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.
- Homemade items: I definitely have an interest in this and I think I could be good at this, but I don't have too much experience.
- Critiquing and discussing TV programs. I watch a lot of TV and really enjoy it and I could definitely write about this. But maybe it would become a bit mundane after a while?
- How to be organised. I am very experienced in being organised, and I could definitely write about this. I'm also always interested in finding out about tips and tricks to lead a more organised life. Although not sure how to monetise this?
- 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??
- Something to do with novels, maybe similar to the TV idea?
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?
