Or your client’s brand

Content writing can be both an amazing opportunity for writers, and the bane of their existence.

I would know — I’ve been content writing on and off for years, and most recently with several clients whose businesses are in different niches that I am not super familiar with (though I will say that I am now a bit of an expert after writing so many different blogs for said clients!)

Writing content is hard — period.

Even if you are writing content for your own personal company or brand, it can be hard to think up topics and even harder to do the actual work of writing the content. Content is king, though, as the saying goes, so figuring out how to come up with topics and write about those topics well is crucial — and it’s one of the best ways to make money these days as a freelancer.

But what can you do when you’re absolutely stuck and can’t come up with a single new topic to write about? Even more challenging — how do you continue to come up with topics week after week or month after month?

You (or your client) are a well of information

The most obvious place to start is with the person who knows the most about the company you’re writing for.

If you’re writing for your own personal brand, that’s easy — the person to start with is you! You’ll know what fits with your brand, what you’ve covered previously, what you can expand on, and what direction you want to head next.

If you’re writing content for a client, start brainstorming ideas for content with the actual client.

They should know some topics that would be a great fit for their brand right off the top of their head. They will similarly be able to give you some pointers on where to do research, what the tone and audience of the writing should be, and can give you some topics that fit with their niche. Depending on the client, you might get a wealth of information from them, or just a little bit here and there to help you get started, but talking to your client first can help you at least have a sense of direction as you start writing content.

But what if that well runs dry

Starting with the person who knows the most about the company or brand you’re working for is always step one, but what are you supposed to do if your client doesn’t provide much guidance? Or what if you quickly use up their ideas? That’s where you, as the creative writer in this relationship, can bring all of your insight to the table!

It can be hard to come up with topics when you’re not super familiar with the industry you’re writing for, or if you’re not super familiar with the client or their brand. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Here are a few places to start when it comes to coming up with topics to write about:

Read about your topic

One of the most helpful things to do when you’re first starting out writing about a topic is to read up on that topic. Peruse the library to find books that cover the field or industry you’re writing about — there are easily at least twenty articles or blog topics in any given book. Use Google to find competitors’ websites or steer you towards others who are writing in a similar niche and use their work as inspiration.

Don’t use what you find to literally regurgitate the same information (and never, ever plagiarize these sources in any way), but use it to give yourself ideas and topics that you can build upon.

Start with what you don’t know

This might seem counterintuitive, given that you can’t write about what you don’t know, but this is actually a great place to find inspiration! If you are writing for a client who owns a nail salon, for example, and you’ve never had your nails done before, that’s a great topic for a blog — what you should know before you get your nails done for the first time.

That blog will not only give you a reason (and help you find the resources) to learn all about this new industry you’re writing about, but it will also give you more topics to write about as you get going. Once you’re researching and talking to your client to get the information you need to write, you’ll undoubtedly come up with other topic ideas that you can research further for future blogs. It’s a cycle that just keeps ongoing as long as you’re willing to do the learning required to write about the topic successfully!

Think outside the box

Certain topics, brands, or clients are simply going to be harder to write for than others. One of my clients is an ice cream shop, and after writing multiple blogs for them for more than six months, it’s hard to come up with topics. This is where thinking outside the box has come in handy!

I’ve started to write blogs about wacky ice cream flavors, dairy-free ice cream, and the machines that are used to make ice cream — not necessarily the topics that you would think of when you first hear that I’m writing for an ice cream shop, but topics that are relevant and fun to write about, nonetheless.

When you get stuck, think about topics that are adjacent to the work your client does and figure out how you can weave the two together with your words. It’s challenging, but in a good way, and will, once again, give you even more topics to write about as you finish one blog or article and jump to the next.

Don’t be afraid to write the first thing that comes to your mind

Finally, don’t be afraid to just go after that first idea that pops into your head. It might seem silly, or like it’s not fleshed out enough to work for an entire blog, but you might surprise yourself.

Some of the ideas I was the least intrigued about ended up making the best articles, and ended up receiving compliments from my clients. It’s hard coming up with ideas, and your clients — who likely are not writers, that’s why they hired you, after all — will likely be impressed with whatever ideas you come up with as long as you can execute them well.

Content writing can pay off big time, but it also comes with the challenge of continually needing to come up with topics to actually write about. While that can be easy at first, as time goes on you can start to feel like you’ve written about almost any topic related to your brand or client.

There are only so many topics to write about, after all, right?

With a little brainpower and a lot of patience, you’ll likely get into a rhythm with your content writing where a blog or article on one topic inspires another blog or article on a separate topic, and content writing will start to become easier.

In the meantime, though, read extensively about your topic, start with what you don’t know, think outside the box, and run with the first idea that pops into your head. You’ll get there, eventually, and once you have some content written down, you can always go back and edit!

Previously published in Inspired Writer