Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

A New Daily Blogging Habit – It’s not what you think!

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If you want to post new content more frequently (I recommend 2-5 times per month), I’m going to suggest that you develop a daily blogging habit.

Stop. Breathe. Don’t worry. It’s not what you think.

I do NOT want you to post every day. For most people, that’s an unrealistic goal, and not necessary for reaping all the benefits of blogging.

It’s like I suggested in a previous post, Five Writing Resolutions that are Worth Keeping: To increase your writing frequency, look at how often you’re aiming to publish right now. Get solidly consistent with that goal, and then gradually increase your number of posts.

Otherwise, you’ll be trying to change too much, too fast, without having these foundational supports in place:

Five Foundational Supports for Your Daily Blogging Habit

  1. Blog post calendar – Have at least a rough plan for how you will keep your blog fresh throughout the month. I recommend Charlie Gilkey’s planners, available in two versions – free and premium. I just sprung for my second year of premium planners (combined with his Freelancer Workweek planners) and have found it well worth the small investment.
  2. Blog post planner – Make use of the feature on Charlie’s planner that allows you to group your posts by categories. That way, you can see at a glance that your blog is balanced.
  3. Article time – If you’re sitting down to start, finish and publish a blog post all at the same time, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Instead, devote time to take each post through four stages – brainstorming, drafting, writing and editing – with at least a short breather in between.
  4. Idea catcher – Have a place (or many) to capture your new brainstorms wherever you may be, and a set time to transfer those into a draft post where you can proceed through the rest of the stages.
  5. Draft posts – Set your blog to save your new posts in “draft” mode by default, and use that space to develop your ideas and polish them for publishing.

A daily blogging habit is a commitment to devote time to your blog. But blogging every day doesn’t mean posting every day. It means that no matter what day it is, you have at least one blog post that you’re working through the stages of the writing process.

How to Focus Your Mind, Your Topic and Your Writing

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When you first emerge from a productive brainstorming session, it may seem like there will never be enough time to develop all your ideas.

There’s a sense of glee and excitement about sharing your topics, and maybe even a little bit of fear that it was the last productive brainstorming you’ll ever have.

Mix those feelings together and it becomes tempting to pour every single thought into your very next blog post. The unfortunate result can be a hodgepodge of topics that take the reader on a long, winding journey – if they stay with you that long.

Content marketing is most effective when each piece of content addresses one specific question or challenge that is important to your ideal client.

Here are some tools that will help you focus, long before you sit down to draft, write or edit:

  • A current content strategy with the topics that will be most meaningful to your audience – update this regularly with surveys, interviews, metrics and other research techniques
  • A blog post calendar where you can slot in future post topics (I use and recommend Charlie Gilkey’s Blog Post Planner and Calendar)
  • Idea catchers for when inspiration strikes, including at least one high-tech or low-tech mobile option for when you’re on the go (remember to schedule regular times for transfering ideas from your idea catcher to your blog post calendar)

Here are some tips to help you focus your mind and your topic when it’s time to draft, write and edit:

  • Use lists either as the main content of your article (e.g., a top 10 list) or as a way of structuring your work (e.g., present one main topic and then list three supporting points) – for more help with lists, join the free call, How to Write a Better List
  • Write to one ideal client, imagining they are sitting right across from you
  • Keep asking yourself, “what is my point?” – if anything you’ve written doesn’t support your point, save that content for another article

So don’t try to write the article of a lifetime by pooling together all of your freshest ideas at once. Instead, remember, you have a lifetime to write articles! When you spread your ideas out, they’ll be easier for your audience to take in – ensuring a long and healthy exchange of ideas and services.

Choose Your Words Carefully (Lessons from My Morning Meditation)

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Choose your words carefully What are you building with your words?

This question occurred to me after my morning meditation session. I was reflecting on how I could be most useful today, and I decided to get some help from a new iPhone/iPad coaching app that I recently discovered.

ThinkPal is designed to "kick-start your creativity and unearth new perspectives," by delivering a series of random coaching questions that you can apply to any topic. The one I clicked to this morning asked, "What are you building?"

That led to some powerful insights as I reflected on how the actions I choose to take today could intersect with what I want to be building in my business and my life.

Then I wondered how the question might help you, and this blog post was born.

