You already know blogging is an effective marketing channel, but how do you find the time to write a blog post?
When I started blogging 7 years ago, it used to take me 4 to 5 hours to write a post. Since then, not only have I figured out how to write 1000 to 2000 word blog posts in under 2 hours, but I’ve figured out how to also improve the quality of my posts.
Here is the process you can use to write a post in less than 2 hours.
Blog on your passion
Blogging can be a chore, unless you are passionate about the topic. So first and foremost, pick a topic you are passionate about.
And don’t just pick a topic that you “think” you are passionate about. Pick one that you definitely know you’ll love. It has to be a topic that you love so much, that you constantly are trying to learn more about it.
Create a list
Now that you have a topic that you’re passionate about, create a list of all of the popular blogs in that space. You can easily do this by searching Technorati. If there aren’t too many popular blogs in your space, list out all of the blogs that are somewhat in your space and are popular.
Now that you have a list of all of the popular blogs, make sure you browse them once a week. When browsing them, look out for social buttons on each post that shows how many people either “tweeted” or “liked” the post. The higher the number the better.
Take the posts that have over 50 or 100 social shares and list them out in a spreadsheet. This whole process shouldn’t take you longer than 10 minutes. If it does, you are spending too much time on it.
Spin the title
The hardest part about blogging is coming up with a topic to blog about. But you don’t have to worry about this problem anymore.
Browse through your spreadsheet and continue to tweak around the headlines until you come up with a topic idea that you would want to blog on.
For example, in my spreadsheet, was this headline:
A Simple Plan for Writing One Powerful Piece of Online Content per Week
I found that headline on Copyblogger and it had over 1400 tweets. Because the Quick Sprout audience also likes topics about “blogging” and I myself am passionate about blogging, I thought I could spin that title. Here were my variations:
- A Simple Plan for Writing One Blog Post per Week
- A Simple Plan for Writing One Blog Post per Week in Less Than Two Hours
- A Simple Plan for Writing a Blog Post in Less Than Two Hours
- A Simple Plan for Writing a Powerful Blog Post in Less Than 2 Hours
As you can see, I kept on modifying the headline until I was happy with a variation. The fourth and last variation is one I liked, so I decided to go with it.
The process of spinning headlines shouldn’t take you longer than 10 minutes. You should be able to spin a headline at least once every 30 seconds. So over a course of 10 minutes, you should have at least 20 headlines.
Outline your post
Before you write your post, you should outline it. List out the main points you want to cover in your introduction, body and conclusion.
Once you have the main points you want to talk about in the body section, break them down into sub headings. In this post the sub headings are:
- Blog on your passion
- Create a list
- Spin the title
- Outline your post
- Fill in the details
- Edit, tweak, and massage
- Post and share
- Conclusion
Make sure you sub headings clearly describe what you are going to write about.
This section shouldn’t take you longer than 10 minutes. I know you may miss some details by being efficient with your time, but that’s ok. No blog post is ever perfect, so whatever points you have in your outline, just run with it.
Fill in the details
Now this is the longest section, but probably the easiest. Over the next 60 minutes you should be writing out what you want to talk about.
Don’t worry about making things perfect, or using correct spelling or grammar, just write. And if you happen to have writers block in one of the outlined sections, skip it and go back to it.
The key to “filling in the details” is to type as fast as possible, don’t fluff things up, and don’t correct any errors when you make mistakes while typing. And most importantly, don’t worry about trying to sound sophisticated through the use of fancy words… blog as if a 5th grader was reading it.
Edit, tweak and massage
Now that you have your blog post, it’s time for you to polish it up.
- Add or remove points – you want your blog posts to hit hard, so add any points that you feel will strengthen your post. And remove any points that aren’t too strong.
- Add facts – with a few quick Google searches you should be able to back up the points you are making. Find some sites to link to that back up what you have to say. This will boost your credibility and help brand you as an expert in your space.
- Improve the flow – if something isn’t easy to read, people won’t want to continue to read it. Make sure your blog posts are easy to read by using transitions.
- Correct grammar and spelling errors – although this sounds like a useless step, it actually is really important. Errors can affect your credibility in a negative way. If you aren’t good at fixing your errors like me, have someone else proof read your blog posts. If you can’t find someone, read your post aloud as it will help you find the errors.
Editing, tweaking, and massaging, shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes.
