Alice is a long-time business acquaintance turned friend.

She’s in the PLR business as well, and specializes in -> Step-by-Step PLR Bundles with Photos and Screenshots but she has so much more, too.

Today she's here to answer questions about how to use your PLR Articles to generate traffic.

Here's Alice.

Using PLR Articles to Get Traffic

by Alice Seba

QUESTION 1:  Is rewriting PLR necessary in order to get traffic from it?

No, definitely not.

I actually find it a little bit bizarre that people spend their hard-earned money on some quality PLR content and then either spend a lot of time or even more money to have it completely rewritten.  Not only does rewriting suck up a lot of resources (time or money), it also diminishes the quality of the content you paid for in the first place. A sentence by sentence rewrite (which is what most people do) will rarely come out better than the original content.

And all that aside, it’s just not necessary.

I do agree that in most cases, publishing PLR content “as is” is not your best strategy, but there are still things you can do to customize PLR and make it stand out from everyone else…without rewriting everything.

Here are a few things can do:

• Add your point of view to the content. Your readers are most interested in what you think about a subject, so let them know.
• Insert examples and case studies. Your readers will absorb your content better if it includes examples they can relate to or real-life case studies.
• Add statistics, facts and quotations. All these types of content add credibility to your content and a great quotation gives them something to ponder.
• Add images, video and other visual elements. These type of additions not only capture your visitors eye, they also enrich the experience and make your content more meaningful.
• Put together a worksheet, graph, spreadsheet or anything that helps your reader understand or use the information more effectively.
• Add links to relevant products and resources.  Part of being a great source of information is providing your readers with further help they need…and you can even attach your affiliate link to it.

Now you don’t need to do each one of these things for each piece of content and it’s true that these customizations take time. However, these customizations add tremendous VALUE to your content and make it possible to draw in more traffic through word of mouth, social sharing and more. When you put all your efforts into rewriting, at best you come up with a comparable article to the one you started with and at worst, you end up with an inferior version…so where do you think you should spend your time?

QUESTION 2: Can I buy PLR that is already optimized for search engines?

Now and then you’ll come across a PLR seller that claims their content is optimized for search engines. Unfortunately, SEO-optimized PLR is a fairy tale. Unless the seller is selling to one person only (YOU), you cannot publish that content and expect a flood of search engine traffic.

But please understand, I’m not sure suggesting that if someone says the content is optimized it’s not quality content. It’s possible that a very good writer had the mistaken notion that they could optimize one piece of content and then let a bunch of people publish it as is for search engine rankings. So don’t dismiss “optimized” content out of hand, but do realize that if you want search traffic, you have to do your own optimization.

Think about it. If 30 people publish the exact same article targeting the phrase, “pink poodle bows,” do you think that all 30 people will get to the top of the Google listings? No..it’s pretty much impossible.

What you need to do instead is conduct your own keyword research and optimize for a keyword phrase you choose. You can use tools like wordtracker.com or even Google’s keyword tool at https://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool. If you use WordPress, a plugin like WordPress SEO by Yoast can help you more easily optimize your posts.

If you need a little SEO checklist, here’s a short version of things you should be doing:

• Look for a highly targeted keyword phrase that will attract the type of traffic you’re looking for the content piece. Look for a specific phrase that has a decent amount of searches, but isn’t too competitive.

Once you have your phrase, you can include it in the following places:

• Title tag and headline for your article.
• Subheadlines
• Body text of your article
• In ALT tags on your images
• In the description tag

…to mention a few things, but do be natural. Over-optimizing is even worse than not optimizing at all. Be descriptive and present great quality to your readers and you’ll do well. And don’t forget your content has to be out there for search engines think it’s valuable. Links coming to your website and shares on social media sites all go toward improving your search engine rankings.

QUESTION 3:  What’s the most important thing people should focus on when it comes to growing traffic through PLR?

The focus should always be on quality first, but even if you have the best content in the world and do nothing to get it out there, it’s not going to be worth your while.

So, to simplify the answer, I’d say focus on quality first. Then promote the heck out of your quality.

Here are some ideas to help you with those two things…

Quality: Only purchase good PLR. Don’t publish something you wouldn’t be proud of. Add some personality to your content by adding examples, case studies, images and other things that will make your content stand out. Listen to feedback from your readers and pay attention to what they like. And of course, always publish more of what they like.

