and things are always happening that I can add. But one of two things happens:
1. I get back to my computer later and just don’t feel like writing right then or
2. I don’t have enough time to write (it takes me a good hour to write and polish a post) it, due to appointments or whatever
Then half my ideas become irrelevant due to time.
Any suggestions?
Exposing SEO Techniques
April 23rd, 2009 1:46 am
Wow thanks for that! I feel like I’m attending some writing class haha!
Joel Drapper
April 23rd, 2009 2:56 am
You can take this further and do it again with the latest 5 relevant posts from a related blog.
Lori
April 23rd, 2009 3:27 am
Great ideas here. Fortunately, I write a travel blog and never run out of adventures to talk about! I guess I could write related posts when I’m not on the road…
Patricia C Vener
April 23rd, 2009 4:21 am
Semi backfiring on me, this task. Instead of blogging topics I’m getting ideas for my Newsletter.
Shawn
April 23rd, 2009 6:48 am
I think the most important suggestion here from my perspective is keeping an eye on categories. If you think very clearly of your blog as a Web site on a given topic and then carefully choose sub-topics that break down your main topic, you can’t go wrong. Come up with a handful of sub-topics from day one, sub-topics you want readers to be able to explore when they visit your blog. Soon you’ll be on fire not worrying so much about what to write about next but what categories are under-represented and keep your blog from being as well-rounded as you want it to be. Sub-topics can also be broken down…and so on and so on. It becomes an obsession.
Brendon
April 23rd, 2009 7:59 am
Thank you for this post it really helped me on getting my blog started. I was having trouble coming up with topics and took your ideas and they really got me going and sparked my creative side. My blog is on sports so their is plenty to talk about it was just coming up with some specific things to actually post.
Gina
April 23rd, 2009 1:57 pm
This is a great exercise in planning. I find myself looking for inspiration to slap me across the face – and thankfully it has done so often in the two months that I’ve had my blog. But I know that won’t sustain. Planning like this will be key to my success! Thanks for this tip.
ps. I’ve done one or two of these already – but not intentionally.
http://www.changebecomeschange.typepad.com
Michael
April 23rd, 2009 11:48 pm
Love the 31DBBB challenge! Hadn’t done mind mapping in a while, and used to do it with staff to brainstorm program ideas. Thanks for the reminder! And yes, I find that doing this away from the computer is often better. When doing this with staff I had everyone stand up (if they could) and timed it (five minutes) while writing down the ideas on a white board as fast as possible, then connecting concepts.
About writing slumps: for me coming up with ideas is easier than writing about them. One way I discipline myself is to light an incense stick and force myself to write until it’s burned out. I’ve heard of others doing the same with a candle, or by writing while listening to a cd start to finish.
Honey Singh
April 23rd, 2009 11:55 pm
Thanks for presenting the nice facts and information.
As always i like your post.
Nick Stamoulis
April 24th, 2009 12:25 am
I find it is best to sometimes plan out your blog posts ahead of time. Putting together an excel spreadsheet and planning out well in advance usually helps and triggering new ideas.
arief
April 24th, 2009 2:58 pm
what a great ideas! mindmapping and last posts…. okey I’ll do it then…optimize the older posts are something new for me… i’ve never do it before…
Massimo
April 24th, 2009 7:11 pm
Wow! Darren, this tip is very usefull ! With this technique everybody can find a lot of ideas to write posts ! I’ll try it soon! Thank you ! Massimo
Mohit
April 24th, 2009 11:02 pm
Although we’ll get many post ideas, but is it Ok to stick to a single topic??
Kim McGinnis
April 25th, 2009 3:36 am
Mind Mapping is great way to push past barriers of writer’s block.
My partner and I use iMindMap. You can do a lot of cool creative things with design and color which help feed those imagination muscles.
And, in case you haven’t heard…”imagination is more powerful than knowledge…” Albert Einstein
Wayne Scherr
April 25th, 2009 10:43 am
Good task for today. I’ll be working on expanding what I have posted already. Very useful techniques.
simple lifestyles
April 25th, 2009 7:06 pm
Just found your site today. Looks very interesting, I learned some important things. Rhonda
Chris Somers
April 25th, 2009 11:07 pm
We got a lot out of this task in terms of a lot of new fresh blogs to write about. I love it !
http://activerain.com/blogsview/1049739/Building-a-Better-Blog-Challenge-Update-on-3-Tasks
Kalyan
April 26th, 2009 3:19 am
this could help :)
Holly Reisem Hanna
April 26th, 2009 6:01 am
Great idea for coming up with new ideas for blog posts, I’ll have to try this exercise.
