The Infamous Question - How Do I Come Up With Blog Ideas?

One of the biggest mental blocks most people have when creating blog posts is coming up with ideas. You can stare at that blank word document for 30 minutes, wracking your brain for something to put down to impress the masses. It's easy to become discouraged or frustrated and push it off until tomorrow. Unfortunately, that "tomorrow" gets farther and farther away and before you know it, it's been 2 months since your last blog post.

Well have no fear. Today we have a lists of 5 best practices to help you stockpile a ton of ideas so you never have to stare down that plank page ever again.

1. Compile a list of FAQ's - There's a reason these are called "frequently" asked questions. If more than 1 person has asked you the same question in a meeting or at an event, it's likely a lot of other people want to know the answer as well. Think about questions you get asked daily in your job and jot them down to create an easy list of topics.

2. Utilize your bookmarks folder - Like I mentioned last week, bookmarking relevant articles and websites is a very underutilized tool. Create a special bookmark folder called "Blog Ideas" and save anything that isn't timely to it. Bookmarking content ideas with a long shelf life will ensure that you'll always have something relevant to post when you need ideas.

3. Pull up your notes app - Despite the fact that I use my phone for everything else in life, for some reason I always forget to use it for storing information on the go. When you're out during the day, quickly pull up your notes app on your phone to jot down ideas or questions that come to mind. Even if you end up throwing some of them out you won't forget the stroke of genius you had in line at Dunkin Donuts. 

4. Sign up for industry newsletters - Find some newsletters related to your industry and sign up for them. Even if you don't read them everyday, you know you can always quickly pull them up for a list of relevant articles and content.

5.  Stalk your competition - Google other businesses in your sphere and see what they're writing about. Look at content that people are responding to and see if you can expand upon it. Have another (aka better) way of doing something? Use that a springboard for your next post. Notice a topic that isn't getting a lot of attention? Cross that off the list and don't waste your time.