When I posted my plan for a guest posting blitz: 20 posts in 30 days, Marko actually replied saying that it was an aggressive goal and offered me an invite to post here.
So, I thought what better to write about than how I can continually generate massive amounts of content. Since starting my blog I’ve consistently published between 5-7 posts a week. So, I figured it’s time to answer the question, “How do you come up with so much content?”
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Write every day
Notice that I didn’t put post every day. I said “write” every day. Writing is like any other skill. The more you do it, the better you are going to get at it. I do a little bit of writing every single day on some idea I have for a blog post. At any one time I might have 10 or so different ideas for posts, and be working on 3-4.
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Consciously look for ideas
As I go through my life, I will often look for experiences that I could turn into a blog post. Sometimes simply asking myself the question “How can I turn this into a blog post?” will enable me to come up with the idea I need for my next post.
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Brainstorm
At all times, you should have either a notebook, text document, or just a simple list of of ideas for blog posts. Even if you don’t know what the content of the post will be and the idea seems half baked, write it down. I have ideas for blog posts that I came up with a month ago and I still haven’t written them.
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Psycho Cybernetics problem solving
I know that’s a mouthful. One thing I learned from Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s book is the idea of our subconscious problem solving mechanism. You can actually give your subconsciousness instructions to solve a problem before you go to sleep and in the morning you will wake up with the solution. It sounds nuts, but I’ve found it to be quite effective for coming up with blog post ideas.
So how do you do this? It’s pretty simple actually. Before you go to sleep, just tell yourself “I need an idea for a new blog post.” Do this right before you are about to fall asleep. Then when you wake up in the morning you’ll have an idea.
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Posts/Comments on other blogs
I come up with a lot of ideas for posts when I read people’s comments on other blogs. Sometimes a reader will make a comment or ask a question about the post I’m reading, so I just write a blog post about it. Again it comes down to asking yourself the question, “How can I make a blog post out of that?”
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Go off topic
Maybe you have a good story that has nothing do with the content of your blog? Turn it into a blog post. You’ll be surprised at how engaging people find your content.
If there’s anybody who actually does a great job of taking every day life experiences that seem completely ordinary and turnes them into awesome blog posts, it’s Kelly Diels. She managed to take a conversation about some t-shirt she bough her boyfriend, write a blog post about it, make a product out of it, and sell two t-shirts.
Developing momentum
All of this comes down to developing momentum. Once you hit your stride, you’ll see that coming up with posts is not all that difficult. Finding the time to write all of them is really about effective time management. If you want to know how I manage my time check out my post on how to put your Wordpress blog on autopilot and hang out at the beach and my 6 tips for efficient blogging.
A guest post by Srinivas Rao, a personal development blogger, at The Skool of Life. If you want to guest post on HowToMakeMyBlog, please check out more info here.
Image by Ajawin
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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
I am quite new at this blogging stuff and at times I feel I don’t know what I am doing. Your post helps clear up some of my questions. Thanks for sharing.
Although I’ve been into blogging for about 7 months, I still am so amateur at it, too, especially in the area of writing regularly. I found that in 7 months I averaged only at 6 posts per month, with September being the month which garnered a whooping 2 posts only.
I usually blame this inadequacy to my daytime job…that I can’t have enough time to write posts because I go home tired after a day’s work. But with the ideas presented here, I can no longer keep on blaming my daytime job for this shortcoming. I’ll try to apply these tips to my blog work. Hmmmmmn…Pyscho cybernetics problem solving… I’ll try this one first.
I just had to post to say “Wow!” 20 guest posts in 30 days is very impressive. I can only imagine the bump in readership you will experience by accomplishing this feat. And thank you for sharing an awesome post here!
Wow, Srini, thanks! I liked your discussion of Psycho Cybernetics. I used to do this in University, though I didn’t know it was an official thing. Whenever I was stuck on a complicated essay, or with my thesis, I’d think about it, and then go to sleep. Inevitably I’d either dream through it or wake with the answer. Magic. Or psycho cybernetics.
@Chris: If you need any help, feel free to email me. I’ll even do a chat with you and give you some ideas for how to get going.
@Dustin: I’m not sure if I’ve hit 20 yet, but I’m definitely pushing hard to get as much content out there as possible.
@Kelly: Like I just said I’m going to have you be the genius behind my work from this point forward
For a long time i’ve been trying to make money with my blog
on how to effectively stop snoring naturelly.but I,m Not Geting any traffic what do i do..please help.
@Ronnie: You have a ton of work to do. I could take one look at your site and see why you’re not getting any traffic. Don’t take this as harsh, but more as constructive feedback.
1) You are running blogspot. You need to switch the wordpress and your own domain. That alone will make a big difference.
