How to Brainstorm Great Blog Ideas

If you’re a blogger, you need to come up with a constant stream of great blog ideas people are going to want to read.

But how do you do that?

Surely, sooner or later you’ll hit a brick wall.

That’s where brainstorming comes in. Here are a few techniques you can use to come up with fresh ideas.

1. Criticism

As a business owner, you’re bound to think your product or service is the best thing since sliced bread.

But it’s important to be self-critical and anticipate your customers’ potential criticisms before they make them. That way, you can create a blog post counters them and shows how your product and service can be used to great effect.

2. Don’t be yourself

The problem you face is that you’re too close to your business.

It’s time to think like a child. A child’s imagination is an incredible tool, so think as they would when writing about your product and create some fun and perhaps controversial blog posts.

It’s also easy to get complacent about how your products work, taking things for granted that may not be so obvious to others. Think about that and see if you can produce blog posts that clarify products and services and perhaps suggest using them in ways your readers may not have thought of before.

3. Metaphors

When planning your posts, see if you can create titles that use metaphors – such as ‘Starting a Business is Like Childbirth’. It will help create eye-catching titles that will make readers want to click and read more.

4. Curiosity

Don’t become too blinkered by your own knowledge. Be curious and read around your subject. Learning new ideas and techniques will help strengthen your writing and, potentially, your product or service.

5. Get out

Sitting in an office (or home office) and staring at a blank computer screen is not the best way to spark creativity.

Get out and about, talk to people, get some fresh air – a change in your environment will help trigger ideas and add a new dimension to your blogging.

None of this is ground breaking stuff, but every now and then it’s good to have a reminder of the basics.

Author: Sally Ormond, Copywriter and MD at Briar Copywriting Ltd. Follow her on Twitter and Google+