How to come up with endless content ideas
Today I’m sharing three systems that I use to come up with a constant stream of content ideas.
If you create a lot of content like I do (and by the way you should be doing that as it’s the best way to market and grow your business) it can be hard to come up with regular content ideas for Instagram posts, blogs, videos or other platforms you use to create content for your community. But having a system around content is the way that you will always have something new to be talking about that is helpful for your community and gives them lots of value.
I create multiple pieces of new content every single day and I never run out of ideas. In fact the main problem I normally have is deciding which of my ideas I should write about next! And the reason for that is because of the systems I have in place around content creation.
Here’s how I do it….
1: Quick Capture System
The main reason people struggle with coming up with content ideas is because they have no system around capturing ideas as they have them.
We all have ideas every day, especially if we are looking for them. But these might be at inconvenient times like when we are out of the office, driving around, on a walk or standing in line at the grocery store - not places where we are ready to sit down and create something.
So you need a system to capture your new content ideas as you think of them.
That way the next time you sit down to create an Instagram post or write a video script or blog post you are already starting with an idea rather than staring at a blank page. You will have a range of topic ideas to choose from and hopefully even a few dot points about each topic that you can use as the start of your content piece, which makes it SO much easier to get something created and published.
Although I use Notion to manage my full content system, the way I capture ideas for content when I'm on the go is to just use the notes app on my iPhone (I can use Notion on my phone as well but I find the notes app is quicker and easier to navigate for this idea capturing purpose).
Normally content ideas come to me when I'm consuming content from other people - for example watching a video, listening to a podcast or reading a book. And I'm not normally doing those things at my desk, which means that having a system on my phone is much handier for quickly making a note.
Here's the folder system I have inside my Notes app - just to show you how my notes are organised.
And here's an example of a quick note I captured on the go recently - just to give you an idea. As you can see I just jot down the title/idea and then if I have time I also make a couple of notes about the idea at the same time. This is then enough to trigger me to remember what I wanted to create a piece of content around - in this example below it’s obviously a piece about how I batch my week and assign different sorts of tasks to different days.
The note will then either just go in the ‘Quick Capture’ folder for processing later or if I know it’s a good idea for a video or blog post (or other content piece) specifically then I’ll add it to that folder right away.
When I'm next looking for a new idea I just go through the notes I've made and it makes it all much simpler.
Finally, one a month as part of my monthly reset I will go through all the notes I’ve captured on my phone and transfer them over to my content system inside Notion and assign them to days on my calendar.
2. Steal Like an Artist
If you've been around here for more than 5 minutes you'll know that I recommend Austin Kleon's books A LOT!
And that's because they are excellent.
And although I love all of them, the one that is particularly helpful around content creation is 'Steal like an Artist'.
In this book Austin Kleon argues that nobody has original ideas anymore BUT we all have our interpretation or experience of an idea that we can share with the world.
It's a really short book and extremely easy to read. I always have his books close by to flip through if I'm ever short of an idea for a piece of content.
So if you don’t have these books I highly recommend them - and particularly ‘Steal like an Artist’ for content creation ideas.
3. Ask your community
Another really good way to come up with ideas is to simply ask your audience or community.
You can do this in a range of different ways - such as:
capture the questions you get asked all the time by clients (or prospective clients) - e.g. using the notes system above
put up a question sticker on your IG stories and ask people to let you know what they would like help with
Or if you don't have your own community then borrow someone else's community and ask them - for example:
what questions are being asked in the comments of Instagram posts on pages of other creators in your niche?
use www.answerthepublic.com (or even Google) to find topics people are searching for
look through Facebook groups in your niche - what are people asking for help with?
Check out comments on blog posts or YouTube videos around topics in your niche - what are people asking for help with?
Use all of this as sources of inspiration and then create content that answers those questions with your own advice and spin on it.
Honestly - once you have a few systems in place for how to capture and generate content ideas you'll never run out of ideas again!
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy