I had an interesting conversation last week with a mover and shaker in the coworking community. This particular person is having trouble coming up with blog post ideas.
She said that although she knows a lot about coworking, community and collaboration, when she sits down to write a post, she finds herself staring at a blank screen.
Have you been there? I know I have, probably more times that I’d care to admit.
Here’s a quick fix to generate a ton of targeted, useful blog post ideas that speak directly to your audience.
Have someone start asking you questions about your work. Start with big picture ones: Why do you do this work? What are you working on now? Who do you work with?
From there, have them start diving down into more detailed questions. When do people need your services? What challenges are they facing? How do you help people reach their goals?
With my coworking pal, as soon as we started talking about how to build community, she let loose with a ton of valuable information. Ideas were just flowing effortlessly from her. She had all kinds of insights about the challenges of creating a vibrant community, common mistakes people make, tools to implement, what to read, who to talk to, where to focus. It went on and on.
When I pointed out that she was a fountain of information and that she had just inadvertently generated about a dozen blog post topics, she was shocked.
“See,” I said, “All you needed was a prompt.”
Next time you’re stuck, have someone ask you questions about what you do. And remember, the things that seem easy and obvious to you are pure gold to someone else.
Share your knowledge, share your insights, and start writing. You know more than you think you do.
Coworking space operators: Get industry insights, resources and content tips sent to you every Thursday. Subscribe to the Coworking Out Loud Newsletter.
Photo: Mario Mancuso (CC-BY)
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