I was asked last night how I think up topics for posts when I am writing freelance or guest posts. It can be tricky but I did come up with an analogy that I think works to explain how I deal with it.
Think of each place you post articles to as a different friend. It shouldn’t be too difficult as each blog will have a person or group of people associated with it, and will usually have a distinct audience.
If you are chatting to one friend then go and talk to another then normally you will not talk about exactly the same things. There might be some overlap, they are your friends after all, but if you are anything like me you will have friends with diverse interests. I talk to one group of people about motor sport, and I have my geeky friends and my photography buddies.
So right away if you treat writing venues like you would your friends you can see they each require you to talk about something different.
What about when they topics are similar?
Well like I say above, sometimes subjects overlap but as they do with friends they will not be identical. My motor sport conversations might be about Formula 1, or they could be about speedway or super bikes. With photography I have friends with Nikon while I have a Canon, they might prefer gig photography while I take landscapes and city shots. My geeky friends could be gamers or internet nuts. Even when talking about the internet, are they corporate types or more into the leisure side.
Just think as if you are going to a party where there will be a certain type of crowd. Soon you will be able to imagine what sort of discussion they will enjoy and you can start allowing the ideas to come.
Does this make any sense?