So you checked out Polldaddy or WP-Polls (or even ilovepolls.com) and it’s all configured and set to go. You want to go live this week. You’re a bit nervous and a bit excited and a lot hopeful all rolled into one. So, what subject do you plan on asking about?
The answer is simple: what interests you? You see, what interests you may in fact interest others. My advice, however, is that you should make it broad enough for others to participate.
For example, if you are a major INDY Series fan and want to ask “which INDY Series tire changer is the best? Many people know about and occasionally watch INDY series races on the television (especially the Indy 500). Most won’t know which a tire changer from a fueler, and most won’t be able to associate drivers. So, you might want to make your question broader: “which INDY Series driver will take it all this year?”
Of course, it’s quite acceptable to narrow it after you have a good number of regular visitors. If so, the first detailed question is very appropriate. My questioning above is for when you are first beginning to blog.
A second very common way of choosing a topic is to browse the headlines of cable news shows and all the major networks. You don’t need to delve into much of the details to get an overalll sense of what is being discussed and reported (or what the media wants you to hear and read).
First, select your overall topic. As I write this, President Obama is in Egypt. The President and Egypt are two great starting points.
Narrow down the possible topics. Is there controversy? Are there are any other players involved (other nations, other leaders, other issues). In my example above, Muslims would be a good general topic under Egypt because that is one of the reasons the President is travelling overseas. What are his goals? Are they achievable?
Finally, formulate a question. In the example, I could ask, “will there ever be peace in the Middle East?” Or “Should the West pressure the Middle East to lower oil prices?” or lastly “Is the President a Muslim?”
Again, you want to create controversy. As they say, controversy sells. Think about it. When people get engaged in a controversy, most sides of the issue comes out.