Yesterday, I pledged to join the daily blogger club. Yep! To be one of those who pumps out a post, like their favorite song – effortlessly, passionately and often.
Since I am somewhat the oxymoron of a creative, structured soul, I must kick off this copy writing cause with a tight, ritural-minded plan.
So here it goes.
Must have tools.
A notebook or two you really like. I carry one with me where ever I go. My recent travel journal notebook sports Audrey Hepburn in her famous glam shot from the Breakfast at Tiffanys movie. I also keep a notebook at my bedside. This one is quirky and covered with colored dots. And of course must have writing instrument too.
Steps and guidelines to stress-free and gushing good blog posts.
1.) Keep an ongoing list of ideas, words and topics that you grab throughout the day. When it’s time to write refer to to this list.
2.) Before you go to bed, pick your topic for the next day. This may change when you dream or read page 6 of the New York Post.
3.) Pick a highly creative-flow time zone in your day. For me, my blog writing will become a morning scheduled ritual, like brushing my teeth and reading my affirmations.
4.) Set a goal of sharing at least 1 strong point. Some days this will be enough. A point can be an answer or a question.
5.) Don’t strive for perfection, 2,000 pithy words or a Pulitzer Prize.
6.) Do strive for strengthening your brand, deepening your online presence, expanding your brain and challenging your reader to think and take action.
7.) Say something in your voice. Cutting and pasting someone else’s quote is lame and lazy and does not add to your unique brand, or your stature of authority and expertise.
8.) Find inspiration from new words (sign up for a word of the day alert like: Wordspy or Visual Thesaurus), bizarre photos, videos and things you are curious about.
9.) Have fun. Push the envelope off the table and drop a rubber toad into someone’s purse or briefcase.
10.) And for some reason you can’t crank it out as you promised your read, post a creative excuse.
Now write on!
Share what works for you too!
Don’t forget to check out: Ladybugs, VW bugs, bed bugs and technology bugs.
Hi Karen,
These are great tips. I am pledging to increase my output this year as well – not sure about one a day though – so I will be referring to these often for sure! Thanks for sharing.
For me, having several pieces “in draft” works well when I am inspired enough to have multiple posts in progress – It helps to feel like I can choose from the list, rather than having “that one idea I MUST finish writing about.”
Cheers,
Akira
Hi Karen,
I just saw your link to this on Twitter. This is a useful list. I’d like to expand on #8. You can also gain inspiration from commenting on other people’s blogs. Since you can’t always say everything you’d like to in a short comment, using the leftover momentum in your own blog gives you something to write about and keeps the conversation going.