Generating Fresh Article Ideas

Just the other day, I was on a call with one of my clients who recently
started writing articles to market her small business. Even though at first
she wasn’t so sure she could write articles at all, she’s now committed
herself to writing one a week! And she’s really excited about all the ways
she’ll be able to use her new articles and writing skills to showcase her
expertise and help her clients.

There’s just one problem.

She’s only written a handful of articles and she’s already starting to run
out of content ideas. Since I write a minimum of one newsletter article and
two blog posts a week she asked me for advice.

The answer I gave her is both simple and really, really powerful…

"If you want fresh ideas to come out of your already overworked brain, you
have to put fresh information and ideas in."

That means reading newsletters, magazines and books on the subjects you
write about. Listening to audios and videos works too. And of course so does
attending conferences, workshops and seminars.

I find it especially useful to expose myself to information from a wide
variety of industries. Because what’s old hat in one industry may be a
completely new and valuable idea in another. Or I might be inspired to think
about something in a new way.

That doesn’t mean you need to overload your Inbox or overwhelm yourself with
material. But you do need to keep reading and learning. Otherwise you’re
going to run out of things to say.

So pick a few newsletters, blogs or people whose info you think is really
great and keep up with they’re saying. Subscribe to at least one relevant
magazine. And try to read a book a month.

Not only will you find yourself coming up with all kinds of new ideas, but
you can often even quote other people in your own article. Or talk about
your take on what someone else had to say. Either of these makes for a
terrific starting place. And sure beats a blank page staring you in the face
any day.

I also like to have both an electronic and a physical file where I stash
other people’s articles for future reference. And I have a file where I keep
articles I started writing when the light bulb first went off.

So basically, every time I get an idea I just start writing about it until I
run out of steam. Then I save it for later. That way when I need an article
I can just go to my file of articles in progress, pick one I like, and
finish it off in a jiffy.

Do just these few things and you’re bound to find that writing articles
regularly really is easier than you think. And that content marketing is one
of the best ways to build your reputation as an expert and grow your small
business.

Of course, these are just my tricks for getting the job done. I’m sure
there’s more than one way to skin the article writing cat.

What do you do to keep the fresh ideas and creative juices flowing?

Did these suggestions help?

Let me know by leaving a comment below!