Post and share
If you wrote your post within your blogging platform, great! If not, just copy and paste it over. Most blogging platforms have a “what you see is what you get editor”, so if you copy and paste your blog post over, it should keep all of your formatting.
But before you post your blog post, you need to add an image. You can find a creative commons image from Flickr.
Once your post is up, share it on your social accounts. Twitter and Facebook are two great places to start.
This process shouldn’t take you longer than 10 minutes
Conclusion
There you have it… you now are able to write a blog post in under 2 hours.
At first you probably won’t be able to do everything I mentioned above in 2 hours, but after you first few tries, you should be able to easily write a post within that time frame.
Do you know of any other ways to speed up the blog writing process?
This amazing course will teach you, step by step, how to double if not triple your traffic over the next 30 days.
Here are few things I’d like to add in the “Fill in the details” section.
Turn your monitor off while writing (you should not at all edit while writing)
OR
Use distraction free writing tools like zenwriter, Ommwriter etc
About the post: Great one from you Neil. It’s so simple yet effective strategies to writer faster and better blog posts.
Great share!
My favorite non-distraction text editors are whiteroom and WordPress editor in fullscreen. They are pretty good at keeping you focused
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the added suggestion. I personally don’t edit until after I am done writing.
@Neil You are right, First we have to complete writing the article then we will if any where we need to edit then we must edit.
That’s how I like to do it.
Again another awesome and very useful post from you Neal, I would ask how you do it but the answer is up above me in the article
I shall take this and share it over my networks.
Have a nice day
Andi
Thank you Andi, I appreciate you sharing.
I really liked your concept of spinning the title. It’s the title which attracts the attention of the readers. Also creating an outline is an important thing before making any great blog post. Adding Headings such as Why, When, Conclusion, etc adds extra beauty and readability to the post.
Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed these tips.
Hey Neil, great points as always. I use a similar approach to finding ideas to write about on other blogs. Since there aren’t too many community college blogs, I tend to look for titles that were generally and then targeting them towards my market. I like to call it finding inspiration
Sounds good, thanks for sharing what works for you.
Great topic, great advice! Thank you so much for sharing. Blogging can be overwhelming when you first start. I also started with the 4 to 5 hour commitment and it was tough! I’m not down to 2 hours just yet, but I’m pretty close.
Another tip I discovered that really helped me: I like to write my articles a few days ahead of time. I write my outline and then flesh it out into a quickly written piece one day, and save editing for another day. It really helps to look at what you’ve written with fresh eyes- I’ll spend half as much time editing and come out with something even better than if I had tried to push through it all in one day.
It doesn’t always work, because sometimes you need to blog about a current event that’s happening in real time. But most of the time, it’s very useful!
Thanks so much again for this great resource!
Ah ha, Jackie, I’m doing the same thing as you to. I’m using a project management tool like Podio and Google Drive to track the progress of my drafts.
Ideas often come in at the wrong time and I try to work on drafts or ideas that I feel like working on rather than trying to push myself to focus on just one. The quality tends to be better this way.
Thank you Jackie for your additional input. It can help to take a look at your content with fresh eyes as you said. You could also do that and save time by having someone you trust look at it for you.
Great post, Neil! I myself also spent lots of time on writing a post (about 3-4 hours for 800-1000 words length). And also a lot of effort, so after completing a post, I usually feel so exhausted to do anything else.
Until I think write down the outline of main ideas, everything seems easier.
Again, thank you for your post
Thanks Tony,
It definitely is much easier with an outline.
a good newbie guide, and i loved the way finding new title , will try that method
Great, let me know how it works out.
Great post Neil as usual. Only a passionate blogger can write a unique well researched article within two hours. Moreover he must be loyal to his niche too. Just curious -How long did it take to complete this article ?
Around 1.5 hours. Maybe a bit more… but under 2 for sure.
Yes Neil tell us how long did it take you to comple this article
If you check out my response above you will have your answer.
The problem today faced by many bloggers is selecting proper topics for their new blog post. It seems like all the posts are already covered. At such times some how to’s like this really helps and fuels the brain power…
Correctly said Rajeesh, it is very difficult task to select the topic as most of it has been already covered. And after selecting, writing something new and interesting is another challenge for the writers. But thanks to Neil, by following those steps may help writers.
Neil, I have read your most of the blog and was very much eager to know how you write such new and interesting blog. After reading this, I think I got my answer.
Good point, a lot of topics have already been covered. Luckily there will always be something new happening to write about.
