Content. Stuff. TV stations close down when they run out of content.  Companies close down when they have nothing – no services – to offer. Soap operas close down when there’s not enough viewership and people don’t watch soaps that don’t have content. Get the gist? It’s all about content.

Writers need fresh stories. Musicians need fresh songs, fresh ideas. Film makers need fresh film making equipment. It’s either that or you run into big trouble.

What have you got?

One of the first steps to having content is to have content. Yea, I know that doesn’t make too much sense. But it’s true. You cannot build on what you don’t have. For songs to be developed, you need lyrics first! For a story to become a movie or be turned into DVD version, you need a story first! That’s the idea. You’ve got to have something first. So you are a writer? It doesn’t end there; after you’ve sold your first book, where do you have the ideas for the next? The same goes for bloggers. I know how hard it is to maintain a blog. This is a design blog – it’s not about being a designer, it’s about “where do you get the ideas from?” That’s exactly why I don’t update this blog until I have something reasonable about design to write about. It’s not numbers, peeps – it’s quality.

How to find good content.

So how do you find good content when all around us is saturated with rubbish? Meaningless stuff is everywhere. On the internet we have porn sites, game sites and all sorts of websites that waste our precious time.  Still we have the sites that we visit. BBC. CNN. Twitter. Why? It’s all about good content.

It’s all about your source. You can find content anywhere, but it’s sort of like searching for gold among debris. It’s there, but almost invisible. Lemme give you a few tips though.

1. I’d use myself as an example. How did I come about this topic? I was watching National Geographic Channel on cable and I found out that most of the episodes were being repeated. It got me wondering why they were being repeated. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was because they didn’t have content. So I got a topic for my blog just by watching the National Geographic. Simple.

Content is all around you. You just have to be a little original. So one of the ways of finding content is looking around you – just around the corner.

I was watching a movie can’t remember which though, wait – yes, it’s called “rockers” – and in Wikipedia, I read that they got the idea for the script from a real story. See? It’s all around you.

2. You also get ideas from trying out stuff randomly. I’d give another example from my own personal experience again. Apart from being a web designer,  I also play the guitar – and most guitarists can testify that getting fresh content to play is like wishing for a genie to give us 3 wishes every day – almost impossible. Ish. But one day, I was randomly improvising, and I came across some real stuff – stuff I’d never played before. I felt real good. That’s what I’m talking about.

Try out something. Play with ideas. Roam around in your mind. You never know. You might just hit jackpot.

3. My third example is simple. Where do you get content from? You look for it. It’s kind of like 1 and 2 combined.

You look around you, you play around with something and then you look for it. Don’t try random, don’t try cable. Go find it. Just like you are searching for gold. The thing is that you’ve got to know where to look.

If I’m looking for ideas and content, I check for it in design blogs and galleries; if I’m looking for guitar ideas and singing tips, I look for it on guitar sites. It’s the big idea. If you search well enough, you will find what you’re looking for.

Why are we looking for content?

Why are we looking for content? Why are you reading this post? Is it all about numbers? I think it’s because we all feel a need to be of relevance – to produce something of worth. The thing is to make people remember you.  We remember song lyrics, right? Why? Because they have something – that “it”. They either make us laugh, cry or something – we just can’t explain.

That’s what this is. Content. Just real, undiluted content. So I have an idea.  What were you doing before you came across this post? Go back to it. Look at it all over again. Were you writing a song? Planning a research? Rehearsing? Designing a site? Search again. Does it have content? Stuff?

Do it all over again. Let’s show the world we can come up with good stuff. Even while knee deep in the rubbish that surrounds us. Let’s show them we’ve got “it”. Whatever “it” is.

Kisses.
Zee