Promotion: Unless you have a website that has a ton of subscribers and you’re already a Google-darling, you have to bust your butt to get your content seen. The nice thing about using PLR is that it saves you a ton of time on the creation side of things, so you can focus on the promotion. Always publish your content to an RSS feed, share it with your mailing list and social media followers and link to your new content from other relevant content. Those are just a few of the many things you should do on a regular basis. As your following grows, the less active work you have do to promote your content, but when you’re just starting to grow…you have to work it and work it hard.

PLR really does provide website owners with a headstart on growing their audiences. Use that content wisely, enhance it and tell everyone about it.

Learn How to Profit from the PLR Content Sitting on your Hard-Drive:

Alice Seba and Melody Spier offer an incredible education opportunity to help you us PLR to grow your business.

If you want to learn how to publish PLR more quickly, build your list, grow your traffic and even sell more products, definitely check it out:
Click here to Learn How to Profit from your PLR.

These ladies have put together detailed tutorials and they’ll even help you each step of the way. Sign up by March 28 and you’ll be invited to 2 bonus group coaching sessions AND you can even knock $10 of your tuition by using the following coupon code…

Coupon Code: nicolesfriends
Discount: $10 off
Expiry: Thursday, March 28, 2013

Get in soon, so you can get the additional savings and group coaching opportunities. It’s well worth it.

It's Your Turn.

What questions do you have about using PLR to get traffic to your sites?  Suggestions? Frustrations?

Let us have it.

I'll be back with more soon.

Warmly,
Nicole

Recommended High Quality PLR:

• Alice's DIY PLR – Grab it here
• EasyPLR – by Nicole

PS. Here's a video that I recorded awhile back about how to customize your PLR for your blog:

As you can see, Alice and I are pretty much in agreement. I hope you enjoy it.

Well, the computer gremlins were all over us today,  which goes to show that Embarrassing Webinar Moments can happen any day of the week. My computer froze up and all kinds of craziness happened.  Luckily the recording didn't disappear. 

What can you do with Gimp?

Well, I'm glad you asked. You can…

1. Create cool graphics to spice up your blog.
2. Create headers for your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to brand yourself.
3. Create graphics for clients.
4. Make banners and buttons to advertise your products or services.
5. Make pinable graphics for Pinterest.

and tons more.

The goal with this webinar was this.

1. Show you where to download Gimp.
2. Give you some graphics to play with.
3. Teach you the basics of editing a simple graphic with Gimp.
4. Allow you to walk away with a comfort level of being able to experiment with the graphics comfortably so that you can make ones you like.
5. Demonstrate how to pin a graphic once you post it on your blog.

Here's what to Do.

1. Download Gimp.

If you've never downloaded Gimp before, click here for Gimp download instructions.

If you've already got Gimp on your computer, be sure to get the updated version so that your computer screen is the same as Angela's. Click here to download the latest version of Gimp

2. Grab the Free Templates.

You can get several free templates at the top of this page: Free Templates for Gimp

3. Set your Gimp Screen to Single Window.

Once you've got that, we want to set up your screen to look like Angela's so you can follow easier.

Go to “Windows” and then click “Single-Windows Mode” as seen below. (The “Single-Window” option will ONLY show up if you've followed my directions and gotten the latest version of Gimp.)

4. Add your Layers Tab.

After you've done that, then, we want to see the layers tab..

In the area way to the right side of your screen (after you've set it as Single Window), you'll see this.

• Look for that small arrow. You click that.
• Click “Add Tab”.
• Under “Add Tab”, you'll see “Layers”.
• Click on that and you'll be able to mess with your layers without having to switch screens.

(If that's confusing at all, I can either take more screenshots or do a quick video for you.)

5. Watch the Video and Enjoy.

Now that you have Gimp downloaded, you have it set up like Angela does in the video, and you have some templates to play with, enjoy the video:

Or download here:

6. One more Thing.

Please follow me on Pinterest, too.

Nicole Dean on Pinterest.

Thanks!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Of course, if you want step-by-step Gimp training, Angela has a course here: Gimp Tutorials. (Use coupon “nicolerocks” for $10 off.)

PS again. Please comment and share your Pinterest pages so we can follow you.

