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50 Can’t-Fail Techniques for Finding Great Blog Topics

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It’s one thing to know you need to create lots of great content . It’s another to actually know what you’re going to write about this week. Are you out of ideas for blog posts? Small wonder, if the only place you’re looking is inside your own head. We all need inspiration … and you’re not going to find it banging your head against the desk and hoping an idea falls out. You need fresh inspiration if you’re going to come up with new ideas. To help get your inspirational motor running, here are 50 techniques for generating great blog post topics. Two words: Google alerts . Set an alert with a few industry key words, and ask it to deliver at least 20 stories a day. Read the headlines and throw interesting links into a file for future use. When you get several related stories, you’ve got an instant roundup piece. Skim national newspapers and magazine stories. How does national news such as the recession affect your readers? Talk about national trends, and your audience will come to rely on you to tailor big news to address their concerns. Ask yourself, “What’s missing?” or “What will happen next?” Answer the questions those national rags didn’t address. What’s the next domino that will likely fall as a result of this piece of news? Point it out, and your readers will feel you (and they) are ahead of the curve. Read small publications. If you have an expertise blog, check the experts’ columns in local papers or business weeklies. Few people outside your community will have read these, and their topics are often easily recycled. Read trade publications. Trade pubs cover every imaginable industry and they’re a great source of trend ideas, from Ad Age to TWICE (This Week in Electronics). They’ll also track new companies and products you might mention (see #39). Read your competitors. I subscribe to several competing blogs on my iGoogle desktop, for real-time headline scanning. If you write on a similar topic, you can give the other blog link love. Riff on a popular post. Grab yourself some high-powered linkage by posting your reaction to a big-time blogger’s thoughts. Try a new medium. Burned out on the blogosphere? Look at YouTube videos, listen to podcasts, or watch good ol’ fashioned TV shows or radio broadcasts. Think about pain. What are the biggest problems your readers face? Focus on topics that would provide balm to their wounds. Talk to a friend. That’s right — use your lifeline, just like on the reality TV shows. Jawing about a problem usually helps ideas bubble up. Tackle a controversy. Weigh in on your industry’s hot topic. This can be especially effective if you have a contrarian viewpoint . Join a blogger’s group. Knowing your group will ask what you’re posting should help concentrate the mind. Hearing what they’re blogging on will no doubt suggest subjects for you to cover, too. Scan industry conference schedules. The list of session topics offers a quick guide to your audience’s hot-button issues. Get a critique. Find a mentor. Have them look over your blog and point out what’s missing. Mine your hobbies. People love posts that offer an unusual perspective on your topic. For instance, I once did a post called 7 Things I Learned About Business From Playing Bejeweled Blitz . Do an interview. Do you have a favorite thinker in your space? Get in touch. You’ll be surprised how many authors and thought leaders are game for a quick Q&A. Review your greatest hits. Read your most popular past blogs. Look for ways to take a slightly different angle and further illuminate the same topic. Write a sequel. If something has happened recently that puts a new light on a past blog post, update your readers. Write a new entry and link it back to the old one. Have a debate.

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50 Can’t-Fail Techniques for Finding Great Blog Topics

