Planning your blog is a very important step to get right the first time. Because if you miss the mark then your visitors will miss finding you too. Here you will build a fine foundation using the Blog Planning Worksheet and correctly use a brainstorming Session.
5 Easy Steps to your successful Blog Brainstorming
What is Brainstorming?
To start off the Blog Planning Work Sheet we need to understand what Brainstorming your Blog means. So, according to the dictionary; “Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members.”
In other words, is where you or a group of people generate new ideas rapidly without thinking too deeply, based on a specific interest.
As you start your Brainstorming Blog session you may to draw a mental blank. This can cause you to start to feel that you are not able to start a blog since you know nothing about nothing. Wrong. You know way more than you think you do and we are going to uncover those secrets here using the Blog Brainstorming Worksheet to help you.
Although we are focusing on Blog Planning ideas today, There are 5 steps to successful Brainstorming you can apply this technique to any part of your life. You will end up with the perfect Niche for you.
A Niche is a specific idea based on a general topic that you are really good at or that you have a passion for. Because this will become your Blog.
Step 1 – Write down the Theme or Main Topic you want to Blog about.
Print out the attached PDF sheet and write at least one main topic down in step 1 box. This is a small list of the things you like, it also should include a list of the things you are passionate about, even if you are not that good at them. Just write them down.
Think about these main topics for a moment and decide if any of them can be merged into one or two ideas. Your your goal is to have less than three in total. Then you will find that some topics will be similar. For example, if you are a chef and you love to keep fit. Your main topic could be healthy recipes. Get the idea.
Some other general topics could be for example: Animals, Crafts, DIY projects, Electronics, Food, Family, Fitness, Games, Home, Music, Outdoors, Finance, Sport or Travel. You can think of many more too. Just write what you love the most.
Now order these few topics into what you are best at. The one in first place is where our brainstorming will begin.
Keep the others though, because you can also start another blog on these topics in the future.
Step 2 – Know your audience
Who will read your blog, will they be beginners or advanced readers and followers? For instance are they lazy or enthusiastic? These are the people whom you are trying to connect with. They might buy products from you because they can relate to you.
You need to think about your main topic and the sort of people you would expect to read your blog. Then you can write down some keywords relating to these visitors and your main topic.
If you chose Healthy Recipes, could your readers be Gym Junkies who like to prepare fresh foods. In conclusion, your Keywords: Gym, Fresh, Eat at home. Or Similar.
Check with your friends. In addition, ask your work mates if you are working in the industry that you are passionate about. Because these people too can give you insights into the types of visitors you could expect. Also, talk to your hair dresser or drinking mate to see if they have any thoughts.
If you already have customers related to the blog you want, you could ask them directly what they want to see or how a certain topic affects them. Also check the feedback to other blogs or website activity. As well as Social Media.
Make a list on the worksheet of the type of audience you could expect to read your blog.
Step 3 – Brainstorm for categories in your Blog
Now that you have some basic information written on the Blog Planning Work sheet, it is time to start a brainstorming session. If you have a close friend or colleague, invite them over for coffee and do it together.
Start with the Main topic and write it in the centre of a page. Then think of as many related categories to that topic as you can as fast as you can. Then set a timer for 2 minutes to give yourself a target. And write each category around the central topic.
This uses a technique similar to Mind Mapping. You brain works in a circular fluid motion, not straight lines. So using a central word with categories radiating out from it fits the natural flow of thinking and improves the brainstorming session.
Also look at each category and draw a line to any that are similar, linking them together. Then, consider your target audience for each of the listed categories. Do any fit together?
Start another Brainstorming Session
Start another 2-minute brainstorming session thinking about how your visitors would relate to each category and write down any words that come to mind outside the category list. Add more boxes as you need them. These are called sub-categories.
You probably wrote the same word or expression for several of your categories, as the audience will have the same expectation for different categories. So again, draw links to those that appear to be related.
Now you have a lot of words or short phrases written down in one spot. Also, you have a lot of lines linking those subcategories together.
