You’re short of time. You can’t spend all day checking for relevant breaking news. So how do you keep your eye open for blog inspiration and still get your work done?
Google alerts saves time and faff
With Google Alerts you’re notified by email whenever there’s breaking news about the subjects you set up. Which means you spend less time on research, more on creating blog posts your visitors love to read.
Don’t just repeat breaking news. Put your own slant on it by writing an opinion piece, commenting, telling a story that illustrates its veracity (or otherwise), take a local angle on national news or tie the story in with your products and services.
You don’t have to make a meal of it. Variety makes great blogs. Snippets are just as valuable to readers as longer thought pieces.
If a piece of news isn’t particularly exciting, let it lie. There’s nothing worse than non-news so cherry pick the best bits.
Intersperse breaking news with other stuff
Here are just a few of the angles you can take when blogging about breaking news from Google Alerts.
- Reviews of useful things/places
- Interviews with interesting people
- Info about new products and services
- Research and findings
- Predictions about your market, sector and industry
- Appeals for feedback and information
- Special offers
- Longer, in-depth, detailed posts
- Images and links to cool places
- The science bit
- Storytelling, giving your business an attractive, approachable human ‘face’
- Customer feedback and testimonials
- Knotty issues
Here’s a link to Google Alerts (UK only)
Here’s a link to Google Alerts internationalÂ
