Ideas for blog posts can come anytime and anywhere- from when you’re driving home from work, to while you’re in the shower, to waking you in the middle of the night. The first thing to do? Write it down. Here are some methods to store your ideas, so you never forget a great one!
In a notebook
This is great for quickly scribbling down ideas that hit you at a busy time. Because I fancy myself a fiction writer, and I suffer from notebook addiction, I’ve been doing this for a long time, writing story ideas down in various blank books I leave around the house. Since I started professional blogging, I’ve been writing blog post ideas down as well. I have a particular fondness for Moleskine and Rhodia notebooks, but anything will do, really. Always keep a pen or two nearby.
In a PDA or mobile phone
When I’m out, I find having to fish out a pen and notebook too unwieldy- and that’s when noting ideas down in my (ancient Treo 680) PDA is perfect. Most mobile phones have “Notes” sections, but in a pinch I’ve been known to write a text message containing my idea, and saving it in Drafts or Saved Messages.
In your PC
Your options when it comes to software are many. If you use a PDA as above, you might want to use something that syncs automatically- or consider one of these applications:
- Stickies is built-in to OSX on the Mac, and it doesn’t get much simpler than this. Its quick, its free, easy to use, and customizable. There are also lots of Windows versions, from free to paid, available for download (e.g. Notezilla or Neat Note.
- For something a little more powerful, look for “virtual notebook”-esque applications, such as Mori for the Mac or Delphinus Notes for Windows.
Online
If you already use an online solution for documents (such as Google Docs or Zoho), this might be the best bet for you. Not only can you share your ideas with collaborators, you’ll be able to access them from anywhere with an internet connection.
The truth is, I use all of the above- notebooks, my PDA, my mobile phone, Stickies… and then collect them all in Google Docs.
How do you store your blog ideas?
7 thoughts on “4 Ways to Store your Blog Ideas”
Pencil and notebook are for sure best option at least for me. It is always in front of you, or eventually in your bag, and more important, you are more focus, when using pencils and notebook then when you type something on your computer.
However, other methods author mentioned are useful too, in some case.
There are three ways I usually do in storing my blog ideas:
1. Writing it down in a small notebook.
2. Storing it in my cellphone
3. Saving it to my blog.
So that I can’t forget it. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
hi,
nice article, don’t remember how exactly i landed here, but this is something i have always done. i keep an off line notepad because honestly most idea comes off line. i just note them down and when i get time i start making posts out of those.
Hint: keep a notepad when you go to sleep. think and plan before your fall sleep, great ideas comes in the night time. however this can disturb your sleep and you could end up awake for a big part of the night.
I actually save all of my blog post ideas inside WordPress as drafts. It’s accessible from any computer and then easy to sort through using the “display draft” option. I back up my site often so I always have two copies in case something happens – because I save my drafts in my site I never lose those great ideas!
Ever since I started my first blog, which was not that long ago, blog post ideas are on the top of my mind – all of the time. I actually take a full size sheet of paper and fold it all up and put it in my backpocket, so it’s with me where ever I go.
Then I take the full size sheet of paper with all of my hand scribbled ideas and then turn it into a list in Microsoft Word and keep that stored on my pc.
I stick to old pencil and notepad. However, I don’t keep a notepad around. But I make sure I always carry a pen with me. If I any idea pops into my mind, I just write down the keypoints. It can be by asking for a paper from someone or even on my hands 🙂
This was very helpul for me. I never thought about storing ideas for blog post as I’m going through my daily routine. I’ll think about that from now on though.
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