7 Steps to Faster Blogging

All My Blog Tips To Be Published...?

Blogs are still one of the best branding tools available, but a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of blogging.

I've heard authors bemoan the task of blogging. Their plaintive complaint? "How do I come up with something every day?" Or every other day, every week, or whatever.

7 Steps to Faster Blogging

1. Get over the mental block of thinking a blog takes too much time by getting a calendar. Look at the calendar and block out your daily time commitments. Find a small block of time each day, even if it's just 20 to 30 minutes. Schedule that block of time for your blog.

2. On your desk calendar or Daytimer or whatever kind of planner you use to keep track of your appointments, mark the block of time you found. That way it becomes a scheduled appointment.

3. Use that block of time you found and scheduled to...think. Think of things that interest you, your readers, other writers, and the world at large. What interests you enough to read about it online? Chances are those are good topics you too can write about.

4. Make a list of the topics you found. Either keep this list on your computer or jot them down in a notebook.

5. Study that list of topics. Can you group them into broad subjects? For instance, I blog about (1) the art, craft, and business of writing, (2) reviews of books, movies, television, and music, (3) marketing tips, (4) my writer's life, (5) digital publishing, etc. Group them into these broad categories. Assign days of the week to these categories. So if you are scheduled to blog every day then you have 7 broad categories of topics you'll blog about. Three days of week means you have 3 categories. This is your Editorial Calendar.

6. Now, write a blog post and time yourself. How long did it take from beginning to ready to publish? Could you knock it out within your scheduled block of time? Or would it take 2 blocks of time? Knowing this will help you produce content efficiently.

You'll find that when you have an Editorial Calendar and lists of ideas, it's much easier to write faster.

7. Remember, short is always better. Some bloggers think they have to make long blog posts that are like a mini-lesson or a wise treatise. Wrong. Online readers want short posts they can read in a couple of minutes. Short posts get read. Long posts often get skipped. (This one is probably too long.)

Like I always say, the more you write; the more the words will flow. Blogging frequently will get the words flowing like a wide-open water faucet.

Takeaway Truth

Is blogging a pleasure or a pain to you? Leave a comment with your email address and be entered to win an audiobook edition of one of my romantic comedies.