Blogging Success In 30 Minutes (or fewer) A Day

Post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

I will admit that when it comes to my personal blog, I am like the plumber who has leaky pipes or the cobbler whose children have holes in their shoes. Why is that? There are a couple of reasons:

• I don’t make my personal blog a priority
• I tell myself I don’t have enough time for my own blog because I have client work to do

Well, the reason I have clients is because they found me through my personal blog. My personal blog is my 24/7 calling card to the world. So, what am I thinking when I say, “I don’t have enough time for my blog?” I am saying that my own blogging isn’t a priority because it isn’t earning me an actual paycheck in that moment. Wrong-headed thinking for sure because my blog is my always-on income generator because, again, it is what has garnered me most all of my current clients.

So that you don’t fall into that trap, here are my tips for blogging success in 30 minutes (or fewer) a day and I have been using these tips for quite a while now and my personal blog is now a priority! Here goes:

• Have a plan. Yep, here is my plug for using editorial calendars. If you have a plan you can sit down and know what you’re going to write about without having to stress or face the dreaded blank screen and wonder, “what will I write today”? If you know that you’re going to blog on Mondays and Fridays, start mulling over topics before hand. Look at your editorial calendar or your idea journal and pick out a couple of topics and start thinking about them. The mind is a wonderful thing as it will work “in the background” and once you sit down you may be surprised to find your idea is almost fully formed!
• Blog about a theme. Choose a monthly or weekly theme and blog under that. A theme will keep you focused and will also help you create content more easily.
• Blog from a “template.” I don’t mean that every post is the same, but if you know what the blog title will be and what subheads you will use, how many bullet points and what photo, you have your “template” in place because your posts can fall under the same format, but with different content in each, of course. Some of my blogging clients will even go into their blog platform and fill in the title, the subheads and even a couple idea starters for bullet points so that when they sit down to blog, they have a jumpstart on it.
• Focus. Focus. Focus. If you know that you will blog from 8-10 am every day or every other day you make it a habit. When you’re blogging, turn off your email and social media alerts and focus on the task at hand. Multi-tasking is not your friend.
• Blog about things you like. If you have no passion for your blog post idea it will be a slog through quicksand. For example, I would not blog about food or recipes — I don’t like cooking and it would be torturous — for me and my reader. I do love blogging about time management and writing and my pets and that makes those posts a breeze to write!
• Talk to a friend. If you are truly and fully stuck or are dealing with “blogger’s block” reach out to a friend. Allow them to commiserate with you and ask if you can brainstorm. Just taking a break and talking to a colleague might inspire you.
• Shake it up a bit by dictating your post to yourself rather than sitting down to write it. There are many free options available, Google has one that you can open, click the microphone icon and start talking and it types what you say. Sometimes, just shaking up the way you do something will inspire.
• Do a “Wordless” post. If you have pets, chances are you have great pics. Let them do the talking for you!
• Make a video. Either repurpose an old post or record a post rather than typing it. Again, this is another way to shake things up.

Do you find it difficult to do your own blogging? What steps have you taken to make it easier and make certain you get it done? If you get into a habit of 30 minutes (at least) a day of concentrated effort on your blogging you will get to the point that you can zip off a blog post in 30 minutes, or fewer, because you will have done all of the prep work!

(Photo Shutterstock Cat at Chalkboard)

(Photo My editorial calendar/bullet journal)