Alice is a long-time business acquaintance turned friend.

She’s in the PLR business as well, and specializes in -> Step-by-Step PLR Bundles with Photos and Screenshots but she has so much more, too.

She shares one of the most comprehensive lists of how to use your PLR Content that I've seen. I'll be back soon! Miss you all…

Here's Alice.

How to Use DIYPLR Content

by Alice Seba

While Nicole is still neck-deep in adoption paperwork and is getting settled back in after her long trip, she asked me to step in.

Nicole asked if I would share some ideas and examples of how to use DIYplr. I know Nicole is always kind enough to sing the praises of DIYplr, but if you're not familiar with us, perhaps I should explain.

We specialize in creating illustrated tutorials in a variety of subjects and providing other useful tools like slide shows, tips lists and more for our customers. The idea is that we give you the nuts and bolts of high quality content that you can incorporate into your own unique business. Instead of giving you the “business in a box” type of PLR (which absolutely has its uses), we give you stuff that you can incorporate into your business…almost seamlessly.

So let's look at some examples of the types of content we provide and all the wonderful things you can do with them…

#1 Step-by-Step Tutorials for Tools, Software and Applications

We offer a variety of these types of tutorials that show your readers how to use popular tools, software and applications. Whether it's Autoresponse Plus, running apps for mobile phones or meal planning applications for busy families, we do it all step-by-step and include a ton of screenshots.

Here's a little snapshot from our Meal Planning – Digital Style bundle. This is a guide to using the All Recipes App (which is totally awesome, by the way). :

So what could you do with this type of content?

• How to blog posts: This content is easily turned into a blog post, just copy-and-paste and insert your images. Add your own thoughts, opinions and suggestions.

• Wiki content: If you have a technology wiki or a food wiki, our content provides makes it easy to take snippets and add the information and the pictures you want.

• Info product content: If you've got a product about meal planning, here's some great stuff to add. Or simply bundle up the 4 app tutorials in this bundle, add an introduction and conclusion…and you've got yourself a free giveaway report.

• Original blog posts: If you're weary of using pre-written content that might be published elsewhere, write your own content, but just use our screenshots as a real time saver.

• Slide Shows: The screenshots are easily added into a how-to slide show. And psst…a number of our bundles actually come with ready-made slide shows. You can add slide shows to slideshare.net, post them to your blog and more.

• Videos:  Take those slides I just mentioned and turn them into a video. Add your narration or some music (YouTube has lots of free music to choose from), and you're ready to go.

• Webinars and Presentations: Because the guides are so visual, they can also be turned into presentation material for webinars or in person presentations.

• Add your affiliate links, of course!: In this example, add your links to the app store or to programs like Christine's Meal Planning Central.

Other Illustrated Guide Topics Available: Autoresponse Plus, Kindle Loader Guides (free download), Online Business Security, Make Money Online – No Marketing Genius Required, Warrior Forum, Facebook, Facebook Ads, Instagram, Social Media Integration, Running / Jogging Apps, Genealogy and Words with Friends.

#2 Recipes with Photos

Food is one of my favorite subjects, so I  might be a bit biased, but there are also so many thing to do with recipes with photos. Here's a snapshot from our Cakes & Cupcakes bundle.

So what to do with this mouthwatering content?

• Post the recipes to your blog: Easy-peasy, right?

• Pin images from your posts to Pinterest: People love seeing yummy food and repin feverishly.

• Make a cookbook…print and/or digital: You can even take the images and rewrite the recipes and add your own flair to create a Kinde ebook. Thanks to Peg Baron for that tip!

• Feed the search engines: Recipes are amazing search engine fodder because people are always looking for recipes.

• Keep the Images in a Collection: We all know it's not always easy to find the stock photo we need or they can be expensive. Grab a few of these bundles, and you've got a pretty sweet collection of images you can use in all kinds of other content.

Other recipe PLR Available: 30 Delicious and Easy Recipes

#3 Top 10 Lists and Slide Shows

Another kind of fun and versatile type of content we have available is our top 10 lists and slide shows. Everybody loves a top 10 list (whether they agree or vehemently disagree with the list) and it's the type of content people share and like to comment on.

With most of our slide shows, we provide an illustrated Top 10 list in .doc format. Here's an excerpt from the Top 10 Web Stats Programs list in our recent Internet Marketing Top 10s mega pack.

