How to Blog for Your Business When You Really Hate Blogging
You know you need to blog, but you really don't want to. You read about the benefits: SEO, thought leadership, content marketing, more clients, more clients, more money…more, more, more. But when you stare at that blank Wordpress post…your fingers don't glide over the keys – instead you think that you really need to clean that toilet. Then it hits you that you really hate blogging. Maybe you said NO to one of the 4 questions about whether or not you should blog, but decided that you still need to blog.
Table of Contents
Outsource your blogging
So you hate to blog and your first thought is, “I'm gonna outsource this, baby. Yeah, outsourcing rocks.” This makes logical sense, but you've got to tread carefully here.
You are the expert on your business. You've done hours of work defining and researching your audience. You understand their pains and speak their language so if you decide to outsource your blogging, carefully vet the content marketing guru that you hire. Ask yourself:
- Can they replicate the tone and voice of my website and existing blog posts?
- What do they know about my topic?
- Does their philosophy about my topic align with mine?
- What kind of posts are you going to hire them to do?
- Will the content they produce provide value to your community?
- Are they good writers? (Yeah, that seems like a no brainer but you've gotta ask it!)
I'm a control freak, so I can't imagine outsourcing my blogging. I love blogging, and I'm freaking picky about the content and the writing. Ask anyone who has guest posted for me – I'm highly involved in the editing process.
However, if you find the RIGHT marketer – you can save a lot of time and create an amazing blog.
Content curation
Outsourcing may not be for you – maybe you don't want to spend the cash or you can't find a person who is the right fit for your business. Since you are reading this blog, you might be interested in content curation. People are constantly producing content. Amazing content. Content that deserves to be read. If you don't want to create your own content, share other people's content on your topic.
I don't mean go steal their content and pass it off as your own. Read their blog, write-up a 3-4 sentence synopsis and then link to the blog. Guy Kawasaki is a master of content curation – check out Alltop for a great place to find great content. I guarantee you that they will have a category for your topic.
Want to repost an entire article? Ask if you can reblog the post.
Most bloggers are super open to you sharing their content. It exposes their hard work to a whole new audience.
Interviews: Q&A all the way
Maybe you like talking to people more than writing and finding content. Start doing Q&A sessions or interviews with people who are thought leaders in your field. Reach out to the person you want to interview. Tell them what you like about their work and why you want to interview them. They might say no, but heck, if you don't ask you have no chance.
You can record Skype interviews. Send an email with questions and have a written Q&A. There are lots of options. It's fun to chat with people. You'll make new connections and create value for your audience.
Podcasting & Vlogging
I LOVE to listen to podcasts (my favorite is Blogcast FM – Srini Rao is an excellent interviewer whom you can learn a lot from.) If you like to talk, give tips or do interviews. Podcasting maybe for you. There's definitely a technical learning curve, however, this step-by-step podcasting guide remedies that bugaboo. I'm not an expert in podcasting, but if you'd like to start a radio type show to get content into the world- this might be for you.
Do you want to take center stage and show off that gorgeous mug of yours? Vlog away! Vlogging is another great alternative to blogging. If you've got a camera, this lighting setup, a mic and some editing software – you can create a vlog. This one has technical components too, but if I can pull it off – I know you can!
If you don't want to blog for your business – the simple solution is: Don't blog. Consider outsourcing, content curation, interviews, podcasting and vlogging.
How do you get creative when you really don't want to blog for your small business? Tell me about it in the comment section below.
