Small Business | Forum « Where Do You Get Content Ideas? (TOTW: 12.16.2012)

Where Do You Get Content Ideas? (TOTW: 12.16.2012) (14 posts)

Topic tags: content, social media, totw

Rich Brooks said
5 months ago:
The next SME Success Summit is all about Content. The tagline is “Create | Market | Grow.”
That got me thinking about where I get my ideas for content (blogs, videos, tweets, etc.) Sometimes it’s something in the news, or a question a customer asks, or I do some research.
How are you finding your content ideas, and how do you turn them into shareable content?
@rich-brooks | # | Top
Kim Kline said
5 months ago:
@rich-brooks I have to agree that often I will find the subjects for my blogs and posts through something I see in the news or another article that I may come across where I have a different take on the subject.
I see many of these articles through groups I am in on LinkedIn and even here. I also use Prismatic to search for articles that catch my interest.
@kimkline | # | Top
Joan Muschamp (Fagnani) said
5 months ago:
@rich-brooks @kimkline Content ideas come from all over– my editorial ‘themes’, products I plan to develop or training I want to deliver, problem issues sometimes with clients, ideas spawned by what i read. Of course a lot of content comes from content curation, and frequently that leads to a fitting series.
Compiling blog posts into a book, quotations and images for social media posting…actually it seems ideas outstrip available time to assemble well.
@joanmuschampfagnani | # | Top
Sarah said
5 months ago:
I get a lot of my content ideas from the news or other industry-related blogs.
@smlanse | # | Top
Ann at greenoak said
5 months ago:
never a problelm here….i always seem to have too many ideas…the hard part is holding back and picking the best one,,,,in relation to the weeks flow of content….im in a very rich stream, the stuff, the people, the building project, the container, what we are making ,what someone has made with the objects they bought from us, ,, links from pinterest or the dorky jokes..buying trips, themed albums..sections of the store,worker features, seasonal , events.. on and on….. …
@rich-brooks i do have a goal of some bigger content things, like a free ebook on painting furniture… or som e other big subject….but never seem to get to it,,..also holding me back is low skills in camera and mastereing some something like word or photoshop … the idea part is the easy part…
@annfurnivall | # | Top
kitt depatie said
5 months ago:
I agree @annfurnivall I am new to blogging but already have a folder full of ideas. They seem to come from everywhere but many of them are driven by what I want to know more about. and more than that, is it something other people interested in knowing about as well…
@kittkat | # | Top
Amy Hall, Virtual Assistant for WordPress and MailChimp Help said
5 months ago:
I’m lucky because I have more ideas than time. Client issues and questions are my post inspiration.
@amyhallbiz | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months ago:
OH boy.
Everything, everywhere. Depending on the blog, the world is our oyster (all of us – you and me).
Last year I wrote an article for SoftCity that has turned out to be the most popular of all time for them (and still is). A little research and that one, plus a follow up still get a lot of attention although they are outdated now. Unfortunately they draw a lot of SPAM too.
Solutions To Deleting “Flash Cookies” – LSO (Local Shared Objects)
Sneaky Silverlight (and Isolated Storage) – Another bad batch of Cookies.
When you are asked to do the geeky stuff the whole world of technology becomes inspiration.
Eileen
@supereb | # | Top
Matthew Troncone said
5 months ago:
I have set up many keywords and phrases in my Google reader, these are topics that I am interested in and also news headlines, I start each day bu scanning the headlines for inspiration.
@matthew-troncone | # | Top
Mitch Rezman said
5 months ago:
We get a lot from Google alerts and CRM tickets
@mitch-rezman | # | Top
Freddie Blanco said
5 months ago:
The site I’m working on is focused on home improvement. My tasks does not involve a lot of content writing, but content Ideas is the backbone of our campaign. Ideas however come from almost everywhere. Some I just come across my FB newsfeed, other days Pinterest, Google Plus, and site with related niche.
@freddie-blanco | # | Top
Ron Ashworth said
5 months ago:
This place is a gold mine of ideas and thank you to all. I love writing from the heart and hope that what I say is original, but ideas are everywhere. It is nice to read what others have to say and I find it educational. Hopefully your examples have an inspirational effect on me so that I can also make a contribution to others. In a busy world one can only research the tip of the ice berg, which is a pity sometimes because there are so many interesting things out there.
@ron-ashworth | # | Top
Maximiliano Garcia said
4 months, 3 weeks ago:
My list would look like this:
Fans and followers feedback, comments, mentions on Twitter, third party Facebook pages related to my niche market, etc.
Keyword research + common sense.
Personal likes and areas of expertise.
Imagination and creativity, implementing different media: testing new things is always good..
What is hot right now but with a strong personal opinion, otherwise is just buzz (aka..not relevant content)
@maximiliano-garcia | # | Top
Judith Gotwald said
4 months, 3 weeks ago:
I’ve used most of the above, but lately I’ve found a lot of good ideas hashtagging in Twitter.
I follow a few blogs in marginally related fields. These are a rich source because their thoughts are often applicable but have yet to be explored in my own field.
In general, general observation and the power of the serendipitous play a huge, often-uncredited role.
@judithgotwald | # | Top