The lists can be used for:

• Blog posts: Add the text, insert the images and your ready to go. Perhaps add your own opinions and experiences for a more unique reader experience.

• A downloadable report or document: If your readers are considering a variety of web stats programs, having your handy list available will certainly help them make the right decision (so don't forget your affiliate links!).

• A script for a webinar or in-person presentation: We've also added the slide shows, so the list  in .doc format can serve as your script.

• A 10-day or 10-week series by featuring one item each day: What an easy way to stretch your content by dripping each item in the list day-by-day or week-by-week.

• Just a beginning: Add even more top resources that you think should be on the list (and, of course, remove any you think might not belong there. :-))

And each top 10 list gets a slide show. From the same mega pack, here's a little peek at the Top 10 Email Marketing Autoresponder Tools slide show.

The slide shows can be used in a number of ways:

• Brand & Monetize: Definitely add your logo and special offer…we've made a space for you to do that.

• Presentation: Use it for a webinar or in-person presentation (coupled with the list you can use as a script)

• Video: Turn the slides into a video. One of the easiest ways to turn a slide show into video is by exporting the slides as images and then importing them into a free program like Microsoft Photo Story. You can add narrations and music, if you'd like.

Other Bundles with Slide Shows Included: Email Marketing Tips and Slide Shows, Work at Home / WAHM Tips, Facebook Slide Shows, Digital Publishing (with resell rights) and the Social Media Integration Mega Pack.

#4 Tips Lists

We also frequently provide large tips lists for our customers and they usually sell out relatively quickly because they can be used in so many ways and include a ton of content. Here's a little sneak peek of our 366 Social Media Tips bundle. Each tip that is under 140 characters, includes a T beside it for Twitter, so users can easily identify tips that could be posted to that social network.

Some ideas for the tips lists:

• Schedule to Social Media: Add the tips to Hootsuite and schedule Facebook posts and tweets…or just pull up the list anytime you're one your favorite social network and copy and paste.

• Post to Social Media: Break up the tips list into categories for numerous lists. These make great blog posts, printable lists and more. For example, you could do a Top 40 Facebook Tips or Top 30 Twitter Tips list from these.

• Put a rotating “Tip of the Day” on your website: All it takes is a little script (just Google “tip of the day script”) and loading all the content in and you're good to go.

• Make a printable daily calendar and put a tip on for each day: What a great gift for some of your favorite customers.

• Expand each tip into a short article: The tips can serve as a topic brainstorming tool.

• Put a tip of the day on video: Grab your video camera and make a series of quick videos…then publish one each day.

• Slide Show: Turn the tips into a slide show…just add some images

Other available bundles with tips lists: Email Marketing Tips and Slide Shows. We also have 366 Finance Tips coming in July.

#5 Checklists

A number of our bundles also include handy checklists that your readers can reference, print and refer to over and over again. Here's a little look at a checklist from our Online Business Security bundle.

• Value boost to your information products: Checklists add great value and very useful content to information products, so add them in.

• Add them bonus download to your blog posts (and use the Kindle Loader plugin to make it easy for your readers to add the checklists to their Kindles): Readers love getting little extras to take away from your helpful blog posts.

• Expand them into a report or ebook: Checklists include a ton of starter information that is easily expanded into longer content.

• Print them out and give them away: Give them at local events, in offices that reach your target audience and more.

Other available bundles with checklists included: Facebook Glossary, Checklists & Quiz…with others coming soon.

How Our Customers Use DIYplr:

In preparation for writing this post, I asked our customers how they use our PLR and I got a few responses that might be useful for getting the creative juices flowing as well.

– Kim Castleberry: “[I] supplement my usual posts on my blog…I do similarly for new client blogs to give them a little bit of a ‘lived in' feel.”

– Marya Miller: “I use your PLR as rocket fuel. Seriously. If I have a heavy workload (which seems to be all the time) I will go through my collection of PLR to quickly glean links to resources. I use it as a research tool — it shortcuts the beginning of the research process by providing ideas, clues, avenues it would have otherwise taken me three hours to discover I need to explore and so forth.”

