Lately, I’ve been hearing a similar concern from a variety of contacts. “We want content. We want a blog. But, how do we come up with new ideas every week?” It’s true, content requires time and effort, but with a little creativity it’s not hard to come up with some stellar subjects that bolster your content strategy. In this article, I’ll review a few of my favorite strategies. 

At this point everybody with a website should be on the quality content bandwagon. The search engines caught on to those sneaky link-building tactics, and the regularly posted blog, webinar, and newsletter, are more important than ever. With so much content to create how can anyone possibly keep up? It’s not too complicated. You need to be organized, stick to your schedule, and draw inspiration from anywhere you can find it. Keep a notebook, or at least a pen, handy at all times. I’ve got a Lamy Safari fountain pen that I never leave home without. But what do you do when you’ve got nothing. When you’re staring at that blank page, and falling deep into despair?

Staff Interview and Profiles

You’ve got clients, customers, prospects, and followers, and they probably know a lot about what you’re selling. They’ve read your blogs on the industry, on the technology, and more. But what do they know about you and your team? A staff member interview, or profile, is a great opportunity to show off your subject matter expertise in a new context. What does your programmer love about working on the company’s latest software release? How did your CEO’s experience as a college student shape their vision for the company? Topics like these can add value and personality to even the driest subjects. Try finding someone comfortable on camera and record a video interview.

Tangential Subjects

People are typically not single minded. We each have a variety of interests, hobbies, and passions. Anything might catch some-ones eye, from the finer points of SEO to competitive county fair pig racing. Someone who reads your blog is probably interested in other content–usually something that’s related to what you’re writing about. Say you run a carpentry wholesale business, and you blog about the latest and greatest in wood working tools. It’s likely, your readers (and customers) buy other building tools and materials, like wood, paint, fixtures, etc. They might also be interested in the latest trends in antique furniture, home remodeling, even the latest advances in sustainable lumber. Including the occasional tangential subject can expand your audience, help establish you as a thought leader in the industry, and open the possibility of content partnerships with authors in these new spaces.

What did you do this week?

This is probably the simplest strategy for brainstorming new content. Think about the past week or two. Did you deal with any particularly challenging obstacles? What did you work on? What were your meetings about? What kind of client questions and customer requests did you get? Make a list and think about what you learned. Chances are, there’s someone in your audience who could use the same information. That said, unless your website is about cats, your readers probably don’t care about the cute thing your cat did over the weekend. So, keep the subject on point.

Whatever new content you come up with–remember the fundamentals. Always check your keyword list for opportunities and make sure that anything you create speaks to your audience. Would they find it interesting or valuable? Do you find it interesting? Would it entice them to subscribe or come back for more? 

What are some of your favorite ways to develop content?