Busy-ness is a common theme for wellness clinic owners and wellness practitioners. You always seems to have more things you want to do than time in the day to do them. And now you’re supposed to blog, too?
Whether blogging is a job requirement or one of your own marketing goals, when it’s piled on top of a full load it can be tough to muster the the motivation to follow through.
Yet an abandoned blog will wave a red flag about your credibility every time a visitor lands on your website. And if you’re not blogging yet, you’re denying prospective clients the gift of discovering your expertise in the very area they need help.
Before you give up on the idea of blogging for your business, consider these 12 soothing truths for overwhelmed bloggers:
1. You can miss a post
You can remove the word deadline from your vocabulary. For most of us, very little that we do in a day is a matter of life or death. We make plans and schedules, and then we do our best and recalibrate when we must. The world won’t end if you veer from your editorial schedule. Reset the delivery date (isn’t that a nicer term?) and move on.
2. Inspiration always returns
When I sit and agonize over a post that’s not flowing, I find that I can turn my attention to something else and trust that when I come back, I’ll be given the inner or outer resources I need. If that means a blog post isn’t done when I hoped (or never gets done – link to when to scrap), that’s okay, I just refer to Truth #1.
3. No one is reading every word
In an interview with Tema Frank of Frank Online Marketing, I was reminded of the humbling fact that even though I review every single word of my blog posts several times, that’s not how people are reading them. They’re much more likely to skim the headlines, as you may be doing right now, honing in to read only certain sections.
4. There is no perfect
Though my attention may be drawn to industry giants who blog beautifully and brilliantly on a regular basis, in the grand scheme of things there are far more businesses who blog less frequently and definitely less perfectly. Depending on your niche, you might already be the one who’s farthest ahead, and you’ll be improving with every new post.
5. Everything improves with repetition
The more you write, publish and promote blog posts, the easier and more effective you will become. You can also use your published posts to measure your responses, do more of what’s working well, and experiment with things that may work better. Josh Kaufman claims you can get noticeably better at any skill by applying 20 hours of focused practice (that’s 40 minutes per day for a month). Writing every day doesn’t mean you publish every day, but it will do wonders for your confidence and skill.
6. Mistakes can be deleted
You can go back anytime after a post is published and correct a typo. If you’re adding new content or correcting misinformation, I recommend you clearly label that new information. Yes, people who subscribe to your blog will get the original version in their Inbox, but you can still take comfort in knowing the corrected version is the one that will live on forever.
7. You can let go of something else
Take an honest look at the time and money you’re currently spending on promoting your business. If something isn’t delivering results, can you funnel that investment into your blog? Be just as honest about your personal time. If you watched one less episode of a TV show or were more efficient with your errands, couldn’t you find a few minutes for blogging?
8. Blogging gives way more than it takes
Your blog posts can do double duty as content for social media, email newsletters, presentations and more. And as I mentioned in Truth #6, blog posts live forever on your site for new people to discover.
9. More isn’t better
Very few businesses need to be publishing a new blog post every day, and once a month might even be enough. It’s better to spend a few minutes each day working towards one really solid post, than to force yourself to eke out more frequent posts that aren’t well thought out or effective.
10. It’s okay to split
A clinic blog can have multiple personalities, topic areas, and even audiences, as long as they’re clearly defined and organized so the right people can find the information that’s for them.
11. If you can help, you can blog
Your wellness clinic exists to help people, and that means you already have everything you need for a terrific clinic blog. These days we often turn to the Internet first when we have questions – if you can provide answers that help people begin to solve their problems, they’ll come back for more. When it’s time to get expert help, you’ll be right there on their screen.
12. There is help for blogging
Whether it’s planning a blog strategy that incorporates your marketing goals, coordinating or interviewing subject matter experts, writing and editing blog posts, posting them to your site, or promoting and sharing them on social media, there are people with those areas of expertise.
For an overwhelmed blogger, the most soothing solution of all may be to share or pass along the task. That way everyone on your team can do what they do best, and you get to concentrate on running your business and serving the new clients your blog will attract.
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Well said, Linda! Very often people don’t realize that you need to have a strategy with your blog, just like the rest of what you would do for your business.
These 12 pointers really hammer an important truth. We are the only person to expect perfection of our blog. 🙂
Hi Cendrine, and thank you so much! Yes, it is so quick to publish a blog post that it’s far too easy to fall into the trap of posting on a whim.