Stand back and look at your list from at least 1 metre away. Do you see any clusters of words next to each other and other areas that are quite scarce!
The cluster is your blog, it will become your Niche. Why? This is clearly what you are most passionate about, it is what you can quickly come up with ideas about and it is something you could write about in short amounts of time.
Popular Topics that people Blog about
Below is a list of some of the more common topics that may start those blog planning creative juices flowing into a Brainstorming session. These are the topics we mentioned them briefly above to get you started.
Now that you have brainstormed your thoughts, here is some more detail to help you stay on track. It is designed to help you hone your thoughts, that is confirm your choices above. The goal is to decide on what interests you the most.
- Animals – Fish, Birds, Insects, bio diversities, habitats
- Crafts – Handmade, Knitting, Sewing, Macrame, Patchwork
- DIY – Woodwork, Metalwork, Bathrooms, Makeovers
- Electronics – Latest Fads, phones, kitchen, toys, car related, history
- Family – parenting, children, relationships, relatives, history
- Finance – Money, Investments, Banking
- Fitness and health – Gym, Aerobics, Diet, Workouts, Dance
- Food – Recipes, diets, products, produce, National Cuisines
- Games – Board, interactive, online, gaming, party, card
- Healthy Lifestyle Choices – Exercise, Diet, Cooking
- Home – Buying/Selling, Decor, Renovating, Gardens
- Music – Bands, Artist, genres, Eighties, Singing, Playing, Instruments
- Outdoors – Bush-walking, Sight Seeing, Camping, Biking, Canoeing
- School – Subjects, types of schooling, home schooling, curriculum
- Small business – Start-up, operation, managing
- Sport – Types, popular, rules, results
- Travel – Overseas, Locally, Landmarks, Backpacking
There are many topics and categories to choose from, and many more not listed here. You can write a blog about anything you want to talk about. Have you written all that is important to you or do you need another brainstorming session at this point to add a few more categories.
Now identify several Keywords from your list or results from your brainstorming sessions and write these down separately in point form.
Step 4 – Clarify your Keywords
Now that you have several words written down, research each of them separately on Google or Bing and write down any associated words or phrases.
You can take this time to also look for trends related to your keywords. When something related to your blog becomes more popular you will be ready for it..
You might find that the market is not ready for this list of keywords and you need to take a step back to step 3 and choose another category and keywords.
Step 5 – Decide on the Structure and Headlines
Here is the fun part, look at the topic you chose, the categories and the keywords that fit. Then using these words, write ONE sentence using all of these words and your type of audience. This sentence is your Niche – what you will blog about.
Now that you know your niche, what you are going to blog about, it is time to workout some blog headlines to get you started.
- Will you do lists – 10 ways to cook with Cucumber
- How-to – How to julienne a Tomato
- Q&A – List of Questions and Answers relating to your topic
- Opinion – Your opinion for the best way to grow Carrots
- News – News Items that are related to your Niche
- Story – An interesting story or anecdote about your topic
- Define – Define what makes up for a great chicken Curry.
Then Take this theme and all the other words and keywords you wrote down and start another brainstorming session for 5-minutes on titles you could write about. You can use a handy website called HubSpot to help you create Blog Titles based on you key words.
Take a Break – make a cuppa
Having another blank moment – Take a break make a cuppa, and then start again when you are relaxed. It is not a race; it is a long-term project. The ideas will flow, just let them come out in their own time.
Keep an open mind – (and a notepad, when you are not focused is when the best idea hits you). Whether you are at work, out shopping, or cuddled up with someone watching a movie, it is then that you get an Idea about your Blog Project.
Have a notepad (or phone notepad) handy and write it down straight away. Text the idea to yourself, just get it down in print for later.
Fill in the work sheet and keep it for future reference. Because you will need this information to help you with the next step on your Journey to Starting a Successful Blog Website. As you write, new ideas will start to be formed and your blog will grow with you.
The Blog Planning Work Sheet printed below was designed by Create Sum Fun for your personal use in Brainstorming. It is not to be printed for general distribution.
Kind Regards
James FG