I also keep a running list of topics that I want to cover; and I always keep it on me so that whenever an idea pops into my head I can jot in down immediately.
Paul M
April 26th, 2009 11:47 am
Great post. Content can be hard to come up with if you have writer’s block, but I like the ideas you suggest. I find it easier to come up with content when working with a team, as two brains are better than one…
Mr. Chow
April 26th, 2009 2:19 pm
Thanks for the advice. It has certainly helped me with my new blog at http://www.blogs.chowjobs.com. ‘Looking forward to reading more of your blog.
Mobile News Blog
April 27th, 2009 8:21 am
Hello, I think your site is very useful. I learned some new things here that will help my own blogging. Gretta
Wallace
April 27th, 2009 11:12 am
An interesting post and hopefully I shall never have to use your great advice.
From a personal point of view, because I’m actually writing about my quest for real life encounters, I’m hopeful that I shall never run out of experiences to write about.
أطياف مصر
April 27th, 2009 6:27 pm
that’s useful to both blogger and reader .. make it easier and faster
iCan't Internet
April 27th, 2009 11:03 pm
Great technique for coming up with new posts! Never really thought of this one, but will start using it from now on!
Conrad
April 28th, 2009 1:09 am
I’m really surprised by how many ideas I came up with while doing this exercise. Some of them are not directly related to my previous posts, but just poped into my head while doing this. I had a small amount of things on my “Things to Blog About” list, but now I have 32 things on that list!
Thank you so much!
Nic
April 28th, 2009 2:54 am
Some great ideas there. This is the best advice yet.
Kimberley Payne
May 2nd, 2009 8:54 am
I like this exercise. Many years ago, I did a similiar exercise with my business to create many “legs” under my table. I’m sure this will give me a better directed approach to blogging.
Heathen Mom
May 4th, 2009 7:47 am
I love this idea. I came up with ways to expand posts that I have made recently. Great to have a list to go to on days I don’t have an idea.
James
May 11th, 2009 1:39 pm
Darren,
Great idea. Now I’m finding that I have way too many ideas to write about :) THough, I do find that planning out the topics is kind of a ‘recommended’ roadmap for me when a better idea pops up during the week! Steno pad is my method of keeping track of the ideas.
Cheers,
James
Elizabeth Kaylene
May 12th, 2009 2:50 am
I read the editorial calendar post before I read this, so I’m a little backward. :D
I did the exercise for about 5-10 minutes and came up with twelve post ideas for my personal blog. I can only imagine how many other ideas I’ll come up with for my other blogs!
Leann
May 14th, 2009 4:46 pm
hi Darren, seems I’ve been left behind so far. what a shame! but trust me, giving up will never show up in my dictionary, that’s why I’m still here.
honest, I’ve always been excited reading EVERY post in this 31day plan, but it is this one that inspired me to comment, as you just read blogger’s mind and find out what problems they are facing.
yes, topics running out is a problem for me, not serious but I could feel it sometimes. this brainstorming post is really great and helps a lot. I’ve had about 70 posts in my blog and try my best to update in daily basis. btw I have a fashion blog. surely I will do the homework today after my commenting here. but also, I will fulfill your suggestion on category exploration, I trust this will help me extend my coverage without ruining the Elevator Pitch I made.
Paula
May 16th, 2009 7:39 am
I wish someone had told me about this technique years ago. I couldn’t believe I came up with so many ideas in such as short time – 24 in 10 minutes, guess I got a bit carried away :)
On to the next task, thanks.
chris
May 18th, 2009 10:53 pm
this is so cool! i love this lesson… :) i will be doing my task a bit later. i actually have written down a few topics i am going to blog about in the future… just in time with today’s lesson
A Singaporean in London
May 21st, 2009 1:05 am
This works for me as I am a visual learner… charts and pictures agree with me. I have been facing some difficulties generating post ideas of late. Came to realise that while coming up with ideas are relatively simple as compared to crunching out content for a particular post.
uzoma
June 23rd, 2009 4:40 pm
Gosh!! why didn’t I think of this a long time ago, seriously I make mistakes but this one will surely go down memory lane for me, thanks dude for this wonderful piece worth, $80
links of london
July 4th, 2009 5:21 pm
Another thing you could do is to take 5 good posts on other blogs that you read, and turn them around, and come up with a few more ideas.
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