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30 Sources To Help You Research and Create Content

Submitted by mark@subhub.com on May 31, 2011 - 12:03
Author: Miles Galliford - May 31 2011 - 12:03

 

If you know your subject inside out you may feel confident about generating enough good content.

If you’re worried about finding enough information to be creating remarkable content every day here are some great ideas for uncovering new sources.

Make sure that every time you find a new source of content you write it down or save it in your bookmarks.  It is so easy to forget.  If you build a comprehensive resource directory you will never have to worry about where your next post is going to come from. 

 

Source #1  - Build a database of personal contacts within your specialist area. 

Use every possible opportunity to meet and make friends from your niche.  Conferences and events are always good, but also don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to authors, journalists, TV personalities, bloggers …… or anyone else who is interesting.  Proactively manage these contacts through LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com),  Facebook (www.facebook.com) and Plaxo (www.plaxo.com). 

Every contact is a story waiting to happen!

 

Source #2  - Create a page which collects all the information from relevant blogs

There are free services that enable you to gather all the latest posts from bloggers and websites you follow onto one page.  The services are called newsfeed or RSS readers.  The service I use is Google Reader (www.google.com/reader).  Other similar services include:

 

Source #3  - Use Twitter

 Twitter can be an incredible source of real-time information.  Create a Twitter account and follow people who are active in your niche.  You will get a continual stream of breaking news and new contacts.  Use a Twitter management tool to make it easy to follow your news stream on your desktop and smartphone.  I use TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com) and Seesmic (www.seesmic.com). 

 

Source #4 - Write fresh content for the website based on current events

Give your personal view on what is happening in your industry or how broader events may impact your readers.  Link disparate stories to create unique perspectives.  How has Obama becoming President impact what cars people buy?  How would the end of the war in Afghanistan effect tourism?  How would an outbreak of bird flu impact the restaurant industry?  Every morning I look at the top ten news headlines and try to think through the implications for my customers; it’s an interesting and fun challenge.

 

Source #5  - Ask to reprint articles from bloggers in your industry 

Bloggers are often very happy to have their articles republished on different sites in exchange for an acknowledgement and link. If the article has been published on the web before, make sure you change the text slightly.  Google tags duplicate copies of articles and does not index them in their search results.

 

Source #6 – Use content feeds

There are content feeds that automatically add data to your site.  For example there are data feeds for stocks and currencies like Free Real Time (www.freerealtime.com).  They are easy to add and can instantly make yours site more dynamic. 

 

Source #7 - Ask your visitors to submit articles, opinions, reviews, etc. 

Often the most interesting content will come from people who read your site.  Encourage them to send you articles, videos and gossip.  If you identify any readers who are very active on your site, consider asking them to become regular contributors. 

 

Source #8  - Invite guest writers

Don’t be afraid to ask industry experts and personalities to write for you.  High profile people like to keep their profiles high.  Make sure you think through ‘WIIFM’ before approaching them.

 

Source #9  - Get articles from companies who want to reach your audience

Approach companies who want to show off their expertise to your readers.  For example, if you have a site about property developing, you could ask a surveyor to write an article about ‘how to chose a surveyor’.  Most will write good quality articles for free if they are allowed to add their company name and website link at the end of the article.  Make sure you maintain editorial control so you can stop too much self -promotion.  Maintaining your independence is important.

 

Source #10 – Work with associations and societies

Associations and societies have an obligation to their members to gather and share information about their niche.  They can be good sources of general industry information. 

 

Source #11 - Request content from out-of-print publishers

There is a huge amount of content that is out of print.  If there is a book, directory, song, report, glossary, etc that could still be valuable to your readers, approach the author or publisher.  You an often pick up these publications for free, very cheaply or on a revenue share.  You can also often find books that are out of copyright which you can distribute for free.

 

Source #12  - Google advanced search

Google Search is so much more powerful than simply matching words and phrases.  There are lots of advanced search commands, which can help you quickly find very specific information.  Most the advanced search functions can be accessed by clicking the ‘advanced search’ link on the Google home page.  Take the time to learn how to do advanced search and you will be amazed at how powerful Google really is.

