11 Ways to Consistently Create Great Blog Content

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Blogging can be an amazing way to reach a wider audience, establish yourself as an expert, build your brand and increase your bottom line. If you’re a business owner, you probably either have a blog, have someone blogging for your company, or have thought about starting a blog.

The problem is, for many business people blogging seems like more trouble than it’s worth. Common objections are “I don’t have time,” “I’m not really a writer,” “I don’t know what to write about,” or “blogging isn’t important in my industry.” Even if you have a blog, you probably deal with these issues as you try to maintain your online presence.

These concerns are very real, but I believe that in almost any business, a quality blog is a valuable asset.

“If you take a print magazine with a million person circulation, and a blog with a devout readership of 1 million, for the purpose of selling anything that can be sold online, the blog is infinitely more powerful, because it’s only a click away.” Timothy Ferriss, Author of The 4-Hour Workweek

In this post, I’ll help you overcome your resistance, and show you how to blog more effectively, with less effort. So, here are my top 11 tips on creating quality blog content, consistently:

1. Write what you know.

This is my first point because it’s so important. As a business owner, you are an expert in your field. Whether you own a salon, an e-commerce website or a landscaping company, you know your business. You’ve got years of experience for others to learn from. When it comes to blog topics, don’t over-think it. Write about what you focus on all day – your business!

“It’s not easy for an entrepreneur to find the time to blog. But for those who do it, it is a great tool to communicate with the various stakeholders in their business and build a reputation for thought leadership.” Fred Wilson, Venture Capitalist

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2. Use your journal to inspire your blog.

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that I’m big on journaling. I have a Journaling Secrets course, a Productivity and Profit Planner for journaling your business success, and Success Journals for entrepreneurs. I know that writing down your thoughts is one of the most important keys to success. When it comes to your blog, journaling is a must!

Most of the content on my blog starts in my journal. When I’m traveling, in meetings or just working on projects, I’m constantly writing things down. I try not to let those moments of extraordinary inspiration pass, because often, if I don’t write it down, it’s gone forever. How tragic to let an inspired thought go like that! When it comes time to create my blog posts, I look back at my journal with my blogger’s eye: what do I see in my journal that would benefit my readers? It’s a great way to start writing. As I often say, life brings you things in the right time and space! It’s up to you to write them down so you can refer back to them later.

I love jotting down ideas for my blog, so I doodle or take notes on all kinds of stuff that inspires me: the people I meet, boutiques I visit, a florist that just gave me a great idea for an interior-design project, things like that. Maria Sharapova, World-Champion Professional Tennis Player

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3. Engage your readers (don’t just sell to them).

Most successful business owners are big on marketing and sales. After all, without sales, there’s no company. You have to put aside your marketer’s hat when you write your blog, though. Blog readers don’t just want to be talked at, they want to be engaged. They want to hear your voice and your thoughts, not just get information.

Don’t be afraid to let your readers see the ‘real you.’ Project your personality into your posts. Your blog posts shouldn’t read like your product catalog. One great way to do this is add a video component to your blog. Get on camera and talk to your readers sometimes. This is a great way to connect on a higher level and build a trusting relationship with your readers.

“Before blogs, it was all about physical presence. We used to send out videos and audiotapes to communicate. Blogging and the Internet allow us to engage in a lot more real time conversations as opposed to a one-way dump of information or a message.”

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4. Stay informed.

On the internet, yesterday’s news might as well be from last decade. Readers want to know what’s happening now. There are too many sources of information – news sites, Twitter, Facebook, other social media, countless blogs – to post irrelevant or outdated information. You should be ever-informed about what’s happening in the world, and especially in your industry.

This is important for success in business in many ways, and it will definitely help you when creating content for your blog. Subscribe to your industry’s trade publications. You can usually subscribe on your tablet, but if there is no digital subscription, get the print version! Follow the blogs and social media accounts of the top influencers in your niche. Set a Google Alert for searches relevant to your industry so you get an email whenever a relevant news story is published.

Keep up with what’s happening in your arena, and after a short time you’ll probably have tons of topics to cover, and you’ll be trying to find the time to write it all! (Read on for some tips on time-management for blogging).

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5. Show and tell.The internet is becoming, more and more, a visual platform. Text on a plain background is not enough to engage the average reader anymore. Your blog needs to have an aesthetically pleasing, visually stimulating look. Make it beautiful! That doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be ultra-colorful and girly like mine, just that it looks great.

