Your Inbox as Inspiration
Yes, you read that correctly. Usually we think of our inbox as the enemy, and we are constantly on a mission to achieve “Inbox Zero”. What if I told you that there was a way you could use what is in your inbox to possibly reduce the number of emails you receive and, at the same time, help you with blog? I first heard this idea from Shashi Bellamkonda of Network Solutions during the Frederick Chamber’s New Media and Technology Conference. During his keynote, he mentioned that a great place to get ideas for blog posts was from your inbox. Look for questions that people regularly ask you and use your response as a blog post. This idea has stuck with me since February, and I think it is about time to explore it a little further.
Do you respond to the same question over and over? By creating a blog post with your response to the most frequently asked questions, you may be able to avoid getting the question again in the future. Even if you still have that question showing up in your inbox, at least you can easily respond with a link to the post rather than writing the explanation for the 500th time. This can save you a lot of time, and allows for conversation to take place in the comments.
Maybe the question is a completely new one. While the initial response may not warrant a blog post, it may lead you down a line of thinking that brings you to a future post. In an effort to clear our inbox, we often don’t think about the subject any longer than the time it takes to respond. Try this, create a folder that is named Blog Ideas, or something similar, and next time you get an interesting question file it there after you respond. When you are stuck for a blog post open that folder and look for ideas.
Also it could be a question that you feel has several possible answers, so bringing it to your community could provide a new set of eyes and responses. Let your community discuss it through comments and see what they think. There are often different ways to go about solving problems, and by opening up the problem to discussion you may gain insight into a different solution.
So next time you find yourself saying “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me this question”, jump on your blog, take advantage of the inspiration and write a new post. What other possibilities may be in your inbox?
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Great post Beth! I think I missed that piece of advice from the keynote speech at FredNMT (but I was sitting in the back). I’m definitely keeping this idea in mind as we launch the Maryland Life blog next month.