– James Artre: “I keep a close watch on several PLR sites, such as Nicole’s and your own, to see what type of content you are currently offering; being ever mindful of changes from one month to the next. Since any good PLR provider has already performed the necessary research to verify what is ‘hot' and what is not, then this saves me time from those duties and allows me to focus more of my energies on content creation.

Based on my personal needs/goals at the time, I purchase the relevant packages and then glean the content for: titles, leads, keywords and keyword phrases. If the content is good ‘as is' – then I simply rewrite, restructure and re-purpose the content.”

– Jeannette Cates: “I love PLR – particularly your DIY PLR. That’s the one I use the most because I am in the Internet Marketing niche. So nearly everything you publish fits somewhere in my business. I use many of the individual reports to either generate a short slide show for youtube or one of my members’ sites or I use it ‘as is' and create a PDF that I post into the Online Success Incubator, my main member site for beginners.

I’ve taken PLR and create products from it. My Pinterest Made Simple is 100% PLR – or it was till I started ‘adding' more content to it. But I started with the Pinterest 5-message autoresponder sequence and then added the special report. Now I’ve added a few videos, additional autoresponder messages, etc.”

– Marcia Ming: “I use some of the PLR as a starting point for blog posts and articles. I also have been using it to spot opportunities in the market place. I love the Top 10 series you offered recently. I am planning to create some videos to load on YouTube and my blog with those.”

The Only Limits Are Your Own

I hope this has generated some great ideas for you…whether you use our PLR, Nicole's, anyone else's or even create your own content from scratch. There is always so much that can be done with just one piece of content that provides great value to your readers.

Recommended High Quality PLR from this article:

• DIY PLR – Grab it here!
• EasyPLR – by Nicole!

Your Turn to Shine!

Now, I'd love to hear from you. How do use PLR or what ideas has this post help generate?

Alice Seba

(Stepping in for Nicole)

This uhhh… “attribute” of mine makes video training courses, no matter how good they are, impossible for me to consume for two reasons.

1. I usually won't even start watching the darned video, because I know it'll take an hour of my time.
2. If I do attempt to watch a webinar replay, my mind typically wanders as people talk slower than I think. This means that I don't absorb the material, anyway, because my brain is off making my shopping list.

Problem? Solution.

Here's a quick three minute video that shows how I speed up videos so that they keep my attention.

The course that I'm currently taking is the Ultimate Social Challenge, and you can learn  more about it here: Ultimate Social Challenge Bonus.

Yes, I get the irony of making a video for people who hate watching videos. lol. I didn't miss that one.

So, just in case you REALLY hate videos, here's a quick step-by-step for you.

How to Speed Up Videos

Step One: Download the video that you want to watch.

Step Two: Begin watching it in Windows Media Player.

Step Three: Right click on the video screen. You'll see this:

Step Four: Choose “Play Speed Settings”. You'll see this.

Step Five:  Slide the bar to where you can mentally keep up to the sound, but are challenged to do so. (This point will vary, depending on the speaker's speaking pace.)

Thanks for coming by. Please let me know what you think about videos in general. Am I weird?

Have a beautiful day!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Despite the fact that the Ultimate Social Challenge is being delivered via video/webinar, I am learning a lot. The live case study is what I'm enjoying the most. You can still join me here (and get my notes): Ultimate Social Challenge Bonus.

Pay Attention To What You Gripe About
(How UseYourPLR.com Came To Be)

by Kelly McCausey

I love Private Label Rights (PLR) content. It has been a major game changer, both for those who buy it and definitely for those who sell it. I've been on both sides, I've created and sold it and I've bought and used it. If PLR had never been invented, some of my projects would look quite different. Thank Goodness for PLR! I should start a PLR Fan Club and be the president, but…

I have a confession to make.

For the last six months I've been fighting back an urge to go on a tirade about it. I've wanted to get up on my soap box and yell: “Stop Buying All That PLR!”

I'm serious! I've outlined blog posts about it. I considered promoting a big webinar, all to shout my message as loud and far as possible. “Don't Buy Anymore PLR!”

Why did I feel that way? Why would I, a PLR fanatic, want to discourage people from buying it?

Here's why: In my work as a coach I get to delve into other people's business. I see how they spend their money and I see how they spend their time. Some of my clients have been with me for more than a year – so I have a long view of their habits, strengths and weaknesses.