Love the suggestions for coming up with a headline; I do something similar. I create one headline just to get started writing, because I find it hard to get started if I don’t have at least some idea of a good headline I want to use, then I write the article, circling back to more headline ideas again at the end.
I usually create 6-10 headlines, then put aside the article for a bit. When I come back to it a few hours later before loading it into WordPress, the most effective headline is usually really obvious, and practically stands up and shouts, “Pick me, pick me, pick me!” : )
Great suggestions here, thanks for sharing.
Thanks Kimberly,
I appreciate you sharing what you do as well.
Another great post, Niel! I agree that starting completely from scratch when trying to find a topic for a blog post is way too time consuming. Been there, done that, too. I think it’s a great tool to tap into the knowledge base that the internet provides to give a great starting point for creating sharable content. Thanks for the extra tips!
Thank you Erika, glad you liked it.
great post, like the saying goes ”search engines follow people and people follow content”
so i think sharing some light on this very important aspect of blogging is worth the time.
Yep, you have got it!
I’m like Jackie, I like to write a few days ahead of posting and edit after having a break, usually a good nights sleep.
The passion point is crucial too, especially if you want to use the post as a prompt for comments and discussion.
I also find that I get into the groove when writing posts and try to write 1 or 2 additional ones if I’m on fire (I just wish I was on fire more often!)
Everyone has there own rhythm to writing. If you have found a way that works best for you then stick to it!
A powerful blog post in less than 2 hours… At first I was skeptical, but you managed to deliver.
I read blogs in my niche pretty regularly, but I never thought to use their most popular posts as a swipe file. I will be doing that in the future.
I’ve also been trying to figure out the best way to add pictures to my posts without breaking the law. I will have to give Flickr a try.
Thank you for the great post. I’ll definitely be using these tools for my own writing.
Thanks Kevin,
I hope all these tips work out for you.
Great post Neil. Like you said, this might seem impossible initially but with regular practice it becomes easily achievable. But one thing is certain, if you don’t take action nothing will happen.
Exactly, glad you get it.
This is the coolest blog post ever, because you are using it as an example as you are writing it
Great ideas and especially the part about drilling for other people’s popular posts and then spinning the titles. Thanks for this, definitely something I can use daily.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
When I used to write for everything but money I was a lot faster at getting my ideas out, whether on paper or on screen.
Now I get blocked all too often. Sometimes it kills the momentum. A trick I use to get free of the ‘chains’ is to think: “Nah, I’m doing this for fun, not for money. Just smile and enjoy it, Luana!
”
And it works!
Thanks for the tips, Neil. You just made me add a few idea generation tricks to my writing notebook (that’s where I note down writing advice).
~ Luana S.
Thanks for your added input, that could be a useful tip.
Hi Neil
What if your passionate about your subject, you wish to blog, but your grammar is not that good. What would you suggest?
You could always engage the services of an editor. There are plenty out there; great ones that cost a lot of money, inexperienced ones that cost nothing, and everything in between.
Try a freelancer site like ELance to find an editor.
Thank you Ben for your response. I appreciate you helping out.
I would have someone you trust or pay to look over it. That is what I do sometimes
One of the best strategies to “speed up the process” (as you ask at the end of your post Neil) is to let others do the work for you when is comes to creating valuable content.
By this I mean, if you’re creating a “resource list” type of post, for example: “17 Examples of the Best Online Sales Funnels” — http://petovera.com/professional-web-design-blog/2011/06/17-examples-of-the-best-online-sales-funnels/
In this example, I knew of a number of sales funnels online that I thought would serve as marketing examples worth studying. Note that I could have stopped at 8 or 10 and still had a great blog post (and probably have knocked it out in under 2 hours). The point is that, I collected links and screenshots under a topic-umbrella I was passionate about, added some of my own ideas and I have a great post that people want to link to and share.
Another example is when you write a “How To” post. If you’re writing about a process or action that you already do yourself (like what Neil did here) the words comes much easier to your fingertips as they fly across the keyboard.
These are two ideas that answer the question above of how to speed up the process. Any others?
The ideas are awesome, Matt. Here’s an addon idea to take the first one to the next level.
Have you thought about creating a mini mailing list consisting of members that are willing to become content sources for your blog? When you have an idea for a blog post, you can simply email the list and ask them to contribute their ideas, case studies or tips (sort of like a mini HARO). This will easily expand the scope of blog posts that you can come up with.
Nice idea Wayne, thanks for sharing it.
