What to blog about today?
Ever sit down to start your blogging and just stare at the screen? You know you have and it is the one thing that stops a lot of people from making blogging work.
The key is to have a topic. If you are like me once I have a specific topic sitting down and cranking out a blog post is easy. Coming up with the idea is where the problem usually comes in.
This is one of the reasons I rarely have trouble when I am doing my niche blogging simply because I have already created a list of topics when doing my keyword research. If you are not sure about doing keyword research check out EZ Keyword Research. So do the keyword research for your blog and you won’t lack for topics.
The real problem comes in when I am doing a blog like this where I am not as focused as I should be. I cover a lot of topics here although it is all about WordPress or blogging. It is a very general topic.
Now when I am getting lots of questions (you may have noticed I am always soliciting your questions and that is the reason) it is easy. Here is where you can use a survey of your readers to get future topics.
There are other ways to generate topic ideas.
First keep a notepad or tape recorder with you. I carry a little note pad and a digital recorder with me most of the time. I get ideas for posts at the strangest times and places and if I don’t make a note I will never remember when I finally sit down at my machine.
You can use Google News to keep track of what is new on your topic. Grab the feed of the news query and add it into your favorite feed reader (I use Google Reader) and you can just check it every so often and see what topics are hot. Quite often this will give you an idea or a different angle to address a topic.
Personally I like to add these into a mind map because it is easy to move them around and categorize and re-categorize ideas. Of course regular readers know that I tend to map out everything.
I find that once you understand how to use mind mapping that it makes it easier to write. Having your ideas and parts of your topic in order before you start writing always makes it easier and your content better.
Check out Discover Freemind to get a free download of mind mapping software and the opportunity for some training on how to use it.
Hopefully you will implement these ideas and next time you sit down ready to blog you will start writing instead of staring at the screen.
And oh yeah, leave your comments and questions below so I have more ideas for new topics 
.
About the author
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Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps |
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9 comments
R.Brian Burkhardt
Twitter: yourfuneralguy
on January 21, 2010 at 10:58 am
Once you get past the basics of having a topic, the best way to find information “TO POST”and generate traffic is check out how your subject fits into the news.
See what is trending on twitter, check out google trends. Even if it is a stretch connect to the news of the day,readers love it. There are actually hundreds of ways to do this for any niche.
R.Brian Burkhardt´s last blog ..Wisconsin County: Cremations up 63%-YourFuneralGuy
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Lonnie Minton on January 21, 2010 at 11:58 am
Yep, I’ve stared at the screen or just sat hear and wondered, what to post about. After a bit I just go check email or do something else. Hard to stay focus when this happens. You are right – coming up with the idea is problem. Thanks for the topic generation ideas.
Lonnie Minton´s last blog ..Learn Affiliate Marketing With Power Start 2010 4-Week Coaching Program
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Luca Di Nicola
Twitter: rsonline
on January 21, 2010 at 12:39 pm
I like your digital recorder idea. I often have great ideas while driving and sure enough I’ll forget them before I get back to my computer. Another idea is to look at the digital dust on your hard drive. I have so many plr articles on various subjects that I can draw from. There’s a lot of good research material right there.
Luca Di Nicola´s last blog ..Powerstart 2010 – Starting an Online Business The Right Way
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Earl Netwal
Twitter: EarlNetwal
on January 21, 2010 at 3:25 pm
I tend to go in streaks. I have a basic idea and then a series of blog post will emerge from it. What I like about it is it allows me to get up a head of steam and write two three or four in one sitting and schedule them ahead of time. What I don’t like, is when I feel I need to interrupt the stream with a non related post. _ although I don’t really loose a lot of sleep over that, I just comment that I will be back to the sequence in the coming post.
Earl Netwal´s last blog ..Instant Fast Traffic – A Review
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Ron Barrett on January 22, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Sometimes for me it’s not about WHAT to write about, it’s about how to put what’s in my pea brain down on the screen.
I like your ideas. A lot of my thoughts come to me when I am driving to and from work…the recorder is a great idea.
Ron Barrett´s last blog ..Overcoming The Three Myths of List Building
[Reply]
Mike Reply:
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:39 pm
That is where laying out your post in Free Mind works well. You can move the pieces and have your main bullets before you start.
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Andre Arnett on January 22, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Some great ideas you put out there Mike. I especially like the idea of having that notepad or recorder with you. You are so right about finding ideas in the most unusual places and times. I have lost more than my share of those brain cells and I think the remembering cells were some of the first to go.
Andre Arnett´s last blog ..Let AIDA Help Improve Your Sales
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Joe on January 22, 2010 at 9:38 pm
The recorder idea is good. I am looking for a mic for the IPod touch today. Thanks Mike
Joe´s last blog ..Hurt Locker and Motherboards
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Fred Lotgering
Twitter: lotcon
on January 23, 2010 at 11:40 am
Yes this is a good reminder for me. I liked to use a recorder to make my notes and ideas when I have bright moment (and often in places where you don’t have pen and paper available. Better go and buy one again.
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