Consistently Producing Effective Blogs Isn’t as Hard as You Think
Does the thought of producing blogs every week give you a headache? You’re not alone. Even big companies get nervous when it comes time to consistently produce blogs that get results. For most business owners and marketing directors, blog development is out of their comfort zone. What will they talk about? Who will get these done? How will they stay on track and continue to create relevant, valuable topics? Who’s going to evaluate effectiveness?
There’s no doubt about it. Every company’s staff is already busy. So how can they ever find the time each month to also develop topics and outlines?
The answer is they can’t. And they shouldn’t. However, with a bit of planning, you can group tasks into buckets, manage content more efficiently, and greatly simplify the process.
A Body in Motion
One of the most time-consuming parts of blogging is all the starting and stopping. As a result, you become much less efficient by creating just one blog at a time. However, when content is produced in batches, things go much faster.
For example, brainstorming on demand is challenging. It works much better when you give yourself time to create several topics at once. Getting yourself into the right frame of mind can be a time suck, especially when other pressing priorities exist.
We often quote Newton’s First Law of Physics at Cup O Content: “A body in motion tends to stay in motion.” Once you get started, it just makes sense to take advantage of the momentum. You’ll find it’s just as easy (and more productive) to map out a dozen topics as it is to create one. Once your brain is warmed up, ideating topics and creating content gets much easier.
And if all this sounds like torture to you, invest in a good blogging partner like Cup O Content. We can help make it quick and easy to get months of blogging mapped out, written, and optimized for SEO. We can even post blog and promote them with ads.
Develop a Content Calendar
Speaking of momentum, don’t underestimate the power of the content calendar. Create an excel sheet that maps out what your blogs are about, working titles, and any promotional hook that may be associated with that content.
Here’s an example of what a local grocer’s three-month calendar might look like. Notice that some content points are very specific, and some are less defined, noting we might add sales or maybe add interviews. When you create a month’s worth of content, very few topics can be set in stone. So even with a calendar in place, stay flexible. See our example below.
This type of calendar incorporates ideas and possibilities, working with existing promotional schedules. It also takes advantage of supplier promotions, recipes, content, images, and other already available content.
Create an Assembly Line
Once the content calendar is approved, take an assembly line approach. A team of people can handle different tasks, making it easier to put the blog together quickly.
For example, the store manager may approve the calendar and share links to coupons and sales. The writer creates the content and works with the store department managers to get smartphone photos or videos. The writer also works with brands to get recipes, images, or other information.
Don’t forget to build a proofing step into the process. When a good editor and proofer look at the finished product, it ensures better flow and increased readability. they’ll also catch typos. A programmer or web manager can then post the blog.
When you use an assembly-line approach, one person doesn’t have to do it all. Instead, you assign tasks to a set of people. By creating a set of smaller jobs and well-defined roles, you can create a steady stream of blogs without too much disruption.
Digital Shortcuts Make it Simple
It’s easy to find a long list of digital tools to help bloggers and web managers create professional blogs in minutes. You’ll have to pay a few hundred dollars a year for each, but they pay for themselves in efficiency, improved quality, and ease of use. When you use a few of our favorite digital shortcuts, you'll find it simple to create professional posts in a matter of minutes.
Here are a few of our favorite shortcuts.
This user-friendly program makes creating professional images, graphics, logos, and even movies easy. To get the most out of this handy tool, we recommend investing in their inexpensive pro plan.
Yes, you will have to pay for stock images. But if you’re serious about online marketing, stock images are a great way to supplement your photography. Invest in a pro plan so you can quickly find the perfect image.
Does your blog title feel a little dull? Try entering the blog subject into this free headline-generating tool, and you’ll get a list of possible titles and helpful breakdowns of why the title might make for a good read. Many of their suggestions will be over the top, but it’s a fun way to get a fresh take on possible headlines.
There are lots of editing programs out there, but Grammarly is one of the best. Invest in a pro plan, and it will make it easier to proof documents on a variety of platforms, including on the website. The writing assistant feature also calls out repetitive terms, suggests alternative sentence structures, and more.
Stick to Scheduled Evaluations
Once you've spent all this time creating blogs, you’ll want to know how they are affecting your business. Are you getting more web traffic? More followers? Are more people downloading coupons? Buying online? Submitting online requests? Calling your sales teams? Make sure you create a set of evaluations and review your progress on a regular schedule. We recommend formal reviews and analyses at least once a month.
Hire Experts
Companies are running leaner than ever. If you’re short on staff, it may make sense to find someone like Cup O Content to help with digital marketing. For the price of an admin, Cup O Content can create the calendar, write the blogs, create images, optimize for SEO, and post. Then, we can promote those blogs, manage social media, and even create email marketing programs.
Get Started Today!
Now that you know some of the super simple secrets of blogging, the only way to get started is to get started. So, stop stalling and start blogging! If you want more advice on blogging or want to talk to Cup O Content about blogging for you, contact us today.
Want to find out more about content development? Check out these blogs.
