I’m approached frequently by people who want to start a blog but don’t know what they would write about. It’s a fair question. It’s a critical question, honestly.
In a previous post, I discussed two questions you should ask yourself to find a subject for your blog. Answering those questions can help you find a theme that will help you grow your audience and keep you excited to write.
Even if you know what you want to discuss generally on your site, it can be challenging to write about new topics all the time. I imagine that staring at an empty Word document with no idea what to write would not only be frustrating, but also a waste of valuable time.
Try this exercise before you create and launch your blog. (I did this one myself, and I recommend it to everyone.)
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How can you pick a theme for your content?
Brainstorm 50 post ideas.
I’m serious. Block out 30 minutes. Turn off your phone. Get a cup of coffee. Turn on your favorite music. And put pen to paper.
Just list every idea that comes to mind. Don’t edit. These aren’t necessarily posts you will write. You just want to find out if you have ideas with which you can create regular content.
I expect that you will start slowly for the first few minutes. Write everything down, no matter how silly or trivial. Those ideas might spark ideas for topics you hadn’t considered. I bet your brain will dump a lot of topics onto the paper soon.
When I did this exercise, I wrote 50 ideas in under five minutes. To be fair, I discuss a fairly broad subject – sports medicine. I can discuss injuries and surgeries, injury prevention, fitness, health, famous athletes and much more. Your theme might be narrower, but I bet you can still create original blog posts.
This exercise will help you determine if you have something to say.
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