Independent Thinking Blog

Finding Fresh Voices

Ever feel like you’re reading the same stuff over and over again?

Writing is easy. Identifying topic “buckets” is easy. Developing fresh content (and resisting the urge to just recycle the social media meme-of-the-day) is harder.

A lot of bloggers end up taking the path of least resistance.

I’ve been culling subscriptions–and, frankly, dropping off a lot of the social media and marketing blogs I used to read as they often seem to be working from a common editorial calendar. In their place, I’ve added more business blogs, plus some new science, legal, culture, and technology blogs.

You need fresh voices and new perspectives to be creative.

If you’re looking for something new to inspire you, spend a little time browsing through 101 signals. Wired’s staff went through and compiled a list of blogs, Twitter feeds, podcasts, and more in the categories of business, consumer trends, culture, technology, design, government, security, and science.

There’s something here for everyone.

Here’s a sample of what’s new on my reading list:

Ben’s Blog–An article on why cash flow is king in which Ben Horowitz answers the question: why stop spending money when you don’t have to?

But Not Simpler–A SciFi geek’s dream: a chart of SciFi ships and what they say about the way we imagine space travel.

Deeplinks–A deep dive into Yahoo and Facebook’s first transparency reports and what they reveal about how each company is handling government requests for user information.

Ideas come from everywhere.

I’ve found that inspiration–for my business, for my clients, for my blog, for my community–comes from all over. Maybe it’s experiencing good customer service, or seeing something in the news, or reading a good book. You just have to be in the practice of looking for it.

What’s new on your reading list?

Photo by Cliff1066 (Flickr).

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