Top 5 Ways to Brainstorm Article Ideas When You"re Coming Up Empty
Brainstorming fresh article ideas is not easy, especially when you're busy trying to run your business and don't have a lot of extra time to sit around drumming up new article ideas that are interesting and relevant to your target market.
Whether you've been using article marketing in your business for a while and have hit a slump with your article ideas, are brand new to article marketing and have no idea where to start, or are scared to even get into article marketing because you think you won't have enough article ideas to stay consistent, the tips in this article will help you come up with interesting topics that your target market will love to read.
Below are 5 quick and easy tips for those times when you are low on new article ideas: 1) Uncover the keywords your target is using.
Do a search for keyword popularity tools and you'll find a few free options that you can use to find keywords that your target marketing is using to find solutions to their problems.
Try to look for those that are highly searched but underserved by your competitors.
Make a list of a dozen or so different keywords related to your business and your market.
The next time you're at a loss for new article ideas, break out your list and just pick a topic.
2) Pay attention to unresolved issues.
The next time one of your clients asks you a question or expresses frustration in not knowing how to do something that you do well, break out your pen and paper and jot down the question.
It'll make a great addition to your list of article ideas for future reference! 3) Check out your competitors.
Do a Google search to find competing websites and see if they have a FAQ page.
Chances are, if something is listed there, it's because they had a client (or several!) asking them that particular question.
Or maybe you're a service provider, let's say a Virtual Assistant, who wants to write an article telling people why and how to work with Virtual Assistants; the FAQ on competitors' websites might give you great food for thought to help fill in your article.
4) Keep a close eye on the world around you.
You never know when an everyday occurrence in your life will turn into a business lesson that would make a great article idea.
For instance, a few months ago, there was a nasty windstorm in my area and I watched a bird try with all its might to fly against the wind.
Finally, it gave up and hunkered down on a nearby rooftop to wait out the storm.
I got a great article idea about not fighting nature and doing what you do best, outsourcing the rest to quality professionals.
Like the bird saving its strength, handing off the tasks you don't succeed in saves your time and money for more important things - like running your business.
If you have your eyes open to possible article ideas, they'll start flooding in faster than you can handle them, which leads to my next point...
5) Brainstorm the old-fashioned way.
By this, I mean breaking out a pen and paper (not a keyboard, unless you have fancy brainstorming software - trust me on this) and jotting down whatever article ideas come to mind.
You can start by listing the products or services you provide to customers and see what article ideas come from that.
If you're still lost, start thinking about the benefits your customers get from the goods you're selling.
For instance, if you sell hair care products that promise silkier, shinier hair, write down 'silky hair,' 'shiny hair,' etc.
, and jot down any other thoughts that enter your mind.
Doesn't matter if they're not quality article ideas at first glance; write them down anyway.
You never know, they might lead to better article ideas once you put a little more thought into them.
Once you have a list of article ideas, make sure to plug them into a keyword popularity tool (see tip #1) to make sure that you're using keywords that your market is searching for.
If you're serious about using article marketing to grow your business, brainstorming article ideas should be an ongoing process.
If you always stay one step ahead, you'll never find yourself scrambling to find quality article ideas when your brain is running on empty.
Plus, when you sit down to actually write your articles, the process will go much quicker if you have a variety of article ideas to choose from and can hit the ground running just filling in the article.
If you use your article ideas to publish regular, quality articles both on your website and on article directories, your target market will not only have good reason to keep coming back to your website, but they will also be amazed at the wealth of your knowledge.
They'll see how valuable your free content is and will start to wonder what you're hiding up your sleeve.
After all, you couldn't possibly be giving away the farm in your articles (and they're absolutely right), so the expertise they'll get when they hire you must be unbelievable!
Whether you've been using article marketing in your business for a while and have hit a slump with your article ideas, are brand new to article marketing and have no idea where to start, or are scared to even get into article marketing because you think you won't have enough article ideas to stay consistent, the tips in this article will help you come up with interesting topics that your target market will love to read.
Below are 5 quick and easy tips for those times when you are low on new article ideas: 1) Uncover the keywords your target is using.
Do a search for keyword popularity tools and you'll find a few free options that you can use to find keywords that your target marketing is using to find solutions to their problems.
Try to look for those that are highly searched but underserved by your competitors.
Make a list of a dozen or so different keywords related to your business and your market.
The next time you're at a loss for new article ideas, break out your list and just pick a topic.
2) Pay attention to unresolved issues.
The next time one of your clients asks you a question or expresses frustration in not knowing how to do something that you do well, break out your pen and paper and jot down the question.
It'll make a great addition to your list of article ideas for future reference! 3) Check out your competitors.
Do a Google search to find competing websites and see if they have a FAQ page.
Chances are, if something is listed there, it's because they had a client (or several!) asking them that particular question.
Or maybe you're a service provider, let's say a Virtual Assistant, who wants to write an article telling people why and how to work with Virtual Assistants; the FAQ on competitors' websites might give you great food for thought to help fill in your article.
4) Keep a close eye on the world around you.
You never know when an everyday occurrence in your life will turn into a business lesson that would make a great article idea.
For instance, a few months ago, there was a nasty windstorm in my area and I watched a bird try with all its might to fly against the wind.
Finally, it gave up and hunkered down on a nearby rooftop to wait out the storm.
I got a great article idea about not fighting nature and doing what you do best, outsourcing the rest to quality professionals.
Like the bird saving its strength, handing off the tasks you don't succeed in saves your time and money for more important things - like running your business.
If you have your eyes open to possible article ideas, they'll start flooding in faster than you can handle them, which leads to my next point...
5) Brainstorm the old-fashioned way.
By this, I mean breaking out a pen and paper (not a keyboard, unless you have fancy brainstorming software - trust me on this) and jotting down whatever article ideas come to mind.
You can start by listing the products or services you provide to customers and see what article ideas come from that.
If you're still lost, start thinking about the benefits your customers get from the goods you're selling.
For instance, if you sell hair care products that promise silkier, shinier hair, write down 'silky hair,' 'shiny hair,' etc.
, and jot down any other thoughts that enter your mind.
Doesn't matter if they're not quality article ideas at first glance; write them down anyway.
You never know, they might lead to better article ideas once you put a little more thought into them.
Once you have a list of article ideas, make sure to plug them into a keyword popularity tool (see tip #1) to make sure that you're using keywords that your market is searching for.
If you're serious about using article marketing to grow your business, brainstorming article ideas should be an ongoing process.
If you always stay one step ahead, you'll never find yourself scrambling to find quality article ideas when your brain is running on empty.
Plus, when you sit down to actually write your articles, the process will go much quicker if you have a variety of article ideas to choose from and can hit the ground running just filling in the article.
If you use your article ideas to publish regular, quality articles both on your website and on article directories, your target market will not only have good reason to keep coming back to your website, but they will also be amazed at the wealth of your knowledge.
They'll see how valuable your free content is and will start to wonder what you're hiding up your sleeve.
After all, you couldn't possibly be giving away the farm in your articles (and they're absolutely right), so the expertise they'll get when they hire you must be unbelievable!