2) I think you should find a mentor. Marko’s blog is a great resources and you should start at some of his earliest posts and look at what’s he’s done. You could also join many of the blogging programs out there. If you want to know about the one I joined, contact me.
3) I’ll be honest. I didn’t read your content because I took one look at your blog and instantly saw why you don’t get any traffic. You get only about 20 seconds (if that) to get a reader’s attention.
That being said I’m glad to actually help you with all of this at no cost. Just write something good about me somewhere
I think you should join *Consciously look for ideas *Brainstorm together because they go hand in hand. I find that while brainstorming ideas to write for a post, I have different and sometimes weird ideas for next posts. So writing them down or using a mindmap application is essential for bloggers.
@Phaoloo I’m definitely a big fan of mind maps. Anytime I start a new project online I just mind map for an hour and put down whatever comes to mind. It’s like a brain dump almost.
I’ve been following your blog for a while now and think you have great content. Very informative and helpful. Having said that I respect your opinion and am curious what you think of my blog. Any constructive criticism is not only appreciated but welcome.
Rupert,
It looks like you have alot of great content, but like Ronnie you need some design work and probably want to move to wordpress.
To add to the Psycho Cybernetics, keep a notebook beside your bed and write the idea’s down as soon as you wake even through the night.
As well as that keep a notebook on you all the time, and jot down any idea’s or observations. You will soon have pages of idea’s to blog about.
Jotting down observations in a notebook was something Einstein used to do.
Seems to me that if it worked for him it might be a good idea!!!
Yeah, I agree with that one Adam. It’s a really simple thing to do, and often many of our greatest insights come to us in our dreams or at night because that is when the subconscious mind is most receptive.
sometime to do guest author i mean a lot of it.. its simple just ask the blog owner to give you the topic, and we write based on the topic.. trust me to write is easier compare to find the right topic.
This person has don wonderful job for new blogger like me it will help us to improve the presentation skills of the blog. Keep doing these kind of things for those people who are not having much knowledge about the blogging.
Hi,
As i am new in that platform, i can’t say anymore. but what i realize it will help for me.
I suffer from depression aand sometimes there are days when I don’t even feel like getting out of bed, never mind writing arrticles with looming deadlines.
What I have started to do is when I’m feeling good I work away like a beaver pumping out content, but I don’t publish iit all. I save some of it for the days when I’m feeling bad so I have things to publish on those days.
It works foor me.
If you want to make money the easy way, then venture to internet marketing. And becoming a blogger is just one aspect of generating online case directly to your bank account. In order to become a proficient blogger, just follow the rules of search engines and stick with algorithms, surely without doubt you’ll be everything you want.
Ha ha ha… Thanks for making me LOL, Miltski.
@ Dean Saliba: I do exactly the same, and it’s the way to go – with or without a depression episode.
Great post. Thank you for the inspiration. I really like number 1 – Write every day. I tend to start writing my post as soon as I get the idea. I believe writing every day would help my posts be more thought out and not so rushed.
Is there other programs besides mind maps that you can use for things like this?
@Josh: I use a program called Anxiety for the Mac. all it is, is a todo list app where I list ideas for posts.
Being prolific hasn’t been my problem. I wrote 300 posts in my first year for my blog, and I’m no pace to hit my next 300 by the end of the year. I’m lucky to find inspiration in almost anything. One problem I don’t have is worrying about a specific niche, which can be difficult for most people to write a lot about.
You truly are a prolific writer, I was able to visit and read your other guest post and they are phenomenal. Thanks for sharing your tips with us
@Ms.Freeman: Thanks for the kind words. Feel free to stop by my blog and check out my content as well.
I write every day! I am not a writer by nature but am currently writing an accessory design textbook and writing a blog just became my social life and escapism from writing the book.
I just look into my life and what’s relevant to me and my peers, but the real key is taking photographs! An image is worth a thousand words, and sometimes just a few sentences around the photo will create the story for the day!
This post just perfectly suits me. I currently have 4 guest posts ready and still trying to do at least 5. I dont know but its just recently that I started doing guest posts and what I know is its one of the key steps in taking my blog the next level.
Nice tips.
I think writing consistently and promoting consistently is a must. By promoting you will get traffic and rise in search engines. I think best way to get traffic for new bloggers is by doing blog commenting.
As a rule says, to become a orator speak alot. Write many rubbish and publish the best. This is the law I follow!!
any interest in writing a guest post for us about this topic or about business blogging in general? i like your ideas!
Nice post Marco, I hope to see you tonight
Great article. It’s interesting you bring it up as the thought crossed my mind recently of how to come up with more content. Unfortunately in my niche there is only so much content I can post a week, the idea generating power of one man has it’s limits!