You’re at a party with friends, on a bike ride with the wind in your hair, or making dinner with multiple pots boiling and pans sizzling.
Then a blog post idea comes to you.
Like every good entrepreneur/writer/maker-of-things, you jot it down as soon as you can. In a notebook, perhaps, or in a file on your computer.
You can’t wait to turn it into a helpful and encouraging piece for your readers and future clients.
But a week or three later, when you finally get around to drafting the post, you stare at your list of ideas and wonder…
What the hell did I mean by this?
How ripe bananas make great business opportunities?
The thing about kid’s shoes? What THING?
10 stress-free networking ideas…I can’t even think of two!
Uhhh…
You try to start writing. But you’re lost in a hazy old memory of your idea. It is just as painful from starting from scratch.
It shouldn’t be.
A few months ago, I developed a really simple, right-brained method for tracking my blog post and guest articles ideas. It doesn’t make me claustrophobic like a really structured editorial calendar might; it’s simple, flexible, and it absolutely works.
Once you start doing this, I swear the writing part will become MUCH easier. And your blog posts will also become more focused, which will make them easier to read and share—a huge side benefit!
My effective and simple approach to tracking blog post ideas:
I explain exactly what I do and why it works so well in this five-minute audio note:
Here’s a sample from my own spreadsheet. So simple.
I obviously don’t fuss around with the outline column—the goal is to get 3-5 points down as quickly as possible, while the idea is fresh. The exact language isn’t important at this stage.
If you’re like me, a rigid, planned-two-months-in-advance blog editorial calendar might not be your jam. I like to leave myself a little room for spontaneity.
When it’s time to write a new post, I look at my list and pick a subject that feels exciting to me at the time. Lots of ideas are right there waiting for me—the only question is, what do I feel like writing today? And are my readers due for a super practical post, like this one, or a something more inspiring?
This process has already saved me gobs of time. It’s made my writing faster, more focused, and more effective.
So go on, make your own right now—it should only take you 10 minutes to get started.
[Tweet “Don’t let another blog post idea vanish! This simple tracking system is all you need.”]
And by the way, if you’re interested in improving your writing skills and writing higher quality blog posts your ideal readers will love, go ahead and set up a time to chat with me. This is a new service I’m finally officially building out. I’m learning so much from my brilliant clients—come teach me cool things about what you do!
Love this, Nicole! What a great way to keep track of “ideas in progress” for blog posts! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Awesome. Very happy to share, Kathryn!
Thanks Nicole – such a great, simple idea to keep all my ideas in one organized spot rather than scribbled down in my various notebooks and recorded on my phone, where I then forget about them…
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks so much for reading, Leslie—I’m glad it was helpful! Lost ideas are a sad thing indeed!
For some reason I’ve struggled with a system to capture blog post ideas until you wrote this, Nicole. Today I’ve gone through and grabbed all my scattered blog post idea notes and put them into a spreadsheet – the relief!
Ah, Sally, that’s so wonderful to hear! I love that you went ahead and took action. Thanks for letting me know—may you have many easy and fun writing sessions in your future!
Nicole, this is so true! I also write myself notes in Evernote about the title so my “past self” can help out my “present self” lol.
Your past self is a genius, Trista. Thank you for reading!
HA, great point! I wouldn’t have really known what I’d meant if I’d jotted down an idea about bananas and web design best practices, for instance 😉
I actually have a similar (less structured, less neat) process and sometimes even start outlining a post for the future if I have plenty of ideas for it (because Xena knows they’re gonna escape my brain soon after otherwise!).
Thanks for this actionable, practical, no-nonsense post 🙂
haha, Nat, I’d like to read that post!
Definitely starting to outline it is an important part of this. If you don’t…poof!
Thank you so much for reading.
What a great idea! I’ve just started regular posting with an editorial calendar in mind, but I definitely come up with spur of the moment ideas too. This is a great way to track those!
Thanks!
Yes, sometimes those random ideas are the best ones! I need to add a more structured editorial calendar to the mix as well…I think they both serve different purposes and are helpful at different stages. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, Megan.
What a good idea Nicole! I keep my spur of the moment ideas in my Evernote, but they’re all kind of a mish-mash of bullet points. I’m going to have to look at creating columns like yours so it’s easier to read, and makes more sense later, ha!
I was using Evernote before this too, Robyn! At first I thought it I was in great shape, but it got a bit messy…and I realized I needed a system that encouraged me to quickly outline as well. I hope it works for you too!
I’m that girl who has so many ideas floating around! But I love the way you recommend bringing them together. Excellent post!
It’s a blessing and a curse sometimes, isn’t it? But let’s go with blessing. Thanks for reading!
Love this idea! I’ve got a Google Document with almost 100 different ideas for posts and half of them mean nothing to me any more. I think I’ll start by converting what I do remember over to this kind of system! Yay for spreadsheets!
Yeah! There was a time—not so long ago—when spreadsheets made me upset. But now I see that I can use them in a flexible way that works for me.
That sounds like a great first step! I hope it helps!
I’m like Robyn and store random blog post ideas in Evernote. Like you, I want a little more structure … but not the rigidity of a strict editorial calendar. I’ll be trying this out, thanks!
Great, Beth! I hear you—I don’t want to be penned in. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
Evernote user here, too! But I totally agree, it’s gotten messy and there’s plenty of “ideas” in there that mean nothing to me anymore. I love this idea because as you said, most creatives probably don’t like the ridgity of an editorial calendar (and can’t stick with it either!). Going to consider trying this out!
Awesome, Megan! Thanks for reading!
Love this. Being an accountant, I am very much in favor of using spreadsheets. I am have put together a Google doc using your format. Thanks for sharing this.
Oh, that’s wonderful Chris. You’re probably more comfortable with spreadsheets than I am! I hope it helps!
I love this idea! I use Trello for my organisation, which is great but as with ALL my organisation…they get a bit disorganised. Will try this – thanks!
You’re welcome, Jane! Thanks for reading!