Thank you Matt for your suggestions, definitely some great ideas to try out.
Hi Neil, excellent article. I follow the same formula when putting together lengthy posts. The one thing that you did not include that I always do is spend 15 minutes (or so) collecting sources for my article. So I google my topic and look for case studies, powerful quotes from credible people, infographics and other interesting things that fit within my outline to include in the article. During this time I usually come across some great images that will fit into the post as well – which is helpful so I don’t have to look for them at the end when I really just want to wrap up.
Thanks Casey,
Good point thanks for bring it up.
simple and clear answer to your “unable to write post” problem
Thanks, I hope so.
Hey great story one bit of advice don’t write in wordpad because you can’t copy and paste it
Thanks for the tip.
Thanks Neil – great advice as usual. I find I can whip out the first draft of a blog post in about 20 minutes. Maybe an hour or two max with the tweaking and refining you talk about. However, that’s usually been preceeded by at least two days of thinking about the post! Do you think at all in this model or do you just “decide” and it comes out?
Thanks!
I just “decide” and it comes out.
The above tips are excellent but the things is 2 hours are not enough …need more time for brain storming to write a quality contents …
Two hours can be enough once you have worked at it for as long as I have.
Thanks Neil! Very helpful post.
Good headlines are very important, maybe the most important part of the blog post. I liked your suggestion about spinning the headline!
Keep those great time-saving tip coming.
No problem, I will definitely do my best to keep them coming!
Neil,
We recently started creating blogs for our site. Even though we have created 3 good articles till date we were struggling to expedite our process to create more than 2 blogs a week. We have been researching a lot for pointers to improve our speed. What a coincidence you posted this article. This is like a blessing. Thank you.. We will use these techniques and share our exp.
Thank you
Chris Adams
Awesome, please do let me know how these tips work out for you.
Amazing tips Neil. I am just attracted by the term ” Blog Post In Less Than 2 Hours “. I mean i am spending almost 5 to 6 hours collecting the resources and information, and still I am not able to publish the article on daily basis.
Awesome Post.. Thanks
Thanks Vivek, hopefully these tips will help you cut that time down.
Nice article Neil, My passion is writing and blogging but my blog is about technology, and now i want start new blog but with writing and blogging topic. Sometimes I just create article draft in my mind then quickly write it, and it works
.
Sounds good, I do the same sometimes.
Innovative approach. I usually get inspiration on what to write from reading other people’s post. It is fine to do what you have outlined as there is always a unique perspective on every topic. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Moyo, glad you liked it.
I can truly relate! I’ve figured out the reason why it takes me five hours to write a single post: writing feels like a job for me instead of my passion.
The moment I sit in front of the computer to start writing, my mind is racing with thoughts of how difficult this topic is, how much I don’t want to write, and how much I hate writing.
You’ve made me realize something so important! I’ve always loved your posts because they’re informative and useful for my business. But this is something else – it’s like I had an epiphany.
Awesome, I am so glad to hear it. It definitely is much easier when it is fun and doesn’t feel like a job.
Another thing Neil, I used to think that by adding a few typos occasionally on blog posts, you can express your human-ness in a blog article, and not sound like a corporate drone or robot. Am I correct in thinking that? Or is that unnecessary? Mind you, I always try to avoid typos and errors in more formal articles.
This used to be the case but correctly spelt words are now what really matters. Spammers were focusing on typos! So the search engines tightened up the spell check side of the algos. Good copy is the way forward, when I say good I mean unique, original and quality. Think of the person reading it and not why you want to be found by search engines and you’ll do well.
Thank you for you response, I appreciate your added input.
I have found my readers like it better without erros. I even get some people who are upset when I do make the occasional error.
This is eerily simular to how I write blog posts. One other thing I do is @mention the other blogs/authors that I linked to in my article. I always tell them about my post, and they usually re-tweet it. This has even worked with mentioning Neil in a blog post.
That is awesome, thats for sharing what you do.
Great tips Neil! It’s very easy to just write and post but having structures in place you can increase the quality tremendously!
Yep, it certainly can.
Thank you very much Neil for this super guide.
Note please that…
Copying and pasting directly from Microsoft Word is not advisable. This is because, after publishing the post, the post page at times wouldn’t display very well and this might even disrupt other pages. I found out that when you directly post, Microsoft Word pastes along some hidden codes or elements which lead to the problem.
