Tap out a blog post in 1-2 hours?

by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Jun 3, 2014 | Blogging, Content Marketing

That sounds virtually impossible. Insurmountable even. Who the heck can truly write “remarkable” newsworthy content in such a short period of time? I know and read about many who do and on a daily basis. Personally, I labor over many of my posts; no matter how many other ones I read stashed full of tips, tricks and recommendations for curating, newsjacking and writing.

The pressure’s on and you must produce a blog post. “Ugh” you say.

Sometimes you experience writer’s block, the dreaded blahs or why reiterate what’s been said time and time again. You know you’ve got game but it can still be a struggle to create something mammoth, something so rich that your audience will be shouting and sharing your post from the rooftops. Or, at least a few social channels.

[Tweet “Writing with your readers in mind, you must author up some compelling content.”]

One of my core beliefs of effective content marketing is to deliver content people actually want. Publish stories they actually will enjoy – to read and to share. Michael Brenner

Maintain originality, enticing your audience to hang on to every word, be inspired or educated with your twist on your hot topic. Remember, you aren’t writing for yourself, but your readers, those in need; those hungry for your content. When you know where they are, how they prefer to consume content, speak their language and solve their pain points, you will have initiated the first step toward:

Educating them
Generating authority
Instilling trust
Nurturing relationships
Developing credibility
Building your community

It’s just the first few bricks of your foundation.

Whether you are creating content for new prospects, current customers, industry analysts or someone else entirely, the real purpose behind those efforts should be to build a higher level of trust between the consumer of the content and the brand creating it. Dan Newman

Customize your content marketing strategy and tactics to target your unique audience. While there are allegedly many best practices and beliefs as a single monster sized umbrella for CM, you should experiment and create your own plan based upon your buyer personas, their needs, your industry and your budget as well. If you want different results, change the experiment.

Track and measure your efforts to determine what works.

And what works today, may not work tomorrow, but keep at it. It takes time, effort and creativity but with a little ingenuity and a genuine interest for your audience, writing can become second nature. So they say.

Blog Writing Tips

Set aside some time each week
Use an editorial calendar
Be consistent
Remember: quality over quantity
Eliminate distractions
Keep a swipe file of ideas, interesting articles, hashtags, circle of influencers and favorite websites/blogs
Have a list of curation/news sites
- Google Trends
- Content Gems
- Get Prismatic
- Tagboard
- User Generated Content
- Search Insights
- Buzzsumo
- Topsy
- Your social platforms
When you outline your post, know what questions you want to answer
Organize your content
Write a captivating intro
Use headlines and subheads
Include a CTA!
Visuals count
Use anchor text both internal and external
Remember your tags, descriptions and SEO
Take breaks to refresh and energize
Edit
Proofread
Proofread
Proofread