Are secret fears holding you back from jumping head first into blogging? Don’t let them! Blogging is nothing to be afraid of and it can do amazing things for your online business. This is part 3 in an 8 part series to help you bust through your blogging fears!
I Don’t Have Time
Blogging does take time. There’s no way around that. But it doesn’t have to take hours a day. And since blogging allows you to create content that you can repurpose into other materials (articles, ezines, ebooks, print books, and much more) it’s definitely not wasted time.
So if you’re afraid of starting a blog because you’re worried about the time commitment, here are three things to keep in mind:
- You set your own blogging schedule. You don’t have to blog daily. I blog nearly daily and it works for me. But many bloggers post 2 or 3 times a week. The key is consistency with whatever schedule you choose.
- There are great tricks you can use to speed up your blogging. Use templates, blog in batches, etc. Try these 10 Ways to Blog Better, Faster.
- You don’t have to write every blog post yourself. I’ve shared Six Secret Strategies for 15 Minute Blog Posts—use them!
- You can repurpose your work. Blogging is a great way to get your first ebook or book written. Take your blog posts and use them in your ezine, as articles for article marketing, and in other formats. It’s work you can leverage.
- With a solid plan, you can get your blog promotion done in a few minutes a day. Much of it can even be automated.
When you weigh the time commitment against the benefits – more traffic, increased credibility, better customer service & community interaction, and more–the time investment is completely worth it.
I think that there are 2 big things that really held me back at the start, one was fear of failure, this is my only real chance of been able to make money outside of a 9-5 and while ever I didnt do it and fail I knew I could do it “one day” and by not doing it I had the escape that I could one day blog and make my fortunes but if I tried and failed I would be 9-5 for life which is a nightmare for me.
The second thing was lack of direction, I didnt know what I wanted to achieve other than to make some cash. I tried setting goals but that didnt work for me at all so instead I changed habbits. Rather than a goal of 8 posts a week and $x per month I decided I would spend 2 hours blogging per day. This means I cant fail as I have no hard target but I should really achieve something credible as the change to habbit means that the work is getting done!
Loldri recently posted… Young Driver Insurance
One of the changes I made this year with the goals I set was similar, Loldri — I set goals that only I am responsible for. Like to launch certain workshops, and complete certain promotions, instead of to make $X. That way my success in achieving those goals is up to me.
I think that’s a common thing, too, to hold back because we want to keep the possibility there for the future. But we’ve just got to go for it. I’ve failed plenty of times, and just keep getting back up and trying again. :)
Michelle Shaeffer recently posted… Graphics, Themes & Colors: Fun Tools For You
I think the biggest obstacle was just doing it. The first month I would agonize over a post for 2 hours. By the third month I was churning them out in 15 minutes. At some point things just come together and you learn to stop stressing over it so much. Of course, it helps if you keep re-reading all of your tips and shortcuts articles. Apparently they just sink in eventually! :-)
Amethyst Mahoney recently posted… Why Most Free Offers Fail
LOL Yes, sometimes it takes a while for things to sink in… :)
I’ve followed the same path, Amethyst. Started out spending SO much time on posts, then cut it back as I began to figure things out, and my blogging actually got better.
Michelle Shaeffer recently posted… Are You Challenging Yourself?
I can bang out a blog post in 20 minutes when I am really on a roll. When I am not I bang out titles or ideas and concepts to like 200 words and sleep on it.
There is no performance pressure so when ever I get enough for a post or feel inspired that is when I post.
I do not have a schedule and I like it like that. I like to have posts ready to go in the morning so I can share them through Twitter and in other places as my contacts wake up. This is great when I like to blog after prime time.
I schedule posts to fall right after midnight if they are for the next day or whatever time in the wee hours if I am just up for some strange reason.
Now that I am really serious about blogging any time I have a really good exchange on a topic in cyber space I think of it as future post content.
That is the great thing about having a very versatile blog with no hard and fast niche. I am a mom, I blog about life. I blog about local things. Anything that strikes my fancy is fair game.
Because I journal I usually have a spiral or some other loose leaf paper with me to capture ideas.
Capping myself at around 500 words also helps with time management. When I get there I am done so I can tidy up the edges and hit post. If there is a lot more to say that is another post for another day. If I have time that is fine. Schedule it for later. If I am pressed to get out the door I am already ahead for the next time I sit down to bang something out.
ToscaSac recently posted… Ending Well
Like you wrote, the time spent blogging is never lost time. Personally, I like to write whenever I have an idea in mind, which happens once every few days. Otherwise, ideas rarely come while I’m trying to think, sitting in front of my computer.