I gotta tell you, PLR is very often a big weakness.

Don't worry, I won't be naming ‘real' names. I'll use a pseudonym

You know how I feel about PLR. It's great! I buy and I use it. There is a small stash of unused PLR on my computer, but not a lot. For several years now I only buy PLR that I know I can use on a current project.

Unfortunately one of my favorite clients (I'll call her Betty) has had a very different approach to PLR. Instead of choosing PLR based on a current project, she bought PLR based on the idea that she would ‘find a way to use it'.

In the last 4 years Betty spent over $3000 on PLR articles, reports, ebooks and products. Before you decide she's nuts, think about it, that's an average of $62 per month. I know plenty of people who spend that much on a regular basis.

Betty's not dumb. She's a smart gal with useful skills and great desire to build a business that can support her family. She didn't set out to blow thousands of dollars on business tools that she would never use… but that's exactly what she did.

Yep. In all this time, Betty hasn't actually used any of the PLR she bought.

When I realized how much she'd spent, I felt physically ill. When I had a chance to look at some of the PLR she had purchased it only made me feel worse but that's another topic.

Betty isn't the only one. I actually found this to be a trend among my clients. No one else had spent as much but at least seven other people admitted to spending over a thousand dollars on PLR that was sitting unused on their computer.

That's when I started feeling that urge to jump up and down and say ‘Please, please STOP buying PLR!'

And I did. I asked my clients to promise that they would stop buying new PLR until they'd used some of what they had. That didn't feel like enough though, I wanted to email my list and beg them to stop buying PLR. I wanted to blog it, podcast it, hold a webinar, take ads on other sites…

I didn't do any of that of course. I was so torn about though! Many of my good friends run PLR businesses, I didn't want to declare some kind of boycott on their products. I just wanted people to THINK about what they were doing. So, for quite awhile I just griped about it.

I griped about it a lot.

Then, I had an epiphany:

I'm tired of griping!

Griping is such a waste of energy and brain space. I decided, doggone it, I'm gonna DO something about this. Who cares if my friends run PLR businesses, I feel strongly about this – I'm gonna get out there and spread my message! “Stop buying all that PLR until you use some that you already have!”

Then, thankfully, I had another epiphany.

If I were going to do something like that, I'd better have some advice handy to help them use their PLR – and that's when the idea sparked.

In one big blurry moment I realized, the message I wanted to share was not to tell people to stop buying PLR, it was to encourage them to use it! With that, the vision for UseYourPLR.com came to life.

I stopped griping, scribbled out some mad notes and clicked over to register the domain name. I brought on an awesome Project Manager and assembled a great team of writers and assistants. Less than a month later, we are open for business.

Use Your PLR has one mission and that is to help you put your PLR to profitable use.

Now Betty and others like her can come to us with their PLR and hire us to take it and put it into action. She's pretty excited about it

So, a question for you: What are you griping about?

Your gripes might just hold the key to a passion that would make a great business.

Another question for you: Do you have unused PLR sitting around?

IF so, come on over to Use Your PLR and let us take some action for you

If you've missed past Expert Briefs, you can click on the undies to see them all –>

This week I asked our panel of experts …

What are your absolute best tips for coming up with blog post topics and ideas for yourself to write about? (Not for guest bloggers or interviews.)

What do you do when you're feeling out of ideas?

Let's get the brainstorming going…

Felicia Slattery of Credibility and Cash Flow says:

I have a love-hate relationship with blogging. Literally the day I learned what a blog was back in 2006 as I was just trying to figure out what business I was in, I began my blog.

It started out as a way for me to think about what I wanted, a place to play with ideas for articles I planned to develop more fully, and an opportunity for me to feel like I was doing something productive in my business by developing my message. The only visitors I had back then were a handful of family and close friends.

Later, as my business grew, I had my blog redesigned. The only problem was — I HATED it. So my blogging time slowly dwindled to almost nothing. And there it stayed for a couple of years. It wasn't that I didn't have anything to say, it was that there were so many other places to say it — online articles, video, my ezine, social media — it didn't feel like I “had” to blog anymore.

Finally I had my blog redesigned again to something I'm much more proud to send people to. The question of what to write about is similar to people who ask me what they should speak about when they have a few minutes at a networking meeting to talk about their business. Here are a few tips:

1. Current Events: Is something newsworthy happening in your community, your state, your country or the world that you can comment on? When you use the keywords people are searching for you get the added benefit of additional new traffic to your blog.

