Recently I shared a simple technique that I use to come up with ideas to write about on my blog – answering a beginner question.
While not really rocket science I had a number of readers contact me privately with thank-you messages appreciating the nudge to write that type of post.
Today I’d like to suggest another simple technique for coming up with blog post ideas. It’s simple yet is perhaps one of the most powerful types of posts I’ve used on my own blogs many times in the last 12 years.
I call these posts the ‘how I do (or did) it’ post.
How I did (or do) it
Over the years I’ve found that posts that walk people through processes of how you do things go down exceptionally well.
Giving someone the theory is good but showing them how you apply that theory takes your writing to a new level.
There are a couple of ways to do this.
How I DID It
Firstly you could walk people through how you did a one-off thing.
You could write a post on how you lost weight, or a post on how you made a dining table for your family, or how you wrote your first book, or how you overcame your fear of heights.
For example Vanessa (my wife) wrote a post on travelling to Bali with Young Kids that basically shared tips from our experience of a trip to Bali with our kids last year.
She followed it up with posts on where to shop in Bali and where to eat and drink in Bali.
Each of these posts essentially took our experience of that trip and explained what we’d done and learned on the trip. They contain a heap of practical tips gained from real experience.
These posts have been used many many times by Vanessa’s readers who are considering similar trips.
A variation on this ‘how I did it’ post might be a ‘what I learned from it’ type post.
For example when I created and released my first eBook I wrote about 8 lessons I learned from the experience here.
How I DO It
Secondly you could walk people through how you do something that is a normal part of your life.
For example I recently shared a screen cast of my social media workflow and how I keep my dPS Facebook page running and in another post shared an exercise I do in Google Analytics.
These are things I do regularly without really thinking about it that it turns out readers are interested in.
One of my good blogging friends – Nicole Avery – does this regularly on her blog Planning with Kids.
For example here is her family morning routine, her kids homework boxes and how she preps food for her 5 kids’ lunch boxes each week.
In each case Nicole has simply looked at her life and found a routine, system or process that works for her and has shared it on her blog.
These things might be so much a part of your day or week that you don’t even think of them any more – but you’ll often find that these are things that will help others incredibly.
Exercise
Brainstorm ideas for these two types of posts.
What are some big one off things that you’ve done in your life that you could write about?
What are some things that you do regularly in your life each day or week that could actually help others? (e.g. routines, systems, processes).
Hint: pay close attention the questions that you regularly get asked from family and friends about how you do things or about the experiences that you’ve had. If people in your ‘real life’ are interested in how you do these kinds of things you can bet others online would be too.
Great tips! I just “newsjack” stories. Since I write about politics and social chaos, I’m never short of material or ideas. For instance, if I read about a politician getting caught with his pants down, I’ll write a headline titled: “Why It’s Fun To Hate Politicians So Much.” And then take the story from there. Great posts can grow out of great headlines. Post and article ideas grow out of daily news headlines. Find a story hiding in another story then you’ve got a great post!
I see what you did there! This post is another example!
Love the example with your wives blog, she turned it into a mini series, brilliant.
I have some ideas brewing! I think the next one I will work on will be about how I turned my freelancing on the side into a full time free lancing gig and then an actual business. Should be epic!
Chris
Let’s hope he just has the one wife. ;-)
Amazing post.
Any time a person writes a blog post on “how to,” it’s a good way to attract search engine spiders as well as gain good positions in search engine results pages like Bing and Google. It also inspires people to bookmark the blog posts for future reading reference, and subliminally entices them to share it with family, friends, and coworkers on their favorite social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. And very little does a person know if they start a niche blog with “how to do this” and “how to do that,” and publish 2 to 3 times a day to your blog for two years consistently, they will possibly earn more than enough money from affiliate programs and contextual advertising to quit their day job. Agree? :-)
Hi.. Darren. You have such a good inspiration for me. I read problogger when ever I am stuck. I am from Indonesia.
I built a blog on making music written in Indonesian. I never realized that “how I did it” is the answer to losing ideas.
Thank you very much.
Very helpful article, got to know many things, learned many things. Thanks a lot, hope to see many such articles.
Insightful and helpful!
Thank you for this great post, highly useful.
Hi Darren,
This is far and away one of the best ways to create a helpful, popular post. Smart insight!
My eBooks and posts that generate the most buzz are how to’s, based on my experience. Or I may list how I did things with a number themed post.
