How To Search For Killer Topic Ideas

What’s a good topic? What gets your attention, when you’re looking for information or browsing? What puts you off reading? Say you were looking for car insurance quotes – What’s going to make you read the article? If you’re looking for killer topics, you can be sure of one thing: People read what generates the most interest. The topic header is their first glimpse of your idea.

Topic choices basics – Headers

Everybody makes choices based on preferences, all the time. Even where you put your cup of coffee is a choice. These are processes people perform almost unconsciously every waking second. They’re really judgment calls on specific situations.
Topic headers are topic ideas in miniature. They tell people what the idea is. If you want a killer topic, you need a killer header.

For example, which of these topic headers is more interesting?

a. The ocean is blue
b. Celebrity puts face in front of camera
c. $100 Car insurance – Is it possible?

Wasn’t hard, was it? You didn’t need to be told about the ocean. Even if you knew the name of the celebrity, the actual header isn’t exactly news. The car insurance, on the other hand, is potentially useful information. There’s no real contest in terms of which is the better header.

Topic ideas

The same thing applies to the actual topic ideas. If the idea’s not striking, it’s not a killer. If it’s not news, it’s far less interesting. The “news” element also includes perspectives, and different ways of looking at things

These things actually happened:

• Dog saves injured dog on freeway- A dog pulled an injured dog to safety off a busy freeway in Chile.
• Man trades paper clip for house- The guy traded his way up from a paper clip to a house.
• Website owner makes million selling individual pixels as ad space on his site.
These things instantly set off a train of thought. They’re grabbers because they’re real grabbers. You can visualize all sorts of possibilities, and your interest is real.
The point is that it’s the ideas that are interesting. This is how killer topics are created.
Picking your subjects

When you’re looking for a topic, there are some basic rules:

• Avoid clichés- Unusual expressions are more interesting.
• Avoid babble- Less is better, particularly when it says more.
• Avoid going off topic- Use names, be specific about your subject.
• Use humor- That gets more interest and appreciation than anything else.
• Never use stale information- It’s fatal. Old news is just that.
• Remember your readers- If you want readers, stay relevant to their interests to make sure you’ve got strong material to go with your topic.
• Be new- Check other information to make sure your topic really is new.

A killer topic is a “must read”. The topic concept is fascinating, and the reader is genuinely interested. A topic like “The truth about car insurance” will get any motorist interested.

The best topics are the ones where you can create interest and then hit your readers with things they’ve never even considered before.