The Real Reason You Aren’t Blogging: Creating a Blog Plan You Can Stick To

Stop saying you’re not good at blogging! Stop saying you have nothing to blog about! Stop saying you aren’t a good writer! Every business should be blogging. It’s the best way to get more traffic to your site and eyeballs on your products. But not every business should be blogging in the same way. And that’s why you aren’t blogging. You’ve got a fixed idea in your head what a blog should be. But we’re going to fix that, and it starts with creating a blog plan you can stick to.

When we’re working with our clients on their brand strategy and blogging comes up, there’s always the groan. “OMG- Steph’s going to make me blog.”

Yes, yes I am!

But not in the way you may think. I’ve got a secret formula for blogging that makes it sustainable for our clients and I’m dishing it all out in this post.

Why Blogging is Still Relevant

All businesses want traffic to their website.

And the more you blog, the more you’ll get traffic to your website.

Any quality blog (we’re going to assume that all the content you put out is quality) will help with SEO.

Freshness of content is a big category in the Google algorithm. This means that the more your website is updated with fresh content, the better you will rank in the algorithm.

And if you’re wanting traffic from Pinterest, you need to have website content to post on Pinterest.

And sometimes your customers need some time to think and make sure your products and services are the right fit. Fresh content will keep them coming back.

It all starts with content on your website, and that’s what goes on your blog.

That’s what you’re going to send to your newsletter to remind them your business is still alive and providing value in-between all the promo emails.

I want you to stop thinking about blogging as simply writing an article and be a bit more creative in your approach. But we’ll get to that!

The Number One Ingredient to Creating a Blog Plan: Excitement

What are you excited to share with your audience?

And don’t tell me you aren’t excited to share anything- I’ve seen you active on social media.

If you’re excited enough to share something on social, why isn’t it getting onto your blog?

During a brand strategy workshop with a client last week I asked her to bring a list of content ideas she’s excited to share with her audience to our next meeting in two days.

She came back with over a page of content ideas!

If she puts all those ideas into a weekly blog, she probably had enough ideas for an entire year! And she was excited!

What if You Don’t Have the Time to Blog?

There are two kinds of clients that tell me they don’t have time to blog, so creating a blog plan is pointless.

There’s the seriously overworked CEO that literally shouldn’t be blogging in the first place. 

If this is you, you need to either hire a freelance content creator or you need to hire a full-time content creation team.

At some point in your business, if you aren’t a personal brand, you shouldn’t be doing your own content creation- including your blog and your social media. Even then, personal brands have assistants.

Then there’s the excuse-maker.

The business owner that says they have no time but still finds the time to post on social media and probably gets sucked into reading Buzzfeed lists and taking Facebook quizzes to see which Hollywood starlet they most resemble.

Now there are two reasons these excuse-makers don’t blog.

They want the results without doing the work. And we can’t help there.

And then there are the excuse-makers that have a block that they aren’t good at blogging. They’re excited to share their knowledge, but they say aren’t good at writing. Or graphic design. Or fill in whatever block is getting in your way. Therefore they can’t blog. Creating a blog plan they can work with is key for these business owners.

Advice For the Blocked-Blogger

Your first post will probably suck.

Your first video will not be great.

Your first podcast episode isn’t going to be quality.

If you’re at this marketing thing alone and don’t have a team of experts behind you helping with all the little behind-the-scenes bits, you’ve got to start somewhere.

But each post will get better.

Each post will get easier.

You can’t have those 10,000 hours of expertise without having one.

So just start!

But in case you’re still not convinced, let’s demystify what I’m talking about when I mean “blog.”

Creating a Blog Plan Secret Ingredient #2: Finding Your Format Match

Remember 2010?

Everyone had a blog.

And everyone wrote.

But content creation and consumption has changed, so not every blog we strategize with our clients will involve in-depth written articles. But sometimes they do.

The secret formula to creating a blog plan you can stick to starts with exciting ideas and then we match those ideas with your preferred content format.

Do You Like to Write?

Most people I know will answer no to this.

And this is why so many people don’t keep up with their “blogging.” They don’t like to write.

But if you do like to write (Hi- let’s be friends!) then a traditional written blog is for you.

Are You a Visual Content Creator?

Do you either love taking photographs or have a stock-pile you can share with minimal writing?

Can you get down with creating infographics, and charts, and various graphically designed pieces of content?

You’re the visual content creator- your blog plan will include tons of imagery-related posts.

Yeah, you’ll need to do a tad bit of writing for context, but if you either have the visuals or love making the visuals- do it!

Are You Interested in Video?

Yes- video is popular.

And according to a recent study people will spend 100 minutes a day watching video online in 2021.

Video is a smart marketing move and the way most people consume content.

But is it the right choice for you?

Do you like being on camera? Are you either willing to pay a team to help you make it look great or spend time getting better as you go?

Remember- the golden rule of blogging is to work with your strengths until you have the team to have the content plan of your dreams.

If video sounds fun- do it! Post those babies on your blog, add either the transcripts or some show notes and you’re off to the races!

What About Audio?

Now being in front of a camera might be too intimidating or just plain not your thing.

But what about recording your voice?

I’m talking podcasting!

And 68 million Americans tune in to at least one podcast every week.

Barrier to entry is super low- find an editor if you don’t want to do all of that, some free music, and record your content!