2. Your Business: Do you work with clients or get emails or comments from people in your business that you could turn into a post? Tell stories of a problem someone has had and explain how you helped resolve it.

3. Social Media: Was there something in your Twitter stream or Facebook wall or Linked In group that got a LOT of attention? Use your blog to expand on it and continue the conversation. Then link to your post in the original social media post so others interested in that topic can read your thoughts and comment.

4. Favorites: Write posts about your favorite tools, books, mentors, or colleagues doing great things. Whenever I find a new online tool — especially a free one I LOVE — I share it with the world. If I'm reading a good book, or a bad one, I'll blog about it. If I have a great experience with another business owner that can help others or meet someone they should know, I use my blog to introduce my readers to that person.

5. Teach a Tip or Technique: When I feel totally out of ideas, I go to my bookshelf and online library and teach something I think my readers will find valuable. Then I ask them for their opinions or ideas, too.

I like to think of blogging as a conversation and work to keep my end going.

Connie Ragen Green of ConnieGreen.com says:

My very best ideas for blog posts come from the questions my students ask during my teleseminars and webinars, as well as when they email me between training sessions. This means that they have taken action with what I am teaching, and are now able to ask a more advanced and specific question. By writing about it in detail on my blog, many people will benefit from the post over time.

I also find topics to blog about based on reading other people's posts. Typically I will leave a comment on their blog, and then think about it before writing my own post.

When I am completely out of ideas, I go back and read my own posts from a year ago, or even further. Many times there have been new developments on those topics, and I have also learned more since writing the original post. Everyone benefits from this type of research and the new blog post I end up writing as a result.

Shannon Cherry of Sponsorship Made Simple says:

The confounded ‘Blogger's Block.' As brilliant as we all are, there are times when we look at our blog we see a blank screen. It especially is tough for those for us who post three or more times a week.

The first thing I do is make sure I know the topic I should be writing about. Because I plan my marketing and promotions calendar, I know what I am promoting 6 months in advance. So I make sure that the theme or topic matches what I have on the calendar. (So when in doubt… plan!)

The second thing I do is look for ways to piggyback on hot topics already in my target market's radar. First, I look at what known holidays are going on and if I can't find one that relates to what my topic is, I turn to Blog Energizer or Chase's Calendar of Events to find more quirky holidays. For example, March is National Noodle Month. Now, I know this is really about noodles (as in the pasta-like food). But what if I take a twist on this… about using your noodle (and buy what I am selling).

By piggybacking, I get inspired and create more interest than the same-old-same old.

Alice Seba of Contentrix says:

A lot of people combine the activity of coming up with topics and blogging, but I think those are two very separate activities.

We've all done it. We sat at the computer and tried to figure out to write about and a few things may have happened. If we're lucky, we come up with a topic right away and we can start writing. But in many cases, it seems to take a while before we come up with a topic or we can't come up with one at all.

That's why I recommend taking time each month (or at an interval that works for you) and make a big list of topics you can write about or have a guest / ghostwriter write about. Once you get your first few topics written down, it's easier to come up with more. Personally, I'd prefer to spend about 30-45 minutes coming up with all the topics, instead of 10-15 minutes each time I sit down and try to write. It's an amazing time saver. Plus, it's much easier for me to be creative and come up with a ton of ideas. In fact, I'll often have more ideas than I need, and I can simply choose the best ones and discard those mediocre ideas. This helps make sure that I deliver only the best to my readers…instead of just “good enough”.

Of course, you still need to know how to get those ideas:

• If you sell your own products (or recommend affiliate products), shape your content topics around what a buyer of those products would want to know about.
• Review the headlines in your RSS reader to see what people are writing about.
• Check out Google News or your favorite news site to see the hot topics.
• Check out a big article directory like EzineArticles.com or look at Nicole's LadyPens.com for topic ideas.
• Find PLR content on topics that are suitable for your blog.
• Use keyword tools like WordTracker.com to find frequently searched for topics.
• Look at magazines and other print materials

Write down every idea that comes to mind. It doesn't matter how lame it may seem. Lame ideas can become good ones with some extra thought and they can breed even better ideas. Review your list when you're done and come up with your blogging schedule. Now you'll never sit and wonder what to write about again…you'll be ready to go instead!

