How to make effective use of your blog writing time

The step by step guide to getting focused with your blog writing and help you work smarter on your blog.

Daily, you’re juggling lots of balls in your life and business….

You know you should be blog writing on a  regular weekly basis but you’re not.  Over and over the thought “where do I start?” keeps you from actually doing it.

I’ve put together this post on how to make effective use of your blog writing time so you have all the steps you need to blog effectively.

This system is based upon my personal experience blogging since 2009 and from handling the 1000+ blog posts a year for our clients.

Step 1:  Brain Dump

I always start by setting a timer and grabbing a piece of paper and writing down all of my blog topics and ideas.

When I write them down blogging stops feeling so overwhelming

Setting a timer also really works for me. Even though I have the brain dump to accomplish it can be easy for my mind to wander and start thinking about what’s next.

When I have that timer running, I tend to focus more on the task I’m working on and ultimately I get more done in a shorter period of time.

Step 2:  Prioritize

Create a system to help you manage and prioritize your blog posts.

This is how we effectively manage 1000+ blog posts for our clients with a very small team.   Everything goes on a content calendar organized by month and week so our clients know what they are blogging about for 1 quarter at a time.

Then copy goes on a template in google docs so that nothing gets missed when the blog post is written.

I break my writing into several sittings:

1. Research  – brain dump
2. Content calendar – topics are researched using buzz sumo to make sure they are popular topics before going on the calendar.
3. Keywords – I do the keyword research on month at a time for all of my blog posts
4. Writing – I start by copy stalking blog posts on the same topic to see what comments are being made to make sure I’m using the same language as my audience and answering their questions.  Then I create an outline and finally come back later and write the copy for the entire post.
5. On Page SEO – I spend about 10 minutes making sure this is completed after my post is written.  Having the Yoast SEO plugin makes this part of the system painless.
6. Images – I select the image after my post is done and on the blog.
7. Content upgrades – often I will include a content upgrade for a blog post and I do this after the post is written because most of what I have written goes into that useful document for my readers.

Step 3:  Time Block

I make sure I have time set aside on my calendar to write my blog posts each week…otherwise it won’t get done.

It’s too easy for me to find other things that I would much rather do than write a post so adding it to my calendar and having it on a to do list really work for me.

Step 4:  Use the Pomodoro Method

I’ve just started using this method to take my blog writing productivity to the next level.  Being an entrepreneur who works on my own business, manages a team and work for many clients I have to be super productive.

Using the Pomodoro method where I time block blog writing on my calendar then set a time for 25 minutes while I dive into completing the task is pretty darn effective.

I’ve tried a timer for 90 minutes and I’ve done the 25 minute timer and I’ll tell you from experience I get a lot more blog writing done in a shorter burst than the longer ones.

Step 5:  Rinse and repeat!

Set aside time for blog writing, use a system and stick to it.

The more you write the easier it gets.   And it is the BEST way to grow your online presence with great content.

Time to get blogging….My hope is that you cannot wait to sit down and follow the steps I have outlined in this post!