No Blog Pressure

Have you felt the pressure to write a blog? If so, you're not alone - many people (and businesses) succumb to the pressure. This results in a sparse, poorly written blog, disconnected from strategy, and which is eventually abandoned. Of course, the embarassing initiative is preserved forever somewhere on the internet, even if it is deleted on your blog site.

Assuming that you get the strategy right, is there a way to "test-drive" doing a blog? A way to start, without the risks? Thankfully, the answer is yes - here's how:

1) Choose a narrow topic that highlights your expertise or your brand.

2) With your team, brainstorm a list of 15 possible blog "subject lines".

3) Choose one day each week (Sunday night, Tuesday morning, etc), when you will write one three-paragraph blog post based on one of your "subject lines". Three paragraphs is not onerous - nor is once each week.

4) After you write your first one, email it to yourself. Continue this for two months. You will become more comfortable as you find your "voice", and you will become more efficient as you gain writing experience.

5) At the end of two months, you have a decision to make: to officially start the blog or not.

• If you can't keep it up, then you know you shouldn't start. As a consolation prize, you now have two months worth of short articles for newsletters.
• If you do decide to start blogging, then you have two months worth of inventory for those weeks when you don't have the time (or the creative energy).

This month's action plan: A major benefit of any type of writing is that it forces clarity of thought. Even if you don't have any plans to blog, try out this system for two months anyway. It doesn't really matter whether you type it into email, or write it in a journal - three paragraphs a week should be easy. (No blog pressure.)

Randall Craig is an expert on Social Media Strategy and Social Media Policy; to find out how his workshops, webinars, and keynotes can help your team or add to your event, contact him through www.RandallCraig.com, or by email at editor@ptadvisors.com.

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Copyright © 2010 Knowledge to Action Press and Randall Craig. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: Sept 28, 2010