‘I’m just too busy’.
I hear this from my clients all the time. And I’d be lying if I said I was a stranger to it.
Yep. The working world is fast-paced and furious. And when you spend the majority of your day doing the important work, the good bit, the stuff that makes you smile… sitting down and coming up with content falls straight to the bottom of the very, VERY long to-do list.
The thing is, it really doesn’t have to be this hard. Inspiration is all around you, waiting to be stashed in that memory bank of yours and churned out later.
Here’s where to look for it…
Your Daily Life
As the adage goes “the best ideas reveal themselves when you’re least expecting them”. You can’t force it.
Ordinary events, as simple as your disproportionate anger at other motorists, or an overheard snippet of a stranger’s conversation, can be overflowing with storytelling gold. There’s always a lesson, a laugh, or a way to frame a simple story to give it oomph and sell it to your readers.
We’re so bogged down by screens and social media nowadays that real-life stories offer that little bit of human connection we crave. And people buy people, remember? ESPECIALLY in this line of work.
By giving your readers a piece of you, you’re warming them up to need what you’re selling down the line.
Client Stories
If we’re talking getting readers onboard, what’s better than reeling off a story championing how you helped a client?
What’s more, rehashing your clients’ own worries, troubles and challenges can very quickly resonate with a reader, too. It lets them know they’re not alone, and that you’ve got their back if they need you.
News
Unless you’re a politician, avoid politics.
So while I wouldn’t recommend using the news as your main source of content, you can generate some interesting ideas from stories in the MSM.
Instead, actively seek out interesting, unusual articles or topics relating to your reader’s industry. Mainstream headlines can work too, but they’re already plastered over 70% of your news feed.
Be different; find the connection between your work and that recently uncovered ichthyosaur fossil you’ve been reading about and STAND OUT to elicit interest.
Your Expertise
What you do is valuable.
Place yourself on that pedestal. Walk the walk. Offer up some ‘what all of my extensive and brilliant experience as a coach tells me’ on a plate and serve it.
Share snippets of expertise to build rapport and demonstrate your knowledge. Flaunt what you do. Most people don’t know what they need yet – show them!
Your Audience
Ask your followers what they’d like to see from you.
Strike up a conversation, or even start a poll, and find out what they’d like to know. Take the best ideas and wire them into upcoming blog posts and webinars to send the message that you listen and care.
Actively engaging in other people’s relevant conversations can up your organic reach and visibility, too, and might highlight different angles and ideas that you hadn’t yet considered.
Email Snippets
Being influenced by other people in the field, or those sitting in another field completely, is a simple, no-effort method of upping your content generation.
Sign up to receive other people’s mailing lists purely for interesting tidbits and have their content waltz into your inbox. (I highly recommend Chartr and 1440 for captivating visuals and compelling reads, check them out).
Read, read, read. By increasing the rich content coming into your immediate awareness, you are guaranteeing a hike in inspiration at your fingertips. Create a folder in your inbox purely for storing things that catch your eye.
Recording Ideas
This is by far the most important part of the blog. As aforementioned and known by us all, ideas can surface in the most surprising of places but also, often, in the most inconvenient.
Find out what works for you and set yourself up for success. Or, hey, cover all bases!
Carry a notebook and a (working) pen. Put one in your glovebox, too.
Set up a Trello board and bookmark it to make it easily accessible.
Start a WhatsApp conversation with yourself – begin a conversation with one other person and then remove them. Hey presto! Your own private corner of the WhatsApp world for shorthand ideas and easy-peasy voice notes
Keep a notepad on your bedside table for can’t-sleep-scribblings. Not just me, right?
Journal. Dictate. Freewrite. Brain map. Meditate. Just make sure you have some way of recording what comes up.
The Takeaway
Getting inspired can be easy.
Changing up your routine and paying more attention to the world around you, both virtual and tangible, should hopefully enhance the flow of creative thinking.
Doing what I do, enhancing email marketing for clients and speaking to audiences, I’ve hit inspiration walls too. It’s tough, but it’s easier when you can bounce ideas around with someone and I live for this stuff.
Book a call with me and let’s unlock the creativity you’ve been too busy to make the most of.
