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How many times have you been told to calendar your marketing activities, just as if they were client appointments?  “Then THAT way I’ll actually blog/social post/network on a regular basis, like I’m supposed to!”, you keep thinking.  Well, as someone who worked in the events industry, thus with a mutable, ever-changing schedule, this just wasn’t working.  What did work? Making it a habit. I didn’t set a perfect schedule – but still managed to blog every 7 to 10 days for the majority of my business, creating a valuable niche audience and consistent engagement and SEO.  Read below to find out how I made blogging a regular part of my business, with a minimum of effort.

Make blogging a weekly habit

There’s a difference between scheduled activities and habitual activities.  For example, I now workout about 5 times a week.  In my head, I know that I will probably not workout 1x over the weekend due to famliy activities, and probably 1x during the week depending on what networking event or other work-related activities may pop up.  I simply then workout the other evenings when I’m free.  I started this routine for 2-3 weeks, and now, it’s like clockwork.  Every night that I arrive home and don’t have somewhere else to go to, I simply change into my workout gear, and once my son is done with his homework and dinner, I … work out. I don’t calendar it, I just do it.  I have a WEEKLY quota – i.e., “Workout regularly” is my weekly task, not a daily one.

The same has to happen for your blogging.  Make a note at the beginning of every week:  “Write one blog post.”  Every time you sit down to your computer, think, “Do I have time to work on my blog?”  Take 5 minutes if you can to add to your list of ideas, to shoot an email to a photographer to get photos of your latest wedding, or to log into the backend of your website to draft the first few words of your blog.  If that’s all you can handle, no problem.  Next time you sit down to your computer, ask yourself again if you have time to work on the blog. Even better, stick a post it on your computer that always says, “Blog!” and you’ll find yourself tackling your posts once you’re done with the main business of the day.

The reason why I suggest this for event planners, is because if we try to calendar in these regular marketing tasks, these appointments with ourselves nearly ALWAYS get kicked of the calendar by a last minute errand for a client, a meeting that FINALLY came together for a site inspection, etc. etc.  Our work is not desk-based- we’re running around all over the place, so it’s harder to lock in times and dates for this type of computer-based work since we’re not always sitting at a laptop.  These tasks have to surround our other work, and slot into our schedule once we find we have a free moment.

For me, the best time was always late afternoon or early evening, when everything was done for the day. I would find myself with about 20 minutes left to work on social media or blogging.  After awhile, it became such a habit, that I automatically would start to work on blogging once my day was complete – I didn’t have to look at a checklist to remind myself. It became…a habit.

Paris wedding destination planner Blogging

Blogging about my first Paris wedding led to other online inquiries, and, you guessed it, more Paris weddings! Photo by Yann Audic of Lifestories Wedding, dress by Vera Wang.

Small tasks lead to big momentum

It’s proven that starting small on an initiative leads to larger tasks being completed. So, say you have a stolen 5 minutes as you wait for a client to arrive for a meeting – that’s a great time to add blog ideas to your Notes app on your phone. Or, you find yourself done with a timeline draft earlier than you thought, and have a few minutes before tackling your next to-do of the day.  Take that stolen 20 minutes and upload some photos to your website for a ‘real wedding’ inspiration post.  By the end of the week, you will likely have a completed blog post.  Using these small slots in your day for mini-tasks, pays off in a big way.

Ask for help, if needed, to maintain your blogging calendar

There are also people who just don’t enjoy writing, unlike me (I liked it better than the actual wedding planning, believe it or not!) – and there are so many resources on the web for assisting your blog creation. Search Instagram, sites like Fiverr, Facebook, and other portals to find cost effective bloggers to assist you in pulling photos, drafting posts, even writing entire posts.  Interns and assistants can also make big progress for you behind the scenes, so you feel a sense of momentum without the struggle of putting pen to paper (or rather, finger to key).

Is blogging really that important these days?

Yes! It is.  Google is still a hungry beast for keywords (learn more about a key shift in their algorithms here, and the latest update here), and if you feed the beast, your SEO will increase, and you’ll start getting inquiries and collaboration requests from related brands that will even further increase your visibility.  Due to my solid SEO, I was able to branch out into corporate events, for example, as well as draw in wedding inquiries.  And, aside from a small investment into freelancers or your assistant, should you go that route, it’s a very low cost enterprise – with rich returns.

With this advice, you’ll be well on your way to making blogging a regular part of your work week.

Need any more tips or insight into your social media strategy?  Email me at dee@noworriesep.com and I’ll be happy to help!