Blogging can be a tireless grind.

Something writers have always struggled with is finding interesting topics. People demand interesting stories and how-to articles. Audiences crave entertainment, education and enlightenment. It’s the job of writers to provide such prose and it can be a struggle at times.

For some, it’s necessary to chase the latest trends. A business in the fashion industry for example might need to provide relevant information on the latest trends. The same could be true in a slightly different sense for financial advisors or even a movie reviewer.

Trends are big in the blogging world.

An interesting article in the New York Times recently shed some light on how one can chase trends.

How to Chase Trends for Blogging Topics

A new advertising firm is taking trends head on as a way to drive advertising strategy for their clients. I think this quote captures the essence of the strategy.

From Spotting the Trends, Before They Break Out:

The formation of Sparks and Honey reflects the forces that are remaking the advertising industry as the relationship between consumers and marketers evolves from a monologue to a conversation. Digital and social media like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube are making it easier to monitor what consumers like and dislike as well as to spot actors, songs, fashions, movies, TV shows and cultural ideas on the cusp of breakout popularity.The goal is “a timely dialog,” said Lynne Greene, global president for the Clinique, Origins and Ojon brands at the Estée Lauder Companies in New York, because “in the world of color, in the world of beauty, you often see trends, and if you’re not up to the minute you can absolutely miss the entire trend.”

It’s interesting how this advertising firm is looking at the influence of people in the public eye and how they might create a trend in fashion or art that no one saw coming.

Social media channels like the ones mentioned certainly seem to have a growing importance in discovering trends.

Trends in music are often discovered on sites like You Tube. Before that musicians were discovered on MySpace and I think one day that will be true again.

Fashion trends are starting to emerge on sites like Pinterest. The site’s users are generally women that love sharing with their friends and family the things they love including outfits – apparel and footwear. The site is a great way for people to spot trends in the fashion world as creative individuals seem compelled to put together interesting compilations of outfits. Brands no one has ever heard of are in play as trend setters.

Social media is one way bloggers can track the latest trends. The key is to find the sites your core audience uses the most and to setup ways to track what they’re saying, sharing and posting. By “core audience” I’m really talking about the one persona you feel drives the choices at your company. You should have a good idea of who this person is and figure out where they spend their time online.

For those in the fashion world, keep an eye on Pinterest. There are lots of folks there that have influence. They lead with their creativity and foresight into the latest trends. Heck, they create the trends on occasion. You can follow these folks and write about the trends they’re seeing in their lives. Be sure to give them credit, though.

If you’re looking to write about the tech world there are sites like Reddit and others where the latest trends are always happening. If you can keep up with the biggest happenings you can address them on your business blog and provide some of your own commentary for your audience.

When trends happen that affect your industry it’s important to address them. Your audience likely has questions when things happen. They look to you as the leader to provide them with insight.

A recent example of this happened in the primal diet industry. A study came out against red meat. Many looked to Mark’s Daily Apple for the real story. He was happy to provide his thoughts (Will Red Meat Kill You?) on the latest trend in the food industry.

You can do the same with your blog.

Find the trends and address them.

It’s a great blogging strategy.