E-mail as a posting idea

E-mail.



Blog comments.



Both are huge, and usually untapped, sources of blog post ideas.



Reading and even posting selected e-mails from readers, is a healthy source of post inspirations and concepts for even the most prolific bloggers. Highly regarded baseball blogger Aaron Gleeman is one of the blogosphere's most exhaustive writers. I say that in a good way. He writes abundantly on his favourite subject.



And I mean abundantly!



Despite his multitude of story ideas, Aaron Gleeman often posts parts of e-mails to help create entries. He takes the ideas from the e-mails, and puts them through his usual indepth analysis. The result is a post, on a topic of proven interest, to his readers.



Comments on blogs form another fertile garden of ideas for blog posts. You have first hand, ready at your fingertips, statements from your readers. They have, in effect, spoken. They have told you what they want you to discuss. All you have to do is write about it.



Similar to using your site counter visitor logs, your e-mail and commenters show direct evidence of your visitors' interests. If they weren't interested, they wouldn't have taken the time to write, commnent, or in the case of keywords, search for your blog.



Don't treat your e-mail as spam (unless it promises enlargements and alleged improvements of various body parts).



Don't consider your comments section to be throwaways.



They are direct messages from your most interested and loyal readership. Let them help you make your blog better.



Take a hint from Aaron Gleeman and let your readers help write your posts.