A few people were somewhat surprised and amazed that I had written over 100 blog posts in the lead up to my trip to Asia. And, they wanted to know how I did it. Here’s some principles behind my work method and tips for you to write and create your next 100 blog posts.
1 Start With Why
The first secret is not a secret. It’s the unavoidable truth that you just have to put the time in to get the results you want. When you’re clear about your motivation you’re more likely to create the energy to get things done.
Example: Recordings from our Webinar on Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why
2 Think Series
It’s way easier to write 10 blog posts than one. So, think in terms of a series of related posts. For example, what were the top ten books you read in 2011? There’s one blog post. Then write a post on each one of them. That’s eleven blog posts! Then write about the 10 books you are planning to read! Consider, 5 series of 10 blogs and you’re half way to 100.
Example: Top Ten Best Books for 2011
3 Review Reserves
Go back over the material you have created previously for other projects and see what is still relevant. In particular any published articles or ebooks you have written. If you’re lucky you may be able to repost it as it is or you may be easily able to modify it. I was lucky enough to have a complete Book Rapper issue that had not been published. This became 12 individual posts.
Example: Book Rapper Issue: Your Referral Trumpet
4 Promote Events
Some of my blog posts talk about the events I’m going to run in the near future. If one in ten blogs are promo items then you’re readers will probably be okay with this. Also, if you have run an event share what happened. This could be a written post, a recording of the event or the handout. When planning events always think of the blog posts that could promote it before and after. Sharing about it afterwards is also a great lead into your next event.
Example: Our first Ideas Lunch for 2012
5 Share Favourites
On Twitter there is a casual custom called ‘Follow Friday’. On Friday, you share some of the people you enjoy following. You can do a similar thing to create blog posts. Consider sharing your favourite bloggers, youtube videos, TED videos, slideshare presentations, etc. You don’t always have to be creating the content yourself to be of service to your readers. Being a curator of content is important. You might also like to highlight your own content. Create a list of your most popular posts or lists on particular themes.
Example: Simon Sinek’s TED Video on his book Start With Why
6 Create Multiple Versions
One of the great things about video is that you can slice and dice it into multiple formats. You have the video, you’ve got the visuals, you can strip out the audio and you can even transcribe the words. By sharing your message in multiple formats you can reach people who have different preferences. Some want to listen, some want to watch and some want to read. Also, consider how to create short or longer versions of your content. Twitter is short, an ebook is longer.
Example: Twit Rapper is our five minute tweet version of our Book Rapper issues. Here’s the Twit Rapper version of Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week.
7 Create Colourful Comments
The number one thing you need to be a successful blogger is to have an opinion. You don’t have to be the loudest, just selective. Simply sharing your favourites (Point 5) is one way to have an opinion. You’re saying: “I think this is cool.” You can take this further by commenting about other people’s blog posts, newspaper articles and the like. Writing reviews of books or artwork or products works too. For me, Book Rapper is my book summary of some one else’s content. It’s a way to share my opinion by commenting on other people’s work.
Example: Book Rapper Review: The Referral Engine
Love to hear your thoughts about how you create your content and write your blog posts.
PS: If you posted twice a week, 100 posts would almost last an entire year. Remember, I was the one who said I wanted to post everyday. It’s up to you how often you post.
