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Blogging in the Age of Content Marketing 14 15 Blogging in the Age of Content Marketing One of the biggest pain points for content marketers is coming up with blog topics to write. An easy way to circumvent this issue is to the stay on top of what's buzzing in your indus- try. Set aside 30 minutes every day to read popular blogs, news sources, and social media for trends and con- versations taking place. Make note of articles you enjoyed reading or pieces that received a high volume of social shares. You'll quickly find that staying current with industry news will allow you to have your finger on the pulse of what your audience is talking about. Use these topics as a starting point for your own blog content and think about unique angles or perspectives you can provide. Your audience isn't interested in repeatedly reading about the same topic, so this is where cre- ativity is important. Think about how you can provide additional viewpoints or how you can elaborate on exist- ing perspectives in a compelling way. Another good strategy is to keep a document handy where you can record blog ideas as they come. It's handy to have a bank of ideas readily available when you need them. Once you have your topic selected, give yourself some time to simply think about it – let it soak in your mind and allow yourself to explore different angles of the topic. You'll be surprised how much this process of actively thinking about your piece will flesh out your arguments and let you quickly nail the important aspects. GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS: THE BLOGGING PROCESS 4 Topic Inspiration Need Inspiration? 1. Here are some (free) tools to get it going. Portent Idea generator Think outside of the box before creat- ing any type of content. Portent offers a keyboard-based generator of titles for potential content pieces. Price: Free. Pocket Save articles, videos or pretty much anything into Pocket. Save direct- ly from your desktop browser or from any mobile device. Price: Free. Feedly An RSS reader that lets you easi- ly track, organize and read content from different sources. Price: Free. Google Trends Google Trends shows you what's popular with Google searchers in real time and in the past - great f o r m a k i n g c o n t e n t d e c i s i o n s based on actual data. Price: Free. MindNode Keep track of your brainstorming sessions on any device, including iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Price: $9.99.