30 content ideas in 10 minutes

Running out of things to post is usually not a lack of ideas. It’s that the ideas are sitting in your inbox, your phone, and your head, and you never write them down. This guide gives you a quick ten-minute routine to pull out 30 real ideas from your own business, then use AI to sort them, so you always have something to post next.

Before you start

• A timer, and ten minutes where nobody interrupts you.
• Your phone, so you can look through recent messages and photos.
• A note or a sheet of paper for your list.
• An AI chat tool such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini for step 4.

Want to do it yourself?

Difficulty

2 out of 10

Estimated completion time

20–30 minutes

Skills you’ll need: Collect customer questions and real business moments, then sort and edit AI suggestions into useful post ideas.

I’ll do it myselfI’d rather get help

How this helps your brand

Customer questions supply useful material for both social posts and website answers. Relevant content may encourage profile visits and clicks, while a clear destination gives interested people somewhere useful to continue.

1. 1

   Step 1: Mine your messages for questions (3 minutes)

   Scroll through your recent emails, texts, comments, and DMs. Write down every question a customer asked, in their words. Each one is a post: you just answer it.

   Don’t judge them yet. “What time do you close on Sundays?” is a post. So is “Do you do gluten-free?”

   Tip: If someone else answers the phone or the counter, ask them what people ask most. They’ll have a list in seconds.

   Illustrated exampleYour inbox already contains post ideas

   Example bakery · customer message

   JJamie

   “Do you do gluten-free?”

   Copy the question in their words.

   →

   One question = one post ideaAnswer the gluten-free question.

   Explain what you actually offer and what customers should ask before ordering.

   Suggested format: short video

   + “What time do you close on Sundays?” becomes a post sharing your real Sunday hours.

2. 2

   Step 2: Scroll your camera roll for moments (3 minutes)

   Go through your photos and videos from the last month. Write down anything that shows your work, your place, your team, or a happy customer. Each one is a story you can tell in a line or two.

   • A job before and after.
   • Something being made, delivered, or set up.
   • A busy day, a quiet early morning, a mistake you fixed.
   • A new product, tool, or delivery arriving.
3. 3

   Step 3: Fill the gaps with quick prompts (4 minutes)

   For the last few minutes, go down this list and write the first answer that comes to mind for each one. Speed matters more than quality here.

   • The mistake customers make most often.
   • Something people get wrong about your trade.
   • Your favourite thing you sell, and why.
   • A tool, ingredient, or method you swear by.
   • How a typical day or job goes, start to finish.
   • A question you wish more people asked.
   • Something you changed recently, and why.
   • A local event, season, or date coming up that affects your customers.
   • A customer you’re proud of helping (with their permission).
   • Something you’d tell a friend before they buy what you sell.

   Tip: Count your list when the timer goes off. Most people have well over 30. If you have fewer, run the three steps again tomorrow.

4. 4

   Step 4: Let AI sort them and turn them into posts

   Paste your rough list into an AI tool with the prompt at the end of this guide. It groups similar ideas, removes repeats, turns each one into a one-line post idea with a suggested format, and marks the strongest ten to start with.

   Go through what it gives you. Cross out anything that doesn’t feel like you or that you couldn’t actually photograph or film. Keep the rest.

   Tip: AI will sometimes suggest extra ideas it made up. They can be useful, but check each one is true for your business before you use it.

   Illustrated exampleSort real notes, remove repeats, check suggestions

   Your rough notes

   • Do you do gluten-free?
   • Any gluten-free options? Same question
   • Photo: trays coming out of the oven

   3 notes → 2 distinct ideas

   AI-sorted list · a small excerpt★ Star = one of your first ten

   1. ★
      Customer questionsAnswer the gluten-free question.

      Useful because customers already ask.

      Short video
   2. 2
      Behind the scenesShow the trays coming out of the oven.

      A real moment from your camera roll.

      Photo

5. 5

   Step 5: Save the list where you’ll see it

   Put the finished list somewhere you open every day, such as a note on your phone or a sheet on your wall. When it’s time to post, pick the next idea instead of staring at a blank screen.

   Whenever a customer asks a new question or something interesting happens, add it to the list straight away. Your list keeps growing on its own.

   Mark ideas that also belong on your website: recurring price, area, timing, or process questions can become FAQ answers or clearer service-page sections. A useful post can invite people to explore your profile and a matching page; that page should answer the next question and offer a working contact route. Use the page-writing guide to develop selected ideas rather than leaving them only in the social-content list.

   Tip: Ready to plan them out? The guide “Plan a month of posts in one sitting” turns a list like this into a calendar.

I run [what your business does] for [who your customers are]. I post on [platform].

Here is a rough list of ideas I wrote down in ten minutes: customer questions, moments from my photos, and quick thoughts about my work:
[paste your list]

Please:
1. Remove repeats and group the ideas into four or five themes, such as tips, behind the scenes, customer questions, and news.
2. Turn each idea into a one-line post idea, and suggest a format for each: photo, short video, swipe-through post, or text.
3. Mark the ten strongest ideas to post first, and say in a few words why each one is likely to interest my customers.
4. If I have fewer than 30 ideas, suggest a few more based only on what’s in my list, and label them as suggestions so I can check they’re true for my business.

Write in plain, friendly English. Don’t invent facts, prices, offers, or customer stories, and don’t make claims about how the [platform] algorithm works.