This post was most recently updated on August 6th, 2016
I’m going to show you my private 4 Ways To Write More Blog Posts, And Write Them Better And Faster.
I’ll even throw in a quick little bonus tip.
I decided to put this information into a blog post because I know it’s a big issue for bloggers who have to juggle the writing of blog posts along with other writing commitments.
Many of them have email newsletters to write, eBooks, maybe even information courses.
In addition, they get asked to contribute other blogs as a guest, or to do a written interview response and so forth.
On top of that, they have to write social media posts on many platforms and may even contribute to forums regularly.
That doesn’t even address the issue of all the writing you do just in commenting on other blogs every single day.
It all adds up to a lot of writing.
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If you’re a blogger, or a prospective blogger, you’ve got to learn to get all this writing under control.
Otherwise, you can easily feel overwhelmed real quickly.
If you can’t find a solution to the overwhelm, you may end up either dropping your blog, or just allowing it to be poorly maintained, sporatic and unprofitable.
Here’s 4 ways to avoid that.
1. Don’t Procrastinate
So, the first thing I have to tell you is that most “writer’s block” or “productivity” problems point squarely at procrastination.
I do it, others do it, it’s just the way life is.
We like to put things off.
The difference between being a successful blogger and someone who runs “just another blog” is how you handle your human fraility, here.
It feels good to procrastinate.
We can do stuff that’s fun instead of work.
Why not?
Well, of course, the more you love your work, the more you’ll reduce that great divide between fun stuff and work.
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Now, I coach a lot of bloggers and those who really love what their blog is all about, they have less struggle with overcoming procrastination.
When I ask a student if they finished the 3 articles they told me last week they were going to write, I expect a “yes.”
If I get the all too familiar “not yet,” I know it means straight, flat out “no.”
“Not yet” may sound better to you, but it’s really just a yes or no question.
Period.
So, why don’t bloggers get those schedule articles done?
Here are some typical excuses, masquerading as explanations:
I just couldn’t find my inspiration
Solution…
Understand that you never will.
Writing does not come from inspiration, no matter how much you dream for that magic moment.
You’ll write more blog posts, better and faster when you set a schedule for writing.
Your “work hours” could be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
That’s just an example.
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Write in bunches…
- Monday… emails for the week
- Tues… funnel pages (sales pages, squeeze pages and the like)
- Wed… blog posts
- Th… coaching correspondence
- Fri.. social media and forum posts
You’ll find writing much easier when you have a regular time to do it, and you sit down and don’t get up or get distracted no matter what.
It’s almost always more productive to set up your schedule around batching your efforts as illustrated above.
If you have 3 blog posts to write this week, maybe one for yourself and 2 guest posts… it’s a lot easier to do them all in one day than one a day for 3 days.
If you don’t believe me, it’s probably because you’ve never worked that way.
Try it.
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I think you’ll find that not only do you get far more done this way, but the quality of your writing will be much higher.
It’s all about being in the flow, building momentum, and staying in stride.
There’s a lot of other excuses, but I can’t detail all the solutions, here.
- not enough time
- nothing new to say
- not enough material to write about
- too many other writing commitments
You’ll have the time if you set a work routine and stick to it.
You’ll never have anything new to say, but if you’re a writer, you’ll always find a new and interesting ways to say it.
As for finding material/topic and managing other writing commitments, re-purposing is your best strategy.
Write More Blog Posts, And Write Them Better And Faster
2. Re-purposing
Every time you do something, do it 5 times.
If you do a video telling people how to do something, write 5 article topics from it.
So, let’s say you put a video on YouTube telling people how to write a good sales letter.
The moment you’re done with your video, write down 5 key points to the video (or 3 or 4, whatever you come up with).
Now, next time you sit down to write blog posts, you have 5 topics to pick from.
In fact, you can even put the YouTube video in one or two of the blog posts related to it.
But we’re not done there.
You have to write email to your list.
When you do, keep a list of your email topics.
Here are more blog posts for you.
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Just keep a desktop folder filled with topic documents.
Every time your write a Facebook or forum post, add that post inside of the corresponding topic document in your Topics folder.
When you have to write a blog post, you not only have a whole bunch of topics inside the folder, but you have some actual things you’ve already written on the topic.
Now, just re-purpose a Facebook post you wrote about writing sales pages, for instance, and you’ve got some basic structure for a blog post on that topic.
You can also re-purpose your writing by setting up content themes.
For instance, if every Friday you send out an email to your newsletter about “other blogs I love”, you’ll have a familiar structure set up.
Your email subscribers will know what sort of thing to expect, and you’ll have an instant frame of reference to just plug in your updated information for the week.
Then, you can re-purpose some of your newsletter content by writing one blog post a month dedicated to reviews or shares of other blog posts you love.
When you re-purpose your written content from one platform (like emails or Facebook) to another (like your blog posts), you develop a steady stream of related content.
People start reading your blog posts, your social posts and your emails and see a pattern emerging.
You are saying the same or similar things in different contexts and through different medium on a consistent basis.
Everywhere people turn, they see you talking about certain topics in a certain way that starts to develop your unique “message”, in your specific “voice” and in such a way as to build your personal “brand.”
