How To Think Of Ideas To Start A Blog

I used to be stone cold broke. Susan and I would go into town just to look in the windows of stores to wish we could buy something.

We spent our evenings together fantasizing about having stuff like normal people.

Because what we had was a mountain of debt and a long, hard life to look forward to.

Then, one day, we sat down and decided that our lives would be different.

We resolved to save more money and to make more money.

It was the only way we could change the life we had to the life we wanted.

We did a lot of things in the first few years to get rid of our debts and buy our dream home.

It turns out, however, that there was one thing that we did that was better than everything else. We started a blog.

Today, we make around $30,000 a month (some months a bit more and some a bit less) from blogging. We have many different websites and they all produce revenue.

Together, they make us far more successful than any other thing that we do.

Last week, I talked about ways you could make more than $1,000 a month at home. Now, I want to share with you how to overcome the important first hurdle in starting your own blog – coming up with the idea for it, in the first place.

Don’t Write A Thing, Yet

In my experience there are two types of blogger that stay the course and start making lots of money online:

The knowledgeable blogger. This is the kind of blogger who has already been there, seen it and bought the t-shirt. Susan and I like to think we know a lot about making and saving money now. That’s why we started Money Nuts. We’re “knowledgeable bloggers” in this space, at least.
The passionate blogger. The passionate blogger doesn’t have as much experience as the knowledgeable blogger, but they turn that into a strength rather than a weakness. They let people learn along with them – they show their mistakes and how they overcame the obstacles in their way. Honesty, passion and often a healthy sense of humor and humility can be a powerful blogging force.

That means you can choose something you know or something that you really want to know more about as your blog’s subject.

Common subjects include:

Photography
Being a parent
Cars or motorbikes
Food
Travel
Language learning
Pets
Small business
Self-improvement
Health and fitness

But really, the sky’s the limit. There are people making good money with blogs on some of the least mainstream subjects you can think of. Antique dressers or sneaker collecting, for example.

Do something that you know or that you are passionate about. Don’t be constrained by other people.

There is also one thing these two types of bloggers have in common. That helps them make money.

They have a defined audience of readers which already exists, and that audience spends money.

The good news is that it’s hard to find an audience nowadays that doesn’t spend money online but it’s important that you know who your audience is for your blog.

Why does this matter?

It matters when you start to design your site. If your audience is mainly elderly, city dwellers with limited disposable income – you’re going to talk to them and present to them very differently from an audience of young, rural people who have gobs of money to spend (we’re not sure this audience exists mind you).

When you know your audience. You can write for them. You can design for them. You can put yourself in their shoes and ask, “what would they want?”

That means you can develop a blog which answers questions, provides needed information and which can be trusted.

If you put your audience first, you will get more subscribers, they’ll stay longer and they’ll spend money or click on your links. In the long-term, that’s more money for less work and it makes people happier. Everyone wins.

Getting Some Ideas For Your First Blog Posts

Once, you’ve signed up for your blog. Done the basic design that you want to do – then it’s time to write some content. Don’t know what to write?

Don’t worry we’ve got you covered.

Ideas For Your First Blog Posts

Make lists. These can be of suppliers, breeds of dog, places to visit, foods to eat, etc. people love lists and they’re easy to write.
Make instructions. How to make an origami swan, how to set up your printer, how to change the lens on your DSLR. “How to” content performs really well in Google. That means free traffic!
Give reasons. 10 Reasons I hated World of Warcraft, 10 Reasons I love being an American, 25 reasons to say no to being vegan. Reasons posts are fun to write and let you be really creative.
Compile from the internet. Don’t feel like writing much? Then go for My 10-favorite pet care blog posts, the 25 best images on Instagram of dog hair treatments, etc.
Do reviews. Did you buy something that you loved or hated recently that works with your subject? Review it. (If you’re smart and they have an affiliate link, this can be an easy way to add a little revenue production to your site).
Do interviews. Reach out to people in your field and get their input and write it up. This is a great way of getting traffic too if those other people are bloggers; they’ll link to your interview.
Ask your readers. If you know some potential readers – ask them what they want to read about. Then write it.