How to blog consistently (without stressing yourself out)
Image credit: Karolina Grabowska
"I should blog more, but I don't have time".
Yeah, bruh. You and everyone else!
A blog is like a Christmas puppy — it promises all sorts of great things in principle, but when you finally get it, you realise how much hard work it can be.
For your blog to be successful, you’ll need valuable content, posted consistently.
I say this as the proud author of such posts as The Freddy Krueger Editing Checklist, Tattoo Fails, and the ever-popular ‘Tastes Like Grandma’ and other accidentally horrifying copy.
Here’s how I manage to churn out fresh content without running myself ragged or rushing at the last minute.
Let’s disco.
1) Host your blog on a website which allows scheduling
The first step in regular blogging is to make sure you’ve got the right tools for the job.
When you host your blog on a site which allows you to schedule your posts, you’ll be able to build up a pipeline of shit, knowing it’ll go out consistently each week without you needing to faff about with it. You can just keep loading that thing up as you go.
Because as we all know, consistency is key when it comes to blogging.
2) Make a long-term content plan
We’re all professionals here, so I know you appreciate the value of a content plan. But let's pretend you don't and need to know how to make one.
These are the tactics I use:
Dig through my site analytics to find popular themes
Spy on my readership to see what they’re into
Resurrect evergreen content from my archive
Springboard off seasonality
Target keyword clusters that I want to hit for my business
My ultimate secret weapon is what I like to call a ‘snowballing list’.
Every time an idea for a blog post crops up, I pop it in the backend of my website as a scheduled post.
This means that when I sit down to write, I have a whole stash of shit to work on. Often, the best ideas come when you aren't looking for them, out of conversations with colleagues or contemporaries.
Don't let those suckers slip away — add them to your snowball list!
3) Attack it sporadically
If you’re anything like me, you won't have a lot of time to write posts.
Blogging time will come in fits and starts, so I write in bursts.
If an idea comes to me while I’m working, I open up a blank document and jot as much of the rough idea down as I can, then flesh it out later. If I have half an hour before the end of the day, fifteen minutes between client calls or a train commute into the city, I’ll add images, SEO text, or jot out a paragraph.
Set aside a chunk of 'sacred blogging time' a week and use it to clean up your rough posts, fill in the blanks, add a catchy headline, and flesh them out.
Working like this will give you a healthy backlog of posts, so if you're absolutely slammed one week, you won't miss posting.
Smart, eh?
4) Pipeline that shit before you begin
To make sure you can start strong and keep consistent using this blogging method, I recommend having at least a month’s worth of content finished and scheduled.
It’s easier than it sounds — you’ll only need four or five posts!
Laying the groundwork beforehand gives you plenty of breathing room to keep attacking your content plan in little bursts.
I’ve been doing this for years, and it’s a method I swear by!
5) Schedule promotion
Ya gotta promote your post if you want to drive traffic to your site, babe.
Rather than juggle plates by manually promoting posts, I just sync Buffer with my website posting schedule.
Every time I finish a post on my site, I nip over to Buffer, type out a Tweet and schedule it to go live at the exact moment my post is released. Bosh.
Job done, babes! If you’re still stressing about where you’ll find the time, hire me to blog for ya or book a power hour and we’ll tackle your problems head-on!
