Some days it is downright impossible to come up with something useful, valuable, or remotely entertaining to write a blog or Facebook post about. That is why you need to plan ahead. Good ideas constantly come through your office. You just need a system to collect it all.

Here is the system I teach my clients.

1. When that industry journal, business magazine, or newsletter comes in the office (we’re talking US Postal service here), take 15 seconds to eyeball the table of contents and find one article worth reading LATER. Put a sticky note in that page and toss it in a corner chair or box labeled CONTENT IDEAS.
2. When the email newsletters come through your inbox and catch your eye, immediately scan the article and decide in 15 seconds if this is something you can share with your followers. If so, then drag into a side folder in your inbox labeled CONTENT IDEAS.
3. Find some blogs in your industry that have pertinent information you can share with your followers. Set up the RSS to receive them in your reader or your bookmarks, then let them collect until you need some content.
4. Set up a few Google Alerts on your keywords and have the alert emailed to you on a regular basis. Set up a filter for them to automatically go straight to a folder called Google Alerts.
5. When the great idea comes to you in the middle of the day or night, grab an index card out of your office index card box and jot a one line description of the blog post.

When it is time to write some Facebook or blog posts, go to your index cards or the box in the chair and flip to the articles you have saved. Go to your inbox and do the same there. And last, do the same for your RSS feeds and Google Alerts. You should be able to come up with at least several great ideas in a couple of minutes. Some you can read and then add your twist in a blog post, and some you may just want to link to and comment on.

It’s not rocket science, but it works for me. In the comments, share some things that you do. I’d love to hear them!