Blogging is intimidating for a lot of creatives. What should you write about? How long should your posts be?
These are all questions that halt you in your tracks. The barriers to entry seem too daunting and you’d much rather procrastinate than spill your thoughts onto a blank word document.
But, blogging can be so good for your business. It helps you build a loyal following, it gives you content to share on social media, and it helps people find your business through search engine optimization.
Blogging is intimidating for a lot of creatives. What should you write about? How long should your posts be?
1) Set aside time to write (& reward yourself)
I know from personal experience how easy it is to push your blog to the bottom of your to-do list or even forget about it completely. That guilty feeling when you realize it’s been weeks since you’ve written something new is all too familiar.
The best way to combat this? Schedule your writing time.
Whatever system you use to keep track of meetings and appointments, block out a chunk of time to give your blog some much needed TLC.
That way, when you check your calendar, you won’t book anything else during that time and you’ll have no excuses to stop you from writing.
If you need a little extra motivation, give yourself a reward after you hit ‘publish’ on a new post.
My personal favorite reward is a trip to my local coffee shop or a half hour of tv re-runs.
Nothing wrong with a little self-bribery. 😉
2) Never wonder what to write about
Sitting there staring at a blank screen is painful when you have no idea where to start. Instead of waiting until you should be writing to come up with a topic, keep a running list of topics that you can refer back to whenever it’s time to write.
You can add to this list when inspiration strikes and then simply choose a topic at random.
People say that the best way to start an early morning gym habit is to lay your clothes out the night before so that in the morning, all you have to do is get dressed without the extra step of picking out what to wear.
The same thing goes for blogging. Take away the decision making process and just start by putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).
3) Get all your thoughts out
Nothing puts a halt to your writing process like trying to edit as you type.
When you first start writing a new post, let the words flow and don’t judge what comes out of your brain.
Get all of your thoughts and ideas out before trying to mold them into something coherent.
Worried it’s going to come out like gibberish? It honestly might, and that’s okay.
No judgement here. That’s what editing is for…
4) Editing is about simplifying
Once you have finished your brain dump, it’s time to start editing.
Editing something that is already written is so much easier than trying to write something perfect from the start.
Put your ‘constructive criticism’ hat on and start cutting out unnecessary words or phrases.
Read your post out loud.
Find complicated sentences and simplify them. Don’t be afraid to remove some sentences entirely.
The most successful blog posts are easy to read and skimmable (is that a word?).
People on the internet love to skim through articles. Keep your paragraphs short and divide up ideas with headers.
5) Practice!
Writing is hard. The good news is that the more you write, the easier it gets.
Make blogging a priority in your business, add it to your calendar, and stick to it! Build the habit.
Overtime your posts will start showing up in search engines like Google and bringing new potential clients to your website.
You’ll build stronger connections with your existing audience by providing them with helpful, valuable, and inspirational content.
The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see results.
What’s holding you back from blogging in your business? Let me know in the comments below.