7 Ways the iPad Can Bring Back Your Writing Mojo

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The iPad is here. And it’s here to stay. There is a sea change going on within the mobile computing industry. And despite the cool, slick look of these devices, it’s not the hardware that makes them useful. It’s the applications (apps). Apps are little engines of innovation driving the current (and future) trends in computing, publishing, print, and media. There are apps for everything you can imagine. In fact, the latest count shows there are more than 250,000. But did you know that there are even apps that can help you get your mojo back if you need some writing inspiration? Before you read on, note that there are some great non-mobile device tips here on Copyblogger for getting inspired to write . Ready to get your mojo back? Great, let’s hit the apps. 1. Web Roulette To find some writing inspiration, take a spin on Web Roulette. This app has a number of categories (humor, blogs, technology, bizarre, comics, entertainment, art/photos, opinion, Wikipedia), which pull up random sites as you “spin” the wheel. When you sit down with this app, it’s best to have a little bit of time and a way to capture your ideas as you explore. The blogs category is an obvious place to start, but consider sources like opinions and art/photos . Web Roulette gets you out of your usual reading ruts. You can check out Web Roulette here . 2. 23,000 Great Quotes HD The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not. ~ Mark Twain Ever read some really good quotes to give you some writing inspiration ? It works. You probably won’t be tempted to read all 23,000 in one sitting (unless you’re on deadline, of course), but you can spend a few minutes reading others’ words of wisdom with this app and see how quickly your mojo starts to creep back. This app is more than just a bunch of quotes thrown on a page. It is organized into more than 20 categories, with quotes from 7,000 authors, and you don’t need an internet connection to enjoy it. Check out 23,000 Great Quotes here . 3. Popplet Sometimes a good brainstorming session is really all you need to do to get a little inspiration flowing. With the iPad, you have a ton of options, but one of the best options is a good app for some non-restrictive idea generation. Popplet is a brainstorming app that is both serious and fun. Go find a place away from distractions. Then use Popplet to visually organize your thoughts and ideas. Typical uses are for task lists, brainstorming, concept planning, and free-form idea generation. It is full of great features but the point here is to explore and spend some time using your iPad to think outside of the box for inspiration. You can check out Popplet here . 4. iThoughts HD Mindmapping is a powerful way to visually organize your thoughts, ideas, and information. It is also a great way to overcome a mojo slump and get some inspiration back. Mindmapping is different from brainstorming. With a brainstorming session you typically write ideas and thoughts without worrying about structure or form. With mindmapping, you get a little more organized and structured. Mindmaps start with a seed concept and then branch out from there. They can be used for all sorts of things from task lists to idea generation. This particular iPad app is one of the better mindmapping tools. It supports a wide range of features including varying shapes, colors, relationships, text styles, and the ability to use an external monitor. To get the most out of mindmapping, though, don’t worry too much about the structure of the sample mindmaps. Just feel free to create your own structure. After all, it’s your mind. Check out iThoughtsHD here . 5. MovieVault Sometimes getting your mojo back means you need to take a break from the tools and simply escape into someone else’s world. Your iPad can help here too. MovieVault is an iPad app that connects you to an entire library of classic movies. For the single price of the app ($4.99) you get to watch as many classic movies as you want to. I reviewed MovieVault a few weeks ago and was amazed at the fact that I could stream these movies so quickly and easily (even over a 3G connection). But how does this help you get inspired to write? Believe it or not, escaping with a great story helps you think of your own stories. It puts you in story mode. It lets your brain take a break from your current loss of mojo and it gets your creative mind going again. It’s like adding spark to a spark plug. You can check out MovieVault here . 6. Let’s Create Pottery HD From the title, you might be imagining your iPad spinning around with a lump of clay. Not quite. But this app is pretty darn close without the mess. Truly an engaging experience, you can clear your mind and experience something unique. Getting back your inspiration can sometimes happen when you are willing to let go of whatever it is you are stuck on and take a different path for awhile. As it turns out, your iPad can take you down that other path. Let’s Create Pottery makes use of the iPad’s touch and motion sensors as it gives you a virtual lump of spinning clay in hi-res graphics and lets you create a pottery piece just as if you were sitting at a real wheel. Then you get to glaze, save it, and share it with others if you choose. Now I don’t know about you, but anytime you can use your hands and mind to create, it has this additive effect on your mojo. Check out Let’s Create Pottery HD here . 7. Zinio Did you know that there are hundreds of traditional print magazines that have gone digital? And your iPad can be a great way to experience them. Grab the free Zinio app and gain access to an entire newsstand of digital content from mainstream to independent print and media publications. The Zinio app is free but most of the magazines you will have to pay for before downloading. There are a few samples, however, so you see what you are getting before you buy any. Don’t just read magazines in your topic — take the opportunity to explore some new subjects, new areas of interest, and new approaches you haven’t seen before. Mojo loves novelty! Check out Zinio here . There you have it, seven effective ways to get your writing mojo back using the iPad. It’s great that you can do all this on one single device. But remember, as Jon Morrow points out in his getting inspired to write article, sometimes it’s smart to put everything down, including your iPad, and get out in the fresh air. About the Author: Shane uses his Tablet Computer Geeks blog to deliver the latest and best iPad information , including accessory reviews, app reviews, and industry updates. Follow him on twitter at tc_geeks .

