The Massive List of Ideas for Blog Posts

Maybe when you first started blogging you had a long list of ideas for blog posts.  Now you’re into your fifth month of blogging and everything is going great. Several people have subscribed to your RSS feed, you’ve gotten a good number of positive comments, and a few of your readers have even stumbled and tweeted your best articles. You sit down at your computer to write your next blog post when, suddenly, it hits you: you have absolutely no idea what to write about.

Your mind is completely blank; it’s a vast, endless ocean of white. You’ve lost your blogging mojo. OK, just write anything. “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.” Write it ten times. It’s not helping. Take a break. Come back twenty minutes later. Nothing.  All your ideas for blog posts seem to have vanished into thin air.

The above scenario can happen at any point during your blogging career: when you’re first starting out, after you’ve been at it for a whole year, and even once you’re a seasoned blogging veteran. So, what do you do when you sit down to write a blog post and absolutely nothing comes to mind? Just refer to this blog post (which I’m sure you’ve bookmarked ).

Here’s a massive list of ideas for blog posts for when you’re experiencing blogger’s block:

More Than Sixty Ideas for Blog Posts

• Find forums that are dedicated to your blog’s topic and stop by regularly to see what types of questions people are asking. Write blog posts answering the most common questions.

• Write a tutorial (like my Emotional Freedom Technique tutorial).

• Interview key people in your niche.

• Look through your comments and answer frequently asked questions in a blog post.

• If a reader sends you an email asking you a question which you suspect several of your readers might have, answer him/her in a blog post.

• Go Hollywood: If you write a blog post which does very well, write a sequel.

• Write a review of a book in your niche that would be helpful to your readers.

• Review your statistics to see if people are landing on your blog for a search term that is related to your niche but that you haven’t written about yet.

• Create a survey and ask your readers what they would like to know more about.

• Review a product that would help people in your niche.

• Debunk a popular myth in your niche.

• Get personal. Write about something that’s going on in your life that would be instructive for your readers.

• Go to Ezinearticles.com, choose a category that’s related to your niche, and look through the articles to get ideas.

• Subscribe to other blogs in your niche.  Read these blogs regularly to see if they spark any ideas.

• Expand on a blog post written by another blogger.

• Write a rebuttal if you don’t agree with another blogger’s view point.

• Create a top ten list:

- Top ten books in your niche.

- Top ten blogs in your niche.

- Top ten tips in your niche.

• Is there an immediate need that your blog audience has? For example, if you write a blog geared toward parents and school is about to start, you could write about the following immediate needs:

- How to Prepare a Healthy School Lunch in Under Five Minutes
- Motivating Your Child to Do Homework
- Saving Money on School Supplies

• Use the wordtracker free keyword suggestion tool.  Type in a keyword related to your niche and use the results as ideas for your blog posts.

• Create an “Ask the Reader” post like Leo Babauta used to do on Zen Habits (like this one).

• Interview yourself so that your readers get to know a little bit more about you as a person.  You can also ask your readers to send you questions about things they’ve been wondering about you and answer them in a blog post.

• Create a list of your best blog posts.

• Write something short and pithy (like this).

• Create a prediction of where your niche is going to be in the next five, ten, or fifteen years.

• Create a massive list of resources for your niche.

• Create a chart that breaks down a complicated issue in your niche.

• Collect tips on Twitter related to your niche and publish a list of bite-sized tips.

• Hold a contest.

• Search Delicious for popular posts about your topic and see what ideas you get from those posts.

• Create a video tutorial.

• Set up a Google Alerts for several key phrases related to your blog’s topic. Each day, or once a week, Google will send you an email with new web pages related to that phrase (press releases, news articles, blog posts, and so on.). Tweak your Google Alerts over time for best results.

• Are there print magazines about your topic?  Head on over to your favorite bookstore and leaf through the magazines.

• Use Google’s Wonder Wheel tool to find topics to write about.  You can learn more about this on Problogger.

• Conduct an experiment and report on it (Steve Pavlina does this all the time; for example, he conducted a polyphasic sleep experiment).

• Write a blog post about the “The Golden Rules” of your industry (for example, “The Golden Rules of Goal Setting” or “The Golden Rules of Productivity”).

• Visit how-to sites for blog ideas, such as How Stuff Works or Expert Village.

• Collect the best blog posts in your niche and write a “best of” article.

• Write a manifesto.

• Check StumbleUpon or Technorati to discover what’s most popular right now and find a new angle to it.

• Find a couple of great YouTube videos about your blog niche and embed them on your blog as a post.

• Run a poll and report on the results.

• Put together a list of great interviews conducted with prominent figures in your niche.

• Create a list of great quotes related to your niche.

• Write a guide for beginners in your niche.

• Look through “The Creative Commons” on Flickr and create a gallery of great images related to your niche.

• Talk about legal issues surrounding your industry (any new laws or regulations).

• Publish a list of money saving tips for your niche.

• Write a post on how to do something in your niche in half the time.

• Write a Do’s and Don’ts post.

• Create a quiz.

• Write a series.

• Write “The Lazy Person’s Guide to . . . “

• Write a post on the top mistakes people make in your niche, and how to avoid these mistakes.

• Write an “If I knew then what I know now . . . ” post.

• Update an old blog post.

• Go to Squidoo and look for lenses (lenses are web pages on Squidoo) on your niche.  Get ideas there.

• Do a case study.  For example, if you write about productivity, help your sister–or a friend–organize her home office and write about how you did it and how it improved her productivity.

• Create a mindmap to help you brainstorm blogging ideas.

• Force yourself to write a list of 100 blogging ideas in fifteen minutes.  Don’t censor yourself while creating the list, just write anything that comes to mind.  When you’re done, take a look at your list.  There’s bound to be at least one good idea in there.

• Write a checklist.  For example, if you blog about starting a small business, write a “Small Business Startup Checklist”.

• Create a list of the best people in your niche to follow on Twitter.

How do you come up with blogging ideas?

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe for free by RSS or e-mail and you’ll always know when I publish something new. (What’s RSS?). Also, please share it on the social media site of your choice.

(Match photograph courtesy of Funadium).

Related Posts:

• Blog Business Plan – 35 Creative Ways to Market Your Blog
• Blog Business Plan: Your Unique Selling Proposition
• “Step-by-Step Tutorial: Write, Publish and Market Your Ebook”
• Blogger’s Checklist

I Recommend:

My ebook “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists” explains that creativity is not the sole domain of the arts but is important in any field. Whatever you do, creativity helps you do it better. Discover practical advice on how to be more creative in every life endeavor by reading my ebook.

The Sedona Method is a simple, powerful, easy-to-learn technique that shows you how to let go of any negative, unwanted or painful feelings you may be experiencing at any particular moment. It consists of a series of questions you ask yourself that lead your awareness to focus on what you’re feeling in the moment and gently guide you toward letting it go. Read my review of the Sedona Method here.