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Brainstorming Epic Content Ideas

Sometimes the little gray cells just aren’t working as well as we’d like. We find it hard to come up with even a basic content idea, much less one that has the potential to be a big hit.

What can we do to get our brain cells firing off ideas like lightning bolts light up the sky during a powerful thunderstorm? First I'll give you the old tried and true ways to generate content ideas, and at the end I'll share a relatively new way to generate content ideas. No peaking ahead, but can you guess what it is?

  • Browse the magazine rack at a bookstore for topic ideas relevant to your niche.
  • Survey your email list or website visitors to find out what they want.
  • Repurpose or update your favorite old content pieces—make it better than before.
  • Surf question and answer sites like Quora and prospect for ideas.
  • Recruit others into a brainstorming session.
  • Utilize keyword research tools to identify popular topics and trending keywords related to your niche.
  • Browse forums in your niche to see what people want to know more about.
  • Subscribe to publications and follow influential blogs in your niche to identify emerging topics.
  • Explore content idea generation tools such as BuzzSumo, HubSpot's Blog Ideas Generator, or Answer the Public.
  • Monitor other sites in your niche. Identify the gaps in their content and fill them.
  • Explore other niches. Cross-pollinating ideas from unrelated fields can lead to unique and fresh content ideas.
Remember, the key to generating new content ideas is to keep an open mind, understand your audience's needs, and consistently seek inspiration from various sources. These are by no means the only brainstorming ideas, so don't be afraid to "color outside the lines" if you think you have an untried idea. You might become a trail blazer!

But we're not done here yet.

I have some very different idea generating ideas. I've written about a few of them before in my old newsletter and in a paid product, but those will be added under a different series of articles. For now, here's that one "new" way of generating content I teased you with at the beginning of this article. Are you ready?

Artificial intelligence. Yes, AI. It's fantastic at generating content ideas. Just ask it for the titles for 10 articles ideas on whatever topic you choose. I'll give you an example. The titles below were generated in about five seconds when I asked it for "10 article ideas about email list building."

  • The Ultimate Guide to Building an Email List: From Start to Finish
  • 10 Effective Strategies for Growing Your Email Subscriber Base
  • Opt-in Forms that Convert: Designing Compelling Sign-up Experiences
  • Segmentation and Personalization: Maximizing Email List Engagement
  • Lead Magnet Ideas to Attract and Convert Subscribers
  • Building Trust and Credibility: Best Practices for Email List Building
  • Social Media Tactics for Expanding Your Email Subscriber List
  • Email List Building on a Budget: Cost-Effective Strategies for Small Businesses
  • List Hygiene: Maintaining a Clean and Engaged Email Database
  • Analyzing and Optimizing Conversion Rates: Metrics for Email List Growth
That's a pretty nice list. It covers a lot of territory and every idea is different. Five seconds. I don't know of a faster way to generate content ideas. Even if it takes you ten tries to get an idea you want to write about, you're still getting a lot of ideas for a very small time investment. Hard to beat that.

Previous Article in this Series: Cracking the Code
Next Article in this Series: Content Writing Process

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