The key to a successful blog is not just quality content, but regularly updated quality content. For professional bloggers that’s no problem, but if you’re just starting out, the thought of what you’re going to publish can be daunting.

Many blogs die a quick death simply because their owners run out of things to say. Here we take a look at ten sources for content creation. Use these and you’ll be able to produce varied, quality content every day of the week. With so many ideas being put before you, you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about!

10 Sources For Content Creation Ideas

Lost for what to write about, try these:

1. Google Reader. If you haven’t already signed up for an account, do so. Hit the subscribe button, type in a topic and click add. It’ll return a number of RSS feeds giving you plenty of ideas for content.
2. Google Alerts. Similar to Reader, this delivers current content on the subjects you search for. You can create a feed or have the results delivered to your email account. Each alert delivers content on one subject from various sources whereas Reader returns the output from an individual feed, although you can obviously subscribe to numerous feeds.
3. Twitter. Head over to Twitter and type in a subject you’re interested in into the search field. Scan through the retrieved results. Chances are you’ll find lots of different angles on the subject. These could spark new ideas for your content or you could base a post of a collection of them.
4. Yahoo! Answers & Forums. These are good places to find what people are struggling with. If a query keeps popping up, do a bit of research and answer it in a blog post.
5. Analytics. A look through your analytics data can reveal all sorts of opportunities for blog posts. For example, the search terms people use to find your site may show that certain topics are very popular. You may want to create more content relating to this subject.
6. Your Story. People are interested in reading case studies as they add a practical dimension to the subject matter. You might be able to write a blog about how Twitter increased your readership, or you’re results from some split testing.
7. Your Readers. We all want our content to be relevant. Conduct a poll and then blog about what your readers want to read about.
8. Social Bookmarking. Visit social bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us and Technorati. Here you’ll find a wealth of ideas for content for your site.
9. Affiliate Networks. Take a look at affiliate networks such as Commission Junction, Share-a-Sale and Clickbank. Look at the best sellers or new products and write a review.
10. Industry News & Trends. There’s always something in the news and trends are always changing. Find out what’s happening in your market and comment on it. Take a controversial stand on it and see what others have to say. You may even get ideas for future posts!

So there you have it. Ten sources for content creation ideas. Here’s to a successful blog!

Over To You: I’m sure there are far more sources of inspiration for content creation. What are yours?