10 Kickass Blog Ideas

In the past 10 years or so, blogging has come a long, long way. From being a little known word, to becoming the hottest buzzword out there, what started off as a platform for keeping an online account of the happenings and events in one’s life (aka. personal blogging) has now expanded to corporations using blogs to connect with their clientele, individuals and companies using blogs to market and sell, people running businesses, as well as blogs which provide assistance, aid, advice and breaking news from all over the world, to name just a few!

Yes indeed, blogging has evolved and taken off big time in the last decade or so. And now, the possibilities are endless! All you need is your laptop, a little bit of commitment, passion and desire!

As for blogging ideas, there is a ton of stuff that you can do. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Personal Blog – Yup, the good old ‘traditional’ form of blogging. A personal blog is like your online journal or a diary, published and maintained on the internet for everyone to see and read. You can use it to simply detail stuff happening in your life, or post pictures and videos of your travels, post reviews about your favorite TV shows, movies or sporting events, share ideas or dreams, post celebrity news, and do a lot more!

2. A Business/Corporate Blog – The thing about blogging is that it is extremely simple, easy and straightforward - thanks to publishing platforms like Wordpress and Blogger. Other web-publishing platforms might be difficult for most to use or come to grips with, making it difficult to maintain websites on these. However platforms such as Wordpress have made it easy to run full-blown corporate websites, and this is why a lot of corporations have started doing precisely this. Just about anyone with even the most basic knowledge can now build and maintain professional-looking business websites, thanks to Wordpress!

3. Question-and-Answer/Advice Website – Quite a few bloggers and websites want their readers to be able to ask question and get advice and asnwers, in a way which is similar to Yahoo Answers and Quora. This is pretty doable on Wordpress, especially if you pair your blog with a theme such as the AskIt from Elegant Themes. Once done, you can start posting advice, tips and tricks, DIYs, manuals, take questions and provide all sort of help to your readers. Remember to use this blog with your corporate website or spread the word if you don’t have another website – you need to get the word out so you can start taking reader questions or interact with people. It also helps if you’re already an authority blogger in your niche and have a strong group of followers.

4. A Classifieds Ad Blog – Using Wordpress and the plugin ‘Another Wordpress Classifieds Plugin’, you can easily create a blog that rivals Craigslist, or you could simply choose to complete with local classified advertisement websites. There are tons of ecommerce plugins out there, which not only let you run your very own buying-and-selling business easily, but manage each and every aspect of it – from orders, to payments, to shipping and delivery, to after-sales support! A lot of corporate and home-based businesses have set up online stores in order to sell their wares. If you plan on doing so, it would be a good idea to check out the WooCommerce plugin for Wordpress.

5. Online News Website (Newspaper or Magazine) – Oh yes, extremely easy and simple to set up your very own online news website, such as an online publication in the form of a newspaper or a e-magazine, or just about any other news website like a sports news website, celebrity news, etc. If you’re into journalism or the media, having such a website might be a good addition to your resume and get you a ton of exposure (not to mention , potential job offers). However before you do so, it is important to set up your blog, especially in terms of the look. I recommend going for Wordpress, and once again, pairing your blog with a mag-style theme for Elegant Themes, or Theme Junkie – both of which have a nice collection of news-styled themes.

6. Affiliate Marketing Business – Affiliate marketing is another popular form of blogging. To put it simply, affiliate marketing requires people (affiliates) to market and sell a merchant’s products. It does not involve any direct selling, all the affiliate has to do is market the products and/or services on the merchant’s behalf, and in return the affiliate gets a cut of each sale made as a result of the affiliate’s marketing efforts. It’s an extremely effective form of earning online, and one that is extremely straightforward since the affiliate is not responsible for actually making the sale or anything else involved in the process of selling (such as shipping), apart from the marketing.

7. Review Website – This could also be used in conjunction with your affiliate marketing efforts. Starting a review site could see you review products and services from different manufacturers and vendors. Often times, many businesses which sell stuff are looking for people to test their stuff out for them, to check and see how their products perform under real-life usage and real-world conditions. This ‘beta testing’ is often done before the product ever sees the light of day. You could become a beta tester for a game studio such as Activision or Electronic Arts, or a software manufacturer such as Microsoft. Not only doing such reviews gives you access to some cool gadgets and products way before anyone else, your reviews can also help you establish yourself as an authority in your niche. You might even have some gadgets and hardware sent right to you, for free!

8. Online Resume/Portfolio – On Wordpress, themes such as the ‘MyResume’ theme from Elegant Themes allow you to create an attractive-looking, single-page online resume. These online resumes are usually one-page websites, however you can add additional pages to create a brilliant-looking online portfolio for yourself and your work – particularly useful if you’re a freelance web designer, photographer or a journalist. Or even if you are simply looking for a place on the internet to showcase your work!

9. Property Listing Website – This is another great business idea. A lot of property dealers and real estate agents are getting onboard blogs and social media in order to reach out to potential customers and clientele. A well-designed website on Wordpress (using a theme like the real estate WP theme by Domestica) would enable you to get your listing under one roof, including locations  of the properties very easily (and of course, the ability to woo your clients by posting images of the property!). This is sure to leave a lasting impression on your customers. For inspiration, be sure to check out the HollywoodHillsHomes.com website.

10. Bookings and Reservation Website – And finally, if you’re the owner of a hotel, restaurant, B&B, spa, or even an airline, you could set up a blog and have a fully-functional booking-and-reservations system in place for the easy and convenience of your customers. Most internet-based booking systems are expensive to set up, and probably unfeasible for a lot of small and medium businesses. However with Wordpress, all it takes is purchasing a good theme and a booking-system plugin (both one-time expenses), and you’ll have your fully-functional booking and reservation system live in no time! Check out the awesome Hotel Booking theme for Templatic, and use it in conjunction with a plugin like the WP-Reservation plugin.