The magic trick- stick that podcast onto your website with some show notes or transcripts, just like video.

Creating a Blog Plan Secret Ingredient #3: Choosing Your Broadcast Network (AKA Search Engine)

Now’s the time to spread the word about your blog. 

The format of blogging you choose (written, visual, video, audio) will help determine which search engine you’ll want to rank in.

Blogging for Google

Like I previously said, any quality blog will gain you points from Google. Because Google likes fresh content.

Any time you put up something quality, Google knows you’re keeping your website so fresh and so clean, clean.

But the thing about Google is, it crawls for words.

So if you’re creating a written blog, you’re more suited for Google search. 

For extra Google Glitter, you’ll need to determine your best keywords through keyword research and optimize your post for those keywords.

Resources: We’re affiliates of SEMRush for keyword research and use the Yoast plugin in WordPress to optimize each post.

But what about the other types of blogging formats? Can you still rank?

It’s not going to be as easy with images, since there’s no words to crawl. You’ll have a chance to rank in Google Images with correct metadata tagging (see this post on SEO tips for images). But adding a bit of text for context will help the post be of higher quality. But just know that Google isn’t going to be your main mama jama when it comes to search.

Now video has a great chance of ranking on Google- because Google owns YouTube.

So make sure to put your videos on YouTube, utilizing some keyword research for your title and description, and then embed your post on your blog.

Extra points for getting transcripts created or writing show notes because you’re adding words.

Podcasts are similar to images- without words, Google can’t crawl the page to know what the content is about. Your best bet is getting some transcripts and adding those show notes.

Blogging for YouTube

This is where the video content creators are going to want to rank.

You’ll need to make sure you know which keyword you want to rank for, and put that phrase in your video title and your description. You’ll also want to name the video file and thumbnail images with the keyword before you upload.

Then get those videos onto your blog.

Blogging for Pinterest

Pinterest is all about images. 

Pinterst doesn’t care if you have any words on your blog because it doesn’t crawl your website.

The trick is once again keyword research. Which keywords do you want to rank for?

Put those keywords in the title of the images, as well as the description.

Blogging for Apple Podcast/Spotify/Stitcher

Podcast will obviously go on a podcasting platform (no harm in using more than one). Keywords are still in play here.

The trick to getting more traffic directly from the podcast apps is to insert calls to action in your audio to get people on over.

Offer links to all the resources you’ve provided.

Add in an ad for a promotion, either free like a download, or paid like a product or service.

Creating a Blog Plan Secret Ingredient #4: Be Consistent and Realistic with Your Blogging

While the secret formula to blogging is always content you’re excited about and creating in a format that meets your strengths, content needs to be consistent.

Just like with any content platform, to see the best results, you need to consistently put out fresh content.

But you also need to be realistic when creating a blog plan that you can keep up with.

Let’s be real- if I could blog everyday, I would. I know it would reap tremendous growth over time.

But I can’t. Maybe someday.

So I blog once a week.

And if you’re just starting or getting back into it, think about what is realistic.

Once a month? Twice a month?

The more the better, but not in lieu of quality. One piece of quality content a month is better than four pieces of fluffy mcfluff fluff content.

Let your blogging grow over time as you become more comfortable with the process and find your groove.

Add to Your Blog Posts Over Time

You know how I said Google likes fresh content?

That includes freshening up existing content- as in your blog.

Just because you put out a blog a month ago doesn’t mean you can’t go back and add some new images or a video.

Start with the minimum viable blog platform and add over time.

Who knows- maybe you’ll love blogging so much that each post will contain a video, words, and images. Or not- and that’s okay.

The content you put out doesn’t have to be perfect- it just needs to show value. And after that, you can keep adding value over time.

Creating a Blog Plan Secret Ingredient #5: Blog First, Social Media Afterward

So if you made it this far, you’ve got to be pumped to get back to blogging!

But you probably have that shiny voice in the back of your head whispering, “But what about your social media? Come back! Come back!”

Now here’s the deal. The content you put on your blog can now be dissected into a bazillion little parts and spread all over the social media world!

Here’s an extreme example of how you can take one short written blog post and serve it up in multiple places:

1.Share the text from the article as a native article on Medium and LinkedIn.

2. Use the core ideas from the article and write 3-5 Instagram captions and post throughout the week.

3. Create graphics from those 3-5 points and publish them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

4. Use those 3-5 points to storyboard a YouTube video.

5. Dissect the YouTube video and make micro videos for Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tik Tok.

Now as you can see this is crazymaking, but you get the idea.

You have that one great piece of content on your site. Now divide it up into little bite-sized chunks to spread all over whichever social channels you’re on.

Stop making content creation so hard!

Conclusion: Steps to Creating Your Blog Plan

1. Write down all the content ideas you’re excited to share.
2. Figure out your favorite blogging format: written, imagery, video, audio (hint- you can do more than one)
3. Determine your posting schedule (once a month, once a week, etc.)
4. Determine your search engine and the keywords to include with each post
5. Optional: Dissect the blog post to share on social media 
6. And don’t forget to share your blogs with your newsletter to remind them you exist.

Stop over complicating your blog and get creative with it! 

People love buying from businesses they know, like, and trust, and they will only know, like, and trust you through content- and smart business owners will always put their website content before social. Now go create a blog plan that you can stick to!