Sources of value-rich content for your blog
“Nobody’s going to read your blog unless there’s something in it for them.”
~ Seth Godin
Coming up with valuable content is the first step for bloggers. For beginning and experienced bloggers alike, offering valuable content on a consistent basis is also sometimes the hardest step. So below are several ideas for how to simplify your blogging life by making consistent, value-rich content easier to come by.
What to remember BEFORE you write a blog post
You are blogging for someone else’s benefit (in terms of content at least), so what you blog about needs to be of value to THEM. To keep this info top of mind, always answer the underlying question your readers will ask with EVERY POST. . .WIIFM?
One hint for keeping your posts on track with WIIFM is to write your answer to this question at the top of every post so you’ll be reminded of it as you write. I was going to write that, of course, you should remove this text before you publish your post, yet for some bloggers it might be a great lead off for their posts. 
Sources of value-rich content for your blog
If you noticed earlier, I wrote that I would provide ideas that would make “consistent, value-rich content easier to come by.” You do not have to create everything from scratch, though knowing how to do so is certainly a critical skill to develop. The ideas below are generic, yet should work for any type of blog you write, whether your blog is a business blog, hobby blog, personal journal, or news blog.
- Your personal experience – This is one of the easiest sources of content because you don’t have to search for it or research it.
- Life in general — Reference a current survey (USA Today, Pew Research, Gallup Polls, BuzzDash) and write your own commentary or ask further questions you think the survey missed. Let the world around you become your own idea bin to pull from
at will.
- Other’s blogs — Link to stories, posts, resources, and ideas that other bloggers wrote about and even quote from them. Remember to give attribution (i.e., cite your source) and a link whenever you use someone else’s material.
- Offline resources — Write about a story in your local paper, review a book you’ve read, offer your opinions about movies, travel advice, or any other topic your readers would care about. Again give links or references when appropriate.
- Previous blog posts you’ve written — Have you changed your mind about something you once wrote? Perhaps you’ve gained new insights and want to share them. Rehash old content if doing so will be useful for your readers.
- Your readers – While you’re not always going to have comments to respond to, you can use any you get as the spark for new content. Instead of providing a long answer to a reader in a follow up comment, answer briefly and then link to the new post you’ve written as a result of your reader’s query.
- Comments on other’s blogs — Even if you don’t find something to use in another’s blog post, check out the comments to see if there’s anything there that could grow into a post of your own.
- Videos, photos, non-text resources — On my personal blog I’ve often posted inspiring videos with a bit of my own commentary or advice. Adding other media to your posts is also a great way to infuse some variety and stimulate your readers in new ways.
The bottom line, regardless of how you source your blog content: choose material that will provide VALUE to the people for whom you blog. . .and the people who could send you even more people who will value what you have to offer (more on that second point in a future post). Stay tuned.
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Thanks so much for the help for when we hit writer’s block! I plan to refer to this list often to get idea sources. By the way the unintended break we had last week helped me to get caught up. You might want to build in another break around this point in a future class. Question: how do you get that scrolling of your blog posts at the end of your emails. I’m sure the class would like to learn that trick!
Comment by Jean Ann Franke — June 5, 2007 @ 12:52 pm
I got sick just for you Jean Ann!
I actually plan to build in a couple of breaks next go round, so I’m glad to have your vote for such a move.
The new feature showing related posts is done with the contextual links plugin from Weblog Tools Collection. I think it’s a great feature.
Comment by Shonnie Lavender — June 5, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
[…] Focus on content. Sound familiar? If you want ideas for how to source your blog content, check Sources of value-rich content for your blog. […]
Pingback by Sage page — expert blogging advice from Guy Kawasaki — June 8, 2007 @ 8:12 am