Since I discovered this issue, I either use the paste-from-Word function at the top of the editor (WordPress) or paste my post first into Notepad and after paste into the editor. This has been working fine with me.
On proofreading, I learnt that reading from right to left helps to catch typos. When I started doing this, it was somehow hard. However, I have found out that it is good for noticing spelling errors.
Noted, thanks for pointing that out Joe.
Thanks for the idea with “Technorati”, Neil. As for me, I sometimes use Quora for searching topics – I find this tool rather good to find subjects that people have questions on.
Great, glad you like it.
Well, basically I think you’ve covered it pretty good. I would also say that the blogger should split his sections with relevant photos and even memes if he has the time to spare in order to search for them online. Being funny in any blogging topic is good marketing.
Also, link back to your own articles and resources inside your post. Of course, only when it’s relevant. I do this all the time.
One thing I would also do is end the post with an enticing question or a thought provoking challenge, in order to get people to comment or respond.
Thanks for the added input, definitely some good points.
Great tips as always Neil. Writing down ones point/sub headings is really important, it makes the writing faster and easier. I will also suggest disconnecting from the internet because of distractions especially chat messages.
Not a bad idea, there are definitely a lot of distractions when online.
Fantastic tips Neil! I’m a big advocate of just spurting that first draft onto a page before taking a brief break to make a cup of tea or read a news article between editing drafts. I find that this way I come back to the content a little fresher and often spot things I wouldn’t otherwise have noticed.
Totally agree with you on the passion point too, I find that it really translates over to the reader
Thank Charlotte, glad you agree.
Agreed. I simply write what I’m curious about. Some posts are long-form, others are adding value to others.’
Perfect, that is a great way to write.
Its also practice, which comes with time.
Yes, that is correct.
Good points Neil steps needed to be taken for every action else nothing is impossible in life
Thanks Sanjay, it really is about taking action.
Thank you for this post, Neil. It has inspired me to blog better and look for ways to improve my writing!
Awesome, glad to here it!
This was a great post Neil, and a timely one at that. I still haven’t mastered the under 2 hours blog post method yet so this reading this post was very informative for me. My main problem is i have a real bad habit of editing while i write instead of editing after I finish the draft.
if I can just get in the habit of not editing or researching facts while I write I would definitely be able to crank one out in less than 2 hours. But that’s something i definitely am going to make a conscious effort to work on.
Great Post Neil!
Thank you,
Keep working at it and I am sure you will get there.
Very effective post Neil. After writing a post I normally shift myself to another job and after an hour I proof read my written article again.
Partha
Thanks Partha, sounds good.
You should really find a topic that gets your interest and you’ll be surprised to write a blog less than an hour. Glad I’d read your article Neil. Thanks for your helpful tips here.
Yes, with an interesting topic you should find it easier to write more quickly.
Great post, took some notes. I believe they will help me improve my articles!
Great, I hope so!
I am a blogger and I get better everyday. These blogging tips are very useful. I will be using them. Thanks for sharing.
Great, glad to hear it.
TYSM for sharing Neal, great tips to follow! I’ll give it a go with my next blog posts and see how they perform
Sounds good, let me know how it goes.
Thanks for this great advice! I spend way too much time on writing blog posts and I think I should be able to cut this time in half by using your advice.
Definitely, give it a try and see what happens.
Writing on our passion is the best way to write a great post. Great tips. One more nice post from Neil.
Yep, passion is what will drive you to do your best.
Frankly I get distracted a lot of times and I have to admit I always try to stay focused without any success. Your post is a great help and the points that you have mentioned seems very effective. I don’t know about others but I for one will be surely using them. Thanks for posting it!
Thanks Lucy,
A commentator mentioned above that it helped them to be offline while writing so there are less distractions.
Great suggestion on the headline/topic generation. I’ve been procrastinating on settling on a topic the last two hours and you gave me a great way to be more efficient. Thanks for offering up the advice.
Happy to have helped.
I implemented this method for writing blog posts yesterday morning, and it worked great! I was able to write an in-depth post for ultimate frisbee players who want to learn to throw with both hands. Here’s a link to my latest post:
http://wiki.waveborn.com/ultimate/advice/throw-both-ways
Thanks again for the tips, and I look forward to leveraging these efficient, new skills on future posts!
That is great! I am so glad to hear it!
Wow. Great article. The only thing I might add (or mention) is once you find your passion topic, use the Google time search ( Last week) to see how “Hot” the topic is.
