5 Steps to Writing a Blog Post for Busy People

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Writing a blog is a great way to gain visibility for your business, show yourself as a resource, and build authority in your industry. However, it can be hard finding the time to write a new blog post.

For many people, blogging is at the bottom of their ‘to do’ list. It’s okay, I get it. My hand is raised with yours. There’s work to be done, phone calls to make, things at home to take care of. But still, your blog is sitting there with just a few articles, and is looking pretty bleak.

This is why I took some time out to write an article just for you – The ones that have so much knowledge in their mind, love to share it with others, but just don’t seem to get around to it. Here are some tips for Content Marketing for Busy People.

Step 1: Gather Your Sources

Since there’s a ton of great content on the internet already, why not look at what other people in your industry are writing about? Follwoing other people and gathering that content into a useable space is called Content Curation.

Content Curation is a bloggers best friend. It not only serves to provide ideas and resources for your posts, but because it’s in your own industry, it’s like reading a newpaper geared specifically towards you. What more could you ask for?

Tools For Content Curation

There are a number of tools out there that help bring content from virtually any source into one space. The way this is accomplished is by leveraging a blogs RSS Feed. Here are a few handy tools you can look into.

A great tip for some of the tools listed below is that they will typically have a share options so you can share the articles you find directly to your social media accounts.

* Feedly – My personal favorite, has a great interface and I use it on my phone as well as my laptop as an installed app.

* Instapaper – A web based app that allows you to create your own newspaper ‘like’ interface. It also has an app that you can install on your phone or tablet.

There are many more tools out there. The above ones are free, but there are also paid versions as well. some of the better tools will allow you to ‘Listen’ for keywords. Any articles published on the net which have keywords you specify will show up in your feed.

HubSpot wrote a great article on Curation Tools. You can check it out here.

Content Curation is a great way to never miss a beat on the internet in any topic you like.

 

Steps to Writing a Great blog post

Step 2: Organize Your Ideas

Now that you got your content gather into one place and set on auto-pilot. The next step is to organize your ideas.

I know it can be difficult to always figure out what to write about. Initially, you may get about a dozen different ideas floating around in your head. You need to get them down so you don’t forget them later.

The best way I use for that is Evernote. I use it all the time on my laptop to keep track of all kinds of stuff. the great thing about it as well is that it’s also got a great app for your phone. so regardless of where you are, you can keep everything in one place.

Create a new page in Evernote and call it ‘Blog Ideas’ any ideas or tips you have regarding your blog, just throw them in there for review later. You may find that if you created some ideas and haven’t looked at them in a while, they might seem ‘old’. That’s okay, just add and replace according to how you feel.

Whenever you feel an idea coming on, write it down. If you don’t use Evernote, you can use the notepad in your phone, or whatever application you like. Just make sure you write it down. Too many times I’ve had some good ideas and told myself, ‘Later’ and totally forgot.

I recommend taking a few minutes with the ideas you have, either at the time you write them down, or mark out a few minutes at the beginning or end of your day.

With each idea you wrote down add a few notes under the title. For me, that usually means pasting links to articles that sparked my idea or an article link that has some great content in it that I want to include in my article.

Step 3. Strategize Your Content

The 3rd step is to mark out some time to plan out your content. This step is really quite simple because it’s creating an outline for your blog post.

A great blog post is one that includes both structure and intrigue. The structure of a post is deliberate and provides the reader with a clear path of where you’re going and makes it easier to read. Intrigue are those interesting spots where you provide information that keeps a person wanting to read more. Intrigue can be in the sub-titles or part of the body of your post. A great way to add intrigue is using blockquotes highlighting key points or phrases.

Take the links and resoruces you added from the previous step and begin creating an outline for your post. What points do you want to cover? What is the central idea to your blog post?

One helpful idea is to summarize your post in a single statement. What do you want the reader to learn or know? What are they going to gain from reading your blog post?

Step 4. Writing Your Blog Post

Personally, I like to group Step 3 and 4 in one sitting. This way, I’m writing one blog post while I’m organizing another. This helps maintain a proper cycle and momentum.

With all the prep work done, actually writing your blog post should be much easier and less overwhelming.

I encourage you to set a specified day or time aside to write your posts, otherwise, it’s less likely to happen. For me it’s usually on the weekend. You can always schedule posts to be displayed at any time you like in WordPress.

Work Ahead

I really strive to always be ahead of the game. When I have time, instead of just writing one blog post for the week, I’ll work to write 2 or 3 posts. When I have some time in between projects or have any downtime, I’ll work on my blog posts.

Working ahead I find is important as life ‘happens’ or I get lazy. Yeah, I admit it. I don’t always post or am not always motivated to write a new blog post. This is why I work ahead so that during those times I always have something to publish.

Step 5: Putting it All Together

Ready to hit the ‘Publish’ button? Not quite yet! Take a second look through your blog post to ensure that there’s no spelling mistakes and you’re not missing any of those little words (like articles: ie. a, an, and) Everybody has a weakness in writing, and it’s good practice to take a read through your blog post one last time to ensure that nothings missing.

Writing your blog post in chunks makes writing much easier. I know that blogging is discipline especially when you’re busy, and business seems to be doing ok for you. Regardless of what’s happening in your life or business. Writing a blog post on a regular basis is important to add value to your customers and a good marketing practice.

 


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