I regularly get email from people, asking how I manage to write blog posts most days and still keep the ideas and content flowing. It’s easy to see why, when you consider that a regularly updated blog with useful content is more commercially valuable, than one with fewer, valuable blog posts.
So, here are a few of my tips. Enjoy!
Don’t SEO every post you write
Most of the posts I write here, are not written with SEO (search engine optimization) in mind. Yesterday’s post is a prime example. It breaks just about every SEO rule. It’s too short, doesn’t target keywords or use a title tag or have any headings etc. However, it was a fun post that made a good point very quickly. Interestingly, most of the bloggers I know, who publish on a very regular basis, do not optimise everything they write either, such as; Seth Godin, Robert Scoble, Danny Brown and Louis Gray.
SEO is important. Really important. I optimise a great deal of the content here and as a direct result, I get hundreds of new, targeted readers every day from Google and Co. However, I can achieve all my SEO goals without the need to fully optimise everything I write. So, don’t feel you have to optimise everything. You don’t.
Make time for writing blog posts
One of the reasons people find it hard to publish blog posts on a regular basis, is that they just don’t have the time. It takes time to come up with an idea for a blog post and then to write it in as interesting a way as possible. So, if you are a poor time manager, it’s going to be tough finding the time required to write regular, good quality blog posts.
Here’s a quick tip, which has given me several hours each day, or over 130 EXTRA DAYS a year, of extra time.
I don’t watch TV! Yes, as a fan of boxing and football I will watch the big fights / games, but there are no TV shows I must watch. My mindset regarding TV changed, when an elderly man once told me; “son, when you reach my age you won’t look back on your life and wish you had wasted more time watching TV shows!” Interestingly, I recently discovered that Seth Godin feels the same way as me about TV. He put it like this: “I don’t watch TV. At all. There are so many other things I’d rather do in that moment.”
Play with your kids. Go to the gym. Take the class. Spend time relaxing with your friends. If you want some more time each day, reducing your TV time is one of the less important things to cut out from your schedule.
Give yourself permission to get it wrong
One of the biggest hurdles facing many bloggers, is that they fear publishing a post that isn’t perfect. In their search for the perfect blog post, they find that it takes them several hours to write a post; instead of 30 minutes or so. Give yourself permission to write the best posts you can at the time. Remember that blog posts can be edited and updated, if you later find you missed something important.
Capture your ideas
We all have ideas flow into our mind, but most people fail to capture them. As a blogger, if I see an interesting article that gives me an idea for a blog post, I save it. If I get an idea when I’m out walking, I capture it using an audio recorder. Make it easy to capture the ideas you have and then put some time aside to get these ideas written down. Flesh them out a bit. You will be able to tell very quickly if the idea is good enough to turn into a post for your blog.
Learn to deal with critics
Often, when you make a point on your blog about something that is a matter of opinion, your own opinion will be criticised (and rightly so.) Fear of criticism stops a lot of people from writing about certain subjects that are relevant to their industry / readers or expressing their opinions. Both of these will limit the volume and (in my opinion) the value of what you publish.
For example, I wrote a post last month about my positive experience with Dell customer service. I knew at the time that it would attract comments from people, who either strongly agreed or strongly disagreed with me. If you check out the comments, you will see a number of really pissed-off Dell customers, telling me how wrong I was! Those comments add balance to the post and allow people to see a far wider range of experiences.
People disagreeing with you or being critical of your view point, are a key part of blogging; however, many people really struggle with it. This is why I wrote the following post on how to deal with blog critics and criticism.
Publish your best content on your blog, not on Facebook etc
Many people who have blogs that they seldom update, have Facebook accounts that they regularly update with insights, ideas and useful links. There are many reasons why this is a really bad strategy for a commercial blogger. One of which, is that it sees you investing your content development time building content on someone else’s platform, whilst yours is being neglected.
Use Facebook, but not at the expense of your own commercial blog. Some of the info you post on Facebook could be slightly expanded upon and turned into a great little post, which you can THEN share on Facebook!
So, what would you add to that list?
Jim Connolly can help you grow your business and achieve the breakthrough marketing results your hard work deserves. To find out more, simply click here!
BRILLIANT post Jim thank you! Once again you nailed it. Usable info in plain english.
Thanks Jack!
Thanks for the permission to write non-SEO friendly posts, it creates such pressure, thought and time.
I too rarely watch TV, if I do, I record the programme and watch it during ‘down time’ I’d much rather spend time conversing with real people online or over a cuppa
Hi Toni. I believe that it’s all too easy to get caught up in the non-human side of blogging, and forget the actual reason we write blog posts in the first place – which is to connect with people.
Thanks for the feedback!
For those of us in the entertainment industry, NOT watching TV is a luxury we can’t afford…. Otherwise, great post! Time management is about effectively multitasking, and who says you have to have only one blog post that you’re composing at a time? Ideas are everywhere, you just have to know where to look. And sometimes, those ideas are on TV
Hi Mike.
I once heard someone say in an interview on American TV, that it was possible to garner good ideas from watching TV. The interviewer then responded that “it’s possible to get some vitamins from a doughnut, but it’s not the best place to go looking.”
Thanks for the feedback, sir.
Great post! In regards to your point about dealing with critics, some newbie bloggers are so scared to add their own opinion because it is not the popular opinion that the posts end up sounding fake.
