Putting your article together can be easy...sometimes. On those days when ideas for topics pour into your brain, life is fine and dandy, and you're on a roll. Then there are the times when you sit there scratching your head in front of a blank screen until panic sets in because your publishing deadline is drawing closer.

Well, the situation is not as desperate as it seems. There are many simple ways to come up with content that interests your readers. Here are a few ideas to get you going.

1. Read industry publications to get ideas of what's hot in your industry right now. Take on one of the current topics and give your readers your unique take on it. Spend an afternoon in the bookstore, perusing the magazines in the newsstand section. Or subscribe to lots of email newsletters to see what people are talking about. Then keep an ongoing list of topics in a file so that you have a ready made reference source to draw upon when you need it.

    

2. Answer questions that clients and others constantly ask you. Dedicate an article to answering each question. if you have enough questions, that will keep you going for many articles!

    

3. Borrow an article! There are lots of websites that offer articles you can use freely in your own publications. However, they require you to publish the article in full together with the author's "resource box" - that's the short blurb about the author, usually included at the end of the article. Since you have to publish the author's contact details, make sure that he or she is not in competition. with you. Try these sites for articles:

   http://www.ezinearticles.com
   http://www.ideamarketers.com

   Most email newsletter publishers allow you to reprint their articles also.

    

4. Swap articles with a strategic partner so that you showcase each other's expertise. Or better still, interview each other and publish the interviews.

    

5. Create a top ten list on a subject that you know something about. Listing 10 separate tips is much easier than writing an article that has to flow from beginning to end.

    

6. Survey your list! Ask your readers what they'd most like to hear about. What are their most pressing problems? What's on their minds every day? What would most help them take the next leap forward in their lives or businesses? People love to be asked for their opinions, so this will give you tons of ideas, but be sure to follow through and address those topics.