How to generate 112 new content ideas in 30 minutes

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Dear Writer,

By the end of this post, you will solve these 3 problems:

1. You’re not sure what topics to write about
2. You’re not sure how to find the topics you’re credible enough to write about
3. You’re not sure how to come up with engaging ideas about those topics

To get you there, we’re going to use The Endless Idea Generator framework.

It has 4 steps:

1. Use the 2-Year Test to find your topic ideas
2. Add specificity to your topics to match your credibility
3. Use the 4A Framework + proven approaches to generate ideas
4. Choose 3 ideas to write about over the next 3 days, then get going

BUT — 1 quick rule before we dive in.

During this exercise, do not let yourself start judging the quality of your ideas. The goal here is to generate a ton of raw materials, knowing you won’t write about 90% of them. And after this exercise, you will emerge with crystal clear clarity for the next few days of writing, which is all you need to get started.

Let’s go!

Step 1: The 2-Year Test

In Ship 30 for 30, the 3 biggest problems writers have are the following:

• “I don’t know what to write about.”
• “I have an idea of what to write about, but I don’t know how to organize it.
• “I have too many ideas to write about, and I’m not sure how to narrow it down.”

These 3 problems are the root reason why so many people WANT to start writing online, but aren’t quite sure how (or where to start).

Which is why, right out the gate, one of the big frameworks we share with writers is “The 2-Year Test.”

Here’s how it works:

Finding the general topics you want to write about starts with asking yourself 1 simple question:

“What are all of the problems I’ve solved and topics I’ve learned about over the last 2 years?”

Why 2 years?

Good question.

Every beginner writer makes the mistake of thinking they have to be an “expert” to write about something. They think they need to be Tony Robbins, or Oprah, in order to get people to listen and pay attention to what they have to say.

But this is wrong.

The truth is, people don’t want to learn from experts. They prefer to learn from those just a few steps ahead of them on the same path. And once you realize this, it’s a huge creative unlock.

So, answer the question and brain dump every problem you’ve solved and topic you’ve learned in the last 2 years.

Get them all out there with no judgment.

With all of this raw material out there, you then want to consolidate them into a handful of big buckets.

For example:

• Digital writing
• Journaling
• Balancing side projects with a full-time job
• Running, building, and selling a digital course and community
• Journey of losing weight
• Beginner audience building
• Digital leverage
• General growth frameworks
• Managing your personal finances in your 20s
• Designing a life operating system (habits/frameworks/routines)
• Etc.

By the end, you’ll realize: “Wow! Turns out, I have a lot to write about!” That’s right—you do. Everyone does.

The 2-Year Test reveals all.

From here, your goal is to narrow it down to just 3 buckets.

And to do that, scan through that list of topics.

Which of them jumped right off the page when you wrote them down?

Lean into those topics and latch on — that’s your sweet spot to write about.

Now, onto the next step.

Step 2: Adding specificity

The next big idea we present to people (all this in just the first session!) of Ship 30 for 30 is the power of adding specificity.

You see, the secret to building yourself as a writer isn’t to pretend you’re some big, fancy, “guru” expert. This is why so many people have Imposter Syndrome. Imposter Syndrome, at its root, is the decision to try to be someone you aren’t—which is really just another way of saying, “I’m going to try to talk about things I am not equipped to talk about.”

LUCKILY, there’s an easy solution.

Here’s how to make Imposter Syndrome instantly go away:

Simply tweak whatever topic you want to write about by adding specificity to match your level of credibility.

Remember the 2-year Test: these are all of the problems you’ve solved in the last 2 years. Now, you’re going to take your topics and add a level of specificity that makes the audience you’re writing to the same person you were 2 years ago before you solved the problem.

Pause for a second and stare at that, it’s important.

You are adding a level of specificity to your topic that makes your target audience the person you were 2 years ago.