Cheers!
Ian
You make a good point there, Ian.
Part of being “real” is to allow your thoughts / opinions to come out, when appropriate.
Great points, Jim.
I think a lot can depend on the type of blog as well. You write in a “human voice”, so trying to write specifically for search engines would change your voice completely, and make you more monotonous.
If you’re a tutorial site though (I just started a new video tutorial site, for example), then that can really be optimized just for search.
And, as you say, social search is playing an increasingly important role, and making “traditional search” less relevant.
Human first; robots second.
“Humans first, robots second.”
I like that!
BTW: Good luck with your new site, Headway Theme Made Easy!
Once again, you managed to post just what I needed to hear! I’ve become caught up in the television again and my writing has slacked off dramatically. I think that my TV screen going out last night is more a blessing than a curse, so I have a blog post on the way.
Take care!
Holli
Hi Holli. I appreciate that not watching TV is way too much for most people to even contemplate. Maybe moderating the time spent in front of the 1-eyed monster and using the extra time for something more beneficial is a better approach for most.
As always, great to hear from you my friend.
I agree absolutely about television, it is a time waster. I like a few programs (the recent Sherlock for example) but watch little else. This gives me my time for thinking and writing for my blog.
Love the quote about looking back over your life. That is so true!
Knowing you as I do Tessa, that does not surprise me.
Thanks for stopping by the blog.
Great tips Jim. I hardly watch TV either. My family thinks I’m strange, but I would rather use that time more wisely as well. I’m still suffering from the “perfect blog post” dilemma and am trying to get over that. I have a guest blog post due this week that has helped instill some discipline and motivation back into my blogging. This was timely and helpful!
The perfectionist issue is a common one, Anna. I used to suffer with it myself.
My mentor told me that we come close to eliminating the perfectionist dilemma, as soon as we see it as a flaw and not a positive character trait.
Because the idea of “perfect” is basically positive, it’s too easy to regard the quest for perfectionism as a positive attribute.
The reality, is that it tends to stop most of us from even trying.
Thanks for the feedback, Anna.
Great points and I really think that readers are starting to catch on to seo and know when they are reading a post that was put there entirely for seo purposes. For example, seeing the same key phrase mentioned a few times in the first paragraph of the post. Readers like useful information that is written naturally and tend to shy away from blogs that only seo their posts or even worse, keyword stuff. The comment point is spot on- I was one of the many who agreed that Dell’s customer service is great upfront, but very lacking after the product is delivered. Then again, I had one really expensive computer and one really expensive tv both break under warranty and had to fight tooth and nail with Dell to fix it, so maybe I am bias
In reality Vee, I believe we are ALL biased; because we all see the world through our own filters.
The fact we each have a different view point is what makes the comments section of a blog post so extremely useful. As I said in the post, the comments add much needed balance.
Thanks for the comment.
“Television is chewing gum for the eyes”. Don’t know who said it, but I like it! And I love the vitamins in doughnuts analogy!
I always think one of your best blogging qualities is the chatty and approachable style.
I write many of my own posts in the evening and at weekends, not because I think I don’t have the time otherwise but because I find writing relaxing and all the better if I can put it to use.
Just being ourselves is more important than SEO although strangely some of my longer posts seem to pick up the “long tail” judging from searches that lead to them. That really is accidental.
Hi Jim,
As a new blogger I’d just like to thank you for your posts, they are very helpful. I know what I want to write about, but I don’t want to talk to a brick wall and I’ll be applying your tips to see if I can improve.
Thanks
Neil
Hey Jim!
Putting aside the time for me has been such a great benefit for my writing. I find that I have much more time to get my thoughts together as well as doing other things, when I set some time aside for me to do just that — write. Great list though, tons of really great advice for the new blogger.
Thanks Maranda – Good to know you found it useful.
For TV, I’ve switched from watching it according to the broadcaster’s schedule to watching it on my schedule. I use a PVR (personal video recorder) as well as download shows and movies. This way I don’t have a chunk of time in my schedule that I have to be there for. I also don’t have to watch the commercials, which saves time.
Another practice I follow is to not watch TV, flipping channels, looking for something good on.
I do watch a few hours of tv/video/film programming a week, but not having to be a slave to the TV has definitely helped in my time management and my enjoyment of the programs I do watch.
This is your first blog I have read and I enjoyed it greatly. Definitely agree with your thoughts on tv. I just love sport so play and watch a lot. Sport can be such a theatre and I am an avid cricket player and watcher so guess I could get back 100s of days….mmm…difficult one!
Dear Jim, Great post! I struggle with this exact thing… Am I too sales? Am I too SEO? Am I too much Video? Am I too little words, etc. etc. I appreciated thi BIG TIME! Best to ALL, Brian-
Great post, thank you for sharing, Often times when I am driving to and from client locations I will use my iPhone’s built in recorder to “jot” down thoughts and ideas. This allows me to capture ideas as they are coming into my mind.
Hey Jim,
Another way to look at it is like this. I just came back from football training with the lad.
They spend 30 practicing corner kicks nonstop. Not they are a bit better.
Next week a little bit better…
And it’s the same with blogging or any type of published.
You need to produce 100s of posts before you find your voice, writing style and ability to craft interesting material.
There are no short cuts – Thankfully
Ivan