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On with our Killer Online Platform series!
Last time we looked at how to do keyword research. If you haven't yet read this, I suggest you go back and do so, because it might come in handy (hint, hint).
Today we are looking at the next step, which I know that a lot of people are going to want to skip, but don't! For the love of God, don't!
The topic is thinking of at least 50 posts. I'm adding to that and saying: 'Think of 50, and write out at least 10'.
Why should you think of 50?
First of all, if you struggle to think of even 50 posts about your area, you might not have picked the best area. If you are posting about 2-3 times a week, that gets you six months in.
Did you remember me saying this was going to take at least a year? You do the maths.
Yes, some of your entries may be a bit filler, but you want the majority of your posts to be interesting and informative.
Second, one of the most important things you can do when starting out to get people to read your stuff is to have 'epic content' (ie. amazing, informative, 'wow' factor content). If you can list out 50 topics, this will help you identify the 'wow' topics from the less 'wow' topics.
Third, the second most important thing when you start out as a blogger is being consistent. You really need to be posting at least every week, preferably 2-3 times a week. Less than that, people are going to forget about you. (If you are posting just once a week, make it clear when you will be posting so people can tune in to you like a new episode on TV each week and not waste their time checking the rest of the week). If you have a list of topics already written out, it will be a big help when you have very little time and can't think what to write. (Especially so if you have a few stock posts ready and waiting to go.)
How do you think of 50?
Here are the top tips I've picked up about how to find great post ideas:
1. This may sound simple, but anyone who has tried writing frequent posts will attest to how useful it can be: Have a schedule for your posts. For example, for me: Sundays and Wednesdays are now my ROW80 days, Monday or Tuesday I try to do a post in my series (currently KOP), Thursday I'm going to start trying to do more writing tips, and I'm going to be bringing in on Friday a link round up of cool things about writing around the web. Knowing this makes choosing what to write a whole lot easier.
2. Google Keyword research. (Told you it would come up). Take your keyword, and see what people are searching for. What do they want to know about? Find out and give it to them!
3. This is from Pat Flynn and is a great idea: go to amazon.com and look up books in your area. Using the preview function, have a look at their content page. There you go, a list of topics that should be covered for this area!
4. Forums etc. Go to places where your audience hangs out and see what questions people repeatedly ask. I hang around fitness forums and people always ask questions that I'm like 'how could you not know the answer to that?' But in fact, they don't but I do which = great opportunity. (I also go back to the forum afterwards and give a short answer and link to my post for a longer answer if they're interested, which obviously they are!)
5. Series. Sort of like the scheduling idea, but a lot of topics can been turned into a series of posts. Most of my fitness posts come in threes, such as the barefoot running. The first post was looking at what it is and why there is such a debate about it. The second post was on the technique necessary to not hurt yourself, and the third was a review of the different types of shoes. (Oh, I actually chucked in a fourth one in there, which was a YouTube video on how to make your own barefoot running shoes, just for fun (and a great filler, took me like 5 minutes to do, and still gave fun value to my reader)).
I also keep a list on my iPhone so that while I'm out and a great idea comes to me, I can add it later.
With these tips, you should be able to come up with a list of at least 50 topics, preferably arranged into different areas you could do for your schedule. How about Monday's are Information Overload day, Wednesday is How To day, and Friday is Review Product/Book day? Simple, but helps you order your list.
Now that you have got the list, choose ten and actually write up the blog post and save them as drafts. You will thank me for this later. Trust me.
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