Whether you have a website for your freelance web-writing business or a Money-Making Website centered around your favorite hobby (or both), you’ll find more success if you regularly add new content.
After all, your freelance writing website is all about building your credibility, capturing leads, and eventually converting them into clients. That’s hard to do if your site never has anything new to offer.
If you have a Money-Making Website, you’re after traffic — that’s how your site earns money. And traffic is largely dependent on your keeping your site updated and offering your visitors a constant stream of entertaining, useful, and relevant new content.
So, where does all this content come from?
Well, you have to come up with ideas for new web pages to add to your site. Once you have a great idea, writing an article or doing a podcast or creating an infographic to convey it is pretty straightforward.
It’s the coming up with fresh ideas and new angles that can be the tricky part.
Fortunately, with a little mindset shift, you’ll have a running list of new ideas for your website — one that grows so big you’ll never be able to write them all. So, get ready to say good-bye to writer’s block, and say hello to a healthy, growing, engaging, exciting web presence instead… because that’s what will happen when you start employing these five methods for never running out of interesting things to say:
Idea Generator #1: Your Inbox
I don’t advocate stealing other people’s ideas — you want to be as fresh and original as possible. But, I’m a strong proponent of drawing inspiration from everyone and everything. And that means your fellow writers and marketers.
All those free e-letters you sign up for… those are idea gold.
Whenever you read through an e-letter, jot down your top two or three takeaways. Jot down any questions you felt went unanswered, any ideas the writer skimmed over but didn’t dig into, and any memories or personal experiences the article made you think of.
Using those notes, come up with at least three ideas for content pieces of your own. Put those ideas into a master file. Evernote works great for this, or you can use a simple Word document or spreadsheet.
If you come up with three ideas out of every article you read… it adds up fast. Before you know it, your editorial calendar for the year will be looking pretty full.
Idea Generator #2: The Bookstore
I love bookstores. I can disappear into them and just lose myself in browsing the shelves.
But sometimes, I take a more purposeful trip to the bookstore. I go to browse magazines related to online marketing, web writing, and traditional sales. Sometimes, just the headlines on the covers are enough to spark a number of my own ideas.
I also peruse the bestsellers in my industry. The table of contents in those books is another great source of inspiration.
Remember to take note of your ideas and add them to your master file, so they’re readily accessible when you need them.
Idea Generator #3: Interviews
Conducting interviews with other experts in your field is one of the best ways to add unique, valuable content to your site.
Setting up an interview may feel a little intimidating, but you’ll find that many people are happy to spend a half hour on the phone talking about their experiences and insights as long as you provide a link back to their site when you post the information.
You can reach out to people through social media or through their own websites. Just be direct and polite, let them know what you have in mind, and ask if they’re interested. The worst they can say is, “No,” but you’ll probably get a lot more yeses than you expect.
So, next time you read an article you really enjoy (or a book), take note of who wrote it. Put their name and the word “Interview” in your master file for future follow-up.
Idea Generator #4: Groups of All Kinds
Whether you join groups through LinkedIn or Facebook, or participate in online forums, or attend classes, or live networking events, the conversations you have with others in those settings can be idea-generating gold.
Pay attention to what people are saying. To the questions they’re asking. To the answers they’re giving. To the resources they’re sharing. To what excites or agitates them. Every one of those things contains a nugget you can polish into a full-fledged article, video, podcast, or infographic.
Idea Generator #5: Your Own Life
Every day you’re having experiences. You’re finding ways to be more productive… to cope with stress… to refine your skills. You’re working with clients. You’re responding to comments. You have a family and goals and interests and hobbies and hang-ups.
And often, if you think about the most memorable experience or two you’ve had during the past week, you can find a way to tie it in with your website. (Just do a search for soccer here on Wealthy Web Writer and see how many times I’ve pulled a web-writing lesson out of watching a soccer game.)
These ideas are your most unique, your most personal, your most you. And, they’re the ones your readers will remember best and keep coming back for. So, look for lessons in your own life that you can use on your website. That’s where you’ll come up with your best stuff.
Staring at an empty editorial calendar can leave you wondering how you’re possibly going to come up with enough ideas to fill your blog or website for the month to come, much less the year. But, if you start using these five idea-generating methods, before you know it you’ll be wondering where you’re going to fit all the great ideas in. Happy writing!