And… if you can find the unique angle… even better. We recently did a blog comparing the top ranked remodelers in a city with the permit reports listing every job sold to see if top ranking equaled high sales. Was picked up by a bunch of great sites.
Thanks for the added tip, I will try it out sometime.
Being passionate about what you’re writing about is the number one rule. You will literally die if you try to build a website about something that you like a little or even worse, hate.
Thanks for this article.
Definitely, without passion it will be hard to stick to it.
Another helpful article! My blog posts take a very long time because I write about health & wellness. I need to stay on top of the research and make sure that I’m giving advice that’s has scientific backing. Any suggestions on how to streamline my process?
I would hire an intern to help you with the research so you can streamline things. Or maybe have them do parts of it. That will also help you save time.
Great tips Neil! And thanks for getting me out of the spammer dungeon!
The one that hits home for me is that I should be creating an outline. I think that would really help a lot with getting through a long post.
No problem Thomas, happy I could help.
I love your tip on spinning the headline. I intend to spin…
A Simple Plan for Writing a Powerful Blog Post in Less Than 2 Hours
Can become (for me)…
To Simple Pan For Writing An Engaging Post In 25 Minutes Or Less
How can anyone run out of ideas with this technique — Thanks a lot. It’s just the kind of help I need as I embark on a “1000 guest posts in 90 Days” Challenge.
I like it, keep it up!
Sorry, I meant…
A Simple Plan For Writing An Engaging Post In 25 Minutes Or Less
(My fingers hit the submit button a little too fast).
I figured.
Really good post. Ever since I started outlining my blog posts before writing them I’ve saved a TON of time too. Outlining, writing then tweaking is definitely the way to go!
Good, glad you like it.
I blog at least twice a week now and find my content is indexed by google. Now I just need to rank high with Google.
Nice, keep at it.
this one is so helpful. most of the times I end up drafting so many blogging ideas because each article take so much time while doing it in an unorganized way I end up doing nothing but now I guess the way you have discussed in this post will make myself focused as a blogger. let me see if this is really going to help me out. I am so excited to start with this method.
I hope it does, let me know how it goes.
Hi Neil – after reading this post I was modivated and wrote my first post after 3 weeks. FInd the right title wasn’t easy. http://itmanager.hubpages.com/hub/survive-it-evolution-high-performance-team
That is great, I will have to check it out.
I read a lot of how to write a blog post before, but your version is far more comprehensive Neil. Lately, I’ve been writing a lot of post for my blog and I used some of the formula you stated here, but my biggest problem is to establish a great flow that my readers would appreciate. I think with practice and a lot of reading I can improve my writing. Again, thanks for updating the knowledge of blog writers like me and keep on posting these types of articles.
With more practice I know it will become easier for you.
Very handy tips to save and do lot of writing in less time without uncompromising on quality.
Thanks, I hope you find them useful when you write.
Speed and efficiency are nice, but not at the expense of good quality. Being passionate is definitely very helpful.
I agree completely, if you need more time to have better quality then do it.
hey, thanx for a detailed post it was just on point. I use to struggle with procrastination, and even now i still do, but you just gave me a approach, i just wanted my posts to be perfect
Hopefully with a new approach and these tips you will be able to get through the post before your procrastination starts to kick in.
The spreadsheet idea is a good one, I’ll be using that! The rest is good old fashioned essay planning, a school-day’s trick that has proven useful to me time and time again, but one that I know many people struggle with. From experience, I know that following these processes of brainstorming, planning and turning off your inner Editor whilst you get the basics down, will give you results.
Thanks for posting!
Great, I am glad you were able to get something helpful out of this post.
This very awesome and very useful post for me,
I’ll share it over my networks.
Thanks again for sharing this Neil..
Thanks, I appreciate you sharing it.
I find that I end up with a whole lot of ‘half articles’ that aren’t ready to be published, but are too good (or have too many good sources) to completely throw away. Consequently, I started a ‘cold-articles’ file, where I keep all my snippets, sources, or background information on everything that I haven’t completed.
Perhaps if you go back through some of those half finished articles you may find some that will inspire you. With these tips and inspiration it should be simple to finish seeing as you are already half way there!
Hi,
Just found your site and really appreciate the effort. However, I would argue that your real best advice is that you have been doing this for seven years. Writing is an art and it takes about that many years to become proficient, and become good at zeroing in on what you want to say.
It is true that the more time you have been doing something the better you are at it. That is why I recommend writing everyday to get practice.
