The first thing I need to do is work out what I want my topic to be. Let's have a look at what I have so far.
1. What are my goals for my new blog? The first step in defining my topic is thinking about my goals - why do I want to start this blog?
I would like something fun and enjoyable to work on
I want to find other people with a similar interest to connect with
I want to be able to really immerse myself in a new challenge
It would be nice to be a leader in the field and produce something meaningful
It needs to have minimal establishment costs
Help me become a better writer
Reach a wide audience
Produce enough income to have as my primary job.
2. List possible topics that I have a) experience in, b) an interest in and c) think I could be good at writing about. So here is the hard part, write down all possible topic ideas.
Education. I could share programs, lesson plans, other resources and write about the latest innovations. I'm experienced in primary education, am definitely interested and I know I can write about this.
Children's books. I could have a go at writing these and sharing the process and finished products on the blog. I'm interested in this and I think I could do it, but I have no experience in actually writing a children's book. Although I could link this in with an education blog and write books to accompany teaching lesson plans and programs??
3. Review the list against my original goals and criteria. Eliminate those that don't match. Make a short list and narrow it down to the top 3.
I don't think I could really immerse myself and be a leader in the field with a blog about TV programs or homemade items. Even with novels, I'm not really sure how to fully define this topic and it's definitely been done a lot before.
So that leaves being organised and education. What do you think?
I'm definitely leaning towards education as I feel I have a lot I could share with teachers, parents or anyone who has an interest in education. I could then tie in the children's books idea at some stage as well. I know that there is ample information out there on education so I wonder if I could really succeed at this. However, I know when I searched for programs and lesson plan ideas as a teacher, there was a lot out there but they were not of a very high quality.
I'm not sure how many people would be interested in tips and tricks for leading a more organised life. I may need to do a bit more research on this to see what's already out there.
I also really need to consider if I can make money from these topic choices as this is one of my goals. The education blog I think would be much easier than the organised blog. For the education blog I could sell lesson plans, programs, eBooks, digital resources for the smart boards and maybe some sort of consulting.
For the organised blog I could do some affiliate advertising (this is earning a commission for selling other people's products) maybe an eBook on tips and tricks.
What do you think are the pros and cons of these topic choices?