Blogging for our business is one of those things we often have the best intentions of doing but ultimately fail to continue or even get started.

How do those who blog consistently manage to do it? Do they have a few secret hours a day up their sleeve?

Nope. They just know that it takes a little planning and a lot of discipline. 

With a well-planned blogging schedule, it’s not only possible to do, but also easier to maintain the habit long-term. The idea is to start small and work your way up while staying focused on the end goal – getting a blog post completed and ready to publish.

Blogging can be a great way to reach your business goals, however, the challenge lies in having a continuous flow of content to keep your audience engaged and encourage them to take action. 

There is no one-size-fits all solution to this challenge. You simply need to come up with a schedule that best suits you.

Dedicating time regularly to brainstorming content ideas, writing and sharing posts, and interacting with your readers will help to reach those goals, but where does this time come from?

Below are some tips on how to factor blogging time into your already hectic workload.

Tip 1. Decide on how often you want to publish a post.

This should be decided first and then, by reverse engineering, you can work out all the tasks you need to complete to make it happen. 

On average, it takes me around four hours to research, plan, write and edit a new blog post ready for publishing. Since I aim to publish every Monday, I tend to dedicate the time to completing these tasks on the previous Friday. 

One way to work out an ideal schedule for your blog is to check to see how often your competitors are publishing. This may offer enough information to create a blog schedule that also works for you.

Tip 2. Choose an appropriate timeframe to create the content.

If sitting down to work on a single blog post each week like I do doesn’t suit you, what might work better is setting aside a dedicated day or two each month to creating bulk content.

Assigning this amount of time each month solely to blogging means you can remain focused on completing the tasks and, once you’re on a roll, you’ll likely have a bank of posts on your hands in no time! You can also break the tasks up over a weekly period like I outline in this post. 

Try not to spend too much time on working out a schedule though. Just pick something you think may work, implement it and see whether it helps you achieve your goal or not. If it doesn’t, tweak the schedule until you find a happy medium. 

Be sure to set aside this time in your work calendar and don’t forget to include any other tasks in addition to the writing. For example, if you’re including videos, you’ll need to add video production time to your schedule. If you need to create graphics, add that time in too. 

Tip 3. Create a content calendar to keep track.

Creating a detailed content calendar will keep you on track of what, why and when you’re posting on your blog so you don’t need to store that information in your head. It can also be used for social media, newsletter plus other content, and will help to identify any gaps in your content marketing that need addressing. 

For example, you might notice you have dedicated three articles in a row solely to a single topic instead of spreading the content across your entire business offerings and not just one section.

Having a calendar can help to balance your content and trigger potential new ideas too! (If you’d like to learn how I use Airtable for my content calendar, get in touch.)

Tip 4. Monitor your progress and tweak as needed.

Keep a close eye on your progress and if it’s not working for you, refine it as necessary. Remember, the goal is a schedule that will allow you to pump out high-quality posts, consistently, in a way that’s easy for you. 

With experience, you’ll be able to determine a more accurate amount of time to dedicate to performing the tasks necessary to meet your own publishing deadline. Be prepared to adjust it as you see what works and what doesn’t.

BONUS TIPS

These additional tips are not related to blogging itself but will help you to maintain a healthy blogging schedule and optimise your productivity.

• Plan your pre-blogging diet well. For example, you may find that you’re most productive after a cup of coffee or after you eat something light. Work out what works best for you and plan it accordingly.

• Choose the right length of time after waking up to get started. You might feel you’re at your best as soon as you wake up? Or maybe it’s best to have a coffee, watch a little morning TV and do some light exercise first. Decide on how long after waking up you’ll start.

• When you work for any serious length of time, take short breaks to re-energise. Physically get up from the computer and have a stretch. Do something to clear your mind so you’ll find it much easier to refocus when you sit back down to work again, plus it’s also better for your body.

I hope you find these tips helpful and whether you’re publishing a post once a week, once a month or once a year, I wish you all the best in your business blogging ventures. 

Before closing off, I’d love to know, what kind of blogging schedule do you use? Drop it in the comments so others can find inspiration!

If you have any unanswered questions about blogging for business, leave a comment below or feel free to contact me.

Blog on!

Want to learn more about how to make the most of your business blogging efforts? Register now for my free mini course starting May 23!