How to research for original, quality content ideas?

If you are in a niche you know, you shouldn't have a problem coming up with new content ideas.

You can hire a person who is an expert on your niche and have him do the content ideation as well as the content creation itself.

I'm not sure whether you do this or not, as you don't go into your research methods, but I find hanging out in niche specific forums, discussion groups and blogs generates a fair few ideas for me.

Go anywhere where the web public has a voice, get involved with the community and ask a few needs/wants based questions.

G'luck

Hi Trevor,

I know my niche extremely well, however I do not know if I'm tired and having a bit of a block or if i've genuinely hit the wall, but I'm just finding it difficult to think of new ideas that my customers will like.

Hi Mena,

Thanks for the advice. I do hang out with my community a lot because my niche is my passion. But I feel that the people who offer those topics up for suggesstion or deliver advice on them first are really the custodians of that content and I don't want to take it.

Probably me just being daft.

Cheers

G

Hey G,
Have you tried creating a mindmap? They are tough to get through, but once you do, you'll end up with a crazy amount of ideas.

I found this post while back... thoughtwrestling(dot com)/blog/how-make-mind-map/

For me, I don't try to approach all of the arms at the same time. I focus on one and go as deep as I can creating different levels.

Plus, I don't use software to creat them, just a good ol piece of paper and pencil.

Have you tried them before?

Ryan

There is a massive difference between pagiarising and using something as a starting point for your own take on a subject.

For me life is the best research tool, since my business and my passions are perfectly aligned I am able to notice the lessons that life gives often, and turn them into content ideas that others will benefit from.

Since I spend 90% of my day doing what I love, there is never any shortage of life lessons that I can share with my audience. I think it's important to find something that matters to you and build a business around that.

Too many people are looking for the magic niche and end up creating a business that is boring and that they want to outsource to some crappy worker in a 3rd world country.

The magic niche doesn't exists, get creative and find a way to merge your passions and your business into one.

I would ignore all of the above (sorry guys) and try your hand (pardon the pun) at free-writing. It is amazing what you can come up with.

This is the way Ed Dale from the challenge taught it to me.

Read up on content for 30 minutes on a given subject matter. Use google reader, blogs, articles etc. Set a timer so you do not get distracted and look at the clock. When the alarm bell rings, stop reading and "loading up" on content.

Next set a timer for ten minutes. It can be between five and fifteen but ten is optimal I think. When you start the timer, start to write constantly about your subject matter. Anything that you can remember, the key is to just keep writing. Pay no attention to grammar, spelling, neatness etc. The key is to just keep the flow of writing even if you are writing "blah blah blah". If you can't think of anything to write then write that instead. When the alarm on the timer goes off, STOP WRITING.

Wait until the next day to edit what you have written. You might be quite surprised by what you come out with as a fresh set of eyes can do a lot. This way of writing and editing is practised in the writing world for years. We are too used to editing as we write which is what hinders the creative flow for many people.

Try it and let me know how you get on.

usually i am outsourcing through fiverr.com

make sure they have good reviews and feedback

It's been a while since I've actually stepped on a golf course, but this might help.

One thing I never understood was the difference between the red letter and all black letter golf balls. (one is 80 and one is 100?)

How can I keep from slicing the ball, seems like when I dont play for a while I always slice the ball for more than half the course.

Other than those real life examples, maybe do articles reviewing courses on a per-state basis. Im sure there are some searches that are geo targeted.

Hope this helps some

Hi everyone,

Cheers for all the replies and apologies I didn't log on yesterday but I was working.

I've got back in to the flow of things and content is readily making its journey from brain to keyboard (at least for now). Some great ideas above and i'm going to give the mindmaps suggestion a whirl.

Woodward - I've got a good piece of content on stopping you slicing the ball, when the site is up and running maybe you should pop over for a read

Thanks again and if anyone else has any further suggestion please keep them coming

Cheers

G

There are a lot of ways to generate topics for your niche. For one, you have to look for good related blogs and articles and then try to read the subjects discussed there. By reading more about your niche, you will come up with some good content for your website.

You can also think about the parts you especially like in the article you read and how you can improve this part further. Why you like it? What facts can you add? Images? Videos? Comparisons? Data? Products? People? Documents?

Why and for whom this article was written? What problems are solved? What problems are not solved? Etc.

Here's what works for me when I'm having trouble generating content ideas. I have small notebook that I take around with me and whenever I have an idea that I think is worthy of an article, a new website, a new product, a blog or whatever I write it down. I have often found my best ideas come in my time away from the computer. Friends and family have given me so many ideas just presenting a problem they are having, I have gotten other ideas listing to real world business owners and I have even gotten some ideas reading the newspaper. Often by the time I get back in front of the computer I will have forgotten these ideas so that is why I try and take the pen and paper with me where ever I go.


For your particular niche I'd suggest you head out to the golf course talk to the pro or other players. You could simply hang out at the bar at the golf course and talk to players that come in. In other words get off the computer and out into your market to find out what people are talking about and that will be an unlimited content generation source for you.

Plagiarizing is more cut and paste type of deal. You aren't plagiarizing someone if you take their ideas and put your unique spin or perspective on them. T. S. Elliot said, "Mediocre writers borrow. Great writers steal."

Visiting golf forums and reading the questions and discussions always helps.

Another good idea is to get offline. Visit bookstores (as John already said) and look at all the golfing magazines and books. You don't need to copy stories to get ideas.

Also, hanging out at "hole 19" at the golf course and listening to golfers talk about the game they just finished is a great way to learn about their concerns.

Rose

Why not try hanging around the pro shop at your local golf course?

As we all know plagiarism is cheating in other words getting someone else's ideas or writing. As long as you give credit to the person who wrote the message then no problem. But the question here is what if you also have the same idea like the one that you just read. Then you can come up with something in your own interpretation.

I'm hoping that the golf market is something that you can infiltrate and make a ton of dough quickly.

Like Trevor said, if you can't come up with fresh and original ideas/article topics... then maybe you shouldn't be in the niche.

On the other hand... your thread title is a good question. If for example you entered in the golf market for "left handed golfers"... i assume you will want to look around online and in your local library to see if any content exists for the left handed golfers market.

Usually folks are looking for solutions to problems. You can come up with a list of problems or situations encountered and come up with your advice/solution to each one. When you have expertise in an area you usually have an easy time of coming up with the solution that you would apply. I also know that there are times when I feel like everything is old hat and have to remind myself that the average person does not have the breadth and depth of knowledge that I do in that subject. How this and all the other wonderful ideas presented will help you get your creative juices flowing.