How do Bloggers find their Content?

I am pretty sure you might have thought of writing a blog. Blogs these days are no longer rants scratched out and carved in the cyberspace. They are all about setting an identity. A reflection of who you are or what you represent has taken place.

Random observations does not do any justice
Rantings of the blue sea wouldn’t help create an audience for your blog. Instead presenting the deep blue sea as an escape to where all your obstacles to begin with would be something else altogether. It’s all about connecting with the kind of audience you want to engage.

These days, to have authority on a topic after all the experience you’ve gained is not something you can title up on your card and expect the world to accept it.
Blogging is more about exerting influence rather than creating an outlet for expression, but it can go hand in hand. Back to finding the right kind of content to gain credibility.

Self-Critiquing helps no one
For someone who considers herself dreaming about her blog at every instance of her life. It could be about Indian street fashion or every time I cry over anything related to dogs. Skills like coding and photography start looming in my head, and then procrastination kicks in. Worse, witnessing the creativity of the people around me. I would prefer to cloak myself with an invisibility coat instead.
Easier isn't it?

Habits to Implant
Reading up on how my favorite bloggers get themselves all pumped up, I found a critical factor common to most of them.
It's all about your daily diary entries:
Wherever you are comfortable to note down your thoughts and observations, is a good way to practice consistency.
-It's all about the people:
Surround yourself with mentors and constant networking with fellow bloggers will give you the right kind of confidence and find support to approach your content.

Research Exercises
Research never gets old. As you can see any aspect of life itself can only be refined through constant research. There are two basic kinds of research that can take place for finding the right content:

Trend Research Forecasting helps you to understand the type of topics the audience is looking for
Competitive Research helps you discover the current status maintained by the influencers of your type

Am sure these exercises will lead you to achieve a renewed sense of ambition and focus on what is important.

Consumer Persona - Zach & Chloe
Imagine the kind of audience you wish to read your blog. For eg: Zach and Chloe are young people who love their indie music, crave for anything non-commercial and says a hello to every single dog they see.

We start creating lists of their Dreams, Desires, Fears and Failures.
Zach dreams of owning a farmhouse in mysore with all the rescued dogs while fears about finding the right tattoo design. Chloe desires for her poetry collection to be published and is afraid of the conventional Indian Marriage pressure that would choke out her essence.

List out a hundred of such keywords into these 4 lists.
That's your creative content drive.

With this in hand, think of what the likes of Zach and Chloe would like to read. It could be a sensational read of what it is like to live away from the tech oriented civilization or a portrait series of rescued dogs of a particular region.

Aftermath
Once the blog is active, look out for reviews within your blog. Listen to what they have to say, picturize their lives as they comment on your blog. Find out their interests and the kind of content they read. Outside your blog, ask for reviews. Better yet, send out a direct personal email and ask them what they thought of your blog.
With the help of comment systems such as Disqus and Google alerts, you can attain clarity in researching for what your audience is looking for.

A pinch of effort for batching and scheduling blogs goes a long way. Consistently delivering your content and the kind of connect to the audience.

Good Luck