How to Blog if Blogging Just Isn’t Your Thing

 

If I’ve learned anything from my coaching clients, it’s that creatives love being creative, not spending all their time on a computer. But blogging is an integral part of your business, and when done right, it can catapult you to incredible growth. And, when done right, it doesn’t have to be nearly as hard as you might think it is.

 

This week, I’m going to cover all things blogging related. We’ll discuss tips for running a successful blog, mistakes to avoid when blogging, and finally, we’ll go over personalization and automation tips that will create efficiency and consistency for your blogging.

 

First things first, what is a blog?

 

It’s 2 things:

 

 1) A powerful piece of technology; a platform for your messaging.

 2) It is a promise in the minds of most readers. These readers expect the blog to have actual content with some elements of value that are hyper-targeted to their needs. 

 

Let’s cover some tips for running a successful blog.

 

Tips for Running a Successful Blog:

 

• Know your audience. I talk about this over and over and over, because it is SO important. You need to understand who your brand is, what you stand for, and what your messaging looks like. This is essential for setting up your business. Once you know who your audience is in your mind and what your voice is, it’s simple—you write to that person.

• Write compelling headlines. Think of newspapers or news sites, or even other blogs you like to read. Pay attention to what articles you click on and which ones you don’t. Notice how the headline is worded. Was it grabby? Did it have your attention immediately? Many event professionals, especially wedding professionals, will name their blog posts after their couples. Nobody knows who Susie and John are, so why would they click? What if instead, you tried, “Desert Inspired Wedding with an Intimate Ceremony?” NOW you have my attention.

• Keep it short. Many new bloggers get put off of blogging when they think they need to write a TON of content. We’re all busy people, right? Reading something online that takes 20 minutes is rare. Aim to keep it around 1,000 words, which is a happy medium of information and brevity.

• Repurpose content. Working in the event and wedding industry can feel cyclical, or even your process for every event might have very cyclical elements. For example, maybe you have one blog post that talks about how to pick the perfect venue. You can repurpose that a year later because you’re going to have a new audience. Evergreen content is your friend.

• Utilize Pinterest. When it comes to Pinterest, it’s the social media platform for planning. People use it to find inspiration for a future date, whether it’s a wedding or anniversary or any other special celebration. Use it well and often with your blog to promote growth.

• IT TAKES TIME. You’re not going to get readership overnight. You might not even get it for the first few months. The key is consistency, and to put your head down and keep chugging away.

 

Next, let’s talk about mistakes with blogging that you’ll want to avoid.

 

As a business owner who has been in the blogging game for over 15 years, I know what mistakes to avoid and want to pass them on to others who are just getting started.

 

Mistakes to Avoid when Blogging

 

• Uploading poor quality images. Especially in the creative event industry, so much of our work is visual. You need BEAUTIFUL images to really draw in a readership. This means no images are pixelated, incorrectly sized or not formatted correctly. If you’re not a photographer, team up with photographers in your industry and promote one another through your content.

• Writing too much content. Again, images are crucial to our industry. Aim to strike a balance between just enough written content and images. A wall of text isn’t going to be reader-friendly and can turn people off quickly, no matter how good your writing is.

• Blogging about things you’re not passionate about. Not only will you not feel motivated to write, but the content won’t feel authentic to you or your readers either. Write what you know and what you’re passionate about. Show how you are an expert in your own field.

• Sporadically posting. You must be consistent with your posting, or your readership can quickly grow bored or frustrated if there’s no new content. 

• Poor formatting. Have you ever gone to a blog, and the formatting was so poor, or there were so many ads that the page didn’t load properly, and you just gave up? Don’t make the same mistakes on your own blog. Take the time to format it properly and make it look very clean on both web and mobile.

 

Lastly, we’re going to talk about personalization and automation blogging tips that will create efficiency and consistency. 

 

Personalization and Automation Blogging Tips

 

• Create a content calendar. You wouldn’t write a book without outlining the chapters, so how can you know what to blog about without having an outline? 

 

• Be true to your voice & be yourself. What does this have to do with automation? Well, I never said you have to do the blogging all by yourself. I have a great team of bloggers who are able to create outlines, and then I can flush it out myself in my own voice. This process gives me a head start on blogging but is still authentic to me.

• Share on social media platforms. There are many programs out there that automatically push out your new content for you, whether it’s Tailwind or Hootsuite or the like. Find one that works for you, set it up, and let it run seamlessly in the background while you take care of other things.

• Grow your email list. An email list is akin to being able to physically knock on someone’s door. You can create content that is valuable to your readers and essentially deliver it to their doorstep. (Okay, their phone, but they can still enjoy it with a cup of coffee in the morning!)

• Finish with a compelling call to action. TELL your readers what to do after they’ve consumed your content. Do you want them to share it? Place a share button. Want them to reply to your email, tell them to HIT REPLY and leave a message. Want them to know you have Twitter? Shout it out on your other platforms. 

 

And my favorite? Freebies. Like a free downloadable, just like I’m going to have for you as I’m about to sign off here.

 

If you’ve made it this far, go on and treat yourself with the downloadable content calendar below. It’ll help you get started on your blogging journey. And if you need help or a kick in the pants, schedule an accountability call with me here. (← See what I did there?)