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Unique Blog Ideas – Magazines are a bloggers best friend

People ask me all the time where I get my unique blog ideas…..my biggest secret…..Magazines. I only get the ones that fit my niche (even some that don’t can be good if you can flip it to your niche) I use magazines to find content to talk about. Magazines usually come out about two weeks or so before the new month comes in. You can use that as leverage to plan your content calendar with posts and ideas. Here is an example of how I do it…

I use one of my favorite magazines O Magazine and I see what she is talking about for the January Issue…January hasn’t come in yet so I can look through and see what topics stand out. I will take at least 3 of the topics and flip it to my voice. So the three topics I picked out of the January issue was

  • Boldly Going – Five women explore uncharted territory from New Jersey to Japan and discover something remarkable about themselves. I am going to take this topic and flip it to my own experience so my title will be From Charleston to Atlanta….exploring my journey from a small city to a large one. You see how I flipped it to make it my own……you don’t have to steal ideas just make them fit who you are.
  • Crunch Time – Kick-start your morning with Jessica’s Koslow’s signature  granola. This stood out to me because I need to kick start my mornings badly so I am going to do a post on the best smoothies to kicktstart your morning with my very own signature smoothie that I made up. Yes…..be creative and show who you are!
  • Great buys under $100 – I am a foodie so I am going to say great menus in Atlanta for under $50 for a family of 4. The article talks about prints to elevate your 9-5 look but since I am not a fashionista I will do something that pertains to something I love

So you see how I took those articles and made them my own. You can do that too with your own collection of magazines. I use Zinio so that I can have all my magazines in one spot. I read them write down notes on the articles and then I create my content calendar for the month. I know some folks create content calendars for the year……I do them month by month just in case I need to add something extra or I have a sponsored post I need to work in there. I always like to leave room for stuff.

Magazines also come with a editorial calendar…something like what we as bloggers use. You can usually find them on the page at the bottom. If you go to Inc.com and go to their menu then go to advertise you can find their editorial calendar under print or web version. Most sites just look for advertising options and you can find the calendar somewhere on there. This helps you plan out what’s popular for the upcoming months and work your posts to fit what people want to read. If you read content all the time you will never run out of ideas. It’s a mystery to me why people say they have writers block…..do magazines have writers block? No because there is always content out there for you to consume. It’s one of the reasons I can’t be niched with my blog…..I love a lot of things and I can’t have one thing I talk about all the time because then it gets boring and you have to add in other stuff. I like to keep my options and my blog talking points open so that it never gets boring. Some things will resonate with you while others may not but that is the beauty of It’s Really Kita because it’s not about you….It’s about what I love and that is keeping it real and putting a spin on topics to fit my life. Now let’s get to the juicy part because I know you wanna know….So Kita what magazines do you read and consume. I will tell you my favorites

Adweek – I get that weekly. Since I am a social media manager for companies I tend to need to know what’s hot in the marketing world and marketing starts with ads and what makes people buy and read things. It’s a very good magazine that I suggest you get so that you can always stay in the know with the hottest trends

Good Housekeeping – My mom use to read this when I was little so it’s been around for  a while…you would be surprised as to how many great articles I can pull form this to fit my generation and my age. It’s not an old people’s magazine if you look at it with fresh eyes and fit the articles to your age group

Click Magazine – I love photography so of course I would have this one! I must admit it’s my favorite magazine right now because I love getting inspiration from others. Every photographer that I like…I follow…I am obsessed with pretty pictures

Real Simple – This magazine is probably the most like my site. Real, Simple, and I cuss a lot. I get most of my ideas from this magazine and this is the only one I get as a paper copy it’s not on my zinio

Entrepreneur – I talk business a lot as I am a small business owner. This magazine is my go to for business articles. I always look and see what I can do to improve my business as well as help others with theirs

Southern Living – Now this magazine I don’t really get articles out of but I use it to plan out my photos. I am a brandographer so I work with brands…how do I come up with flat lay ideas or ideas on how to showcase brands…..this magazine teaches me a lot about object placements and what looks good to the eye.

Those are just a few that I consume. I set a day aside (usually Sundays) to read through all of them and get ideas. Remember if you say you have writers block…that means you aren’t consuming enough because there are always unique blog ideas…provided you aren’t niched up! What’s your favorite magazine?

People ask me all the time where I get my unique blog ideas. Shhhhh......my biggest secret.....Magazines. I use magazines to find content to talk about.

32 Comments

  • Orlandrea
    January 18, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    That’s a great idea. And it’ll give me a great excuse for some mag subscriptions that I want lol.

    Reply
    • solrazo.com
      May 20, 2020 at 1:51 pm

      That is a good idea! I am collecting magazines also, some are the same with yours like Good Housekeeping and Entrepreneur. Trully there are lots of interesting articles to talk about. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  • Kda
    January 18, 2017 at 10:23 pm

    THANK. YOU. I’m sitting here like how do “y’all ” do it. I’m a. Ew blogger. As I do r want to get caught up in niches either. I love so many things as well. Thanks again Kita!!

