If you write or maintain a blog with a set posting schedule, you’ve probably hit a wall at times in trying to come up with a good topic. That’s where I found myself as I approached this entry. Fortunately for this blog, I can make the lack of a topic a topic itself, but since that won’t work for you, here are a few suggestions for developing topics:

1. Know your subject. Draw on the expertise you already have, or work to become a knowledgeable authority in the blog’s general area. In the world of civil engineering and ASCE, this can be the skills and experience you have in your specialty, and/or in the Section or Institute you’re active in. Blog topics spun from your knowledge and experience don’t have to be grand or expansive, they could be about minutiae so long as they’re something your audience can relate to. A special benefit of knowing your subject well is that it will come across readily in your blog, giving you credibility and integrity with your audience.

2. Stay up on current issues and trends in your subject. If this is related to your everyday job, then you’re already a step ahead - it just becomes a matter of realizing what can be worthy of a blog topic. If you’re not as familiar with the subject, become a regular reader of trade publications and journals in that area, plus daily newspapers (many available online). Developing a routine around checking reliable sources in the subject will pay off in generating ideas.

3. “That would be good for the blog!” Not to suggest that you breathe, eat and sleep with thoughts of your blog, but if you can look around your world with the blog in the back of your mind, sights and events will jump out and suggest themselves as blog entries. For instance, if the blog is focused on transportation engineering, events on a highway drive could spawn topic ideas.

4. Tap your own reactions and opinions. If the blog represents an individual, either yourself or someone you manage it for, the blog can (indeed, it probably should) reflect the voice and views of that person. This means that well-informed opinions are not only welcome, they give the blog a personality reflecting the person, and help foster reader comments and conversation. Blogs representing groups likely should not offer opinions unless they reflect a consensus or decisions already arrived at by that group.

Got any other tips for idea-generating techniques that have worked for you? Share them in the comments below. We’ll highlight a few suggested techniques in an update to this entry.

John Marston
Web Content Editor