Topics for Articles
Continuation of Lesson 16 from You Can Make
Money Writing
We continue this lesson with more ways to find topics for
articles...
Listen to Yourself for Ideas
You have knowledge that most people don't have, and hopefully
your website is based on that knowledge. We all have our areas
of expertise. Suppose you have a website based on your hobby
of woodworking. Your friends would ask you things about woodworking
on occasion, right? Or you might tell them things whether they
ask or not.
In any case, you would find yourself explaining something
to them at times. Listen to what you are saying! Any time you
find that you have just taken a few minutes to explain something
to someone, you have the material for an article right there.
If it is relevant to your website, start writing that article.
If it isn't relevant, make a note - you might have another website
or even a blog in the future.
Ask Friends for Suggestions
You might be surprised by the things that your friends know
about you, but which you never considered. Someone once told
me that I made economic and political ideas very clear when I
explained them. I now have a site that is nothing more than pages
of any ideas that come to mind, from politics to inventions.
It only makes a few hundred dollars each month, but at least
it is a fun site to work on.
Don't ask you friends what they would write about. But do
ask them what they think needs to be written in your areas of
expertise.
Carry a Notepad or Recorder
Most of us forget half of all the ideas we have if we do not
write them down or otherwise record them. Keep paper by your
bedside for middle-of-the-night-ideas. Carry a note-book as you
go about your day.
I have found that a micro-cassette recorder can be great for
this as well. It can be used more easily in the dark if it's
at your bedside, and more safely than writing if you are driving.
I sometimes take long walks, which are very conducive to creative
ideas for articles, and I carry a tape recorder so I don't have
to stop to write in a note-book.
Ask Subscribers
If you have a newsletter, ask your subscribers what they would
like to read about. You can then write the content they want
in the newsletter, and use it for articles that you distribute
as well. If you don't have a newsletter, maybe you visit discussion
forums online. Ask for ideas in these places.
Copy the Competition
Now, I would never suggest actually copying anything another
person has written, but taking their ideas and giving them your
own slant is perfectly fair. Go to websites with a similar theme
to yours, and browse the pages. Make a note every time you find
one on a topic that you have not yet addressed in your writing.
Ask yourself as you read the pages or articles of others,
"What is right and what isn't quite right about this information?"
Also ask, "What could I add to this?" and "What
did they leave out or get wrong?" If you've ever read someone's
writing and found yourself saying, "That's not right!"
you have the motivation and ideas for a new article.
Learn Idea-Generating Techniques
There are many specific techniques for generating new ideas.
I cover a half-dozen of them in my e-book How To Have New Ideas.
At the moment, you can get it free when you subscribe to the
Brainpower Newsletter at http://www.IncreaseBrainpower.com. If a newsletter
on brainpower really doesn't interest you, just unsubscribe using
the link at the bottom of the first issue, but get the e-book
and learn a few techniques. Using the techniques there you'll
have no shortage of ideas or topics for articles.
Ask the Right Questions
Think of the average visitor to you website, and ask the following
questions to generate ideas for pages and articles.
What is he or she trying to do?
Are your visitors trying to buy something? If an article or
two reviewing relevant products would be of help to them. Are
they trying to learn how to do something? Then ask the next question:
What do they want to learn how to do?
How-to articles are some of the most popular out there. Consider
any of the possible things your visitors would like to learn
how to do. Make a list. Then start explaining how to do each
of the things on the list.
What mistakes might they be making?
If you have a site on credit card debt, you might write an
article on "Six Mistakes to Avoid." If you have a site
on poker, it could be an article about mistakes that are commonly
made by amateur players. People cannot resist reading an article
about mistakes, because they want to see if they are making them.
Make a list of the most common mistakes your average visitor
might be making, and each could be an article ("Avoid This
Common Mistake...").
What are they unlikely to know?
Nobody knows everything about a subject. For example, even
a man who has invested in stocks all of his life may not know
how to generate income with his stocks by selling covered call
options on them. Make a list of ten things related to your site
theme which the average reader probably doesn't know. That list
is almost an article by itself, or you can make them all topics
for articles individually. People love to read about "secrets"
and "insider information" that is new to them.
Continues here... Rewriting
Articles
Note: This is part of the book, You Can Make Money
Writing. There are links to all the all the lessons/chapters
on the home page.
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