How to Blog on a Busy Schedule

Let's face it; we are all busy.

Probably busier than we would like to be. We are trying to build our businesses while also trying to maintain a work-life balance. Living the dream!

However, in today's crowded marketplace, being able to stand out with valuable and inspiring content is vital for your business. It shows your audience that you are with the times, dedicated, and an authority to trust and follow. One of the best ways to do this is through consistent blogging. The problem is, how the heck are you supposed to blog while you are overloaded with work?

My 3 Weeks Off

When I first started blogging, I was uber consistent. Forty-four consecutive posts in, I found myself in the middle of the summertime, desperately needing a little break from content creation. In short, I was burned out. I decided to take a week off from writing a blog.

Well, that one week turned into two, which turned into three. I realized that if I didn't shift that pattern, it would have rolled into months vs. weeks without a blog being posted on my site.

I am a big believer in business development without burnout. Having scheduled time off and dedicated space to enjoy your family are important parts of the work/life balance. But after this little blip in content creation, I was suddenly reminded how important it is to have an editorial calendar.

Plan, Plan, Plan

We've all heard the quote, "Failing to plan is like planning to fail." I think it applies to this topic as well. 

The best way to ensure that you are consistently posting is to plan ahead. With one of my clients, we took a day to schedule 18 months of weekly blog posts. We created a Google Doc table that consisted of attention-grabbing blog titles, the main points to cover, and a couple of SEO keywords per post. That was a significant accomplishment, yielding had great rewards! Not only did it provide structure for the writer, but it offered a beautiful continuity of topics for the reader.

Setting a realistic goal for how often you want to publish is important. For most businesses starting out, I would recommend once a week at a minimum. For my WordPress bloggers, there is a handy, free plugin that allows you to see a full calendar of your scheduled blog posts. It has some other cool organizational features as well to help with your writing efforts.

How Do You Fit It All In?

Ok, so you've established that you want to blog, you need to blog, you've created an editorial calendar with a schedule of all your blogs, but now comes the main limiting factor… TIME.

For me, I have found that setting aside my Saturday mornings works the best. Alternatively, I've heard that other solopreneurs get up one hour earlier each weekday to research, write, and schedule posts. We are all unique, with different patterns, obligations, and energy. When it comes to writing a blog, play around with a couple of different options to see what feels best for you. The key is to then stick with it once you figure out something that works.

Writing down your schedule and mapping out your goal will aid you in accomplishing the task of consistently writing.

Harness Your Reticular Activating System to Cultivate Blog Content

Your Reticular Activating System (RAS) is the part of the brain that is the "gatekeeper that filters information to the conscious part of the brain." It's always on and responds to our thought programming. So, for the purpose of this blog, if we set our intention to look for amazing, pertinent blog ideas daily, that little section of the brain will act as a radar when incoming data matches our criteria. Pretty cool!

It's always a great idea to capture these ideas when they arise. You can use the Evernote app, the voice recorder on your smartphone, or good ol' pen and paper to record any thoughts about blogs that float into your brain throughout the day.

Interested in RAS? Here are a simplistic YouTube video and a detailed class on study.com.

Multipurpose for Maximum Efficiently

Once you have your writing space carved aside, why not splinter off some of your blog content and use it for social media posts? 

I usually write four Facebook posts that I pull from my blog headers, along with a Pinterest graphic that I pull from my blog media. You can get creative here. If Instagram is your jam, craft a couple of visually rich memes to post through the week using content inspiration from your post. And don't forget about using Instagram Stories to push the narrative of your blog throughout the week!

A word of caution, you don't just want to cut and paste everything and post the exact same content in multiple places. Each platform has a unique style, plus that'd get pretty redundant for your viewer. However, using your main blog post as the weekly theme with a little cross over works great!

If you scroll through my Facebook page this week, you'll see what I mean in action. 

When it comes to writing a weekly blog, the intention, commitment, and tech tools will help you get the job done! The main thing is to implement. Once you get the ball rolling, it will establish a powerful momentum that will keep you writing consistently and developing compelling content for your audience. Good luck!

Until next time…breathe joy,

Kc

Need help creating an editorial calendar to keep your content delivery consistent? Reach out to me for support.