Writing can be a headache. This is especially true when you’re constantly challenged to create original content that will wow your readers.

Whether broadcasting newsy updates, useful tips, opinion pieces or business announcements, you are not alone if the pressure to maintain “constant contact” with your target audience has you grappling for ideas that will grab their interest and keep their favor.

Many make the mistake of searching the Internet for inspiration and then simply regurgitating what others have already said. Unless the topic is complex (or highly technical) and your translation in simple terms is valuable, rehashing the same old news or preaching common knowledge is useless to audiences, who will quickly move on.

The following four tips will help you build a loyal following with noteworthy news and messages worth sharing:

1. Talk to everyone—friends, friends of friends, competitors, vendors, clients, colleagues, acquaintances, experts. Have authentic conversations in which you are engaged—offering input, asking questions and listening.  If you’re in need of ideas regarding a particular subject, steer and keep the conversation in that realm. Otherwise, you never know what might originate as an intriguing topic worth exploring.

1. Contemplate your personal life. What have you done, thought or witnessed that you might convey as one human being to another? How might you make your firsthand experiences relevant—without fluff—in a message to your readers? Such exchanges can lead to more personal relationships with casual contacts as well as with those you’ll never meet one-on-one.

1. Assess your business/professional status. If you were updating your business bio or professional resume, what noteworthy elements would you include? From success stories to educational advancements to new business partners to community involvement, what have you not yet shared with your target audience? Consider what an outsider would want to know about your inside story.

1. Keep a concept file. When inspiration strikes, what do you do with the idea? The answer is to write it down, but not in a random place. Use your handiest device–phone, iPad, laptop or tablet—and create a topic file. Add any notes that will spark your memory when the time comes to compose. Also, keep track of your posted blogs and blurbs by date and publication so that your words are always refreshing.

Sure, you can use the Internet for ideas, but enhance your findings with original perspectives, or tackle old news from a brand new angle.

Sallie W. Boyles, a. k. a. Write Lady