Freelance Writing Jobs Community Brainstorming Session
December 8, 2008 by Deborah Ng
Filed under Community Discussions
So I spent this weekend answering some of my mail (have more to go – thanks for your patience) and a common question is from bloggers and web content writers who write about the same topic day in and day out and sometimes have trouble coming up with ideas. As someone who has been in this boat before I understand how hard it is to stay fresh.
Let us help you.
Throw a topic into the comments and we will assist you with ideas for posts and articles. Go on, don’t be shy. That’s what a community is for!
Sounds great! I’ll throw one out:
Frugality
I post freebies, tips, and other stuff, but it’s covered like crazy. Any fresh ideas?
I’m so glad you’re doing this! I have a topic that has been done a thousand times over:
New Year’s Resolutions
Of course, everything is advancing these days and there’s always something new to think about. First, what do you think will be the biggest resolution this upcoming new year? Second, how would you approach it in a new way?
Hi Julie –
Stuff that comes to mind:
- List of really great online deals
- Christmas items people can make themselves
- Recipes for homemade treats
- How to Guides – for instance how to find the best deal on a big screen TV, what to look for, best brands, whether or not one should go cheap or pay for reliability, etc.
- Places to find clothing patterns
- Places to find free knitting patterns
- Places to find free coloring pages
- Making things from discarded items
- Gifts you can make from items found outside (for instance, pine cone wreaths and evergreen garlands, rock sculptures, etc.)
I’ll think of more and post them – and let’s see what others can think of.
Hi RK -
Let’s see, New Year’s Resolutions:
Do New Year’s Resolutions Work?
Realistic New Year’s Resolutions?
New Year’s Resoultion update from last year
Why I make New Years resolutions or why I don’t make NY Resolutions
Share your NY Resolutions
New Years Resolutions I’d like to see my family make
New Years resolutions I’d like to see (name celebrity here) make
Why New Years REsolutions fail
I hope those help.
Let us know if you’d like more brainstorming.
Re: Resolutions-
Last year I made some and tried to follow my progress through the year. Because the blog had tech issues it didn’t go the way I had planned. Maybe you could follow your own and do a better job?
Thanks Deb, great ideas!
I love this idea, sent the link to some friends.
Why not combine the first two? Resolve to be more frugal in 2008!
oops — 2009!
Great idea, Deb. Here are a few more ideas for both topics-
- Resolutions I kept /broke
- Save by doing without – What is the one thing that each family member can go without, at least for a week/month etc
- Millionaires who are frugal / spend wisely
- When is it ok to splurge…
- Do resolutions help make you more disciplined or do you have to be disciplined to stick to one?
I write on free ecards…any suggestions would be welcome! Thank you.
What if you tweaked the idea of New Year’s Resolutions and pitched it as a resolution that impacted someone else instead of us?
Kind of a social compassion, “Pay it forward” slant?
“This year I will volunteer to serve dinner once a month at a homeless shelter?
Just a thought.
Re New Year’s Resolutions: Where did the idea of making New Year’s Resolutions originate? (I would be curious to find out the answer to that question.)
Hi, Julie. How about frugality and “green” (environmental-mindedness) combined? This link is starting to be reported on more, but I think it might still be fresh enough, what with the U.S. economy as it is. This could be made to go along with a few things Deb pointed out, such as making gifts if you need a holiday-themed article.
For New Year’s resolutions… I think a lot of people in the U.S. will, if they’re so inclined to make resolutions, resolve to save more money/spend less money in 2009, which kinda goes back to the frugality question. How to approach it in a new way? Hmm. That’s a bit tougher. Perhaps what I mention above (frugal + green). I guess it really depends on your audience, too. If you’re writing for pregnant women or new mothers, it could be resolving (as I!) to shed a few extra pounds after the little one comes along or how to make a plan to get more sleep or how to put away money for college and other expenses (and so on). If your audience is single 20-somethings who’ve just graduated from college, it would be something entirely different. I vote for a story about people who don’t resolve to do anything except resolve not to make New Year’s resolutions (as Deb mentioned)? : )
Free e-cards…After a drought of not sending ecards, I recently was looking for some more variety. I’ve sent the free Hallmark ones for years, but they are pretty much the same stuff. Where do I go if I want something different, yet still free & not cheesy? (I know, that’s a matter of taste.) Where can a person find a good, free ecard site that doesn’t open them up to cookies, spyware, and adware? Or, maybe a different approach entirely…how ecards and Internet invites are good for the environment? Or perhaps a more technical article on good flash drives/back-up drives for those of us who are computer (or paper) pack-rats in terms of saving every picture, story, card, etc.
This was fun! Thanks, Deb!
Thanks for all the ideas, guys! I really appreciate it and it all really helped! I’ll let you know how it all turns out!