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Want to break through creative blocks in your content marketing? Try this simple, easy trick that comes from a fun public speaking trick. Start with the subject or topic of your content marketing, be it a blog post, email newsletter, or social media post. Perhaps you’re going to draft up a message about your latest product or service offering, or publish a blog post for the day. Let’s say you’re marketing a new coffee blend.

Next, pick a number between 1 and 100. Feel free to use something like this query on Wolfram Alpha if you need help being random.

Go to the Flickr Creative Commons Commercial Use pool and look at the top 100 most recent photos. Scroll down and count down until you reach your random number. Let’s say I drew a 35. In this case, I ended up with this image:

Olympic Hopes_256 _610 15_47_19

Using this image as the centerpiece of your message. Figure out how to tie the visual to your marketing message. Perhaps you could talk about how your new blend of coffee makes you more competitive or speeds you up to win a race.

Obviously, if the image is woefully off target or inappropriate for business, try the image next to it on either side, but use this trick to force your brain to be more creative in your content marketing. You’ll be amazed at how a random photo can inspire you to look at your products or services in new and different ways!


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