Last week, I asked our Sumèr Facebook fans to share their biggest blogging challenge. By overwhelming majority, blogging time and blog content are the main struggles. The responses don’t shock me—many of our clients say that they don’t have time to blog or they have a hard time coming up with topics.
Since I just wrote a blog on generating content and avoiding bloggers’ block, I’ll keep the focus here on time.
My advice to those of you who say you don’t have time to blog is that you DO have the time. You just don’t make time for it.
Before you start to write me an email listing the 20 million reasons you don’t have the time, hear me out. If you think you don’t have the time and you can never find the time, it simply means you don’t see your blog as part of your overall marketing strategy.
Ask yourself this: Do you see it as a client attraction tool? A way to make yourself an expert in your field? Do you see your blog as an awesome way to connect and engage with prospects, people in your industry, and key influencers?
If you don’t, you should. And if you did, I bet you’d find the time to post.
If you are one of those people (there’s no judgment here—I’ve been there) who spends more time talking about not blogging than planning and writing, then I encourage you to take a good, long look at why you have a business blog in the first place.
Why do you blog and what is the purpose of it? And whom are you blogging for?
Take out a sheet of paper, and answer these questions. If your answers are along the lines of, “I don’t know” and “Because I think I should,” then you have to make a decision: either switch your intention and perspective, or stop blogging.
Either do it or don’t.
Why do something you don’t like or something you feel does nothing for you? If this is what you’ve been doing, then you are wasting your time and energy.
If you’re saying, “But wait, Michelle, I know my blog could be great. I know I have a ton of great information to give readers and prospects,” then I applaud you. Now, get off your butt, and start blogging. Make the time. Set aside time once a week, twice a week, whatever you can, and make it a point to write posts.
Creating a schedule ensures you will stay organized and current with it. During this set time, you brainstorm topics, write posts, and search for images or photos to accompany posts. I suggest using this time to read other blogs and comment on them, research relevant industry news and events, and promote your blog on social media.
Stay tuned for the next blogging tip, when I’ll use case studies to show how business owners created a blog that brings them business.
