Inspiration and motivation.

[Shawn]

You're your worst enemy.

Too many website publishers become discouraged in trying to think of their own original idea. It doesn't happen overnight. Find and research new topics by watching commercials (particularly late night). If you have a DVR, record a couple of episodes of a television show around 3-4 AM. The lawyers and the payday loan places advertise at that time for obvious reasons (as do other highly lucrative advertisers). Also, look through the classified ads and the yellowpages for content ideas.

When you do think of an idea that hasn't been duplicated thousands of times, most webmasters get discouraged because they're not sure if the site will be a success or not, or they're not sure on where to find content, or they're simply lazy and are afraid of start something new. Just sit down and get started. Period. Stop checking those four webmaster forums every couple of hours -- you're wasting money.

Content is easy. In school, you were told to write an essay about the Civil War -- were you actually there? How much personal experience do you have about fighting those dirty Confederate soldiers? None, of course -- but somehow you were expected to write a dozen pages on the subject. It's the same concept with your niche website. Research what others know about the topic and portray it using your imagination and your words. Learn about the subject you want to write about, become enthralled in it. The REALLY successful sites master the knowledge of their niche.

[deronsizemore]

Good post! I was thinking about this the other day....where to find content, a good topic, etc... Although I have what I would call a few good topics right now which I have not started yet, so maybe I need to get those finished before I start looking for new topics.

[The New Guy]

For me the ideas are easy, getting them up and running is a different ball game.

[chromate]

...or they're simply lazy and are afraid of start something new. Just sit down and get started. Period.

Excellent bit of advice! I spent months and months (almost a year in fact) just trying to think up some great idea without really working on anything new at all. I wasn't actually producing anything, and I was stupidly getting fed up because my income wasn't increasing(!) Idiot!

I started a new site a couple of weeks ago, and I'm already seeing some positive results. There're more on the way and I don't intend to make the same mistake of sitting idle again.

[Shawn]

Glad to see that. And, Chris' advice is really good -- you can simply create the foundation for a site and leave it alone for a few months while you work on something else. It gives it a chance to become established.

[etech-martin]

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
---Scientist Albert Einstein

You should also remember this.

"An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it."
---American advertising guru William Bernbach