Creating The Best Ideas In The Land, Sure Way To Make Money Online
written by Alex Shalman on March 14th, 2008
This post was guest blogged by Alex Shalman, who created Happiness: The Group Writing Project which gives you 2 links back (PR 4) for your participation.
I’m going to assume that the vast majority of people reading this blog are interested in ideas that will make them money online. I already discussed the importance of concentrating on value creation, rather than money acquisition. So if you’re just interested in ideas, for making money online, training dolphins, buttering your bread, or whatever you want, than you’ll find these tips valuable.
“All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.” ~Napoleon Hill
- Let Life Teach You. Ever wonder why an elder person gets more respect than a young nationally acclaimed scientist when put side by side? That’s because the older person has something the young one doesn’t, it’s called life experience! I personally get my ideas from everything around me. Just look at 7 Things Dannon Yogurt Taught Me About Life and you’ll know what I mean.
- Let Books Teach You. Step away from the computer and pick up a book on your topic. Whether it’s a classic, or even a totally unrelated book, you’ll be pleased to find out how ideas start to flow when you’re occupied with reading.
- Unleash A Brain Storm. Sit down with NotePad or a piece of paper and start writing headlines and article ideas. Do not get up until you have 50, I don’t care how you do it, just do it.
- Let Your Readers Ask. Put a post up on your site that asks the readers what they want to see, or if they have any specific questions for you. Make sure you have comments enabled as that is one of my biggest sources for generating new article ideas, from the readers questions and suggestions.
- Grow Some Nuts and Write. Ever have a profound idea, but get afraid that the audience might not like it, so you let it hang out there on the back burner until it grew mold and shriveled away? Well don’t do that anymore. Whenever you have an idea, even if you think it will piss people off, go ahead and write about it. Controversy is good. I would draw the line with writing things that you know will hurt people. There’s a difference between pissing them off and hurting them!
- Let History Prevail. Go ahead and look through your archives, you’ll be pleased to find that you can connect ideas, elaborate further on things you started before, and do some ‘best of’ posts in order to bring more value to your readers.
- Throw It At Your Buddy. Get a blogging buddy, whether he has the same niche as you or not, and bounce ideas back and forth at each other. You’ll be pleased to find that when bouncing a single idea at your friend, he may turn that idea into 5 for you within a minute.
- Form A Mastermind. A group of 3+ people that get together and brain storm ideas and bounce ideas off each other. Take turns putting people’s sites in the spotlight, and discussing all there is about them. All those people put together are much better than one mind working alone.
- Separate Ideas. Sometimes we write huge elaborate posts, only to find out that we spent all our writing time on them. Some posts can be split into two parts, which gives readers something to look forward to and (**HINT**) a reason to subscribe. Sometimes you can get 5 posts out of 1 long one, so this is definitely worth it.
- Steal, From Yourself. Sometimes you can rewrite, reword, and reform a blog post you’ve already written, with slightly different direction, and bring it back to life. As long as you put a different enough twist on it, it could be worth bringing back from the death of the archives.
- Use The Sphere. This seems obvious enough, just look at other blogs in your niche and at the people that are doing much better than you. What are they doing? How are they doing it? What good things can you take away and do yourself?
- Writing Schedule. Write out a bunch of posts ahead of time, and put their headlines into a daily schedule. Just by skimming over this daily schedule, with at least 1 week of posts ahead of time, you’ll be able to form patterns, and take your blog in specific directions.
- Google Alerts. Google alerts allows you to have an e-mail sent to you daily on a specific keyword. I use this to track my website, my name, and important keywords in my niche. Sometimes this inspires me to find great ideas that I can use to write about and share with my readers.
- Incoming Keywords. Using google analytics you can keep track of how visitors come to your site. It will tell you which keywords or phrases people typed in the search engine to get to you. This means you rank relatively high for these terms, and if you write more using these terms you’ll draw in even more traffic. There’s an idea for you!
“The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another.” ~Marva Collins
- Posted in Make Money Online, The Net
- 56 comments what's your take?
