How to generate unlimited content ideas
I started this newsletter issue by trying to sound smart and write a complex description of content creation. After finishing, I thought - "why waste time with definitions that can be found with a Google search" and deleted everything I wrote.
Instead, let's jump straight to the point and see the five techniques to generate unlimited content ideas.
1. Talk about what you learn
You learn something new every day in your tech job. As a result, everything you learn presents an opportunity to create content. Now, you might ask - how can I create content about something I just learnt? The answer is simple: you explain what you just learnt in your own words and voice like you'd explain to a friend.
There are multiple benefits to talking about what you learn, and they are as follows:
- You consolidate the information in your brain. They say, "to teach is to learn twice", meaning that you reinforce the information in your brain when you teach it to someone else. When you teach something, it forces you to research the subject more deeply and identify the gaps in your knowledge. As a result, you get a better understanding of the subject.
- You have a reference for the stuff you are learning, so you can come back to it in the future if you need to.
- Your content will likely help others who learn the same thing. Your piece of content might be the one that resonates with them.
Conclusion: Talk about the stuff you learn.
2. Talk about the issues you solve
In jobs like software development jobs, you solve bugs and issues on a daily basis. Some of them will come back to bite you in the future. So, why not document your solutions, then?
Documenting your solutions have two significant benefits:
- You save your future self when you encounter the same bugs/issues. Instead of solving them again, you can check your previous solutions.
- You help others who are having the same/similar bug or issue.
Each solution is an opportunity for a piece of content. You save your future self and help others too!
3. Talk about what you know
The main idea is to identify your strongest skills and talk about those things. For instance, let's say you are a front-end React developer. You could talk about front-end and React topics.
Moreover, in the process of sharing what you already know, you might find yourself learning new things too.
4. Talk about your experiences
In our life and career, we go through many experiences, such as getting a job, learning new things and overcoming emotions like the impostor syndrome, to name just a few. Every experience you go through can be the subject of a content piece.
Did you ace an interview? Talk about how you prepared.
Were you promoted at your job? Talk about the things you did to grow in your career.
Did you overcome burnout? Talk about your recovery and your prevention methods.
You get the idea. These content pieces are tremendously helpful for other people because they can learn from your experiences. Some of my most popular content pieces are around this type of subject.
5. Keyword research tool
The latest technique for finding content ideas is to use SEO tools like Ubbersuggest and Ahrefs. They help research keywords and ideas and they provide additional information such as:
- keyword difficulty
- search volume
- related keywords
- questions containing the keyword
and more.
You are now equipped with five techniques to ensure you always have content ideas. They are enough to help you generate ideas for content for years to come. As an exercise, get a pen and paper, go through each point and try to generate some ideas to get the ball rolling.
The missing semester of your CS education
"The Missing Semester of Your CS Education" is a free course offered by MIT that aims to teach practical skills and concepts that are often overlooked in traditional computer science education.
It'll teach you how to master the command-line, use a powerful text editor, use fancy features of version control systems, and much more!
Four ways to build web apps
An opinionated list of four approaches to building web applications.
Self-hosting your websites
Tired of shelling money to cloud providers? This article teaches you how to self-host your websites with a Raspberry Pi (with 0 downtime).
Job hopping or staying in the same job?
Some people prefer changing jobs every 1-2 years, whereas others prefer staying longer in the same job. There's no universal path/answer that works for everyone. It depends on one's goals and objectives.
In this post, you can see the different perspectives and personal experiences of individuals on the subject matter.
Do unit tests detract value?
We all know testing is vital in the software development cycle, but can tests sometimes detract value? In this post, the author discusses his disillusionment with writing unit tests.
"Never, ever, in my career has a failing unit test helped me understand that my new code is probably bad and that I shouldn't do it."
The post generated an interesting discussion about unit testing. Which side are you on - are unit tests bringing or detracting value?
Open-source Twitter algorithm
There have been discussions about the Twitter algorithm being open-sourced for months now. Will this week be the week when the algorithm is finally open-sourced?
Four-day workweek
61 companies in the United Kingdom participated in a trial where the employees only worked four days a week. The trial was a success, with some participant companies adopting the four-day workweek permanently.
The trial revealed some interesting numbers:
- 70% of employees reported reduced levels of burnout
- 40% of employees reported that their sleep difficulty levels had improved
- almost 50% of the employees reported improved mental health
Having worked reduced hours in the past (6 hours per day), I'm not surprised by these findings. I'm all in for changing the outdated Mon - Fri 9 - 5 outdated work schedule.