Last week on Copyblogger, Carol Tice wrote a guest post about 50 Can't-Fail Techniques for Finding Great Blog Topics. For anyone who doesn't enjoy slogging through lists that long, let me boil them down for you into a more manageable list.

1. Subscribe to RSS Feeds

This is my #1 idea source. Carol lists 10 sources of inspiration you can get using an RSS feed reader (just be sure to very deliberately read with the idea of finding things to write about in mind, otherwise it's easy to skim all your reading and never bother to write):

  1. Google Alerts (subscribe by RSS instead of email)
  2. skim national newspapers and magazine stories
  3. read small publications
  4. read trade publications
  5. read your competitors
  6. riff on a popular post (by a big-time blogger)
  7. try a new medium (eg. YouTube, podcasts...)
  8. read your (blog's) comments
  9. read your competitor's (blog's) comments
  10. read your social-media group's questions

2. Clear Your Head

If you're spending all your time staring at the computer screen trying to come up with ideas, you need to take a break and let the fog clear. She lists 9 ways to do that:

  1. talk to a friend
  2. change your view (ie. go somewhere else)
  3. eavesdrop
  4. take a hike
  5. take a bath
  6. take a day off each week
  7. keep a journal
  8. attend an industry networking event
  9. attend a local community event

3. Think Different

Okay, so I lifted Apple's old advertising phrase to describe this group of tips. Carol suggests 8 approaches to thinking about the issues you write about that may help you find a new perspective to write from.

  1. ask yourself, "What's missing?" or "What will happen next?"
  2. think about pain
  3. talk about your mistakes
  4. make a prediction
  5. review the past
  6. free associate
  7. do a mind map
  8. think funny

4. Get Someone Else's Input

7 more suggestions:

  1. get a site critique
  2. do an interview
  3. ask a question
  4. poll your readers
  5. hold an idea generating contest
  6. tweet about needing ideas
  7. "take the one-hour challenge" (give yourself an hour to get an idea by going downtown and chatting with people)

Okay, we've boiled 34 ideas down to 4 groups. To get the rest of Carol's suggestions, visit the link above.

Do you have any favorite techniques for generating ideas for your blog? Share them in the comments below.