Related posts from the blog
- The 15-Minute Rule To Make More Money Online
- Two Ideas, One Cup - How To Attract More Money Online
- Dumb Online Business Ideas That Made It Big
- Killer Writing Strategies To Make Boat Loads of Money Online
- If You Build It They Won’t Come
- The Art Of Creating Content
- Leveraging Leo for Credibility
- Stepping Up To The Sushi Bar At Sushi Land
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Loading ...
Really excellent ideas! Something I use actively, but there is also something new to me. Thanks Alex.
Reply to this commentGreat ideas! Thanks for helping me get focused and for the new ideas that are flowing in my head as I type this!
Reply to this commentAs always your ideas are fantastic. I just spent the day today (4hrs) writing post for the next 10 business days. They are all scheduled to be released on selected days and now I can concentrate on other things to make my blog better, stronger, faster.
Reply to this comment…more boring guest posts…
Reply to this commentVery positive post Alex.
Thank you so much. A huge ammount of ideas are flooding my mind right now and all thanks to you.
Reply to this commentVery Nice post. Really. I never doubt Alex’s writing talent
And I am now sure that Alex has taken over JohnChow.com haha
Reply to this commentHe has definitely taken over lately
But he has been doing a nice job w/ his posts!
Reply to this commenti agree … i see more alex now then john and micheal ….
Reply to this commentAlex,
Reply to this commentGreat idea starters. I think that I wil print this post out and hang by my desk. Many good focused ideas. Thanks
Great Info,
Reply to this commentThere are some great tips here.
Google alerts is a great tool for keeping an eye out for items that fit your specific niche.
Also…keeping an eye on your site stats (I also use Google Analytics) to see where referrals are coming from is a big help.
Another post full of great tips…thanks again Alex!
Reply to this commentGood post but I’m not sure about your number 9 rec.
Actually, a writer from Boing Boing in an interview said that you not NOT separate posts like that.
People want to get information instantly, not wait a week to learn everything. They are most likely to try to find the FULL info. somewhere else! and they you LOSE A READER!
Who likes commercials that cut your TV show right in the suspense time? Who likes to wait these days?
Remember, in today’s world, people want info. and they want it fast. And most times than not, you can find the same thing in multiple places in the internet. So give the read what they want.
Reply to this commentLook at people like Steve Pavlina, DoshDosh, and CourtneyTuttle, they all write long, quality posts and they are successful because of it. That being said, there are many successful blogs that break up segments of one big idea into separate posts. You can make either style work…
Reply to this commentReally great post. I like to use number 9-separating posts in multiple parts. I found the readers prefer this way too. It’s easier to break things down and give them a little to read at a time rather than shoving a ton of information at once. People DO judge by the size of the post.
Reply to this commentDefinitely. Breaking things up w/ in the posts looks a lot less intimidating to the reader and will encourage them to check it out. However, if you can consistently post quality content, people won’t really care if you break up your posts into multiple parts.
Reply to this commentI think # 9 is a great point. I, too, have written a very long blog post and then realized, “Hey, wait a minute! That can be separated into two or three parts!”
Reply to this commentAn excellent well written article. Was great to read
Regards, seocontest2008
Reply to this commentAlex,
In the last week you have changed my attitude towards all my online businesses. I am up early in the morning really getting things done now, vs. my old habits of checking email and surfing the web for 80% of my day. Ideas and articles are flowing out of my head like never before… thank you so much!
I am taking my family to Hawaii next Saturday for my first 2 week vacation ever and I plan to bring my laptop and see what I can get accomplished before the wife and kids get up!
Great job with all your posts!
Reply to this commentHey Doug, I like what you had to say. Alex has definitely given me an extra jolt of inspiration & motivation to give my blog everything I’ve got
Reply to this commentDitto on that. I already told Alex that he should be a motivational speaker.
Reply to this commentHe can make more money then John if he become famous in that :p
Reply to this commentSo true. When I was in high school, they brought in some motivational speaker, and he lit me up. It was so moving. Alex….with just the ideas he has on his blog….can certainly do that. His content is moving and inspirational.
