A recent Forbes magazine article pointed out that of the 55 percent of small business owners that publish blog posts, 45 percent spend one to three hours creating just one blog post. Sixteen percent spend more than three hours.
For an entrepreneur juggling accounting, hiring and recruiting, customer service, sales and various other business tasks, this is a great deal of time to spend blogging.
While publishing blog posts appears to be a time suck for many small businesses, we all know it can help build brand awareness. Countless studies show that companies can significantly increase their inbound traffic and lead counts by publishing more blog posts on their websites.
We read the studies, see the results other entrepreneurs achieve and still don't truly see how we can fit this into our already busy schedules. We could blog all night, but how good are we to our customers without sleep?
The bottom line is that blogging will help you grow your business. This could help you get the revenue needed to hire staff to take on some of your responsibilities. So don't just blow off blogging.
I have witnessed firsthand the benefits of blogging with my own company. After the first two weeks, I increased my website's traffic by more than five times. I have yet to get a new lead, but am sure it's only a matter of time.
So how can you spend less time blogging and still take full advantage of the many benefits offered by publishing blog posts?
1. Write about familiar, interesting topics
1. Write about familiar, interesting topics
Research will always be required to write good blog posts. However, you can save a great deal of time by focusing on familiar topics. For example, if you own a staffing agency, it will take you much less time to write about hiring and recruiting best practices than website design.
2. Say it loud and stand proud
Take a position and don't try to cover every possible angle. It's always a good idea to give your readers as much information as possible. However, it's not a good idea to try to be every perspective. Give your reader the information, take a stand and move on.
3. Do some research
While we're all about saving time, do take time to validate your claims. Reading and writing go hand in hand. So if you're not conducting research to uncover information, then you're skipping a very fundamental step in the writing process.
4. Break up with your spell-checker
Spell-checker is like that boyfriend/girlfriend you love to hate - but you need to just let go. Spell-checker doesn't catch everything. You may not see that red line under the incorrect form of "there," but it's wrong.
5. Proofread
Don't skimp on the quality of your blog posts to save time. You will just waste time fixing errors pointed out by readers.
Proofreading - the old way - with paper and a red pen will help catch errors not identified by spellcheck. Recruit a friend, colleague or relative to proofread your blog for you. This will not only give you more time to focus on other tasks, but also get your blog post in front of someone else for review prior to publication.
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Apryl Beverly is the owner of BAAB Writing and Marketing Services, a firm that provides writing assistance and marketing solutions to businesses short on time and resources. She offers weekly writing and marketing tips at http://www.baab.biz/blog to help companies build and expand awareness of their brands.
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