An enduring complaint I hear from clients and colleagues is that they don’t have time to blog. Although many businesses see the benefits of it content marketing, they struggle with committing the time it takes to create content on a regular basis.
The reality is that blogging can take a lot of time — especially when you’re just starting out.
But if you’ve made content marketing a priority for your business, it pays to be consistent with your blogging efforts and maintain a regular blogging schedule.
How to Blog Faster
So, how do you create content without taking several hours every time you publish?
Here are some quick tips to help you create blog content quickly and easily:
1. Record & transcribe posts.
If writing is slow and cumbersome to you, try recording your ideas and have them transcribed. You could record your thoughts while commuting, walking the dog or while cooking dinner.
We suggested this to a client and he rapidly cranked out a few posts using this method.
2. Shoot a video.
You don’t have to create an expensive video. There are plenty of ways you can create video content quickly and easily using your phone or computer’s webcam. For instance, you could offer a 1-2 minute video with a quick tip, demonstration or behind-the-scenes tour.
3. Publish an infographic.
As we talked about last week, one way to use content without stealing it is to re-publish a relevant infographic. Most infographics are published in a way that allows you to embed them on your site and provide the proper attribution. This is a great way to bring information to your audience without having to create it.
4. Curate content.
You don’t have to come up with original content to deliver value to your audience. You can create a round up of your favorite tools and resources or share your favorite articles from the week. We used to offer a weekly “Reading Roundup” with our favorite posts. (Should we bring this back???) You could do something similar.
5. Re-purpose content.
Every company produces tons of content every day — it just might not be in the form of a blog post. Take a look around and see how you can re-purpose emails, FAQs, presentations, etc. You might find plenty of content you can transform into a blog post.
6. Refresh old content.
If you’ve been blogging for a while, give some of your older content a new twist. Maybe you publish it with new and updated data. Or, you can publish the content in a different format. For instance, that’s what Mark Schaefer did with this short eBooks he created with Sarah Mason. It’s a great example of taking an older blog post and transforming it into something new.
7. Invite guests.
Inviting guest bloggers to publish on your site is another way to keep content fresh without taking a ton of extra time. Check out Spin Sucks, for example. They upped their publishing schedule to twice a day by added a guest blogger every day. You don’t have to mimic their publishing schedule, but inviting guests on your blog can be a valuable way to increase your traffic and reach without creating new content yourself.
8. Include your team.
Your employees have a wealth of information about your industry and company. Put that to good use by including your team in your blogging efforts. This is a great way to spread the workload across your company, while also showcasing new voices and expertise.
9. Write shorter posts.
Although longer articles can be great for SEO purposes, sometimes it pays to be short and to the point. Look at Seth Godin or Jon Acuff. Their blog posts can pack a punch with just a couple hundred words. You don’t have to write an essay with every blog post. Just write to get the message across — and sometimes that might only be a few words.
10. Crowdsource ideas.
Another great way to create content quickly is to ask your customers, colleagues and employees to weigh in. For example, Social Media Examiner asked marketing pros to weigh in with their favorite social media tools. You could offer something similar that pertains to your industry.
11. Outsource your content.
If you’re still struggling to keep up with blogging despite all of these tips and tricks, try outsourcing your content marketing. For this approach to be successful, you will still have to be involved. However, using freelance writer or digital marketing agency can save you a lot of time.
What would you add? How do you create content when you’re in a hurry?
