Monster Tip #4 - Be A Sparkling Conversationalist

The Internet is always abuzz with conversation.  At any given moment, thousands of people are probably reading or even writing about your topic.  One of the most interesting ways to create good content ideas is simply to listen and to take part in the conversation. 

There is more than plenty out there for you to read. Read blogs on your topic, Squidoo pages, forums, contribute to the comments. But, make sure that you have something interesting to say.   Those "Me too" comments just don’t cut it in today’s marketplace.

One of my favorite ways of staying on top of my topic (and my client’s topics) is to use google alerts (http://google.com/alert). This is a free service that sends you an e-mail any time someone writes on your topic.  Now, you probably want to have a pretty focused topic if you are going to use this service or your inbox might fill up fast.  But, if you have something reasonably well defined (and you should if you have been following this series, google alerts gives you the impressive ability to add comments to blogs and to email authors pretty much immediately after they post.    Oftentimes, you can be the first or secod comment on a blog post this way.

The more you contribute, the more you get your name out there as an expert.  But, the other advantage of contributing frequently is that you are getting into the habit of writing.  I find that the more I write, the easier writing becomes. 

* Here is the bonus:  The more you read and write on your topic — the more you discover your unique take on the issue. Once that becomes clear,  writing becomes much eaiser and more systematic.