Content Generation Idea: Ask Your Readers for Ideas

Content Generation Idea: Ask Your Readers for Ideas

If you don't ask you don't get right? Some people say it's rude to ask, but I digress! That really only applies when you're sitting in the back seat and the driver pulls out a bag of sweets and you shouldn't ask for one but instead rather, wait to see if you're offered one. Well that's just some Tudor like etiquette and at the end of the day, if you don't ask - you don't get! It's as simple as that!

And who'd have thought, that you could just ask your readers for something and they would give it to you? Because that's what makes up Content Generation Idea 21: Ask Your Readers for Ideas. And it's something that you can do, that many people don't do, which can work out quite well indeed for you when it comes to content generating ideas!

Now if you already own a blog and have a steady flow of traffic/readers to it. You have a virtually infinite amount of resources for gaining ideas from people. The same can be said if you own a fairly large forum too. And all you'd really have to do is ask those people some questions that are relative to your niche and industry.

• For a blog:
  Put up a blog post that ask people to answer some questions about your industry. You could even ask them to come up with questions that they'd like seen answered. Some questions they'd like to know the answers for. Usually, some people will come up with a question for something that you hadn't even thought of before that will make for a great content piece from that alone.
• For forums:
  You would basically do the same thing and put up a new thread asking people some questions about your niche industry. As well as, asking them to ask any questions they'd like to know the answers too. From the questions that you're asked (if anyone does ask them) you can use that to come up with and form some content from it.
  
• For social media:
  And the same thing can be done on your social media profiles, groups and communities too. Just put up a new post that asks people to ask you some questions about the industry that they'd like answered. Some questions that they often ask themselves but would like to know an answer for in more detail. Then from those questions asked, form some content from it in the form of an article, blog post or something that answers those questions in great detail.
  

It's as simple as that! Just asking your readers to ask you questions can provide you with an almost unlimited amount of content generation ideas for topics and articles, blog posts etc etc to write about. And the other good thing about it is that as long as that post is up, whether it's a blog post, a forum thread or a post on one of your social media sites, in time, more and more people will see it and more and more people will ask you questions they'd like answered.

And that's how you use your very own readers for coming up with content ideas!

Do you ask your readers and followers to ask you questions for this reason?

If so, what other ways do you go about it?