An example will help drive this home — here’s 3 overarching topics, made more specific:

1. How to build a writing habit for complete beginner writers
2. Journaling for ambitious entrepreneurs who aren’t yet journaling but know they should be
3. General golden nuggets of wisdom for ambitious 20-somethings who are interested in personal growth

Can you see how you cut out a huge number of people with these additions of specificity?

That’s the point.

This helps you generate ideas specifically to solve the problems of your target audience.

To get specific, here are some levers you can pull:

• By industry (X for healthcare startups)
• By demographic (X for middle-aged women)
• By physical location (X for Chicago)
• By digital platform (X for Twitter)
• By price (X for free)
• By distribution (X but delivery)
• By problem (X but w/o Y)

Dial these up and down until you feel uncomfortably specific, then add one more level.

That’s when you know you’ve gotten specific enough.

Now that you’ve got your topics, here’s where it gets fun.

Step 3: Using the 4A Framework to write headlines

Finally, one of our favorite frameworks from Ship 30 for 30 is the 4A framework.

Your next step is to take your topics and run them through the 4A Framework to generate headlines and ideas to write about.

Here’s the 4A framework in a nutshell…

You can express each of your topics in 4 ways:

• Actionable (here’s how)
• Analytical (here are the numbers)
• Aspirational (yes, you can)
• Anthropological (here’s why)

Actionable

These are actionable, implementable pieces of content.

The reader should gain some new insight or instruction they didn’t have beforehand.

• Tips
• Hacks
• Resources
• Ultimate guides

Take your core idea and help the reader put it into practice.

Analytical

These are breakdowns involving numbers, frameworks, and processes.

Take your core idea and support it with numbers and analysis.

• Industry trends
• Surprising numbers
• Why your idea works

Help the reader unlock a new way of thinking.

Aspirational

These are stories of how you or others put your core idea into practice.

• Lessons
• Mistakes
• Reflections
• Underrated traits
• How to get started

Help the reader understand the benefits they unlock when they see the world through this new lens.

Anthropological

These are things that speak to universal human nature.

• Fears
• Failures
• Struggles
• Why others are wrong
• How you’ve been misled

Create a sense of urgency for the reader to fully embrace your core idea or be forever left behind.

Remember — no judgment during this phase. Get all of your ideas out there, because you want as much raw material as possible for the last step: choosing 3 ideas.

Step 4: Choosing 3 ideas and getting going

You’re now sitting there with a ton of ideas on the page — which means you probably have the problem of potentially too many ideas to write about (which is still better than having nothing to write about).

But many writers will fall into the analysis paralysis trap here.

Here’s how to overcome it.

Pick 3 ideas.

That’s it.

Your next 3 days of content are the 3 ideas that most resonate with you from that list.

And that’s all you’re allowed to take away from these ideas (for now).

Because here’s what’s going to happen: When you start writing about your first idea (that idea that jumped right off the page), it’s going to feel effortless. And in the process of writing, more ideas are going to jump into your head.

When you hit publish on this idea, the market feedback is then going to generate even more ideas (if you’re paying attention to the questions, critiques, engagement, resonance, etc.).

This is the main point of the Endless Idea Generator — to get you started writing about ideas that resonate with you. And once you’re getting them out there consistently, it will be dead obvious what you should write about next. So take your 3 ideas and get going! The rest will take care of itself.

To recap:

Here’s everything you need to do:

1. Do this by hand to break out of your regular environment
2. Start with a massive 2-year test brain dump
3. Grab the 2–3 buckets that resonated most with you
4. Tailor the specificity to match your level of credibility
5. Use the 4A framework to generate ideas
6. Pick 3 ideas, then get going and iterate from there

Once you do this exercise you should have:

• A narrowed list of topics you are confident to write about
• Hundreds of potential ideas
• Clarity for the next 3 days

And if you’d like to implement these concepts hands-on, and join a community to hold yourself accountable, we’d love to have you join the next cohort of Ship 30 for 30.