What you DON'T want to be building

Here's what you may be unintentionally building with the words you write on the web:

  • Overwhelm – By trying to pack too much into one article or post, you may be creating confusion instead of clarity
  • Doubt – Overwhelm and confusion can lead your readers to doubt themselves (and you!)
  • Distance – If you're using a lot of jargon or technical language in order to sound smart, your readers may feel that you're talking down to them
  • Disrespect – Too many typos, misused words or grammatical errors will have your readers questioning your professionalism and capabilities

What you DO want to be building

Here's what you may be intentionally building with your online messages:

  • Insights – Just like the ThinkPal app brought me new insights this morning, your writing has the power to inspire the same for your readers
  • Understanding – You can help someone grasp a concept that's new to them – even if it's obvious or old news to you
  • Action – By building insight and understanding, you guide and inspire your readers to take action
  • Suspense – Michael J. Katz's writing provides a stellar example of suspense and other story-telling techniques that help you engage your reader

Will you help me finish this post?

I thought of some other examples, but I wanted to leave room here for YOUR thoughts: What are you trying to build when you write a new blog post? What results have you gotten? What have you built with your blog? Please enter your comments below.

If your content isn’t working, check for these root problems

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So you're blogging, tweeting and updating and you're growing your numbers of friends, fans and followers. Yet you're discouraged by the lack of concrete results (i.e., more clients and sales) and you're not sure that content marketing is worth the HUGE effort it seems to take.

Before you give up completely, have a look to see if some of these common root causes are to blame:

  1. Lack of planning – Your lack of planning may be more noticeable to you than it will to your readers. Are you constantly scrambling to come up with your next "big idea," or always questioning whether you're on the mark? Back up and do some planning.
  2. Rushing – I'm all for efficiency and batching similar tasks, but be honest: Are you always pushing out your blog posts at the last minute or rushing through the process? Writing artfully is a skill and deserves the respect of your attention and time.
  3. Skipping the editing step – Do you click "Publish" the instant you type your last thought? Or maybe give the article a cursory read-through immediately? That might not be enough - I guarantee you'll find more errors if you walk away and come back to it later.
  4. Patchy publishing – When is the last time you updated your blog? Writing takes practice, like every other skill. Writing and publishing regularly, even if your creativity comes in fits and spurts, gives you that practice. It also sends the message that you are reliable in other ways.
  5. Writing in isolation – What's going on in your industry? Even more importantly, what's going on outside of your industry? If you're in a writing rut, click farther and farther outside of your regular circle. You're bound to find new inspiration and ideas. Then write and share with those new people and expand your network of possibilities.

In my brand new book, Write Your Way to More Clients Online: How to craft captivating content for newsletters, blogs and social media, I address each of these root causes in five parts:

Part 1: Plan Mindfully
Part 2: Write Artfully
Part 3: Edit Skillfully  
Part 4: Publish Consistently
Part 5: Share Widely

The first test copy of the book is already en route to me and as soon as I've signed off on that your orders will be shipped! 

P.S. Here some other article writing mistakes to avoid when you're trying to grow your business with content marketing.

Done is better than perfect, but good is still better than bad

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I have a conundrum.

On the one hand, I just want you to get out there and blog, and more often – especially if your business is a service. Claim your expertise, just do it, stop procrastinating and certainly don't try to be perfect at it!

On the other hand, I want you to do it well! I want you to stand out from the people who are posting crappy content. I want content marketing to work for you!

So how can you raise your standards without crippling your confidence? Here are three ideas to get the conversation started, and I'd love to receive your comments below or by email.

  1. Take a stand for the quality of your content – Decide now that you will review ALL of your online communications before you publish or send. That includes emails, tweets, blog posts, newsletters, web pages, profile pages, etc.
  2. Decide what's important to you and hold yourself only to that – Commit to the basics of good writing by keeping an eye out for commonly misused words, typos and other errors. Start with the spellchecker, then read your work out loud to catch even more. From there, you can progress to more advanced writing skills.
  3. Compare to no one, learn from everyone – Start where you are and celebrate every single accomplishment – from seeing your work live on the page to receiving positive feedback from readers. When you come across a piece of writing that inspires YOU to act or think, use it as a writing lesson.

Does that help? Please leave your comments below (your spelling will not be graded).