Lost for words

In talking to people about content, far more of the challenges they experience relate to their ‘dynamic content.’ Dynamic content is all the content which is regular, and ever changing (blogs, articles, social media posts and networking pitches for example) – as opposed to ‘static content’ which is only changed from time to time (such as your web pages or a brochure).

Static content is much easier to deal with because the biggest obstacle is the time to write it – then it is done and you can move on to the next thing.

But with dynamic content the work never stops and, if you have to write a blog every week how on earth do you keep coming up with something new?

So this series of articles will help you with that. We’ll take you through a range of different ways to generate ideas for all your different types on content, so you are never lost for words when the time comes to produce your next post/ blog/ 60-seconds.

But first, let’s cover off a few fundamentals that apply in all cases, so you are ready when inspiration strikes.

Be prepared

Ideas are somewhat random in nature. Very few people can sit and think give me an idea and have it arrive to order. It is far more likely that a great idea for an article will pop into your head when you are doing something else: driving, washing up, taking a shower… So, make sure you have a notebook or other means to record it when it appears. (And if the shower really is your most creative place, whiteboard markers will write on tiles and then wipe off later).

Be observant too – when you read someone else’s blog, or hear their presentation, be open to how you might apply what they have done to you. You might hear a 60-seconds in a networking event and realise that you could do something similar for your business. I’m not suggesting plagiarism though – don’t steal someone else’s business idea or copy their blog word for word, but do learn from how they present themselves and consider how you might apply it to your own business.

Play with styles

As well as coming up with great content there are a variety of ways to present it, so think about that too. Take a look at how other people blog, for example. You’ll find that there are all sorts of different ways to get the ideas across. I generally write straight narrative – it works for me – but that doesn’t mean you have to. For my clients I sometimes write short, punch ‘top 10 things about…’ or case studies. I’ve even written stories to illustrate emerging technologies and how they might be used.

Also think about topic areas and vary between them. You don’t just have to write about your products and services. You could also reflect on the challenges of being a business owner, or write about the experiences of a particular customer or supplier.

You could even ask other people to write guest blogs, or invite other members of your team to get involved.

Ideas – the series

The other way to really help yourself with dynamic content is to break your topic up into a series. This is something I regularly do with blogs, as you will doubtless have noticed. I covered Website Wow over five blogs – that’s 10 weeks of content covered. It means you have less work to do in coming up with ideas and it also keeps an audience coming back for more, so you get a win-win.

To get a better idea on how to generate great content ideas and turn them into working content for you, take a look at our online course Demystifying Content.