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3. Delete Writing Tasks
When writing blog posts becomes an overwhelming task, you can also just cut back on the amount of writing you commit to.
But don’t just eliminte things thoughtlessly.
First of all, you could start by cutting out some of your non-writing projects.
Which ones?
The ones that you’re not getting adequate return from.
If, in addition to all your writing, you are posting one YouTube video a day, then assess the value of that activity.
- Are you getting a lot of leads from you YouTube videos?
- Is the strategy driving considerable traffic back to your blog?
- Is this high-converting traffic, meaning, are you YouTube viewers subscribing to your email list and buying your products and services?
If the answer to all those things it “yes” then you don’t want to cut back on your video submission strategy.
Use this same litmus test for you LinkedIn posts, forum interactions and the like.
You’ll undoubtedly find that you’re doing a lot of things, implementing many different strategies that are not improving your business.
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They are just taking up a lot of your time.
When you stop doing some of these under-performing activities, it will free you up to do more more writing instead.
You can also streamline your work day by strictly limiting the amount of time you do thinks like reading emails and interacting with folks on social media.
You may think these things are important, but do them AFTER you’ve completed your writing projects scheduled for the day, and not until.
That will usually result in you spending far less time browsing through emails and social media posts, and much more productive time writing.
Write More Blog Posts, And Write Them Better And Faster
You can also learn to power of “no.”
I have people asking me every single day to write guest posts or contribute to expert and round-up posts, for instance.
It’s okay to say no sometimes.
I know these are important writing activities, but only accept them if you really have the time, and if they are returning measurable results for you.
Otherwise, do them, but cut the frequency of your acceptances.
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4. Use A System For Writing Blog Posts
Don’t just sit down to a blank white page and start writing without any structure, or any clear direction.
It may feel like you’re writing, but you’re not.
You’re just typing.
Here’s one of my secret systems.
Write Tiny Little Posts
Don’t sit down to write a 1,000 word blog post.
Sit down to write a 10 word post.
Write More Blog Posts, And Write Them Better And Faster
It goes like this.
Write a 4-step outline…
4 Steps to running Facebook ad campaigns.
1. Objective
2. Audience
3. Creatives
4. Posting schedule
That’s it.
That’s your blog post.
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Okay, it looks like it’s 12-words instead of 10, but you’re in the right range anyway.
Now, don’t think you have to fill in all kinds of information under each of your 4 “steps.”
You only have to write 3 sentences.
So, sit and write 3 very boring, dry statements about your Facebook ad campaing “objectives.” If you get stuck a bit, do some quick Google research or turn to your Topics folder for some help.
Do this for each step and you’ll have 12 sentences.
Next, just give some examples, explanation, perspective to each of your 12 sentences.
Now you’ve got 12 paragraphs.
And continue from there.
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Maybe you’ll add a few paragraphs here and there once you get on a roll.
Maybe not.
When you’re all done with the Body of your post, write the Summary, then the Intro paragraph, and last… the Title.
Do things in this order because you’ll develop your ideas for the summary as you go along.
Your Summary will essentially tell the reader what they just learned from you.
Now, go back to your Intro and tell people what they’re about to learn from you.
It’s just a quick re-write of the Summary.
Once you’ve done everything, step back to see what you’ve created, what you’ve taught, what ideas you’ve shared most prominently.
That will help you write a good Title.
Presto.
Blog post done.
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Now this is a formula.
It’s to help you be productive.
You can use a different system and formula, that’s okay.
The point is to have one on hand to get you into the flow, even when you have no idea of where to start.
I use this formula.
Sometimes.
More often, I try to, but my thoughts run away with me and I start free associating all over the place, and well… my writing tends to be more fluid than what I’m suggesting here.
But it’s a great frame of reference, and a lot of people set up a system like this and are perfectly comfortable to always color inside the lines.
Whatever works.
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5. Unannounced Bonus… Swim, Walk, Ride a Bike and Wash The Dishes
That’s just a partial list of things you can do to get your hands off the keyboard.
I didn’t say get your mind of your writing.
When I’m swimming in the pool or walking, or even cooking or washing the dishes… I come up with lots of great ideas.
I keep a little notebook and pen (remember those retro items?) next to me when I can.
I jot down ideas.
If I can’t, I store them in my mind and the moment I can, I quickly write them on a notepad or word doc.
Then, when I get to sit down and do some serious writing, I’ve got some great ideas to work with.
I can’t tell you how much I accomplish when I’m nowhere near my computer.
Just keep your mind open.
By the way, I’m not even saying these ideas come because I’m focusing on them.
I’m usually not even thinking about writing when these ideas just come to me when I’m doing something totally repetetive or mundane.
Once you get in the flow of this mind-state, it just seems to get more and more routine that you develop great ideas when you’re not even trying.
PS: I hate bike riding and never do it. I don’t know why I used that as an example. hehe
Now, I’d like to hear from you.
Do you have your own private methods for writing productively?
Have you found something of value in reading through my 4 Ways To Write More Blog Posts, And Write Them Better And Faster?
I’d love to read your comments below, and please share this article on your social sites.
-Donna
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