Truly good ideas are rare, but the best way to get to them is through volume.
Figuring out what headline, tweet, or thumbnail goes viral is largely a trial-and-error game. It’s also hard to replicate even if you’ve done it before.
That’s why you shouldn’t aim to produce the next viral anything — it’s the wrong target.
The easiest way to generate ideas for writers or content creators is to simply solve your own problems, and share how you did it.
This article is an example of that. When I first started this blog five years ago, I struggled to come up with ideas. The content you’re reading on this page is the answer to how I overcame that struggle, and how I plan to move forward with future articles.
Solve your own problems in public. People are starving for solutions that they can replicate, especially from an individual who communicates candidly and in plain language.
Think about a problem you’re stuck on currently, or that you used to be stuck on. How you solved the puzzle becomes your source for ideas, and also an endless magnet for a target audience that not only relates to you, but that’s likely on the exact same journey.
You are the avatar for your audience
If you can’t figure something out, odds are other people struggle with the same thing.
Take writer’s block. It’s the most classic literary snag of all time. Everyone wants to know how to beat it.
Since I’ve found a way to do this that works for me, it makes for a perfect topic.
Think of yourself as your ideal target audience. You want to write about or produce relatable ideas, and the best way to do that is by sharing your perspective in your own voice.
The solution to your problem is something you would have sought out before you produced that content, and now your content is a way of paying it forward to others in search of the same solution.
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