This was originally a post in my Content Engine membership group where I offer ideas and tips on blog and social media content.
In this post I told them to steal their competitors’ ideas.
Hopefully that made you look, but it’s not what you think (I hope)!
I don’t mean go and steal their blog posts or LinkedIn posts, because, well, that’s a dumb idea. Even if you think no-one has noticed, they will have, and they’ll be making a note to never work with you in the future.
What I mean by this is be inspired by what they have done.
- Go listen to their podcasts
- Watch their videos
- Read their blogs
- Follow them on LinkedIn (discreetly, if you don’t want to be seen to be following them.)
Then, when they post something or write something, make a note of the ideas it brings up in your mind. The questions it makes you ask, the things you think they should have expanded upon, maybe even the counter-arguments you have.
Those are your blog or LinkedIn posts.
I’ll give you an example – I was just listening to Katie Murray’s podcast interview on creating better LinkedIn profiles, and without thinking came up with 5 blog posts she should be writing as a result of that (she’s a member of Content Engine, so I sent them to her, of course).
I also came up with the idea of this post. And I wasn’t even listening to it for work, I was listening to it because I know Katie and wanted to hear what she had to say (it’s good, BTW, go listen to it).
Now, I offer this as a service (RePurpose), so it’s ingrained in my brain to pull out ideas when on a webinar, listening to a podcast, reading an article, etc.
But you can do this too. Everything that generates a conversation could also be the start of a social media post or blog.
Why should you steal your competitors’ ideas?
Because sometimes ideas don’t come easily, and seeing what others in your sphere are doing might be the kick you need.
Plus, not enough of us listen to or read the stuff our competitors are doing with an open mind. And even when we do, we often think “I could have done that better”, then walk away.
Don’t walk away.
If this has helped you or sparked some ideas, I would love it if you could share this blog post on your social media accounts. Be sure to tag me if you do!
