Content Magic: How to Generate 200 Article Outlines in 30 Minutes

In this step-by-step video tutorial, I'll show you how to become a faster writer and create 200 in-depth article outlines in less than 30 minutes.

Writing an article is like going to the gym. Without a plan of action you will likely get intimidated, give up, and try it again next year.

I've often found without a clear direction it can be very difficult to break through the creative roadblocks required to develop great articles. As a result, millions of inspiring people (like you) are not sharing their full creative potential with the world. That sucks.

In my time as a content creator I have found that outlining the article is half the creative battle (the other half is shutting off Slack). So I decided to create a system for quickly developing article outlines.

Over time these outlines evolved from simple documents to automated systems that would have saved me hundreds of hours early on in my career. And today I'm excited to share this system with you.

In this video tutorial and article I will show you how to outline 200 articles in less than 30 minutes. Using this system you will create more content than you ever dreamed possible, and more importantly help and inspire millions of people around the world. If I can do it I know you can too.

Video Tutorial: Create 200 Article Outlines in 30 Minutes

Here is the video tutorial on how to create 200 article outlines in only 30 minutes. I apologize for the corny jokes in advance.

Download the Article Template Files

Click the link below to download a free project with the article outline templates so you can follow along with the tutorial! You must be a logged-in Curious Refuge subscriber to download the file. If you don’t have a Curious Refuge account you can create one by clicking the ‘Join’ button at the top of the page, or click here to create an account.

What Makes a Good Article?

A good article gives value to the reader. It's as simple as that. But what does value mean? Great question Greg. In my experience, a great article will do the following:

• Help the Audience

• Inspire the Audience

• Empathize with the Audience

Value is entirely determined by your reader. If they don't think your article gives value to their life they will not read it. And, shocking fact alert, 80% of readers only skim the headlines and look at the images!

People don't waste their time reading boring or average stuff anymore. That's why it is always crucially important to ask yourself a series of questions at the beginning of article writing:

• Why would someone want to read this content?

• What are the pain-points that lead to finding this article?

• How will they find this content?

• How will this article help the audience?

• How will this article inspire the audience?

• How will this article connect the audience to something larger?

• What would they expect to see in this article?

• What unexpected thing will make the article stand out?

Empathize with your audience. Put yourself in their shoes before you begin research. You will never be more like your audience or reader than when you sit down to outline your article. The more like your audience you become, the better your final content will be.

But practically there are a few things that we can do both for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and BHO (Busy Human Optimization) to make sure good articles are seen and read. That is where this article comes into play.

Also I just made BHO up, but go with it.

Am I going to read this article for 4 seconds or 9 seconds?…. Let me skim the images to find out.

After writing 700+ articles and owning a majority share of traffic in highly competitive industries I have come to learn that there are a few things that every article should have if it is going to succeed.

• Media (Images, Video, Charts, GIFs, etc.)

• Simple Language

• Definitions and Guides

• Great SEO Optimization

• Emotion

• A Call to Action

So when we begin generating our articles using this system, you should know that all of the factors above can't be auto-generated. This is simply a tool for you to use to begin writing your article. Think of it as an outline tool.

How to Generate 200 Article Outlines in 30 Minutes

So with all of that boring context stuff out of the way, let's talk about the real reason why you came here. To create a ton of articles! This is a great system for crafting article outlines very quickly. I've found that an article outline is usually the most challenging part of the writing process. Not anymore.

Step 1: Upload Article Template Documents to Google Drive

Upload the article outline templates to your Google Drive account. Drive accounts are free, but you will need a gmail account if you don't have one. Be sure to convert all of your files to ‘Google’ files by selecting File > Save as Google Sheets / Docs.

Step 2: Find Article Topics

The first step is to simply find your article topics. How do you get article topics? Here are a few of my favorite sources.

1. Everyday Problems - If your blog demographic is similar to you, you can generate blog topics when everyday problems come up. For example, if you write for a Volleyball blog keep notes on any problems or questions you have the next time you play Volleyball. What challenges did you face? Were their any techniques you are trying to learn? What inspiration sources would be appealing to you? I keep a simple list on my phone using the reminders app called 'Article Ideas'.

2. 101 Basics - If you have enough insight to be blogging on a subject then chances are you know a thing or two about the subject. Simply put, there will always be more people trying to learn a subject than people who are masters of the subject. For example, even if you don't consider yourself to be the best chef in the world, if you know how to cook an egg you can share your knowledge with the world. Somebody will be interestested.

3. Innovations - Are you knowledgeable in your industry? What fun innovations have you discovered that might be helpful to other people? Did you figure out how to do something 100% faster, cheaper, or better? These types of content pieces have the power to go viral and spread like wildfire. People love new techniques and tools. This article is an example of such a content piece.

