When you’ve got a goal of posting every day for a month, it can be a challenge! Make it easier with these tips:
Plan Your Content In Advance
Get your content plan ready and it’ll be as easy as following a map. Start with a calendar for the month. Look at what else you’ve got happening during the month. Are there any holidays? Promotions or special offers you want to share? Are you launching a new product or offering a teleclass? Is there a product you want to promote as an affiliate? Block out the dates that you want to be sure you’re sharing posts around a specific event or topic and then you can see what’s left to fill in with other topics.
Write Topical Series
If you’re launching a new program that teaches readers how to create and paint their own neon purple widgets, then plan for a week or so of posts with content cenetered on that topic. For example:
- Why you should create your own widgets
- What colors work best for widgets and why
- The three reasons I love neon purple for my own widgets
- How I got into painting widgets
- Five things to do with widgets after you’ve painted them
By presenting a series on that topic, you’re getting people interested in those widgets and making it easier to create content since you already know what you’ll be writing about.
This works even if you don’t have a program to launch. Just pick a topic that you know your readers are interested in and plan a series of posts around it. Or choose a topic that you’ve got expertise on that you want to share.
If you do a series a week, you only need to come up with four topics. If you plan well you can connect those topics in a logical order and create a great series of posts for the month that will keep readers engaged and coming back to see what’s next on your blog.
Write in Batches & Schedule Your Posts
I love advance scheduling my blog posts. I write on the weekend and then set my posts to appear throughout the week. This way I can get in that productive writing groove just once for the week instead of trying to do it every day. It also allows me to relax during the week and focus on interacting with blog commenters instead of dealing with creating content. And, if an emergency or situation comes up that requires my focus, I don’t have to worry about my blog because it’s already all set and publishing content on schedule.
Bonus Tip
With all the great content you’re creating, be sure you’re getting it seen! Use tools like NetworkedBlogs or Facebook notes along with plugins like Twitter Tools to automate notifying your social networks about your new posts. And take the extra few minutes to repurpose that content into podcasts, articles, and other formats to share with a wider audience.
And… don’t forget to join us in the Ultimate Blog Challenge!
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I love the fact you are at scheduling posts. I am still trying to write one a day. My husband writes 2000 words a day but with editing he only manages to produce 20000 usable print materials every month. Gives us a new ebook every couple of months fortunately.
I am looking forward to the challenge and learning more and prectiicing blogging regularly
I agree a plan would be good. Let me see what I can do about creating one tomorrow. I bet there are a lot of angles I could explore as this is a brand new blog and I want to launch it properly. I would love to be a bit ahead, just for the psychological boost.
I already found one other blog in the challenge with a post near and dear to my money-topic heart. Yay! I need to go look at the Networked Blogs and see who else might talk about money. I know of one other, wonder if he’s in this challenge.
Meanwhile, I’m off to bed. ‘Night!
Karen Wilson Wehrle\’s last blog ..How to Attract Money Into Your Life–4 Principles for Success
I’m taking the challenge so I can learn to write more fluidly and quickly, as well as more consistently. Thanks for your post. I never knew that you could pre-schedule your posts. So much to learn!
Michell Brown\’s last blog ..Sitting Is a Dangerous Sport
When you are having members in social networking websites, make sure they are the real people who have interest in your blog. Not just the ones who just joined for the sake of it.
Hi Michelle with two ‘l’s :) I joined the challenge, but cannot find contact info for you or Michele. I need to ask a couple of questions. Could you let me know best way to contact you? Thanks in advance!
Hey Sandi, you can get me on Twitter @SmallBizMuse or here http://michelleshaeffer.com/connect
Twitter: gjsuap
says:
Michelle:
I had a problem sticking to my plan: I want to post the 7 links for July on the 3rd. day of august, but also I announced a post for tomorrow continuing my today’s one… And also had to talk about a book presentation of the last thursday that I promised to cover this week… But the thursday is podcast day… And then the first week is already full!!
How do you keep on your theme schedule? (I’m thinking in open three or six more blogs ;) )
Saludos,
Gonzalo.
Twitter: grtshoppe
says:
These are some great ideas, Michelle! I was at a loss yesterday trying to tweek my first blog of the challenge and well got way too wordy and quite frankly — I’d have to say “boring” LOL I can break it down into a ‘series’ pretty easily :) so I am going back to the draft and I should be able to work out several posts with it ;)
I am excited about this challenge but I guess “Life” keeps getting in the way! Time to work out the “10 minute” plan! What can I write in 10 minutes? Honestly, I could write a novel HAHA
Again, Thanks! You really are the Muse ;)