Use quality images in your blog posts. Pretty pictures keep your readers engaged and compel them to keep reading. Men want to see pretty pictures on websites, too, though they might not say it that way. If you produce your own photos for your blog, get a good camera. Cellphone cameras have come a long way, and they’re certainly good enough for quick snaps when you’re on the go, but they’re still not a substitute for a real, high-quality camera. If you’re not sure what kind of camera to get, a good place to start is an entry-level DSLR camera from Canon or Nikon.

Fashion designer Lauren Conrad gave this advice on choosing images for blog posts:

“When I work with my art department on putting imagery together for my blog posts I always think, ‘Would I pin this?’ That really helps.”

Keep your audience in mind when you choose your photos, and make sure they look great!

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6. Blog your amazing finds.

Have you ever needed an answer to a question, and spent an hour trying to find the answer on Google, only to come up dry? I know I have! That Google search is the perfect blog post. Once you get that problem figured out and solve it, write it up as a blog post! Chances are, there are many people looking for that same information. When they search for it, instead of finding nothing like you did, they’ll find you.

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7. Understand your category.

Every blog and every blogger has a category. There are music blogs, fashion blogs, car blogs, real estate blogs, travel blogs, design blogs, photography blogs, technology blogs, food blogs, education blogs… you get the idea. Your blog falls into a category. Make sure you know what that category is!

When you write your posts, write with your category in mind. Most of your readers will be reading your blog for its category, not the subject of the individual post. Tailor your content to be interesting and engaging to your category’s audience. If you have a photography blog, this doesn’t mean that you can only write about photography. Just make sure you relate your topic to photography – and probably show some of your photos of whatever the subject is. Whatever your category, make sure your posts line up with your blog’s overall theme.

“Keeping a ‘CEO blog’ or ‘founder’s blog’ can be a great platform for engaging your users in a nontraditional way, reaching people outside of your product pitch and building rapport without selling them anything except a belief in your ideas.” Kathryn Minshew, Management Consultant and Founder of The Muse

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8. Ask your audience questions.

Market research used to be an expensive, daunting task reserved for large corporations. Blogs and social media have changed all that, though. Now, ‘market research’ is as simple as asking a question. If your customers follow you on Facebook, talk to them! Ask them what they’d like to hear you write about. Ask them what’s their number-one challenge they face that they need help with. The answers you get will be great blog ideas!

You can engage with your audience this way on many platforms. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, your blog comments – wherever you get the most engagement from your audience, or have the most followers, is a good place to start.

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9. Post consistently.

If you want to develop a loyal following for your blog, you’ll have to post consistently. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean you have to post every day. Pick a timeline that you can realistically keep up with, and stick to it. This can be every two weeks, weekly, twice a week, or daily – whatever works for you. Just remember to think long-term when you plan your blogging schedule. A daily blog is 365 posts per year. A weekly blog is 52 posts per year. Find a number you’re comfortable with, and stick to it.

When you start out blogging, or if you’ve been inconsistent in the past, you can let your readers know what to expect from you. If you’ll be posting weekly, tell them in your posts (and/or emails) so they know when to check for your new posts.

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10. Batch your writing.

If you post to your blog twice a week, that doesn’t mean you have to write blog posts twice a week. I find that batching my blog posts is a key to finishing them with excellence and having them done on-schedule. Plan a block of time, 2-3 hours at least, to write your posts. Set a goal for the number of posts you’ll write during that time.

You have to love the process of being productive, then the profits will come! If you can write five posts for a weekly blog in one day, you’ve done your blogging work for the next month! Now that you have several posts written, move on to my last point…

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11. Schedule out your posts.

Most blogging platforms give you the ability to schedule your posts in advance. You don’t have to publish your blog posts as soon as you write them. When you’re batching your writing, you can go in and schedule your posts to publish at a date and time you choose. You can check the layout, proof-read and add your links for multiple posts all at one time. Once that’s done, you can breathe easy knowing your posts will come out just when you want them to.

If you’re a business owner that’s not blogging, I hope you’re inspired to begin. If you have a blog, but it’s been challenging for you, I hope this post has helped you see how you can overcome those challenges. I’d love to hear about your experience with your blog in the comments below!