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7 Ways the iPad Can Bring Back Your Writing Mojo

How to Use Emotional Copywriting to Kick-Start Your Sales

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Writing with emotion can be hard. Really hard. Especially when it’s on a subject that’s technical. I’m speaking from experience. You see, I recently launched an ebook about keeping WordPress sites more secure, and I asked my friend James Chartrand of Men with Pens if I might be able to write a guest post to try and spread the word. If you’ve been following James’ blog for awhile, you know she doesn’t publish many guest posts, and when she does, her standards are high. The reply to the first article I submitted was, “I’d prefer one that’s less technical and more emotional.” “Um, it’s WordPress security enhancements.” I think I may have said that out loud. Now how the heck am I supposed to tell an emotional story about setting up a WordPress Firewall? I’ll tell you though, it can be done. The story just needs to be told in the right way. It can’t only focus on implementation. After all, the implementation and the “how to” are covered in the ebook. To write with emotion about WordPress security, I had to get to the Why . And whys can be very emotional. I’m not a copywriter, nor am I the world’s greatest storyteller. I’m just a guy who knows a thing or two about how to keep your blog safe at night while you sleep. I know what it’s like to wake up one morning with a nightmare you never knew you had. Telling the “why” from your heart My wife and I had that nightmare once. Our dream was taken from us by someone we never met, someone who could care less that the website they ruined for us helped put food in our kids’ mouths. I tried to describe what happened to us, in hopes it might convince others to take action so it wouldn’t happen to them. My goal in writing the post for James was to convince her readers that the threat of someone breaking into your blog and destroying what you’ve worked so hard at building is real . In fact, it happens all the time . And it’s getting more and more common. When I told the “why,” the “how” became easy to sell. How I learned to become a copywriter (sort of) The truth is, I’ll never be a great copywriter. I’m just a guy who wants to help people, and to sell some copies of my ebook. But my understanding of marketing changed when I understood why emotion matters. When you’re getting out there and trying to sell your product or service, you’ve got to connect on a deeper level. We all hear how you should mention your product’s features, but you really need to glorify the benefits. Features, Advantages, Benefits (FAB). Okay great, got that. But if that’s all you’re looking at, there’s one more piece of the puzzle missing. You need connection You can glorify the benefits of your product to customers all day long. And yeah, that might be good enough. But they also need to connect with you . If you can not only convey the benefits of your product or service, but also the passion you have to help your customers, especially if you tie that into your own personal story, then you’re that much closer to retiring to Hawaii. Since I know my limitations, I asked James to tell my story for me . Reading how James rewrote my own words made me realize just how complex attractive sales copywriting can be. It’s not only about conveying benefits. Nor is it about simply sparking an emotional response. In fact, it’s not “simply” anything. To me it’s almost like a mathematical formula (sorry, I have a minor in mathematics). Attractive sales copywriting is about making connections . Connecting features with benefits. Connecting your “why” story with their problem. Connecting desire to action. Since Copyblogger readers are some of the best copywriters around, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What other connections do you think are critical when we’re writing to persuade customers to buy? And how have you used emotion and storytelling to create a stronger message? Let us know in the comments. About the Author: John Hoff isn’t a copywriter, but he does blog for a hosting company, WP Blog Host and has created a free video mini course on how to secure WordPress from unwanted intruders. He really, really, really hates hackers.

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60 Ways to Increase Your Influence Online

