What do I say?
How can I come up with so many topics to talk about?
I don’t have enough to even write two sentences with!
My thoughts are so scattered, which topic should I choose?
I have heard all of this before. I have actually been there myself and thought I was silly because I love talking and writing, so how could I actually be thinking this? Thankfully, I have now created systems in my business so I know exactly what I’m going to say and I have plenty to say now!
The whole month of June, I have been talking about how you can Splash into Summer with Blogging and I have talked about reasons you should be blogging and what platform you can blog at, and today I’m talking all about how to create content that is going to strike interest for your readers, showing your expertise and authority in your field, and gain traction in your business.
I have several ways I have done this created content using my genius and expertise and I want to show you how today:
Look inside your computer…
So you are an expert in your field. You have done hours and hours of research, studying topics, reading up on topics, and writing things down.
Did you read the last sentence?
Many of us have files upon files of, well files where we have written down topics or interests that we have discovered. Maybe it’s even small programs we have created or Facebook posts we saved that we though, “Did I really just create that?!”
I want you to open up your Documents on your computer and type in your expertise in the search bar. I am a writer, so I can type in “Writing” in my search bar. See what comes up. What are some of the documents you have created that relates to what your audience wants to hear?
Have you done a webinar, prepared a speech, or took notes for a class that you loved? Use this as starting points for coming up with topics to talk about!
Plus this is going to save you time and energy! I am all about saving myself time and this is one great way to see what you have done without even thinking about it and getting ideas to blog about.
Finding topics doesn’t have to be hard and Pinterest is a great way to find lists of different ideas of what to talk about in your blog. Just search “blogging topics”, “what to write” or “content for blog” and that will lead you to a galore of ideas to begin with!
Mind Dump
Take time to have a complete and utter mind dump. In this exercise, I want you to write down everything you know, all your passions, experience, talents, knowledge, training, college degrees, research, you name it!, just dump it all on paper!
This is another great exercise to begin shuffling through what you already know and list what you’re interested in. This is sure to bring up topics you can talk about in your blog that is of interest and of help to your audience!
Mind Map
Similar to a Mind Dump, Mind Mapping is more contained and organize. So if the Mind Dump exercise freaks you out a little, don’t worry, I have created a Mind Map to show you how easy it is to have topics to talk about (it’s clean and organized!)! In this exercise, I want you to put what you do (or a specialty you provide) in the center (which happens to be the biggest circle). I put, “Content Strategist” in my circle. Now, you will see four smaller circles going off the bigger circle. I want you to write in each circle a different hat that you may wear inside of your business. As an example, I’ll use myself: Circle 1) Teaching others what to write; Circle 2) Brainstorming with Clients; Circle 3) Blogging; Circle 4) Speaking.
Instead of putting what hats you’re wearing inside of your business, you could ask yourself these questions:
- How do I best serve my clients?
- What are the frequently asked questions?
- What is my audience’s pain points (or struggles, weaknesses, etc)?
Answer these questions in each of the four circles. From there, there’s two circles going off of the slightly bigger one.
Say I’m looking at Circle 1) Teaching others what to write. What are two things I do when I am teaching others how to write? I can answer this as Circle 1.A) How to work in my client’s genius to effectively communicate with their audience (or “Client’s Genius”) and in Circle 1.B) Structuring their content in a way that is quick and easy for them (“Structure Content”). Makes sense? Good.
Taking this a step further, each of these circles has two more circles; continuing with my example, in Circle 1.A) How to work in my client’s genius to effectively communicate with their audience, I could put in Circle 1.AA) Who are you talking to? (“Audience”) and Circle 1. BB) What questions do you answer for your audience? (“Answering Pain Points”).
Make sense? Great! I have attached what it would look like if I answered the Mind Map the way I described it above:
You see what I have done? Each circle is a topic that I could talk about. Mind Mapping is so easy and it’s useful for a variety of ways! You could Mind Map in just one area alone (take Circle 1 and put that in the bigger circle). You could write every answer in a circle as a question to help you get in the groove of writing as if you’re answering a question. The big circle could also be a question that people keep asking, but there’s a variety of answer to! The possibilities are endless!
How long should my blog be?
A blog has no rules on how short or how long it should be. It’s your blog and it can be as long or short as you want it. Many experts will encourage you to write between 300-600 words each and every time you blog. Your blog can also be over 1,000 words or more if you have a lot to say and you go into detail about a topic. Writing over 2500 words will give you better ranking with Google, but it’s up to you on what you want to say, how you want to say it, and if it requires a lot of explanation.
I try to keep my blogs around 750 words or less. But sometimes, I get caught up in writing and explaining, that my blogs tend to go over 1,000 words (like this blog!). I have posted blogs with 490 words all the way up to 1500 words. Experiment with coming up with different blog lenghts and see which one works for you the best.
Click the picture to download your free Mind Map to begin brainstorming your blogging topics:
Has this been helpful? Has this begun to stir ideas in your head on what you could be writing about in your blog?
If this blog has been helpful to you, please share it with your friends on social media and comment below to tell me how you find inspiration and blogging topics for yourself!
Have a question? Ask away as well! I’m always here to help!