Hi Neil,
These are very easy to use steps for blogging. Definitely very useful.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks David, happy to share. I hope you find these tips useful.
Thank you for this post, Neil. It has inspired me to blog better and look for ways to improve my writing
Awesome, so glad to hear it!
Another great article. Thanks Neil.
Using a Spreadsheet and Spinning the title is an excellent idea as for me the hardest part about blogging is coming up with a topic to blog about. Will definitely give this a go.
Thanks,
Ian
Thank you Ian, let me know how it works out for you once you do.
Hey Neil,
Efficient systems like the one you’ve listed here are the only way to maintain consistency in blogging. Seems tedious at first, but gets much easier the more you do it. As always, I enjoy your posts.
Thanks Stephen, glad you agree.
Hi Neil
I can usually write a 600 word blog post in less than 30 minutes because I use voice recognition software (I won’t mention who for fear of being labelled a spammer but it rhymes with wagon!)
I do this by working off sub headings that I have compiled earlier in the week as memory joggers or bullet points that have to be covered in the post and then I expand around them.
It is a breeze and then I go back through it making sure the spelling and grammar is correct and changing any words that the software didn’t quite pick up correctly.
It is no exaggeration to say this has changed my (blogging) life as it is far easier to simply speak what you are thinking than typing it out, as it comes across so much more natural to readers.
Yes, I have tried that sort of thing but it just wasn’t for me. I am glad it has worked out for you though.
Thanks for sharing Neil! I could use some speed for my blog posts so your tips will help a lot.
I wanted to share how I choose blog topics for my clients, and was writing a step-by-step summary in this comment when I saw that it would make a great blog post in itself, so I thought why not ask you if you want to consider a guest post and I will polish it up and send it along.
By the way, here’s another tip: a lot of good posts can happen when you start out commenting on other posts but you will be left posting little stub comments in the end like this one
Yep, commenting has many benefits when they are valuable or interesting.
If you have a partner or team to work with, a great way of making headlines with more variety is:
1. Every team member writes down a few headlines on a piece of paper.
2. After a while ((let’s say 2 min to stick in Neil’s 10 min time slot), everyone passes his or her paper to the neighbour.
3. Repeat this (and get inspired by the work of your team) till you get your own piece of paper back. Spend a last 2 minutes writing headlines.
4. Everyone marks the headlines he/she really likes. The top scorers are probably good front runners for the final headline.
Because of the time investment maybe not something for every day’s blog post, but certainly something for the blog post that your business life depends upon.
Thanks for the added tips Frank, they are definitely worth giving a try.
It often takes me a long time to get going but starting is the hardest part. I find with photograhy it’s hard to not sound too generic yet not too personal either. Hard balance for me to find so far. Still working on it!
Keep up the hard work!
Best of luck!
Thanks Neil. Your Fill in the Details tip especially resonates with me! I think anyone who writes is prone to tons of self-recrimination which is just not a luxury you can indulge in when writing for a business. Just letting it flow, takes that pressure off. Then you can edit, tweak and massage to your heart’s content! That was super helpful.
I agree, that is a great way to think about it.
I agree that working to some kind of formula does no end of good for both writing productivity and quality.
However, I must confess that I still cannot control myself when it comes to correcting spelling/grammar as I go along
I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this, but that’s no excuse for not kicking the habit.
Habits are not easy to break and take time. If you work at it long enough you should be able to control it.
I’m not really a writer searching for a way to make a text short but strong, by reading your blog has helped me for a different way to think.
Good, I think text should be strong and valuable. Glad this post could be useful to you.
Nice tips. It is still difficult for me to write a post (of about 500 words) within 2 hours.
It takes practice, I have confidence one day you will get there.
Same here bro it usually takes 5 hours for me to write a good, decent post of 500 words.
Hopefully with these tips you can cut down that time.
Nice post! This is really helping me overcome writers block right now!
Thanks, that is great to hear.
nice…hope I can write that easier..
You can! As long as you practice and follow these tips.
Great post, I’ve been looking to increase the word count on my posts and this will be my blueprint
Lewis
Thanks Lewis, let me know if you need any help along the way.
My programmer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on various websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard fantastic things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
I’m not sure… I am not too technical.
You would have to ask a developer.
Hi Neil, i like the idea of spinning the title & making different combination. Today the most difficult task is to choose the title of our blog. I will try this out. Thanks for sharing your views.