 

Source #13 - Publish other people’s press releases

Every day there are thousands of press releases sent out.  You can get on the list for your specific subject area via sites like PRNewswire (www.prnewswire.com) and PRWeb (www.prweb.com).  It’s easy content that provides timely news to your readers.

 

Source #14 - Create course materials from an existing course

If you have written a course or have access to course material it can make great content that can be released over a period of weeks or months.  Remember you should consider charging for access to good course material.  Don’t give stuff away that your audience will pay for.

 

Source #15 - Write reviews of books, films, TV programs, products, services, etc.

If you read or see something interesting write a review.  If you are looking for books to review, go to Amazon (www.amamzon.com) and do a search on your subject.  Find the books that have the best reviews and write your own for your website.

 

Source #16 - Forums

Go to the forums that are relevant to your subject and observe which topics generate the most discussion.  Make a note of the questions being asked and the answers that are given to create the outline of an article. You can find relevant forums using the searchable directory at www.big-boards.com .

 

Source #17 - Visit and write commentary on events

A single conference can become the source of many articles and videos.  Summarise the important points from presentations.  Interview the key people.  Cover new product launches.  Get feedback from the attendees.  Better still ask your site visitors to write about industry events they have attended. 

 

Source #18 - Read your competitor’s websites

Your competitor’s website can be a great source of information.  Have a look which are their most popular articles.  Also, if it is a blog, have a look for their Blogroll.  This is a list of the sites that they follow and will often reveal additional useful sources.

 

Source #19 - Read print magazines and newsletter

Many people are ending their subscriptions to print publications and relying on the Internet for their news.  You can become the bridge between the two media for your sector by reporting online what is being said in print.

 

Source #20 - Invite your readers to submit questions

Have a form that encourages visitors to ask you questions.  Publish the answers as articles.  This is a good way to encourage interaction and build the relationship.

 

Source #21 - Revisit old posts

Good articles go out of date, but often with a bit of updating they can become relevant again.  One good way of finding the best posts to rewrite is to look at your web statistics to see which articles have been the most popular.

 

Source #22 - Monitor the news aggregation websites for article ideas

News aggregation sites trawl the web for the best articles from hundreds of websites.  The news aggregators usually have a subject specialisation such as technology.  Examples to look at include:

 

Source #23 - About.com

About.com is great resource for a huge range of subjects.  Make a note to take a look once a month to see what’s new.

 

Source #24 - Wikipedia.com

Wikipedia is another great resource for research and expert information.  A quick check every couple of months could reveal some interesting material.

 

Source #25 - Stumbleupon.com

If I had more spare time I would waste it on Stumbleupon! If you haven’t tried this addictive site, you’ll love it.  Choose your subject and click ‘stumble’.  The site will randomly take you to relevant sites.  All the pages that you stumble upon have been rated by other stumblers so the quality is usually good.  Also subscribe to the RSS feeds of active stumblers in your niche.  This is an efficient way of getting good results.

 

Source #26 - Use Graphs and Tables

There are some excellent websites where you can produce graphs and tables which can be the basis for interesting articles:

 

Source #27 - Helium.com

Helium (www.helium.com) is an interesting website where you can upload a content brief and the price you are prepared to pay for the article.  Helium members then write the article and submit them to you.  You select the one you like and pay that writer.  The articles you didn’t choose are uploaded on the site for sale.

 

Source #28 - Run competitions

Create a competition where entrants have to submit something that can become good content for your site.  For example:

  • A fishing site could ask for a photo of the most beautiful location they have fished
  • A knitting site could ask for original patterns to be submitted
  • A site about Internet marketing could ask for competitors to send a copy of their most successful email newsletter

This list is a great starting point, but never stop building your sources.  Having access to information that your competitors don’t have gives you a real competitive advantage.

 

Source #29 - Blog Directories

Do a search in the blog directories for bloggers covering your niche.  The biggest directory is Technorati (www.technorati.com).  Build relationships with the upcoming bloggers; they are usually the ones who will cooperate most

 

Source #30 - Recycle, Repackage and Repeat

If in doubt simply update and republish old articles, or turn old content into a new format. A great article can become an equally great video. You can also package a group off articles into a downloadable ebook.

 

This list of sources is a good starting point, but don’t stop here.  Never stop adding to your list of material sources.  

Listed in categories: Articles, Creating Content.

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