Generating fresh content ideas is challenging, especially when you feel you’ve already covered your core subject ad nauseum. How can you tell what content your audience wants and will respond to?
When inspiration runs dry, there’s an easy way to get winning content ideas: online learning sites.
Online learning platforms have already vetted the subject matter for you. Their users are paying for courses that teach specific topics. All you need to do is research the most popular courses in your field and study their tables of contents to find fresh content ideas your audience will gravitate to.
Online courses have two key things in common:
- They strive to provide value
- People pay for that value
That makes online courses perfect ways to spark inspiration for your own content. After all, if your audience is willing to pay for similar content, wouldn’t they be happy to get it from you for free?
Online learning platforms include:
- Udemy
- Skillshare
- MasterClass
- Lynda
- Udacity
- WizIQ
- OfCourse
Look, we’re not suggesting you steal content. Rather, by studying the types of content people are willing to pay for, you can generate new content ideas pre-vetted for your audience.
Here’s one content idea generation method that works well:
- Search online platforms for courses that cover your industry topics
- Identify the most popular courses, then study their tables of contents
- Jot down topics you haven’t covered, then identify how you can put a new spin on those topics
- Identify gaps in their tables of contents. What’s missing, and how can you add to the conversation?
Winning content ideas come from many different sources. Online learning platforms remove uncertainty: you already know people find their content valuable because they pay for it. Use that to your advantage to reduce research time, spark new content ideas and write winning content your audience craves.