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Recently, my company brought together 60 of the web’s brightest minds to speak about influence for 60 seconds each. Yep. 60 speakers, 60 minutes total. Who came to the party? Well, Copyblogger’s own beloved Brian Clark, and his humorous underlord, Johnny B. Truant, to start. We also heard from Guy Kawasaki, Gary Vaynerchuk, Robert Scoble, MarketingSherpa’s Anne Holland, MarketingProfs’ Ann Handley, David Meerman Scott, and many others. We called it The Influencer Project , and billed it as “the shortest marketing conference ever.” The venerable HubSpot was our sponsor. Word got around. We learned a lot, which we’ll be sharing as a case study later down the road. But for now, I wanted to share with my fellow Copyblogger enthusiasts and Third Tribe mavens the “one thing” each speaker shared that we at ThoughtLead found unique and essential to building digital influence. Now, without any further ado, here they are, in order of appearance: #1. David Meerman Scott. “Stop talking about your products and services. People don’t care about products and services; they care about themselves.” -@dmscott #2. Anne Holland. “Improve the buttons on your landing page. Can you make your button bigger?” -@anneholland55 #3. Mike Volpe. “We share lots of things that most companies would keep internal. By sharing both the good and the bad, you build digital influence.” -@mvolpe #4. Michael Port. “ Consistency . Consistency demonstrates commitment. You’re going to earn trust because you’re consistent.” -@michaelport #5. Liz Strauss. “Know where you’re going — because who would want to follow you if you don’t know where you’re going?” -@lizstrauss #6. Robert Scoble. “Follow better people. The better your inbound is, the better your output will be. And your output is what people follow.” -@scobleizer #7. Carol Roth. “Align yourself with outstanding strategic partners.” -@CarolJSRoth #8. Scott Porad. “Make connections with people online, and then go and meet them in person in the real world, offline.” -@scottporad #9. Joe Pulizzi. “Create content that stands for something: what I call Higher Purpose Content Marketing .” -@juntajoe #10. Laurel Touby. “Each month, on the first day of the month, assign yourself 3 digital trends you’ve been hearing about and do a test drive.” -@laureltouby #11. Hugh MacLeod . “We use other people’s stuff or other people’s content to socialize. And your stuff’s either a social object or it’s not.” -@gapingvoid #12. Chris Guillebeau . “Avoid incestuous blogging. Instead of sticking to one niche, think bigger: what social circles are related to yours?” -@chrisguillebeau #13. Laura Roeder . “Just start talking to people! Don’t worry about what to tweet, just start responding.” -@lkr #14. Michael Margolis. “People either identify and connect with your story or they don’t. Have a story that’s worth telling.” -@getstoried #15. Dave Navarro . “Find people who have your audience already and co-create products with them.” -@rockyourday #16. Loren Feldman. “Either be super-fake and make believe you’re friendly to everybody, or be completely honest.” -@1938media #17. Ann Handley. “Ground your content in who you are. Don’t be afraid to have a point of view. But also give it wings to soar freely and be shared.” -@marketingprofs #18. Jim Kukral. “Facebook advertising: you can run ads on profiles of people that work just within certain organizations!” -@jimkukral #19. Joselin Mane. “As soon as you meet someone, introduce that individual to someone else you know.” -@joselinmane #20. John Jantsch. “Get very good at filtering and aggregating content. Deliver it to people at the right time, the right size, the right amount.” -@ducttape #21. Marshall Kirkpatrick. “Be early in the news cycle on any conversation of general interest. Detect early voices out in the wilderness.” -@marshallk #22. Shama Kabani. “Create [video] content around your area of expertise and then distribute, distribute with gusto!” -@shama #23. Terry Starbucker. “The only way to build influence is to go out and try and get it yourself, and to overcome that fear of doing so.” -@starbucker #24. Johnny B. Truant . “Defy convention where it’s appropriate. Only a few people dare to step outside. And people take notice of that.” -@johnnybtruant #25. Jason Falls. “Share good content consistently. That’s how I’ve done it.” -@jasonfalls #26. Robbin Phillips. “It is not about digital. It’s about people. It’s about passion conversations, not product conversations.” -@robbinphillips #27. Yaro Starak. “Learn how to talk more about other people. If you’re looking to influence a certain thought leader, talk about them.” -@yarostarak #28. Michael Stelzner . “Set up a fan page on Facebook. Make a welcome tab with a video on it, and ask a poll question.” -@mike_stelzner #29. Erica OGrady. “Make people around you more successful than you are.” -@ericaogrady #30. Gary Vaynerchuk. “Talk about things you know. The reason Wine Library TV worked was because I knew what I was talking about.” -@garyvee #31. Nathan Hangen . “Don’t worry about getting attention from other people. Make something worth talking about.” -@nhangen #32. Danielle LaPorte. “Get yourself properly interviewed. Either hire a writer, or get yourself in front of a camera with a friend.” -@daniellelaporte #33. Guy Kawasaki. “Repeat your tweets. I repeat