Is coming up with content ideas for your business something you do not look forward to?

You’re definitely not alone.

Content ideation shouldn’t be stressful. You simply need to find a way where you feel inspired to come up with those cracking ideas. Enter the good old-fashioned brainstorming session!

A brainstorming session is something many of us did in school but probably didn’t enjoy. I was that one weirdo who loved these sessions as I always brimming with ideas to share.

The way I see it, there are no rules to brainstorming – almost anything goes. I do, however, have a general guide on how to maximise your brainstorming session to help produce the results you’re after.

SET ASIDE TIME

You should aim to have a content brainstorming session once a month to gather ideas for your social media, blog posts, videos, podcasts, newsletters and any other content you distrubute reguarly.

A lot can change in a month and new ideas are always forming. Block out a set amount of time in your work calendar and dedicate it solely to this task.

I recommend setting aside at least two hours so you don’t feel rushed. I tend to do my sessions mid-month for content for the upcoming month.

INVOLVE OTHERS

You can do a brainstorming session alone but where’s the fun in that? They’re much more effective when others are involved.

Different people bring different perspectives to the table and they may see an opportunity for content you otherwise may not.

Ask a biz-buddy to set aside some time so you can bounce ideas off each other for both of your content calendars.

QUANTITY OVER QUALITY

No, I didn’t get that wrong. For a good brainstorming session, any and all ideas should be included regardless of how silly you think they sound.

Set a timer and go crazy with dumping those ideas out of your head and into writing.

USE A PEN & PAPER OR WHITEBOARD

Yep, writing – with an actual pen and paper. You can use a note-taking app on your phone but by putting your ideas in writing on a whiteboard or notepad, you’re creating a more visual element to the process which may help to trigger other ideas (and you can draw doodles)! 

NO CRITICISING ANY IDEAS

You are not to criticise your ideas (or anyone else’s, for that matter). This is not a university thesis – it’s an idea-generating process and you aren’t going to be marked on it. Nobody else on the planet even has to see it!

The whole purpose of the process is a brain dump of everything that could potentially be used as content on your social media platforms. Anything goes at this point.

COMBINE & TWEAK IDEAS

Once you have a page/board full of ideas, this is when you start to combine and tweak them to form the foundations of your content. What might seem like two completely unrelated ideas may actually form your next top-performing post!

Creating content is something I do a lot in my business and I thoroughly enjoy the process. I love it so much, I offer this very thing as a service for other business mums who are comfortable with creating and publishing their own content but are often running short on ideas. Book a Content Brainstorming Session today!