Me: You should start blogging!

You: I don’t have time. I’m not a good writer. I don’t have anything to offer. I don’t know how. No one will read it anyway.

Do you find yourself believing any of these lies? The truth is, blogging really can change your business. You can establish trust and start a conversation with your audience before there’s any chance for purchase. Within a month of my blog going live, my site traffic increased by 350% compared to the previous month! In addition to traffic, people are staying on my website longer and engaging with more pages on each visit. I don’t have a huge social media following, I don’t write every day, and I didn’t spend money to start blogging. But, I’m still seeing major results!

Are you scared to start blogging for your business?

Here are my top 6 tips to help you get started:

1. Write a rough draft first, and let it be a rough draft!

Write your first draft, and don’t edit it as you go. Just type. This helps you keep your voice, and it can help prevent writer’s block. Most of my first drafts have actually been “written” while on a walk. I wear my Apple headphones, open a clean notes page and speak the article. Once I’m back home, I copy and paste it into Google Docs and edit it!

2. Get someone else to proofread it.

Find a trusted friend, family member, or coworker to send your content to for edits! I use Google Drive to write all of my blog posts. You can share the document with someone and ask them to go into “suggesting” mode. This way, they can edit your content, and you see all the changes before approving! My sister or mom to proofread every blog I post. (Thanks, guys!) My mom is a retired English teacher, and my sister minored in English in college. Both of them know their stuff and ALWAYS find comma problems and other grammatical things I wouldn’t have noticed.

3. Don’t write and post content on the same day.

Give yourself a day or two to revisit your work before hitting publish. You might think of more things to add or things that need to be changed. This also takes some of the stress out of blogging. When everything is ready to go in advance, hitting publish is a lot easier!

4. Stop looking at other people’s content for ideas until you’ve written your own.

The worst thing you can do for your writing is to think of an idea then immediately get on Pinterest to look at other people’s work on the same topic. Come up with your own ideas, write a rough draft, and then look for inspiration to spruce up your post if needed. The truth is most things have already been written. If you get on Pinterest right now and search for content on your post idea, you would most likely find other people who have also talked about it. BUT, it hasn’t been talked about by you with your voice, your take on things, and for your audience.

5. Work blogging days into your schedule instead of just writing “whenever.”

I have worked blogging days (or evenings sometimes) into my work schedule. This means during that time, I’m mostly just writing. This helps my mind really get focused and come up with even more creative ideas than it would if I were bouncing between all the many things I do in my business. If you don’t have time to blog in your daily schedule, try setting aside an intentional early morning or late evening once a week to work on content.

So, just GO FOR IT. The benefits of blogging are endless, and your audience needs to hear the special things that only you can offer!  

Want more? Learn how to use Google Docs to write your blog content and get a free template!