How to Write a Weekly blog post

In selling it is becoming more and more important to have your own platform. We are living in such a dynamic world and who knows what the future for selling is. One thing I do know is that most research is done online, by your prospect. They will check out your company’s website and reviews. They will check out your Social Media profiles. Once way to stand out from the crowd is to have your own weekly blog, where you can establish yourself as an authority in your field.

Why should you write a weekly blog post?

First, why should you write a weekly blog post? Why would I recommend you do this?

One reason is to find your voice. You have something to say and somebody somewhere needs to hear what you have to say. Your blog could be for instruction, entertaining or information. It could help someone somewhere and make their life better. The more you write about your subject, the more you will know, through your research. People will automatically perceive you as an expert.

Build your audience or tribe as the marketers today call it. You may plan to make money with you blog or build a potential client database. Being a trusted fount of knowledge in a certain niche area will help you no end.
Another reason is to get into the writing habit. Writing your weekly blog post forces you to get into the writing habit. It forces you to get over perfectionism and procrastination. Tell yourself, that you will write a weekly blog post and stick to it. Eventually this will be ingrained and you will need to meet your own deadlines.

The next reason to write a weekly blog is so that you can practice writing and get better. The more you write the better you will get. As you hone your skills, you will find out what works and what does not. What is more likely to receive favourable comments and what does the world ignore?

Choosing your subject matter

What are you passionate about? What would you spend your time doing if you did not have to work? If you won the lottery today, what would you do first (after having a holiday and going on a spending spree)?
What are your interests? Look at your book collection, is there a genre that you read about more often. If you go to the library or bookstore, which section do you go to first?
In what issues to you care? What would make you write a strongly worded letter to your MP? What causes do you support?
Once you know what area you will write about, then you can choose what to name your blog.

What will be the address of the blog site? (AKA Uniform Resource Locator or URL)

Once you have a broad idea of your subject matter, then you can get your URL. If someone is going to visit your blog, they will need to know if it is worthwhile spending their time reading it. The first clue is finding out what your blog post is called and what the URL is. This needs to be short and punchy and specific to your area of writing.

Before you decide this, however, think about where to host your website. With a WordPress site, you can get started straight away and it is free. You can pick different themes and designs for your blog site. You could even pay a small annual fee for some fancier themes and templates with e.g. Elegant Themes.
The downside with hosting your site on WordPress is that you will have a generic WordPress URL address.

If you do not want a generic myblogname.wordpress.com URL, you can get webhosting, with a host like Bluehost .
You can then install WordPress onto your hosting. There will be an annual cost for your web hosting and you will have to pay a few £ for you URL. It will look more professional if you can have a .com or .co.uk, for instance.

Organising your space and time

Professional writers will have a space that they go to write. This should provide comfort and minimise distractions.
Writing needs to be a habit. The first thing in installing a new habit is to set a time every day to do it. In the case of writing a weekly blog, you will need to set aside around 30 minutes every day. Is there a time in your day where you could spare 30 minutes a day? It might be early in the morning when it is quiet. Alternatively, could you find 30 minutes at lunchtime, or perhaps in the evening? Just as long as it is the same time every day.
Next is to allocate each writing task to a specific day of the week. Here is what I do in my week, to ensure I get my blog our every week:

Sunday

I think about different ideas and what the objectives of the post will be.

Monday

I will now know what the post will roughly be about, so I can now brainstorm/ mind map the ideas. Then I start to build an outline. What will be the beginning, middle and end i.e. the rough structure.

Tuesday – Thursday

This is when you will actually write out the post, following your outline. I find it easiest to write in a word processing program such as Microsoft word, because of the spelling and grammar checking facility. It is important to write unedited, don’t worry about spelling or grammar, as you will sort this out on Friday. This brings us to …

Friday

This can be the longest part of the blog and really the one you should take most care with. One typo can undermine your whole message, so make sure your review it thoroughly. Firstly, the obvious spelling and grammar check, but also does it read well. Read it through several times. Read it aloud. In addition, does it meet your original objectives? Once you are happy, publish. Don’t be shy about this; you can always tweak it after you publish, if you spot something later.

Saturday

This is for SEO and social marketing, spreading the word. There are many free SEO plugins on WordPress eg Yoast, which will walk you through the process of making your post Search Engine Friendly. This means that Google will find you post easier and more people will find you. Next, you can share your post with your networks on e.g. Facebook and Twitter. You may have a separate Facebook page for your blog, which will be open to the public, so even more people can find you. (Here is mine)

Sunday repeat

Start back with thinking about your next post. It doesn’t matter if your previous post was not to the standard as a Dickens or Shakespeare. Just get it out there and move on. Remember you are honing your skill in a market place, where you will get feedback. You can learn as you go and get better and better.
As ever, I wish you peace, happiness and success. If there is anything you are struggling with let me know in a comment and I will aim to help.