them every eight hours.” -@guykawasaki #34. David Bullock. “Move offline. Sometimes your market is not online. Use another media—television, radio, speaking events.” -@davidbullock #35. Vanessa Fox. “A lot of people attract [visitors] from search. They’ve missed that big second step: solving their problems .” -@vanessafox #36. Lewis Howes. “Find one specific niche and master that niche.” -@lewishowes #37. Valeria Maltoni. “Do a weekly chat on Twitter. I’m a business strategist, so we use the principle of kaizen to help people at #kaizenblog.” -@ConversationAge #38. Sergio Balegno. “Invest more time mapping a strategy for not just using social media, but for integrating social media with other tactics.” -@sergiobalegno #39. Hank Wasiak. “Get rid of conventional views of influence. It should be about our influence — from my influence to our influence.” -@hankwasiak #40. Mitch Joel. “Get active in other people’s communities. Get out of your own head and get into other people’s spaces.” -@mitchjoel #41. Tamsen McMahon. “Building digital influence is about ‘digital dimensionality.’ Show as many sides of yourself or your business as you can.” -@tamadear #42. Justin Levy. “Listen to the conversations around you. See how different networks interact, because not every network’s the same.” -@justinlevy #43. Chris Garrett . “What you’re looking for is a long-term relationship. You don’t want to gain influence and lose influence.” -@chrisgarrett #44. Cathy Brooks. “Think about the authenticity and consistency of your voice across your entire online and offline presence.” -@cathybrooks #45. Todd Defren. “To change your world, start by trying to change the world. What is it that you feel passionate enough about to shake things up?” -@tdefren #46. Brian Clark . “Learn to be a storyteller . Narrative — it’s what makes us human. Big media does it great. You have to as well.” -@copyblogger #47. Scott Belsky. “Share your ideas liberally. Accountability and letting people know what you’re up to can make all the difference.” -@scottbelsky #48. Wendy Piersall. “You have to put your business model before pursuing fame. Whatever you do online, make sure that it adds to your bottom line.” -@emom #49. Mark Silver . “Many people are afraid to speak; if you speak for them, they will be listening.” -@markheartofbiz #50. Dan Schawbel. “Go further down the long tail and choose a much smaller niche to focus on. Be the personal finance expert for Minnesota.” -@danschawbel #51. Shashi Bellamkonda. “Find out from your customers which social networks they are using, and be there for them at the moment they need you.” -@shashib #52. Gretchen Rubin. “Self-expression is the new entertainment. Get people talking. I had success just asking, ‘What’s your comfort food?’” -@gretchenrubin #53. Muhammad Saleem . “Give as much as you can give. Too often we’re too focused on what we want to accomplish.” -@msaleem #54. Aaron Kahlow. “Think about social media not as its own strategy, but a strategy to enhance your existing marketing and business goals.” -@aaronkahlow #55. Alexandra Levit. “Target between five and ten individuals who you admire, whose work you’ve followed, and gradually start getting to know them.” -@alevit #56. Steve Woodruff. “Identify gifted up-and-comers. By coming alongside them and becoming an advocate, you end up creating an advocate for life.” -@swoodruff #57. David Siteman Garland. “Start the media arm of your company, whether it’s a special show, or a podcast, or an online magazine.” -@therisetothetop #58. Amber Naslund. “Online influence is a slow burn. It’s something that’s grown by having quality one-on-one conversations over time.” -@ambercadabra #59. Julien Smith. “Get someone else to take a look at what you have that you maybe take for granted and gives you an advantage over other people.” -@julien #60. Brian Solis. “How do you become a thought leader? It starts with *being* a thought leader and then connecting the dots back to you.” -@briansolis So there you have it: 60 of the most successful digital influencers, all sharing their thoughts on how you can increase your own digital influence. Of course, each one is tweetable — what’s the point of wisdom if it can’t be shared? (Kudos to Chris Brogan for the original inspiration of “ tweetable advice .”) And if you want to join the conversation on influence, just include #influencer in your tweets. You’ll find a community of people waiting to interact with you. And now, my friends, I ask you: which is your favorite tweet, and why? And how can you implement it in your business, starting today? Let’s have some fun in the comments. Sam Rosen is the big-time, Daddy Warbucks CEO of ThoughtLead , a digital influence agency that helps brands use the web to spread important ideas, and the co-creator of the Influencer Project — the shortest marketing conference ever.

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Alan Magliocca

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Feature Product Review:Alan Magliocca is a science graduate from University of North Carolina. In spite of being a Bachelor of Science, he never restricted his thoughts to his studies, but gave a keen observation to things around that made him more open to innovation. He entered into Internet marketing 8 years ago and launched many

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Alan Magliocca