Either way, people want a blueprint to follow.
Think of how frequently we all search Google for how to do stuff. Here in Bali, we’re living on a big plot of land, watching a bunch of animals for the homeowner. When one of the dogs starts killing chickens or if 1,001 other things happen I can hop on Google to figure How To fix it.
We all do it, more than we realize.
I like diving into details, giving people step by step, orderly instructions to solve a problem. I explained how to build an online empire through blog commenting through both post and eBook, and I do the same for many other blogging themed topics.
The key is in the steps.
Leave none out.
Be thorough as heck to drill home the point; you’re spilling the beans in a major league way, to over deliver on value and to help solve people’s problems.
Doing so builds you trust, and also increases your confidence in your self as a blogger.
Darren, wonderful post! Thanks for sharing.
Living in Bali now for 6 months, and this is our 5th trip. Still trying to figure out how adults can travel to Bali lol….love the place, but having a guide in place to find our way, even after these trips, could sure help ;)
Tweeting from Jimbaran.
Ryan
Hello Darren Sir,
Thanks for the inspirational and motivational post.
Surely blogging is fun and as time passes and you become better at it, it gets even more enjoyable
Thanks Darren for great tips this is really helpful for personal blogging and for those who think to start their own blog
Very commonsensical advice Darren! How to’s and tutorials succeed big time and more than often are highly shared and even go on to become viral.
May also be worth mentioning keyword research, and find the terms people search for so the article can be found easily :)
Darren thanks for this great post it will the blogger community all the way
I recommend using Google trends for getting trending subjects. This will increase your search traffic massively.
Great post! Awesome ideas. I love the example with your wives blog about creating mini series. Will definitely have to give this type of post a try!
Chris
How to blog posts are attractive to search engines and get better positions in Bing, Google, and YaHoO!
absolutely, sometimes for the beginner hard to explore the topic, so the inspirational way is make it close to the personal.
thank you for your post
That is very true, posts where we explain step by step how we do different things are very appreciated by the audience.
It is like when somebody asks something on a forum and an experienced user gives a good and complete answer to that matter and many others appreciate the answer.
It is the same with our blog posts.
Great post indeed!
For beginners, it’s extremely hard to come up with refreshing blog post ideas and I recommend them to check out sites like Topsy to find out the most popular contents on social media.
Writing posts about weight loss, how to make millions in affiliate marketing, how to create a successful e-book, how to use document sharing to effectively improve long-term search engine optimization goals, how to prepare certain meals with certain spices at certain times of the day, and how to achieve better grades in college or all wonderful ideas of blog posts to write and publish. When a blogger writes a post sharing their ideas and tactics for success with others on how they achieve a certain goal, it’s also a way for that blogger to show others how they accomplished excellence by “doing the transformation work,” whether it’s making an online business marketing transformation, or financial transformation. Either way you look at it, the blogger in sharing “inspiration” with others.
Thanks Darren for excellent suggestions that is actually useful for private running a blog and for individuals who assume to start out their very own weblog
Hi Darren
this is an interesting post, that tips I’m going to remember me :-)
Kind regards
Franny
Thanks for including my post Darren. I loved Vanessa’s post on Bali1
Great post with some great ideas. Thanks for sharing :)
Read more write less when creating posts.
This is a valuable spin on the DIY blog post. I like the emphasis on the reader connecting directly with the writer and how they personally achieved the task in question. This type of blog post would also make sure the information given is sharp and up to date. General ‘how to…’ guides can sometimes slip into quoting widely held information that is not always tested for the specific goal!
Another great thing about writing “how to blog posts” and creating “how to” blogs and websites is that you can build it from the ground floor up with unique content and earn a potential 5 to 6 figure income in 2 to 3 years. Many people don’t believe this is possible, as they continue to fool themselves. If anyone does the transformation entrepreneurial work of starting a business online from scratch and build it from the ground floor up with “lots and lots of content,” they put themselves in a positive position to make money from affiliate programs and selling ad space on their sites as mentioned in as little as 2 to 3 years. In this time frame, a blogger or Internet marketer must create content faithfully and be original in their thoughts. Most importantly, if they strive for excellence in getting organized with creating [lots and lots of content] and building meaningful relationships with site visitors from search engines and social networks, their site will potential he do better than hoped for as little as 2 to 3 years.
Very well written and great tips. Generally I find “How-to” stuff quite attractive as it generates enough curiosity in the reader’s mind.