Running out of content ideas? How to discover new topics with the TOC method
Hi again,
It's been a tough week. My sleeping got worse again as I haven’t been consistent enough with my running program lately. However, I’m getting on track today. So even though it's nearly 10pm I'm going to go on my run after I post this newsletter.
One great thing. I took my wife out axe-throwing during the weekend. It was a great time. I shared some pictures of that on Twitter which you can see when you click here.
One more good thing before we move on to today’s topics.
If you run a cohort-based-course always have a way for people to say goodbye. In 2019, I started having a goodbye meeting at the end of every course and it's amazing how appreciative people are of what they've learned.
Today we had a goodbye meeting for a coaching course that I run with my team.
I loved hearing how much the students love my instructors and how much they appreciate the improvements we've made in the course.
It makes all the work feel worthwhile.
So don't just end a course with more content. End with a chance for everyone to share what they've learned and say farewell.
Now let's say hello to today's topics.
I. Update about the email coaching program
II. Running out of content ideas? How to discover new topics with the TOC method
III. Two ways I can help you
Let's get started.
I. Update about the email coaching program
After a slow start, I started to get questions from each participant.
I've been happy to see that my frameworks were helpful in answering each person's questions. I was also glad to see that my email about formulating questions was helpful in getting people to create more questions.
I was glad to hear that my questions helped solve frustrating problems.
However, I will be running this experiment again for 30 days with a few tweaks that I think can make it even better. Stay tuned for more on that in upcoming weeks.
II. Running out of content ideas? How to discover new topics with the TOC method
Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were nearly stranded on the moon. They were saved by a felt tip pen.
After walking on the moon, Aldrin and Armstrong went back to their lunar module. But they noticed a 1-inch circuit breaker switch had broken off the instrument panel.
Without this switch, it would be impossible to take off.
They radioed Mission Control but after an entire night, Houston found no solution.
So how did they avoid being stranded on the moon?
Aldrin found a felt-tipped pen in the shoulder pocket of his suit which saved the day.
In his own words:
"I inserted the pen into the small opening where the circuit breaker switch should have been, and pushed it in; sure enough, the circuit breaker held. We were going to get off the moon, after all. To this day I still have the broken circuit breaker switch and the felt-tipped pen I used to ignite our engines."
Amazingly such a small item saved the lives of these two men.
As you can see, a life-threatening emergency was a stimulus for a new idea. When we feel like we've run out of topics to write about, we also, need a stimulus to get new ideas. Fortunately, we don't need the threat of death to inspire us. In fact, we can get new ideas by merely opening a book. And the good news: we don't even have to read most of it. Usually one page is enough. It just has to be the right page.
Let me explain how this works.
Suppose you write about medicinal herbs and need some fresh ideas.
You might head over to your local book store but you want ideas now so you head over to Amazon. You look up books on medicinal herbs. You choose one that looks promising. Then click Read Sample.
But you don't read the book.
Instead you skip right to the table of contents. Take note of the topics covered. Then you note down those you haven't thought to write about before but seem promising.
I did this and found "Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use"
Here are some topics I found interesting.
Setting up your kitchen pharmacy
The benefits of herbal medicine
Starting a home medicine garden
24 safe and effective herbs to know, grow and use (each one listed)
9 familiar herbs and spices to grow and use (each one listed)
If I were writing about this topic, I'd record all these ideas, then move onto another book until I had 10-20 ideas for topics I haven't written about yet.
But how did I apply this concept to my own writing?
Recently, I wanted to stop writing tweets each day and write them in batches of five but I had a hard time coming up with ideas. So I went to Amazon and found books on course building. I visited the tables of contents and looked at what the books covered. I noticed ideas I hadn't thought about and I wrote them down.
Those items in the tables of contents gave me ideas for several tweets.
Fears that keep people from creating their courses
Beliefs that stop them such as "I'm too tech-challenged to create an online course"
Objections:
I don't look good on camera
My course won't be good enough
My course won't meet expectations
These are things I hadn't thought to write about before. However, I have ideas for how to address them from my own experience and coaching.
Here are two tweets I wrote inspired by this list:
Since it's my own approach to these topics it is not plagiarism.
Although, I used these topics to write several tweets, many will be developed into full articles as well.
Should you want to try this method, just follow these steps.
Figure out a broad topic you'll write about.
Search for books on that topic on Amazon.
Read the table of contents of the books and note new topics of interest to you.
You'll end up with a list of fresh ideas to write about.
Sitting down to write without any ideas can feel as desolate as being stranded on a barren rock in space but it doesn't have to be. You just need new inputs to develop fresh ideas. The endless quantity of books on Amazon can keep you supplied with new topics for years to come.
III. Two ways I can help you
The Atomic Course Blueprint - Want to create a course without the usual overwhelm? Try creating a tiny course. Find out more here.
iPARA: How to organize your digital life for action- Is digital disorganization keeping you from reaching your goals? What if just four folders could let you not just stay organized but actually get things done. See for yourself here.
That’s it for this week. I’ll see you next week with another issue.
Still here?
I really appreciate you.
If you really want to make me feel great, email me to say hi. It keeps me motivated to produce each issue.
I had no idea about the felt tip pen / moon departure saga, very cool.