Susanne Myers of AffiliateTreasureChest.com says:

I noticed that I go through cycles where I’m super creative and come up with all sorts of different blog post ideas and then I have weeks where it feels like pulling teeth. The key for me is often just to get started with some ideas and more start to branch of from the initial ideas.

Theme For The Week
My first strategy is to come up with related blog post ideas for the whole week. Once I have the overall theme it’s pretty easy to find individual topics to write about. I also don’t feel like I have to cram everything I know about a topic into one single blog post. Instead I can spread things out and teach one thing at a time.
The added bonus is that I can then take the related blog posts and turn them into a short report.

Keyword Research
Another good option I use frequently is keyword research. I either look at keywords I’m already ranking for and see if that sparks ideas, or I may type some rather general terms like “list building” into a keyword research tool and see what terms come up.
I find it helpful to look for long tail keyword phrases that are questions or include words like “how to” or “tutorial”.

Ask A Friend Or Customer
Last but not least, I just ask a friend, my readers or a customer what they would like me to cover next. Each email that goes out to my blog subscribers at AffiliateTreasureChest.com invites them to reply with a question. Some of my best suggestions have come via Twitter. I just tweet something like “What would you like me to blog about this week” or “What’s your most pressing question about ….” I often get some great replies within a few minutes.

Jeanette S. Cates, PhD of JeanetteCates.com says:

When I'm short of ideas for new blog posts, I use several idea generators. First, I keep an ongoing list of questions that I receive from members and the question form on my blog. These are always good article-starters.

I also keep a file of article titles I come up with as ideas pop into my head. I jot down quick ideas on the topic, then file them under “ideas.” I can easily pull one out and fill out the rest of the article.

I have several lists of “Blog Post Ideas” from other marketers and PLR reports I've purchased. Those are also great idea-starters. Plus, any PLR article is a great way to start your writing. Just rewrite it as you go and you have a brand new article!

Finally I've just started using EzineArticle's Title Suggestion tool. It's a nice challenge to have them generate article titles for you, then write to fill the topic.

There are always a ton of great ideas when you keep your mind open and your antenna alert. Enjoy the process!

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

The dreaded blank screen looms ahead. My mind goes even emptier than usual as panic starts to take hold.

“What if I never come up with an idea?! I'll sit here for ever. I'll DIE in this chair. OMG HELP!”

ok. Well, it doesn't get that bad, but sometimes I do wonder if I've run out of things to talk about.

The best thing I can do at that point is to go on a walk or jump in the shower, or do both — but not at the same time. That's just silly.

When I get back, I usually feel like I have more ideas than I could ever write in just one lifetime.

Because this is a question that I get asked about regularly, I wrote a report on this topic that you're welcome to read here:

20 Ways to Come up with an Idea for your Next Blog Post

Recommended Resource

One of the many ways that I come up with ideas to blog about is through keyword research. I let other people tell me what they're looking for online in my field. Then I write about that.

Speaking of keyword research, I sent two free sets of keywords to my EasyPLR lists as a little gift.

• ADHD Keyword Research (pdf)
• Anti-Aging Keyword Research (pdf)

Isn't it nice just to have pages of ideas – telling you what to write about?

But, what if you're in another niche, like Yoga or Crockpots?

You're in luck. My friend, Susanne Myers has put together “Niche Research Packs” for a variety of popular niches.

If the concept of niche research packs is new to you, then let me tell you what you get…

* Detailed niche description
* Who your target market for this niche is
* List of affiliate products available
* 100 domain name ideas (plus list of modifiers for hundreds more)
* Detailed keyword report for over 1000 keywords
* 100 article and blog post ideas
* 15 different author resource boxes
* 2 different detailed marketing plans (beginner and advanced)

Be sure to check it out here if you think it can help you in your business:

NicheResearchPacks.com

It’s Your Turn.

So, now, I’ll pose this question to you. Do you have any special tips for coming up with blog posts when you're fresh out of ideas? I’d love to hear your comments!

Warmly,

Nicole Dean

PS. I have created brandable reports from several of the previous Expert Brief columns that you can use to earn money by giving them away.