Lots of blogging advice sites and such constantly say that “content is king” — good content is what keeps readers coming back to read more of your blog.
People start blogs with lots of content ideas, but as the weeks go by sometimes we start to lose steam (at least, I know I do). That’s why this week’s BIP project is about brainstorming,
I found a few good articles online about ways to brainstorm content ideas for your blog.
- 24 Things to do When Stuck for a Topic to Blog About
- Brainstorming Techniques for Bloggers
- 9 Steps to Better Blog Post Ideas
Given that information, the second task in the Blog Improvement Project has two parts: brainstorming ideas and blogging your ideas (skip the second part if it doesn’t sound interesting to you).
Part 1 — Brainstorming Ideas:
- Read the articles above and find a technique that you think will help you brainstorm, then spend some quality time brainstorming.
- Keep track of the topic ideas you’ve brainstormed for a time in the future when you need some ideas.
- Come back and comment on this post or sign the Mr. Linky below with a post about brainstorming techniques you found particularly helpful or other brainstorming techniques you use.
Part 2 — Blogging Your Ideas:
- Use your brainstormed ideas to come up with a new, regular feature for your blog. There are a lot of memes and stuff out there to participate in, but I think it’s cool when a blogger has a feature that is unique to them. Think about what makes your voice different, then come up with a feature that reflects that. There aren’t any “rules” about the feature — just be yourself.
- Come back and sign the Mr. Linky with a post about your new feature.
Remember, the point of the Blog Improvement Project is to do the activities in a way that will make your blog better. These are just suggestions, so take with them and do what you will!
Comments on this entry are closed.
I’m already cooking up a new feature over at my blog. Thanks for the brainstorm!
Same here. Did some brainstorming yesterday, but haven’t quite found out yet what to post 😉 Will come back later with a link.
I have a bone to pick with Mr. Linky: he’s showing the title of a post I linked over a week ago on someone else’s blog!
Cathy: That is weird! Sometimes when I go to sign a Mr. Linky, it remembers what I put in the last time I signed and will just post that again unless I specifically change it in the posting options. I’m not sure if that is what happened, but maybe?
Hi!
Well, I posted. It took some considerable thinking on this one! But I got it done. Have a great day!!
Sherrie
Woohoo, BIP week two!
I didn’t, er, do exactly what the brief said, but I did talk about inspiration and brainstorming and so I hope that still counts. 😀
I did the exercise on “mind mapping” and found it very helpful… I will be doing more of this in the future. This project is turning out even better then I had originally anticipated. View it here
I borrowed inspiration from Farm Lane Books’s quiz/poll idea and ran with it:
http://librarianismish.blogspot.com/2009/01/perfect-day-for-poll.html
Thanks for the tips – I think I will have two regular features and I’ve rearranged my widgets according to my current audience’s interests.
I had to do some catch-up for weeks 1 and 2 of the project:
http://americanbibliophile.com/?p=332
Thanks again Kim! This week’s assignment took a while but it was time well spent. Those links you provided us with are really valuable and I have been spreading them on Twitter as well. I can’t wait for the next post!
Here’s the link to my exact post for this week’s project:
http://tw0.us/55
Thanks Kim! I took forever getting this done, but it was really worth it. I love reading everyone else’s too!
Here’s mine:
http://belleofthebooks.wordpress.com/2009/01/28/blog-improvement-project-2/
When I found your site from Tip Junkie I had to catch up weeks 1 and 2. And the response I have had about my blog since making some minor changes has been uplifting. I have implemented a new weekly challenge, honed a challenge I had just started and found a blog site that can help with codes for numbering comments. Thanks Kim for sharing your talent.
hugs,
Manola Chong
Townsville, QLD, Australia
Good ideas Kim.
Here are the results! http://shermereem94.blogspot.com/2009/01/2009-blog-improvement-project-week-2.html.
Useful information! I’m still working on this one, but here’s what I have so far:
http://lovethejourney.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-imoprovement.html
Please disregard the Coraline link on my previous comment. It showed up automatically from a previous post I made on another site. This one should be right.
Another excellent assignment! I love these 2-week blocks of time to work on a particular aspect of blog improvement … thanks, Kim!
My post is here.
I’m slow..but I got mine up today.
http://notenoughbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-improvement-project-week-2.html
Okay I just finished my week 2 project and blog post. I still have 3 more weeks to catch up with everyone, but I am feeling good that i am making some forward movement. I will try to read everyone’s week 2 posts as soon as I can!