managing_your_business.htm

I am often asked for some ideas on how to manage a routine of writing on a business blog by people who are interested in working with me to create a blog to help their business, but are still hesitant because of the time commitment they feel is involved.

Anyway, I went through some of the methods that work for me in the two main areas that seem to cause most concern:

a) coming up with ideas for the posts;
b) actually getting down to writing and posting them.
Even though my own blog time management could do with some help just at the moment (!), I thought that I would share them here as well along with a couple of other methods which I've seen used successfully on other blogs.

Generating ideas for your posts

Always carry a notebook with you to jot down ideas as they occur to you. Sounds simple and it is but this is probably the biggest source of ideas that I have. If you want to use your blog more fully in this process, you could also use the blog itself as a notepad, posting notes to unpublished post to then use later or perhaps doing it via your mobile using one of the voice to text services around .
Your RSS Feed Reader should be a goldmine of information, keeping you up to date with news from sources covering your areas of interest - the information comes to you, you don't have to go looking for it everyday. Most people find that other bloggers are a great source of inspiration as well as information;
Use Google Alerts to generate ideas and research your marketplace and industry.
Use questions that you have been asked as the basis of a post. You might have been asked via email, at a seminar or conference or just in conversation, but if one person has asked then the likelihood is that others are wondering the same thing and so the answers in the post will be of interest to them all;
Develop ideas which expand on one of your earlier posts or themes, or from the comments which have been left on your previous posts. They come from your readers so are likely to be relevant to them.

Writing your blog posts

Schedule a regular time when you sit and write your posts - it could be at any time during the day but set some time aside just as you would for other marketing tasks;
Use the (non private!) content of emails that you have written on the subject as these will often contain the core of a good information post. The same with presentations you've given - use small chunks of them (and of course promote your future presentations at the same time);
Focus on what your readers want to read and this will help to focus your writing too - as Seth Godin commented on his own blog, "The mistake most blogs and books make: they are about the writer, not the reader";
Consider writing a number of posts in one go. Some people find it much easier to write when they are in the flow so if "the mood grabs you" (!) then make the most of it - you can then schedule the posts to appear over the following days;
Plan and write a series on an important subject area for your readers - it's much easier to keep going once you have started to write on a subject so a series is a great way to achieve that;
Divide a longer post into smaller chunks and present them over a couple of days;
Bring in additional authors to post alongside you, either as guest bloggers or as co-writers on an occasional or semi-permanent basis.

When you are looking to write 2 - 3 posts per week on a company blog, it can be a daunting prospect at the start so it's important to get organised. These are some of the methods that work for me but ultimately it's a case of using what works best for you.

Mark White (aka "The Blog Coach") is a business blogging consultant helping corporates and small businesses to use blogs and social media to develop their businesses. For blog set-up, advice, coaching or a free eCourse on successful Business Blogging for marketing and business development, visit Better Business Blogging.