If you’ve just jumped into the world of internet marketing with both feet, you’re probably asking the question, why do I have to blog? You might be feeling like you are the least qualified person to take on the task and find yourself making excuses. I’d like to offer you a word (or about 600 since this is a blog) of encouragement. You’re not alone if you’re thinking any one (or all!) of these things.
1. I have no idea what I’m doing.
I’ll tell you a secret: It’s okay! Most people have no idea what they’re doing when they first start blogging. I had no idea what I was doing when I first started blogging, and now that’s my primary job, and not just for marketing, for podiatrists and property management companies and any other client that comes along too. Heck, just the other day I was listening to my pastor at church and following along in the outline, and I caught myself thinking, “Hmm, these points could be made into a great blog!” Internet marketing nerd-alert! Once I started DOING I started LEARNING. Just start writing about something that you know about. You don’t even have to post it. But you’ve got to start somewhere. So stop staring at the blinking cursor and start tickling that keyboard.
2. I don’t have time.
Be honest. You don’t have time or you aren’t making time? Yes, blogging takes longer in the beginning. But the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. When I first started, less than a year ago mind you, I was averaging at least 2-3 hours per blog. Now I can write a decent blog, research included in about an hour, and I hope to continue improving that time. Blogging does take time, of which I recognize we all have a limited amount of, but it’s such an important part of your internet marketing strategy, that you should make it a priority.
We recommend aiming for 2 blog posts a week, at least 600 words each. If that sounds too overwhelming, then just aim for one. Try literally scheduling it on your calendar. That’s what we do at Half a Bubble Out. If you opened my calendar right now, you’d see time blocked out to focus on a specific blog each day I’m in the office (and some I’m not!). It’s also helpful to take 30 minutes to 1 hour each month to plan out blog topics. If you had 20 blog topics already written down somewhere, then when you sat down at your scheduled time to write, you would already be a step ahead.
You might have to decide not to do something else, but making time to blog will help start a habit. You have to change your behavior. Even if you sit down for your scheduled amount of time and write nothing, you’re developing a habit. If you really don’t have the time and it’s worth it to you, you can hire an internet marketing company like us to help. We know you have it in you to blog though, and we can help with all the other components of your strategy. Charles Duhigg, author of "The Power of Habit" can help you figure out how to break habits you want to change and develop new habits - like blogging!
3. I’m clueless what to write about.
You don’t have to be a creative genius to write a good blog post. I mean, here I am blogging about blogging! (Whether it’s good or not is to be determined). All you have to do is write about what you know. Don’t feel like you know anything? Think about the frequently asked questions your customers ask day to day and answer those in a blog post. Take 5 minutes and scan the news sites or Google Trends to see if there is anything interesting going on relating to your industry. Write about a personal experience or a case study about one of your clients. Eventually you’ll want to understand how to use keywords, and those will help you with blogging topics and work to get you found on the web, but that’s for later. If you think you’re ready now, check out this blog post about keywords.
Just like walking a mile is better than sitting on the couch, the more you do it, the faster you’ll train yourself to be running a 5K. As you get started blogging, writing about anything is better than nothing because you’re developing your skills and training yourself to be a marathon blogger! Okay, maybe you won’t be doing it for a living like me, but flexing your blogging muscle will help you build a strong internet marketing strategy.
What are some excuses you make to get out of blogging?
