Some ideas pop into your head when you get new information. Sometimes, you will get new ideas by following the news and spotting trends. With the internet, it’s easier than ever.
The best way to keep up with the news is to read it from a news aggregator. You don’t have to spend an hour every day visiting several news sites. News aggregators take news from several sources and compile it into one page.
News aggregators:
- Google News (news.google.com)
- Flipboard (www.flipboard.com)
- Digg (www.digg.com)
- Popurls (www.popurls.com)
- World News Network (www.wn.com)
- Feedly (www.feedly.com)
- Pocket (www.getpocket.com)
Your niche likely has its own dedicated news sites. If you’re having a tough time coming up with blog post ideas, try writing about the latest article you read.
Finding trends by reading news requires you to be good at recognizing patterns. You also need to make a habit of scanning through dozens of news articles each day. There is a shortcut. Most social media sites and search engines can spot trends for you. There are also websites dedicated to spotting and reporting trends.
Trend sites:
- Google Trends (trends.google.com)
- Bing Trends (www.bing.com/trends)
- Reddit Metrics (www.redditmetrics.com)
- Trendsmap (www.trendsmap.com)
- Trend Watching (www.trendwatching.com)
- Trend Hunter (www.trendhunter.com)
- Springwise (www.springwise.com)
Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter also show trending topics on their sidebars.
If you have the time and patience, you can also collect your own trends data. Gather data by doing keyword searches, analyzing discussion forums, or surveying your readers. By collecting data, you will soon see patterns and trends that others may have missed. Putting in the extra work may enable you to identify unique topics and report on them before anyone else.
Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links.
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