Reply to this commentI definately have that problem….easily sidetracked and realize that I have been wasting time.
Reply to this comment
#12 is now my priority and last night I already developed about a dozen posts.
Reply to this comment#6 will be my next great feat
Reply to this commentThis has been a great series of posts from you Alex. I really like number 5.
Reply to this commentGreat. Simple, short and effective points.
So, you can expect a lot of interesting posts on my blog in near future.
Reply to this commentI’m just starting with #3.
That dannon yogurt post was pretty awful.
Reply to this commentIt was a simple post, but Alex put a good spin on the 7 Dannon suggestions that made it a nice little read. I liked it
Reply to this commentIt was a GREAT post. What are you talking about?? Who, in their right minds, ever noticed those lessons on a Dannon yogurt container??
Reply to this commentLike my grandfather said walk a thousand miles or read a thousand books you get the same knowledge. Listen to the elders!! basically you can do it yourself or see how others have done it. Is it me or is your site kinda glitchy today anyone else getting that same effect?
Reply to this commentI got that feeling, too. Either way, this HAS been a great series of posts from Alex.
Reply to this commentGood series of posts Alex, you’re really showing the nuts and bolts of how to write for a blog. As mentioned number 9 about breaking posts up is very practicle. I use that In Series plugin for word press AND the Yet Another Related Post plugin. So specific connecting articles are both in front of and behind my posts. My goal is to showcase as many article titles for my visitors as I can.
Reply to this commentI really liked number 5 “grow some nuts and write.” That’s really what you’ve got to do consistently if you want a successful blog! I also enjoyed your suggestion to brainstorm until you get to 50 ideas… Thanks for another great guest post Alex
Reply to this commentIt couldn’t be more blatant: “Get some nuts and write.” That’s what it’s all about. That’s the #1 way to succeed at anything.
Reply to this commentExcellent post. Self growth and actual ways to improve my life. The mastermind group is probably the most important. The 3 to 5 people you surround yourself with are who you become!!!
Reply to this commentLove number 5. Don’t be afraid to create a ruckus, and remeber, any publicity is good publicity. So, create a firestorm and see what happens.
Reply to this commentI’ve been reading your posts lately and you sure know what you’re talking about.
Reply to this commentAlex,
Is there anyway you could have purchased this blog from Johnchow…. I see you as the most frequent author next to Johnchow….
Reply to this commentIt is Alex Chow Dot Com.
Reply to this commentGreat ideas Alex!
I printed this post out and pinned it right in front where I sit by my computer where I can read it everyday. It is great that you can share your ideas with others and inspire them to write.
Thanks for the tips!
Reply to this comment~Terry
I always look for new keywords in analytics. It gives me new title and keyword.
Reply to this commentI use my special idea to do better in blogging, and that is taking blog seriously as a business. I apply all my marketing strategies on my blog and will continue it.
http://blog-success.blogspot.com
That is right…controversy is king. Existence itself is controversy, that is what people need to start realizing. Life is too short not to grow a pair and right what is going on in our bizarre minds. Good words Chow. Later on bruv.
Reply to this commentGreat ideas Alex! They’re definitely some of the major keys to blog writing… I also was a fan of number 5 especially!
Reply to this commentvery useful advice alex… Thanks for getting this useful post up John
Reply to this commentVery informative post! Thanks for putting this up.
Reply to this commentI like number 12 as well. I sometimes write headlines and a couple of paragraphs then save that as a draft post, but actually charting your headlines out a week or so at a time is a great idea to see where your writing is heading.
Reply to this commentGlad you guys are getting so much value out of my posts. Should I keep it up?
Reply to this commentgreat post, thanks!
Reply to this commentI seldom visit this blog but it seems i will be required to be back here seldom..thanks for the valuable info!
Reply to this commentNice post, thanks john.
Reply to this commentI like the “write 50, I don’t care how” part. You have to put your brain to work if you want to gain anything.
Reply to this commentNice post Alex. I like “Grow Some Nuts and Write”. The kick in the butt I need! Thanks.
Reply to this comment