Google has clearly stated, in no uncertain terms, that relevant, quality content is key to where your website ranks in its search engines. No matter how great your printed materials look, if the content falls flat, you won't get the results you hope for. Clearly, having very good content can be your competitive advantage in all of your marketing efforts, so it is worth your time to invest in improving the quality of what you have to say.
Idea generation can take its sweet time if you sit back and wait for inspiration to strike. Even though ideas by necessity come from a creative process, nevertheless, you must have a planned approach and a systematic way to harness those ideas in order to be successful.
It really doesn't matter what kind of system you put in place. You just need to have one. Of course, your system does need to have some basic components, starting with an organized way to collect, store, and categorize your ideas. Think of it as a swipe file, a place you can turn when you need fresh content. If you take care of your swipe file by constantly feeding it and pruning it, you will never run out of ideas for fresh content.
When you need to refill the swipe file, put your journalist's hat on to come up with ideas for interesting stories and content your audience craves. While you're thinking about potential topics and doing your research, look at the world around you through a journalist's eyes. Sometimes the best content is right under our nose; we just haven't noticed it yet.
People love good stories and useful content. Give them what they want, and they will beat a path to your door.
