What To Do When You’re Out of Ideas
- At July 24, 2015
- By rbadmin
- In Blog
0
According to Axonn Research, nine out of ten businesses use some form of content marketing to build trust and connections with customers. And the demand for content never ends.
Company web sites and business blogs can be ruthless taskmasters, treadmills with no off switch that run to infinity. It’s enough to make even the best content marketers feel like Sisyphus, the king in Greek mythology whom the gods punished for chronic deceitfulness by making him push a boulder up a hill over and over again—forever.
No wonder a content marketer’s often idea well often runs dry.
There’s a tried-and-true method, however, to refilling the well.
Carry a notebook with you. Better yet, use the notes app on your smartphone so you’ll always have it wherever you go. Whenever you get an idea, write it down in your notebook or tap it into your phone. If you need to write a blog post each week, you should be able think of something over the next week. Don’t promise yourself you’ll remember the idea, though. Pin in down on paper—or in pixels.
Talk to your co-workers. Other people will always think of things you’d never think of yourself, and if they aren’t on your content marketing team, their idea wells should be full. Most of them will be flattered that you asked them to help you.
Talk to your customers. Ask them what they love about your products and how you help make their lives better. They might surprise you. And don’t forget: your customers have stories of their own. Why not publish some?
Read. Read about your industry. Read what your competitors are publishing. Follow copywriting blogs like Copyblogger and consume everything published by the indispensable Content Marketing Institute. When you get out of your mental rut and into somebody else’s, ideas will naturally come to you.
Brainstorm. It’s intimidating when you’re mental gas tank is empty—what if I can’t come up with anything?—but your subconscious is full of ideas even when your conscious mind is running on fumes. All you have to do it engage it.
If you come up with idea that seem dumb, write them down anyway. If you combine two “dumb” ideas, you might come up with a smart one.
If you need to write a blog post per week and can manage to come up with twelve ideas during a brainstorming session, that will be keep you busy for three months. You’re bound to think of something else to write during that three month period if you follow the advice above, and if you add those ideas to your note file as you go, you should be in good shape indefinitely.