Google Alerts are for more than just recieving an email every time someone talks about you online. They can be used to find great blog or article ideas when you have writer’s block. Just think of some keywords that concern what you need to be writing about and go to http://www.google.com/alerts to start setting up Alerts.

Select the first option that you will be presented with. Click on it and a screen where you are free to punch in applicable search times, the type of term for which you are searching (news is best because it shows the most relevant articles), how often you wish to receive the alerts, email length and your email address. After that, you need only to receive the alerts.

If, for example you write a blog about Reiki, you would want to include alerts on keywords like Reiki, spirit, “new age” healing, and modality. You do not want to be so broad as to have two hundred items hit you on a daily basis, but you do not want to be so limited that there is nothing to send you on a daily basis either. (Hint: you can also set it so alerts are only set once a week.)

When you see an article that piques your interest, you can rewrite it from your own perspective or maybe, there is a single idea in one of the articles that sticks out to you. Try brainstorming and see where that leads you. Don’t analyze at this point. Just let your mind flow. When you are done, pick out the workable ideas to use as your own. Maybe a photograph from one of the items inspires you? Give credit as to ownership and go from there.

It is best to receive the alerts on a daily or weekly basis, for the sake of organization if nothing else. At either rate, you will receive quite the list. It is also advised that you peruse every listed item as the list doesn’t contain every word in the item or article. Sometimes, you can get a better feel for the substance of a listed item if you actually go and read the article in its entirety.