    Reply
  • Nellie
    January 20, 2017 at 9:38 am

    This is a great great way to create new content! I LOVE the O Magazine — it has been a high quality mag for as long as I can remember and has never wavered!

    Reply
  • Colleen Lanin
    January 20, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    I love magazines. I find all sorts of inspiration inside them. They are just packed with great ideas for content. AND they’re fun to read.

    Reply
  • mitch
    January 20, 2017 at 11:02 pm

    This is a brilliant blogger tip. I would never have thought to use the inspiration I get from a magazine to guide my blog writing! Thanks!!

    Reply
  • Pam Wattenbarger
    January 20, 2017 at 11:34 pm

    I get a lot of ideas from magazines! They have some articles that are really inspiring, depending on the magazine.

    Reply
  • Meagan
    January 20, 2017 at 11:44 pm

    Magazines have some great ideas for inspiration. I find that there are some with some great sections.

    Reply
  • Meagen Brosius
    January 21, 2017 at 12:27 am

    This is such a great idea! We all hit a wall at some point. What a cool idea for keeping the creative juices flowing.

    Reply
  • Dawn McAlexander
    January 21, 2017 at 1:53 am

    Magazines would be a good source of inspiration. I have never really thought about it. I am going to have to look into this.

    Reply
  • Theresa
    January 21, 2017 at 2:25 am

    I love going to the library and browsing their selection for ideas. Family Fun and Ladies Home Journal are always chock full of ideas for me!

    Reply
  • Toni | Boulder Locavore
    January 21, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    Thanks for sharing your secret, that’s a great idea. I’m trying to come up with new ideas too, this will surely be helpful. 😀

    Reply
  • Rosey
    January 21, 2017 at 12:46 pm

    I’m interested in seeing Click. I love Architectural Digest but it doesn’t fit my voice to use it. I just think THOSE pictures are usually so gorgeous!

    Reply
  • Tess
    January 21, 2017 at 11:47 pm

    I never thought about that. What a good idea!

    Reply
  • Crystal
    January 22, 2017 at 12:02 am

    Those are great resources! I know I’m grateful whenever I find inspiration because some days are harder than others to get going.

    Reply
  • Annemarie LeBlanc
    January 22, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    I love magazines. I only wish I had more time to read them. My mom gives me magazines when she’s done reading through them. I agree that there are great ideas we can get from magazines and get inspiration for a blog post.

    Reply
  • Our Family World
    January 22, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    I agree with this article! enough from the internet, my mom is a magazine fan and she was once told me that i will get a lot of unique ideas and inspiration from magazine than the internet! it’s true!

    Reply
  • Dana Valento
    January 22, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    this is true! ive been doing this for about a year now and magazine is always giving me the right idea for my next blog post!

    Reply
  • Dana Vento
    January 23, 2017 at 2:27 am

    I’m the same. I would even buy old magazines at a surplus and they’ve always given me a lot if inspirational ideas. I’ll gladly check O Magazine!

    Reply
  • Amanda Love
    January 25, 2017 at 7:12 am

    Magazines are perfect indeed! They help you out with almost everything, from getting updated about the trends to getting some ideas for your post!

    Reply
  • Stephanie Gilbert
    July 6, 2017 at 10:37 pm

    Thanks for sharing this tip. Would never have thought of that.

    Reply
  • Amber Myers
    May 19, 2020 at 3:45 pm

    Oh cool, I’ll keep this in mind for sure. I read magazines often. I hate when I don’t know what to write about.

    Reply
  • Tasheena
    May 19, 2020 at 3:59 pm

    Thanks for the tip! It’s such a clever idea.

    Reply
  • GiGi Eats
    May 19, 2020 at 4:18 pm

    YES! Magazines are not obsolete or useless!!! They definitely serve a purpose and getting blog ideas is just one of the many!!

    Reply
  • melissa chapman
    May 19, 2020 at 4:45 pm

    I may be missing the boat because I rarely get ideas from mainstream magazines. This does seem like a good practice and I might look to them for new content

    Reply
  • Bruce DeMustchine
    May 19, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    I miss receiving magazines in my mailbox. I have been inspired by many great recipes from magazines. Thanks for reminding me to check out some recent magazines and see what’s fresh in the cooking world!

    Reply
  • Beth
    May 20, 2020 at 1:08 am

    My sister is a professional photographer and she uses magazines a lot to get ideas for her work. I love the way you flip some of the articles and put your own spin on them. What a great idea!

    Reply
  • Catalina
    May 20, 2020 at 3:57 pm

    Oh yes! I have a lot of magazines. I love them and they help me a lot in my work!

    Reply
  • monica y
    May 20, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    that is a great idea, I need to look at some magazines and find trending topics

    Reply
  • Monica
    May 20, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    That photography magazine sounds cool. I love Simple Living and Magnolia Journal.

    Reply
  • Sarah Bailey
    May 20, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    This is really interesting I have to admit I’ve never thought how magazines could fit in before! I love the idea of one to help with photography.

    Reply
  • Liz
    May 20, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    This is such a great idea! You always need to be reading when you’re a writer.

    Reply

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