For me, the best way to become more productive at creating content is to get good ideas faster.

For most of us it's much more likely that we get stuck staring at a blank screen than it is for us to get a great idea but get bogged down halfway through writing it.

That's why when I run writing challenges for clients and supply the topics they almost always coast through it and get their writing done pronto.

But ask someone to come up with an idea and write about it on the spot and they go all deer-in-headlights.

The problem is usually that when we try to come up with ideas for content we reach inside. And that's been exacerbated in recent years by this pernicious idea that the only good content is some kind of hero's journey story that sees you overcoming your fears, slaying demons and triumphing against all obstacles.

My experience is a bit different.

Yes, some of my best content has been stories from my past. But the majority of it has come from graft. From research. From looking outwards not inwards.

I've written a lot and very successfully about how to get atttention. That didn't come from my own rags-to-riches experience. It came from me reading everything I could get my hands on about the art and science of getting attention. And then trying out some of those ideas in the real world.

The same goes with value-based marketing, building authority, nurturing relationships.

All based on researching a topic. Reading around the edges. Keeping my eyes open for interesting examples. Weaving in my own experiences. Experimenting and trying things out.

Our own experiences makes us unique. But they're the spice that makes things interesting, not necessarily the meat and two veg.

I don't have a rags-to-riches story to tell. My life story won't reduce you to tears or have you whipping out your credit card when I whisper the line “if I can do it, so can you”.

But I do have lots of valuable and interesting content – because I've looked outwards, not just inside for ideas.

And that's definitely something you can do too.