Posted by Are you at a loss for how to create content? Has your Blog not been updated in a while? Do you sit and stare at Twitter and wonder silently, "what am I really doing?"
If you’re looking for one thing or one "trick" to figure out how to beat your digital version of "writer’s block", have you tried to publish your own take on something? It’s pretty simple. Over the course of the day, look at the information you are saving and/or sharing. If you’re using some of the same tools that I am (Google Reader, Delicious, Google Bookmarks, Twitter, etc…) , there has to be a small handful of pieces of content that have piqued your interest in the past little while.
As an example, here are a few of mine from the past day (or so):
- Research Brief – Newspapers Still Send Consumers To The Store.
- iMedia Connection – 4 reasons websites are becoming irrelevant.
- The New York Times – Breakfast Can Wait. The Day’s First Stop Is Online.
- Malcolm Gladwell (The New Yorker) – How David Beats Goliath.
Without even reading any of these articles (yet), here are some questions you can ask yourself and then you can answer these questions in your own publishing platform of choice (Blog, Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed… your call):
- Is newspaper advertising still relevant?
- Do newspaper ads send people to stores? What would change that habit?
- Did we misread the whole, "newspapers are dying" chants from the new media people?
- Are websites irrelevant?
- In a world of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, aren’t websites more important than ever?
- What will it take to make corporate websites more relevant going forward?
- Why are people going online before grabbing breakfast?
- Has society changed forever because of the Internet?
- Are online newspapers going to kill the traditional print version at the morning table?
- What are the five best ways for David to beat Goliath in terms of business (or marketing)?
- What is it about Malcolm Gladwell’s writing that makes him so compelling?
Without blinking (or even reading those articles), there are eleven potential Blog posts or conversation starters for online social networks. It’s not hard and anybody (including you) can do this. If you’re stumped, but if you want to engage, simply look at some other pieces of content and create your own perspective.
What’s your one best tip to inspire content creation?
Never another podcast episode or article 
What wonderful timing… I thought I was loosing it. Thanks for the inspiration and the links.
Mitch – I get almost all of my ideas on content from business books. Which reminds me – we really need to connect about a little book called “Six Pixels of Separation”!
Precisely why I like headline aggretators. Made my own like alltop at http://www.reactorr.com/news/ . Although it needs more feeds, like this blog.
Very timely. I spend so much time reading and sharing but when it comes to offering my take I get nervous. What if people think I’m a total idiot? So I stare at my blog pages and write something safe and promotional. Must get more adventurous.
As bloggers, we can learn a lot from songwriters. Any good songwriter will tell you that they invite the songwriting process into every facet of their life…they look at it as a lifestyle. Being intentional about this invitation allows every interaction with people, articles and the world around you to be seen through the lens of your song (or blog).
After enough time and practice, coming up with content becomes a natural part of your life.
I was going to write a long comment about being passionate, being bold and being aware…
Actually, I did and then I deleted it.
As a copywriter (and freelance journo and short story writer), I can give you the best bit of advice any writer (including myslef) should ever receive:
The easiest way to write is to write.
Put your butt in the chair and let it pour out of you. Edit later. Just let it go. Turn on the tap and let it flood the page, or the screen, or the three minutes of your vodcast….
And in the words of Neil Gaiman: “There’s no such thing as writers’ block. Gardeners don’t get gardeners’ block. You’re stuck. Go do something else until you get unstuck.”
PS:Be passionate (about your subject) , be bold (with your opinion) and be aware (of as much as is possible related to your subject)…and you may never run out of content.
Mmmmmm,
“Content” is a horrid word – and squeezing it out of a rule-tube nauseating. Creating something people will spend their time reading in the infomationoverload is about heart and balls…saying that I guess I use a few tricks to get mine out 🙂
All the best from Brighton,
Mark
http://integrationtraining.blogspot.com/
Great and timely… and darn simple. Thanks!
The lesson is.. it pays off to be observant. Thanks for the tips!
Brainstorming is quite conventional manner of gathering ideas but it works for me. You can brainstorm offline or even online. Use twitter or facebook to discuss and gather ideas and opinions. You can expect dozens of responses of different kinds (useful/rubbish) from opinionated individuals. Of course, personal experiences are still the best source of content. Why not start reminiscing experiences and try to relate it to what is the happening right now.