We’ve written a lot about why to blog and its foundational importance as part of your overall marketing strategy online. We’ve even given you some tips to write your first blog post. But there really isn’t anyone better than YOU to write about YOUR industry, so I thought it would be a good idea to help you actually write the blog post and help you do it efficiently.
We are all short on time. It really doesn’t matter if you’re a mom blogger, internet marketing blogger, or first-time blogger – we all know the importance of time and that we never seem to have enough to get it all done. So, here is a basic blogging schedule to get your post written in one hour. Remember, this is assuming you have a lot of knowledge of what you’re writing about – ie: your business.
Ideally, you’ve already spent the time planning out blog topics for the next month (if not then stop everything and do THAT with the hour!). Take 2 minutes and decide what you’re going to write about. Remember: write what you already know. You’re the expert. You’re sharing your knowledge with everyone else. Talk about frequently asked questions you always hear from customers. Tell a story about a real-life experience you've had. Give your thoughts and opinion about a new product or service in your industry.
This is where you can get lost and lose all track of time. Thanks to the internet, it’s easy to get stuck going down rabbit trails because a fun and interesting link caught your eye and you clicked on it. You might not need to do any research at all, or need to just do a little to add some secondary support to what you’re writing about. This would be outside links, images, infographics, video, etc.
Don’t worry too much about editing at this point. Just get your thoughts out. It might be helpful to break it down and spend your time writing the bulk of the content this way:
You may find it helpful to set a timer. A few personal tips: I write my internet marketing blog at the same time on the same day every week. I literally block the time off in my calendar. Sometimes I set a timer, or use a timer in my head. Either way I set small goals for myself. I’m not always happy with the final product, but the point isn’t to be perfect, it’s to be giving good content in the form of a blog and doing it consistently.
NOW you can edit. This is where you check for spelling, grammar and whether or not the ideas in the post flow well. At this point you also want to add in 1-2 internal links to other blogs posts or website pages on your site; as well as 1-2 external links (that you found during the research phase) to supporting websites, blogs or videos outside of your site.
While you’re writing your blog you will get ideas for other blog topics. Write these down and put them in a safe place, on a sticky note, tattoo them on your arm, whatever will help you remember. These are valuable nuggets that you can and will use in the future. Also take a minute to just reflect on the process of writing the post. What worked? What didn’t? Should you try writing at a different time in a different place? Are you convinced that Diet Coke helped you think more clearly? (I’ve written some of my best blogs with wine and pretzels!). Also just read your post and be confident knowing you CAN and DID write a blog post in one hour!
If you’d like more internet marketing tips about blog writing and a whole slew of other topics, be sure to subscribe to our blog or contact us if you’re thinking more about investing in an inbound marketing strategy.