This is the 3rd in a 4-part series on Business Blogging. In Part 2 of this series, we looked at the Keys to a Successful Blog.

In Part 3, we look at how to come up with ideas for writing blogs.

We all know that in real estate, the most important mantra is “location, location, location”.

Well, in blogging, it’s consistency, consistency, consistency. The highest trafficked, well-known blogs in the world are known because their authors have been consistently putting out content of value that eventually collects readers, builds a following and a community, get’s found, shared, commented on and grows – over a period of time.

So how do you come up with content of value over a period of time?

The first step here is to think about your goal first - what is it you want to write about? If it’s a personal blog or a professional blog, your content will be different, because your audience – and your goal – is different.

Remember though, that you want to offer content that your readers will find interesting, and valuable – so think of yourself as a resource, and write about what you know – your knowledge and your expertise.

The next step is to draw from material you already know, and continuously be on the look out for information that will feed your “idea-mill”.

In other words, in order to write, you’ll find that you need to read too.

Ideas for Blog Topics

• Use Lists: facts, ideas, trends or thoughts
• Publish a list of links to resources
• Share a recent experience
• Share news related to your industry
• Publish an opinion piece
• Write a review
• Answer questions you’ve received
• Comment on other blog articles
• Turn a press release into a blog article
• Use an excerpt from information you may have published in other formats including white papers, case studies, books
• Check your email outbox for informative emails you’ve sent to clients
• Publish a video blog – take video of events, news “as it happens”, local interest
• Photography – pictures speak a thousand words, so take pictures to illustrate a point or build a topic around a photo

Just remember that blogging requires writing, and writing requires information.

Blogs don’t have to be long, some of the best bloggers write short pieces that simply re-purpose other information – but if you aren’t already, then you need to collect, gather and read, to have a store of information to pull from when you want to write your own blogs.

Did you notice I keep saying “value”? It’s just as important as consistency – no-one wants to know that you had a cup of espresso this morning. But we do want to know that it was at a great little Italian restaurant that imports its coffee beans from a corner of South America where no-one has ever been, and will never go again.

The difference is value.

Tell me something I don’t know, or that I want to know – and keep telling me.

Well, I just found Sting and this video on YouTube – couldn’t pass it by, now could I?