Part 3 of 3 in the Content Series
One of the best things you can do to make creating content easier and faster is to generate content ideas from brainstorming based on what you already know.
Researching begins by searching your own knowledge and experience. And that's what we'll talk about in this lesson.
Let's get started...
Brainstorming What You Know In Your Brain
Whenever you are going to create a piece of content, it's essential that you determine what to include in it. That is, you will need to identify specific items (aka "talking points" or "ideas") to fill out your outline and ultimately fill up your completed blog post, webinar script, paid course, and so forth.
In just a moment you are going to learn how to find these talking points by starting with what you already know. But first, let me give you some general categories to think about when you brainstorm ideas.
Eight Essential Components for Content Brainstorming
There are eight essential components to include throughout your content whenever possible. These essentials include:
- Steps
- Examples
- Tips
- Lists
- FAQs
- Templates
- Visuals
- Assignments
Note: See lesson nine later in this module for more details on these essentials.
You'll want to brainstorm those sorts of components, as well as items such as stories, case studies, mistakes, and anything else you can think of that would be helpful to your readers.
Sidebar: Take note that for this step you don't necessarily need to organize the items that you brainstorm. The key here is to just get them all down on paper, and after that you can decide what to keep, what to delete, and how to organize it all.
The 3-Step System to Generate Content Ideas From Brainstorming
Here's the three-step process you'll use to brainstorm ideas:
- Begin With a Question
- Brainstorm Answers
- Build On Your Answers
Here's a closer look at the process...
Step One: Begin With a Question
The first key to a good brainstorming session is to ask the right questions.
What you'll want to do is start with a general brainstorm about your topic. Simply ask yourself:
"What do I know about this topic?"
List everything that comes to mind.
Once your general brainstorm is complete, then you can start asking more specific questions to help you uncover points to include in your content. Start getting specific by asking yourself this question:
"What steps do people need to take in order to complete the process or achieve their goal?"
Then list all the steps (even the small steps or sub-steps) that come to mind. This should yield a lot of entries.
Questions Based on the Eight Essential Components
Next, go through your list of steps and ask yourself the following questions that are based on those eight essential components that were mentioned earlier:
What tips can I provide that will make these steps clearer to the reader? A good general rule is to include at least 2-3 tips for every major point in your list of steps.
What examples can I provide that will make these steps clearer to the reader? This is a huge contributing factor for turning "good" content into "great" content. Examples help readers take information and "see" what it looks like in application.
What sort of lists would be helpful to readers? For example, a list of gear might be useful to someone who's new to backpacking. Or, right now you are reading a list of brainstorming questions to help you better understand this section. See how this works?
What sort of templates or swipes might be helpful to readers? For example, people who are interested in copywriting would benefit from getting a sales letter template.
What types of visuals would add value to each section? Consider all types of visuals, including photos, infographics, tables, charts, illustrations, etc. For example, if you're teaching people about organic gardening, then you might provide photos of common garden pests.
What sort of questions are readers likely to ask? You may want to search platforms like Quora.com to get a feel for the frequently asked questions in your niche. Be sure to also check your own emails, blog comments, social media and other platforms to find out what sorts of questions your audience is asking.
What types of assignments can you give to your readers? The key here is to give readers an assignment that will have them take a step towards their goal. For examples of how to do this, just check the assignments at the end of each Content Creation U lesson. Each assignment is directly relevant to the lesson, and it encourages you to take action on what you've learned.
What mistakes did you make when you were first starting out in the niche? You can share these mistakes to help others shortcut the learning curve. You would, of course, explain how to avoid these mistakes (or correct them) as part of your content.
What stories do you have that are directly related to what you're teaching? For example, do you have an embarrassing moment to share that illustrates a mistake you made? Do you have a story about the moment when you were finally able to start getting good results in the niche?
What else can you share with your readers which will help them learn about the process? What else adds value?
Now the next key...
Step Two: Brainstorm Answers
The second key to a good brainstorming session is to let the answers flow without judgement, without censoring your ideas, and without editing anything as you go. Think quantity over quality at this stage – you just want to get as many ideas down on paper as you can think of.
Keep these keys in mind:
Set aside uninterrupted time. The best brainstorming comes if you give 100% of your attention to the task.
Let the answers flow. Spend at least five minutes answering each question, but don't stop just because time is up – keep brainstorming until you're not coming up with anything new. (And remember, no censoring, editing or judgement.)
Brainstorm with a friend if possible. You've heard the saying "two heads are better than one." If you have a spouse, friend or family member who's knowledgeable about the topic and willing to do some brainstorming with you, consider inviting them to your brainstorming session.
By the time you answer all of the questions, you should have dozens (possibly hundreds, depending on your investment of time) of ideas listed. But you're not done yet!
Step Three: Build On Your Answers
Once you've completed the initial stage of brainstorming, go back and read your answers to see if anything else comes to mind. Oftentimes, simply reading your answers will trigger something else. You'll basically have an, "Oh, I should add this!" moment.
While this CCU lesson is all about what YOU know, upon exhausting your own knowledge bank, you can turn to the knowledge bank of Google. Search for existing pieces of content (blog posts, products, infographics, etc.) related to your topic and review them for additional ideas.
Of course, don't steal someone else's content, but rather look to others for general ideas that you can explain in your own unique way.
Real-World Results: From One Brainstorming Session to Months of Content
Do this every time you need fresh ideas for content. You should yield enough entries to create many different pieces.
For example, my brainstorming session on how to have a brainstorming session gets me these ideas:
- The 3-Step System For Teaching What You Know
- The Top 10 Tips For Creating Content Your Clients Will Love
- Four Content Creation Mistakes You're Making (+How To Fix Them Fast)
- The Better Brainstorming Worksheet
- How To Get 50 Blog Post Ideas In One Hour Or Less
- Five Free Tools Smart Course Creators Use For Idea Generation
- 20 Ways To Find Talking Points For Your Next Piece Of Content
- The Guaranteed Way To Create Courses That Sell Well
- My 3 Shortcuts To Coming Up With A Year's Worth Of Content Ideas
Are you tracking with that? This exercise alone can yield free and paid content ideas to last for weeks, if not months.
Your Next Step
Now that you know the three steps to brainstorming, your assignment for this lesson is to use these three steps to start brainstorming the eight essentials. These essentials include: steps, examples, tips, lists, FAQs, templates, visuals and assignments.
Go ahead and work on brainstorming ideas for your content, and then let's meet up in the next lesson.
Note: Don't worry about organizing these ideas as you brainstorm them. The key is to just get them all down on paper first, and then you can organize the information later. Take note that some of your ideas may not even end up in your final content piece – and that's perfectly okay.
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