In this blog post, I will share 7 questions you can ask yourself that will help you when considering blogging/more blogging.
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Do you like to blog? I do, but then I like to write so the two go hand in hand. As my hubby would tell you I also like to talk, which I why I also my blog and podcast show in combination to share my message. Whatever stage you’re at with your blogging, it’s worth doing a mini review. Here’s a few questions to get you started. 1. Do you like blogging/writing? These questions are important. Do you like to write or not? If you don’t like to write, then maybe blogging isn’t for you. Yes, it’s good for visibility and yes, it builds your credibility but if you’re kicking and screaming every time you sit down to write one word then maybe a different form of visibility would be better for you. Perhaps you’re a master at FB Lives (okay, so maybe not a master, but you enjoy doing them) or maybe you just like sharing on Instagram. It’s all about finding what works for you and what works for your dreamie clients too. PS. This isn’t about making excuses though. I’m not letting you off the hook that easily! 2. What are you doing so far in terms of blogging? Maybe you’re just starting out and haven’t written a single word, or you have a document full of posts ready to go live ‘one day’. You just don’t want that one day to come too soon because it scares the life out of you sharing your message online! Perhaps you’ve been blogging a little while but you haven’t checked out what ROI you’re getting (return on investment) as in is it even worth your effort. (I’d add a note here though, we get caught up on the number of comments on our blog posts, and lack of comments doesn’t necessarily mean that people aren’t reading your posts. Sometimes people just don’t take the time to comment, but love everything you’ve written. I’ve been to many a live event and had people saying they love my blog. I usually reply with a ‘Yay, someone’s reading it’ because if comments were anything to go by with mine I would think it was just me who saw my posts! 3. How often do you share a post? This is a good one to check in on. We are aiming for consistency here so far better to share consistently once a month, than to share once a week and then disappear for ages. I know you like to hide away, I do too but that doesn’t create consistency! There will be times, a bit like I’ve had lately, when your blog isn’t as much of a priority and consistency doesn’t happen, but it’s fine. Life gets in the way and it’s about getting back on track as quickly as you can. Consider what good consistency of posting would be for you. You want it to be one that makes you feel calm and in control, rather than wanting to tear your hair out as you try to come up with new ideas all of the time.
4. Where are you sharing your posts and where might be good places to share? The loaded question – Where to share. Quick answer, where your dreamies are, but play around with this over time. It’s worth checking because we can get into a rut of always sharing in the same places. Also, are you maximising the blog posts that you write, or do they just get written once and left to slowly drop further and further down the pages of your website? Save yourself some time, dig out some old blog posts that you like and get them scheduled in for sharing. You don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel! It doesn’t mean you share the same content over and over again and drive your tribe crazy, but it does mean you could repost something you shared 6 months ago. You will have new members in your tribe by then, and remember not everyone sees what you post and/or needs what you post at that time, so it never hurts remind people. Think of your own habits, sometimes you need to hear something a few times before taking action.
5. What’s working with your blogging so far? As business owners, we often talk about what’s not working. We’re on a lifelong mission to fix all of the problems in our business. Let’s flip that and focus on what is working and do more of that. For example, I know I get lots of sign ups when I do guest posts. Now, there are two strands to that, one I am writing very targeted posts which work really well with the companies I write for. What I hadn’t connected though was that I write slightly differently when I do guest articles, they’re often a bit less chatty and more succinct. So, it’s then about testing different options to find out why something might be working and reviewing what you could do differently. 6. What posts do you enjoy writing? If you are really connected to your passion, then allow that message to come through in your writing. If you’re enjoying what you write, it’s likely that your dreamie clients will enjoy it too. If you find yourself screwing your nose up when you talk about a particular aspect on your blog, then don’t write about that. Find something that you find exciting. Allow that passion to shine through. 
7. What have you learned about the way you currently blog? I know that I do my best writing when it’s last minute. I’ve tried writing loads of things in advance. I sometimes go through phases of batching, but it’s a bit of a push for my creative muse. She doesn’t like it. She likes to fly by the seat of her knickers! She thinks it’s great fun stressing me out and not giving me much creativity until the last minute. That’s taught me that too much structure doesn’t work for me when it comes to blogging. I like to talk about what inspires me in that moment. What I do have though is an editorial calendar that I use in Asana (a fabulous project management tool that I use) I’ve plugged in lots of different titles so that I have some inspiration to choose from – that feels like a more flexible plan to me (Bonus that it doesn’t upset my creative muse too!)
If you’re not sure whether to blog or not, why not test it for a bit and see how it works out for you. In my Rock Your Visibility programme we focus on, and test, one area of visibility for one month. That way you can decide if it’s something you enjoy or not, and whether it brings you any results. Obviously any form of testing takes time, but this way allows you to try things on for size. Sometimes we make excuses for not being visible, other times we might not be playing to our strengths so doing this form of testing helps with that. Blogging can feel scary, like you’re baring your soul to the world, but actually it’s just you sharing information to help others. One of the ways I got into the blogging habit was to complete Sarah Arrow’s 30-Day Blogging Challenge. This is where you blog for 30-days consistently. It was REALLY full on, but once you’ve completed it and you’re mucking around telling yourself you can’t write a blog post, you get to remind yourself that you pulled off 30 posts in 30-days so it’s nonsense that you can’t pull off one. Move over mindset monkeys! If you enjoyed this post, then you can get the freebie that goes along with it, one I normally only share with my Rock Your Visibility Members. You get a simple worksheet you can use to work through these questions, plus 7 steps to a great blog post and more. Click this link to get access. (NB. You’ll also get added to my newsletter list too where I share exclusive weekly hints, tips and strategies to help you get more visible in your business)
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