Do you hate writing blog posts because of how long it takes you to write them? I sure do. I take a long time to write something when I write. Oh it’s not that I don’t know how to type, or I don’t know what to say (I don’t start my posts unless I have something to say), it’s just that it takes me a long time to type, edit, rephrase, re-read, etc. etc. etc.
I’ve always imagined that some of the people who read my blog posts say to themselves, “It only took him how long to write this?” while other people say to themselves, “It took him that long to write this?”.
Following in this blog’s tradition of “Do as I say, not as I do” I’m going to share a method of writing blog posts that should speed things up for you.
A key to effective writing
The best way to inform people of anything is to tell people what you are going to tell them, tell them whatever it is you wanted to tell them, then tell them what you said. A bit confusing? In other words, you are introducing your topic, talking about the topic, then summarizing what you said (Intro, key points, conclusion).
The method of fast blog post writing that I’m about to share with you follows that formula, which is actually a very simple formula if you think about it.
Now I can’t promise you that by using this method it will only take you 15 minutes, especially since I encounter more and more people who can’t type, but I can tell you that this can speed up the writing process, thus cutting down on the amount of time you spend typing. The process isn’t my creation, I was clued onto it by a friend of mine, whom I will give full credit to at the end of this post.
How to write a 15 minute blog post
You start by listing 3 points, then add an introduction and a conclusion. Write 4 or 5 sentences under each point first, then do the same for the conclusion and lastly the introduction.
And then?
There is no “and then”, that’s it. You can get a decent sized, informative article by doing it that way. But I understand the confusion, after all, it was explained to me in person, whereas you are trying to read it.
A handy dandy blog post template
Here’s a template you can use, courtesy of me.
Introduction
Write 4 or 5 sentences
Point 1
Write 4 or 5 sentences
Point 2
Write 4 or 5 sentences
Point 3
Write 4 or 5 sentences
Conclusion
Write 4 or 5 sentences
A few blog post writing tips
- Fill out your points first. This is the “meat” or “heart” of your article and has the information your readers need or want.
- Fill out the summary or conclusion after you’ve done your points. You will have a better idea of what to write here after you’ve filled out the rest.
- Fill out your introduction last. The introduction can sometimes be the hardest part and by doing it last you’ve gotten all the main content done and can pick out what you want to say. It’s almost identical to the last tip, except sometimes the summary can help you with the intro.
- Use a template. I find that templates are very handy in that they help me to make sure I didn’t forget anything. Now you can’t make a blog post template in WordPress like you could in a word-processor, but WordPress has the next best thing, a free plugin that will allow you to clone a post draft, thus giving you a sort of template you can use over and over again. It’s called Duplicate Post.
A big THANKS to my good friend Ely Delaney at Your Marketing University for passing me this handy information. If you are a sales professional who wants to learn more effective ways of reaching and retaining your repeat customers, then you really need to talk to Ely.
– Jeffery