If it isn’t easy, it won’t get done!

Efficiency is the 6th of the 7 Pillars of Blog Content for a very simple reason: the likelihood of a task’s completion goes down as complexity increases.

Blogging success is based on consistency, but consistency is difficult if it takes too much time or effort to prepare each post. Here are 4 suggestions to build efficiency into the preparation of your blog posts.

1.  Structure

Efficiency begins with choosing a structure for each of your blog posts. This involves thinking of your blog posts in terms of segments that are repeated in each post. These segments can be questions, or topics, that you answer while creating each post. For example:

1. Relevance. Begin by asking yourself, What is the relevance of this topic? Why should my target market care about it? How does this topic relate to their concerns, such as the problems they want to solve or the goals they want to achieve? What are the symptoms, or costs, of not addressing this topic?
2. Main ideas. Ask yourself, What are the 3 big ideas I want readers to remember? Limiting yourself to identify 3 (or 4) ideas focuses you on identify what’s really important and keeps your blog posts short and actionable.
3. Call to action. What do you want readers to do next? How can you use this blog to further the relationship you’re building with the readers of your blog? Do you provide additional resources for those interested in the topic to learn more? Or, do you want to direct readers to a landing page on your website containing further information–along with an offer? Perhaps, you’d like them to take an assessment.
4. Conclusion. The conclusion of your post should summarize the relevance of the topic, the content you’ve covered, and your call to action. In addition, whenever possible, add a bonus or incentive to encourage readers to immediately take action, heightening the likelihood they will act.

2. The 3 R’s–Repurpose, Recycle, Reuse

Each blog post should be written and saved in a format that permits you to easily relocate the text, so you can incorporate the post into upcoming books, speeches, or marketing materials.

Your time is valuable; it’s important that you gain maximum mileage out of everything you write. Here are some suggestions for repurposing, recycling, or reusing blog posts:

• Expand the post. Look for ways to expand what was originally a 5 or 6-paragraph blog post into an article, newsletter, or online feature. Instead of just 3 points, for example, expand the size of the list to 7, or 10. Or, keep the total at 3, but provide more details about each point.
• Divide and conquer. Having identified a relevant topic, and 3 big ideas associated with it, you can return to the post and create 3 additional blog posts- -a series of posts exploring each of the original main ideas in greater detail.
• Condense the post. Another approach is to create a downloadable tip sheet, or sign-up incentive, that includes brief summaries of the original 3 big ideas, but adds summarizes of a few additional ideas.
• Change the format. Content that originates as relevant blog posts can be easily adapted into podcasts, video podcasts, teleseminars, speeches, and presentations. Each format will appeal to individuals who prefer to learn in different ways.

The above are just a few of the ways you can leverage your time by creatively repurposing, recycling, and reusing your blog posts.

3. Write for a higher purpose

There are 2 aspects to “higher purpose.”

1. Don’t just inform your readers. Successful blogs do more than just share information, they inspire readers to take action. A dictionary or encyclopaedia, for example, has lots of information, but it’s not particularly fun to read. Move beyond the exchange of information and look at ways to engage your readers and inspire them into action by using techniques like assessments, questions, and stories
2. View blog posts as building blocks to larger projects. When choosing blog topics, look for ways that they can be reused in large projects, such as chapters in up-coming books or e-books. If you can identify what you need written for a book or e-book, you can identify topics that you can address as blog posts.

4. Create a writing system

Instead of starting to write each post from scratch, look for a way you can slowly immerse yourself into each blog post, a little at a time.

For example, before you begin to write, provide an advance deadline, or goal, for you to prepare the first draft a day, or 2, before the post is scheduled to appear. Once you get in the habit of deadlines a day or 2 before posting dates, your posts will greatly improve in quality. By leaving time for edits and reviews before publishing each post, you’ll undoubtedly discover ways to improve the titles and subheads of each post, and increase the post’s search engine optimization.

Another way to create a system is to get in the habit of creating an outline, or mind map–like the one shown above–displaying the points you intend to cover in each post. Review your post outlines or maps the night before you intend to write them, as well as the next day. This review engages your mind, so while you are driving to work, your brain is sorting ideas and searching for the right words.

Finally, commit to editing. Create a simple checklist you can use to review the quality of each of your posts. This checklist should remind you to look for problems like long, run-on sentences, new topics that are not introduced with subheads, passive verb structures, and missing words.

Conclusion

Commit to an efficient way to create blog content. Once you begin to view blog posts as a series of segments, and you write and save each blog post’s content in a way you can easily access and reuse it, you’ll be surprised at not only how quickly your writing improves in both quantity and quality, but how often you can expand and condense each post into other additional marketing opportunities and new product-development profits. With a little practice, you’ll soon be writing more in less time–and using your words over and over again.

Roger C. Parker invites you to visit Published & Profitable’s Sample Content Area and his daily writing tips blog to learn more about writing effective blog content and making your blog posts as easy to read as possible.

You can also download a PDF copy of the mind map I used to plan this series, plus links to additional writing resources, like a free report introducing mind mapping.

Roger is the author of 30 best-selling books and an experienced writing and marketing coach. His latest book is #Book Title Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Titles for Articles, Books, and Events.