When I first started blogging it didn’t take any time at all to throw down a series of articles almost daily. After all, this was a new site and I was overflowing with marketing advice. But as time went on, it became more and more difficult to come up with really great, high-quality content. With more than 2,000 articles floating around the web, I got an extreme case of “empty head”.
Writing useful articles for the web has also turned into a rather sophisticated proposition. For example, in the past, you could write an article without using images or you might use a single, simple stock photo as an image. It might take you all 60 seconds to find and place an image. Today, finding the right image, crafting and designing that image, and inserting multiple images per post can take upwards of an hour.
It’s time for a new process for writing and publishing a blog post that drives new customers
Next to word-of-mouth or referral marketing strategies, content marketing is perhaps the best use of your time and effort. It’s a high-value, low-cost strategy that will absolutely drive customers to your business. You just have to do it right.
I’ve recently adopted two tools to help me do this; CoSchedule (@CoSchedule) and Buffer (@Buffer). I’ve used both of these tools in the past, but not exclusively. This year, I’ve made a commitment to using tools that integrate more completely with a variety of platforms, that are committed to helping their users reach their goals, and are extremely engaging with their customers on social media. I’ll also mention that (like you) I don’t have thousands of dollars to throw at expensive platforms and this combination fits my budget nicely.
Let’s talk about the process
You can NO LONGER just wing it. Believe me when I tell you (because I am the queen of winging it) that you will spend waste incredible amounts of time researching, writing curating, designing and promoting content that will NOT deliver on your goals. And that means that you need a process.
I’m currently reviewing CoSchedule’s online course on designing your editorial calendar and I have to say that it is amazingly thorough. As I was going through one of the worksheets I ran into this process for writing a blog post. It was a whack-on-the-side-of-the-head moment for me — as I think it will be for you.
Get Real About the Timeline
Before I get into the details of the blog writing checklist, I have to tell you that the most important thing you can do for your sanity is to get real about the time it takes to create content that converts visitors to prospects to customers. I was delusional about this and it has cost me more than I care to share today.
21 Days Before Post — Brainstorm
Yes — you see that correctly. 21 Days. 3 Weeks. YUP. That’s how much time you need to give yourself to pull together a piece of killer content that’s going to deliver on the goals you’ve set for yourself.
You’re probably wondering where on Earth you’re going to get these brainstorming ideas. Not to worry. Here are a few ideas for you.
- Look at some data: If you’re on WordPress and have JetPack connected, you can quickly and easily see your most popular articles over the week, month or overall. You can also jump over to Google Analytics and see that same data along with other really cool stuff. Looking at Google Analytics, check to see the articles that had the LOWEST bounce rate and highest “time on site” (that means folks landed there and stayed there to read the article). That tells you they were interested and that you can probably write something else about a similar subject.
- Check out BuzzSumo: Simply enter a keyword or search term and BuzzSumo will spit out the articles with the most social shares on the topic. You can also search for influencers on topics and connect with them on social media.
- What’s trending on Twitter: This will give you some “news-jacking” ideas. Is there something happening in the news that you can lend your opinion to?
- Keep a topics ideas file: This is really low-tech. I happen to use Evernote for this, but you can just as easily use a note on your phone or a basic folder where you throw in ideas. Whenever you see something that you think might be interesting, grab it and tag it. Stick it in this folder. This way you’ll always have a list of things you at least thought were interesting.
7-10 Days Before — Start Writing
If you’re one of the lucky people who can write on demand, then good for you. I’m one of these people who has to feel inspired to write something. This is why I start writing several articles about a week in advance. This way you will always have something interesting to write about and be ready to publish on time.
Writing this early also gives you the ability to create strategic content. If you want to drive traffic to your business, take the time to think about what specials you might be offering, are you approaching a time when you are slow and can offer something additional that will entice clients to come to your business?
3 Days Before Schedule, Create Images and Write Social Shares
You might think this is nuts — but selecting and creating great images or shooting some fun video can take forever and it is SO WORTH it. There is a study that says basic photo sharing on Facebook is way down – people want video. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does need to be there.
Another element that takes a lot more thinking and time than it used to is creating social media posts.
Here are a few tools to get you started:
- Canva offers free design templates for flyers, presentations, and social media sites as well as blog graphics, business cards, and posters. This is a simple and easy website to create designs without needing to buy expensive software and take a class – perfect for the time-poor entrepreneur.
- Buffer is a handy social media scheduling tool. This app allows you to write and schedule social media posts in advance for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. This app is a great way to manage your time on social media.
- Followerwonk: Twitter is all about relationships. But it can be hard to find the right people to build those relationships with people like industry influencers, potential clients or journalists.
- WordSwag is a smartphone app that gives you the ability to quickly create visual content in the palm of your hand. Choose from templates in the app or take your own photos to create beautiful visual images to communicate with your audience. Pulled from 5 Social Media Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs.
Day off and after — ENGAGE
All of this work was meant for this glorious moment! The whole point of being on social media is to broadly reach out to the world, engage and build relationships — get to know people. Ultimately driving traffic to your business. Think of it as an invitation conversation to the party that is your business.
There’s no better place to find great tips on social media engagement than on Twitter. I’m going to list some of them here from a few of my Twitter expert friends:
There is some great advice in this article by @SMExaminer. I especially like the one called “Play Tag”. Here’s a hint — I just did it.
Grab Influencers: No matter what industry you’re in — there are influencers there. This article shares how to find influencers, engage with their tools to use and how to use them. Remember, an influencer is a thought leader and an expert in your industry. They don’t have to be a celebrity with millions of followers, just someone whose opinion your customers value.
Hootsuite (an awesome social media engagement tool) In this article they take it one step further and show you how to engage using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs — brilliant!
