You probably don't write your blog just for the sake of writing. You're hoping that readers will come to your blog, read what you have to say, and appreciate it. One way to come up with ideas to blog about is to put yourself in the reader's shoes.
Most blog posts do one of the following (if not more than one):
To complete the exercise, you just need to fill in the blocks with something that combines a topic from your blog with one of the common post types. The result might be something like this:
Just about that quickly, you've managed to come up with ideas for 15 blog posts. If you cover more topics on your blog or come up with more categories for blog posts than I did, you'll have a lot more ideas on your grid.
Most blog posts do one of the following (if not more than one):
If you're looking for ideas for articles to post on your blog, the "grid method" may help you. Start by making a grid on a piece of paper, or in a spreadsheet, or using whatever medium you're comfortable with. Down the left side of the grid, write the individual items in the bulleted list above. Across the top of the grid from left to right, write in the subject areas of your blog, or subject areas you might like to write about. Let's say that on your blog, you tend to talk about your pet cat, your computer, and food:
- Share information about a subject
- Share a viewpoint
- Challenge an assumption
- Provide entertainment
- Empower readers to do something
- Compare and contrast two things
- Speculate about something that might happen
| Cats | Computers | Food | |
| Share information | |||
| Share a viewpoint | |||
| Challenge an assumption | |||
| Entertain | |||
| Empower readers to do something |
To complete the exercise, you just need to fill in the blocks with something that combines a topic from your blog with one of the common post types. The result might be something like this:
| Cats | Computers | Food | |
| Share information | Things every new cat owner should know | How to select a good motherboard | How to make a delicious, tender pot roast |
| Share a viewpoint | Why cats make better pets than dogs | Why I prefer AMD CPUs to Intel CPUs | A review of "Good Eats" on the Food Network |
| Challenge an assumption | Some cats actually like water and getting wet | Generic memory is just as good as name-brand memory | More expensive cuts of steak aren't necessarily better |
| Entertain | How I drive my cats nuts with a laser pointer | 101 things to do with useless old floppy disks | The humiliating night I sent back my gazpacho soup because it was cold |
| Empower readers to do something | How to teach your cat to use a toilet instead of a litter box | How to choose the right components and build a powerful PC for less | A step-by-step guide to making the perfect pumpkin pie |
Just about that quickly, you've managed to come up with ideas for 15 blog posts. If you cover more topics on your blog or come up with more categories for blog posts than I did, you'll have a lot more ideas on your grid.
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