Today for Work it Wednesday, we’re gonna tackle a little (big) piece of marketing: your content. Taking time to write a blog or newsletter can be such a pain. The hardest part is deciding what to write. How many times have you sat down to write a blog, knowing that you really need to get something out soon, and draw a blank? Some call it “writers block.” We have a way around that. There are steps to take before you actually sit down to write—and the main strategy is having the content ideas before you start.
The key is preparation. It’s hard to write a post in an average day if you haven’t already settled on a topic. If you know the topic in advance, you’ll have some time to think about it and there’s a good chance that even without writing anything down, you’ll have a few bullet points or ideas about what you want to write. This is why we suggest using an editorial calendar, if you don’t already. An editorial calendar is a great tool for organizing your thoughts and ideas into a schedule of when and where (blog, website, newsletter, social media) to post them. We’ve created an editorial calendar for you, if you would like to try it out: all you have to do is sign up for our newsletter and you’ll get it right to your inbox!
Now you’re ready to separate brainstorming topics from the actual writing process. Look at your calendar and try to think a few weeks or a month in advance. This way you can look at what other events, promotions, etc. you might have coming, and really nicely tie everything together. When putting topics on your calendar, it would also be helpful to think about graphics or images that will go along with the post. (Don’t post a blog entry without a graphic!) Still not sure what to write about? Entrepreneur posted some great ideas the other day.
In the end, there’s a lot more to blogging than sitting down and writing a few words about what your business has been up to. This can be overwhelming. If any of this process is problematic—you don’t have time for any of it, you have the topics but no desire to write, or maybe you need some help planning—give us a call. We love to blog!
Image used under Creative Commons from Flickr user Pete O’Shea.