6 Sources For Hot Article Ideas
It's an established fact of internet marketing that one of the
most effective forms of free advertisement is to write and
distribut articles to newsletters. As Stone Evans of Plug-in-Profits
said, "once you get one of YOUR ARTICLES published on someone
else's blog or website, that article and the links within it are
probably going to remain there FOREVER."
But finding ideas that jump off the page can seem a daunting
task. Many marketers stare at a blank screen, lost, as if hoping
an idea will emerge on its own. Experienced writers know ideas
are not created in a vaccum. Ideas, especially article ideas,
are like branches of a tree: Each grows from another.
Understanding this is the first step in finding the ideas
needed. Because the nuclei of article ideas are all around us,
in every day life. The trick is to see them for what they are.
Below are some excellent sources for ideas, ones that most
writers use without even realizing it.
1. DISCUSSIONS
During the course of many conversations, a clever writer will
naturally learn two things: what it is they, themselves, know
and what it is others don't, but want/need to. Many articles
have begun from a casual remark or question. For instance, a
writer may be explaining their work to a group of friends and
mention RSS or ROI. One friend may interrupt, asking, "What IS
ROI?" and everyone seems curious. Voila`! Not only does the
writer have an article idea, but a title to go along with it:
"What IS ROI?"
2. FORUMS
In the forums, even new marketers will see others' questions
that they can anwser. Because forums often bring together some
new and some experienced marketers, one thread can offer ideas
for several different articles. A newbie will ask a question
that is not general knowledge-- evidence of this being that many
others' view the thread and post responses.
3. ARTICLES
This source is two fold, but please do not mis-interpret this as
in any way endorsing plagarism.
-- First, by reading others' articles, a writer's own questions
and observations can become the seed for article ideas. While
reading about ROI, for instance, the similarity between ROI
factors and smart shopping practises caught my attention and
soon "7 Shopping Tips For Smart Affiliate
Marketing ROI", was born.
-- Second, as a writer works on one article, an off-shoot of
that idea often develops organically. While it may be too
"off-topic" or diverse for the current article, it does form the
nucleus of a new one. During the course of writing this article,
no less than 10 other ideas have presented themselves. (The
value of these ideas and which, if any, will see the light of
day are yet to be seen.)
4. EXPERIENCE
Even the newest marketer brings to marketing some life
experience. If, indeed, one has no experience or relevent
content to add directly related to internet marketing, there is
always the "off-topic" article to be written. While this may be
used in non-marketing newsletters, the point is the author is
exposing his/her link to the world at large.
5. INEXPERIENCE
Yes, that's right. Most think that experience is a basic
ingredient to writing an article. Yet, generally speaking, it is
often the less experienced marketer that will notice something
their more experienced counter-parts have over looked. Noticing
these things can often spur great article ideas.
6. BRAINSTORM
This is a classic writer's tool and with good reason: it works.
Brainstorming is merely a matter of sitting quietly with paper
and pen (or word-processing software, as the case may be) and
writing down every possible idea, regardless of value or
judgement that occurs to them related to a given subject. It
differs from the sources above (which should be written down
ASAP) because it comes from stream-of-consciousness thinking,
from free-association, rather than a specific source. The value
of these, too, should be decided later.
The main ingredient in finding good article ideas is to learn to
think in terms of articles. That is, to see the possible ideas
when they present themselves and to grab hold of them. Sometimes
the newest writer can seize on the hottest article idea, once
they know what to look for. With practise, too, it becomes
easier.--mo