4. Inspiration - Who does your audience aspire to be? Get very specific. If you run a painting blog is there a specific style that is trending? How can you make your blog post the world's best currated gallery on the topic? If we take the painting example we could say, '15 Modern Impressionists You Should Know'. I don't even know what Impressionist painting is, but I would totally click that.

5. 'The Adjective' Ideas - The Best, The Fastest, The Cheapest, The Coolest. These are great ways to get your mind flowing. If we ran a fitness blog we could begin to use these examples in a row. For example, 'The Best Way to Strengthen Your Calves', 'The Fastest Way to Lose 15 Pounds', 'The Cheapest Vegan Protien Supplements' or ' The Coolest Travel Destinations for Fitness Junkies'. We can do this all day...

6. Audience Surveys - What questions does your audience have? A simple survey sent out via email, or even a social media post asking for article requests is a great place to start. Collect the ideas on a regular basis and determine if they might be a good fit. This also builds fantastic goodwill with your community.

7. Answer the Public - What keywords does your industry have? For example, if you run a mountain climbing blog it might be 'climbing' or 'bouldering'. Using Answer the Public (a free online tool) you can type in a keyword and see real-world search terms organized by questions, prepositions, and alphabetical order. I don't know of a more powerful article topic tool.

Prep your fingers… we’ve got a lot of articles to write.

As a content creator article idea generation should be connected to your everyday life. My best article ideas come from hikes, caffine-filled chats with friends, and random moments of inspiration. That is why it is so important for me to constantly write down ideas.

On second thought gimme a triple shot of idea juice.

You should also note that 'clickable' titles often do better when they are first released, but 'SEO' content ideas typically will do better over time. I recommend the following content strategy:

• 60% Editorial (Fun, Exciting, Shareable)

• 30% SEO (Created to Answer Search Queries)

• 5% Lead Magnets (Freebies)

• 5% Product Related (Reviews, Testimonials, Landing Pages)

Step 3: Organize Your Ideas

Organize your ideas into the spreadsheet that can be downloaded by clicking the link at the top of the page. The spreadsheet is broken up into 5 sections:

1. How To

2. Inspiration

3. Topic-Based

Simply copy and paste your article ideas into the appropriate cel. You should also figure out a keyword for each article. For example if your article idea is 'DIY: How to Fix an iPhone Screen' the keywords would be 'Fix an iPhone Screen'.

Step 4: Run Document Studio for Each Sheet

Using a free tool called Document Studio you can automatically generate documents using the title and keyword information. Document Studio limits your file creation to 50 pieces a day for free which is awesome, but the unlimited paid plan is only $29 a year so I definitely recommend getting a subscription if you are serious about content creation. All of your new article outlines will be spit out in Google Drive and they will be ready for the next step.

Step 5: Review/Write/Edit Each Article

Now it's time to give each article the attention it needs. Go lock yourself in a closet and answer the questions at the top of the article. This should be done BEFORE you begin editing or writing, it's important to create a clear plan of attack before you get too far in the weeds.

Once you have your value-propositions defined, you can now move on to edit the headings, add keywords and synonyms, move the outline around, and fill in the content. This system is guaranteed to save you time. Just to put it in context, this entire article that you are reading right now took me 2 hours to write (not including images or video).

Learn More About Writing Great Articles

Want to learn more about creating killer article content? Here are a few of my favorite resources:

• Everybody Writes by Ann Handley - This book rocked my world when I read it as a new content writer. The Utility x Empathy x Inspiration = Good Content formula has been the guiding principle of my writing career.

• MOZ Blog - For SEO training and tips I recommend the MOZ blog. A lot of their content is geared towards professional 'SEOs', but this is a great place to start if you are trying to get your feet wet.

• Content Marketing Institute - A neat site full of great copywriting tools and techniques.

If you know of any great writing resources please feel free to send them over. We're always happy to share out a great resource with the community.

Want to Build Your Own Audience?

Have you ever dreamed of launching a business based on your hobbies or interests? As we already discovered in this article, empathy is at the heart of any engaged community, so if you have a hobby you have the ability to create a powerful business that can change your community forever.

I've actually created an online adventure game that teaches you how to do just that. It's called the Curious Millionaire and unlike online courses, it focuses on having fun through adventures and activities. By the end of the program you will launch a profitable business. If this sounds fun go check it out.

• 80 On-Demand Videos

• 79 Interactive Stories

• 10 Custom Tools

• 24 Unlockable Treasures

• Private Group Access

Peabody Please.

Now that you have the ability to crank out articles at break-neck speed my only question is what are you going to do with all of your writing awards?

The best blogging happens with typewriters…. and white hats.