Content Brainstorming Tools for 2013

Here are a few brainstorming techniques to try out for your next group session: …but first a few ground rules as a good reminder: Encourage Free-Thinking, No Boundaries No Criticizing or Dismissing Keep the Process Moving Let Ideas You Don’t Understand Go

socialmediatoday.com http://socialmediatoday.com/cliquekaila/1112781/content-brainstorming-tools-2013? utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+(all+posts) Content Brainstorming Tools for 2013 When it comes to content marketers, there is one question that always piques our interest – Where do others get their ideas? And with more brands creating content th an ever before, it can be challeng ing to continually keep ahead of trends, churn out fresh concepts and repurpose ideas – let alone do so across multiple platforms. To inspire the creation process, I’ve highlig hted a few resources to h elp g uide your brainstorming and idea gen eration efforts for 2013. Whether it’s a long -form blog post, a resource article, an infog raphic or video, a g ood brainstorming process sh ould be your jumping off point to fuel ideas. Not on ly is it helpful in uncovering new topics or trends, but also in tapping into the perspective of others and steering creative direction. Here are a few brainstorming tech niques to try out for your next g roup session: …but first a few g round rules as a good reminder: Encourage Free-Th inking, No Boundaries No Criticizing or Dismissing Keep the Process Moving Let Ideas You Don’t Understand Go Mapping A simple, g raphic form of listing ideas by jotting down thoughts on a larg e writing area and making connections by associating ideas with color-coded circles or lines, indicating other relationsh ips by linking . 1. Write down an idea or topic in the middle of your space. 2. Start adding words, in no particular order, that relate to the main idea. 3. Once you’ve exhausted ideas, ask who, what, when, where and why to prompt new though ts. 4. After the space is filled, look for any patterns among words. 5. Group thoug h ts that are related or repeated by color. Source: http://www.examtime.c o m/6-tips -o n-ho w-to-create-an-online-mind-map-with Source: http://www.andyeklund.c om/c reatives treak/2009/11/brain-writing.html 6. Use th e grouping s to provide areas of focus for your concepts. Brain Writing An alternative method to brainstorming that tries to encourage uniform participation with in a group is brain writing. Like brainstorming , it is designed to generate lots and lots of ideas in a sh ort amount of time and typically follows a 6-3-5 method: 6 in group/3 ideas per round/5 minutes per round. 1. Give everyone a brain writing sheet. 2. Hand out sheets with space for a topic or keyword at the top of the page and space wh ere ideas can be written. 3. It can be a different topic for each person or the same for everyone. 4. Write ideas. 5. Pass the sheet to the next person, wh o adds more ideas, using the existing ideas to build off wh ere possible. 6. Keep going until your done. Trigger Method Th is method involves brainstorming as many ideas as possible, then selecting the best ones as “trigg ers” to expand on. Th is is also referred to as the “Idea Purg e Ph ase.” 1. State the objective or topic. 2. Have th e group write many ideas rapidly on a sh eet of paper. 3. Take a two minute break. 4. Continue the Source: http://www.no bo euro pe.c o m/BlogEN/? tag=/Brainstorming-tips Source: http://afirekindled.co m/ 4. Continue the exercise for an another minute. In some cases, tradition al brainstormin g methods may best suit your team environment and goals. For those who prefer virtual collaboration, there are a variety of online brainstorming tools available th at can h elp you move past a topic or idea that seems stuck. Online Mind Mapping Tools Bubbl.us h elps to org anize thoughts or jumbled information through the use of text bubbles – making it easier to sort ideas and start planning. Mindjet is a g reat way to expand your ideas in a graph ical way and lead your imag ination in new directions. You can download the software for free with a 30-day trial offer. Th e application will walk you throug h the process of creating a sample mind map and familiarize you with the various features. Word Storm visualizes the association between words by creating a map of closely related words. Start with a keyword to use as a jumping off poin t for this word association tool. You can also tailor the search to be narrow or broad by selecting the number of words returned. Scroll over each word for various definitions. And if you still find yourself at a dead end…Just Google it! As one of my colleagues likes to say, “it’s worth a Goog in .” Type in a keyword and let Goog le’s automatic search do the work by filling in sug gestions based on relevant topics. I hope the creative tools and resources in this article will help you to start 2013 with a focused mindset. How does brainstorming work with your team? Please let me know in the comments below. . your brainstorming and idea gen eration efforts for 2013. Whether it’s a long -form blog post, a resource article, an infog raphic or video, a g ood brainstorming. socialmediatoday. com http:/ /socialmediatoday. com/cliquekaila/1112781/content -brainstorming- tools- 2013? utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+(all+posts) Content