Great, best of luck!
I love the whole concept writing great content as per me is no big deal but framing it and writing in a manner which fits into eyes, heart and brain of a visitor is important. Getting visitors is quiet easy but getting reader is very very difficult.
Great Post hope to see a post ahead on structured way of writing blog post.
Thanks Mohit, I will consider doing that for a future post.
oh wow.. i think one must follow these instructions.. i love it.. this is a very useful article indeed. finally i got the less time consuming way to write a post.
thanks neil for such a great post.
Yep, if you follow these tips you should be able to write a post in less time.
Hi Neil,
I love the advice, crafting your powerful blog post is a hard task especially if you have a lot of distractions. It’s a good thing to have a tight self discipline and focus to what you are doing. It would also be fine to get yourself a break whenever you feel you are loosing ideas and get back when you think you are ready.
That`s the easiest way to get out of writers block. Hope will not face writers block in near future.
Anyway apart from this surrounding in which you`re working is very important as it can distract or help you to write better.
~@Khajamoin1
Thanks for this wonderful post, Neil! Because this will really help me out a lot! The reason hereby is I want to start writing articles, but I didn’t know where to start. So after reading this post it clearly has given me a new perspective for writing articles.
Brian.
hi Neil,
another awesome post from you..I find this tool rather good to find subjects that people have questions on..
thanks
This post is awesome! I was able to write my blog post in one hour by following it.
Hi Neil,
I am new to blogging. The reason i want to write blog is to improve my writing skills. But after thinking for a long I am not able to find out what to write..Please suggest how to think about the subject to write.
thanks
Hi Neil,
I am also new to blogging. I start writing on my web site blogs with engineering subjects such as FEA analysis… It is my worked examples… but I’m worried about the number of readers.,
I found interesting your advises and I would certainly apply it
thanks
Hello!,,,,
Hi!,,,,,Hi Neil, excellent article. I follow the same formula when putting together lengthy posts. Thank you so much for sharing!,,,,,,,,
This is a fantastic post, I just applied all these tactics and wrote the first draft of my next blog in an hour.
Thanks so much!
As usual one more valuable post from neil…You are rocking! I adore the idea for spinning the title…which is really a hectic task for me…I’m just improving myself..Thanks for sharing these informations..
Great post! I really liked the part about writing without editing. All to often we get caught up in the editing and that just kills the creative process.
So, thanks for the reminder.
You have inspired me to create Blog posts like this! Thanks!
Glad I could help. Thanks for reading!
Great blog post. Very interesting. I would also add the 5Ws and 1H to it when writing articles or blogging on a specific subject. What, why, when, where, who and how. If you can answer those questions related to the topic at hand it ensures that you deliver what the reader may be looking for. I find that its a simple method to create factual content when you don’t know how to get started.
Thanks for the additional tips
Great article… so now, I need to test your tips !
Many Thanks Neil,
Jonathan, Thanks for reading!
Hey Neil !
These are excellent tips, indeed. It takes me about 6 hours to write a quality post. But these tips would help me in reducing my time to write. one thing I use to follow is that when I become passionate about the topic, lots of ideas use to come in my mind and i just note down each and every thought then i decide which one is to add or not. In this way i get lots of material to write on my topic and it saves my time from thinking that what to write.
Thanks.
Brian
Brian, glad I could help. Best of luck getting that traffic!
I want to easily write down Blog post. But how can i do start?
My whole blog is dedicated to this. Check out my other posts
Hi Neil,
I am new to blogging world and was struggling with finding topic and writing them in a proper method. After reading this post of your I feel more confident now. Thank you for this clearly mentioned workflow technique.
Glad I could help. Please let me know if you need any help in the future.
Planning for a blog posts is kind of daily routine for me and I use offline tools to write my blog posts, and Titles are the harden part for me ,sometimes it takes hours to come up with the title for the post. This article helped me a lot!!
Anderson, glad I could help
Keep up the great work.
This is a great tool for planning blog posts. Thank you for sharing. I have set to share it on my blog 30th April.
Sounds like a great plan!
Hi Neil,
Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m not very fond of writing but this is a great tool to get me started
.
Thanks.
Ankit, glad I could help
I have a blog that is subject related. (tower cranes)
I make a post about every 2 – 3 weeks, I would like to post more but i am worried that the quality wont be as good or ill have to make inferior articles. What do you think, is less more??
I think more is always best for content. Engagement is key! Keep posting