If you’re a busy business owner, it can be hard to find the time to sit down and write a post for your business blog.
At other times, it might be easy to start writing a post but difficult to finish it.
Here are seven steps you can take to write and edit business blog posts quickly and easily.
1. Keep an ideas notebook
Some days, it’s so easy to write. Ideas come tumbling out of your head so fast that your typing fingers find it hard to keep up.
On other days, you sit down, stare at a blank screen, and have no idea what to write.
In this situation, your ideas notebook will give you lots of ideas and inspiration.
Often, ideas pop into your head at random times or when you’re doing something other than writing.
Whenever this happens, jot your idea down in your ideas notebook.
Don’t rely on your memory. I’ve often tried to remember a good idea I had on the previous day without success.
Ideas seem to be quite fleeting – they come into your mind and then they fly away. It’s important to capture them on paper.
I have a small ideas notebook that I carry around with me and another one by my bed, so that I can jot down anything that occurs to me last thing at night or after I wake up.
2. Write the first draft quickly
Write the first draft of your business blog post as quickly as possible.
Don’t stop to re-read it. Don’t worry if you know you’ve just made a spelling mistake, just keep on typing.
Write your ideas down as quickly as possible.
Try not to judge your writing or think about it too much.
Get into the flow of writing and just write.
If you can’t complete a particular sentence or section, don’t worry. Just leave it as it is.
3. Leave the first draft for at least 12-24 hours
Once you’ve written the first draft, don’t read through it immediately. Leave it for at least 12-24 hours, overnight if possible. The old adage of “sleeping on it” rings true.
If an extra idea or improvement occurs to you during this time, jot it down if you can.
Try not to think about the blog post directly but concentrate on other things. While you’re doing other things, your subconscious mind will be thinking about the blog post. This will also happen while you’re asleep.
4. Read through the first draft and make changes
After 12-24 hours, read through your first draft and make changes.
You may realize:
· a sentence has awkward wording
· you need to expand upon a particular point
· another point could be made more concise
· you need to do research to add background facts and statistics to support some of your points.
Once you feel you’ve improved your blog post as much as you can, leave it again, at least for a few hours and preferably overnight.
5. Read the blog post aloud
When you go back to your blog post, read it aloud. This will help you see how it reads.
Do the words and sentences flow or does it sound clunky or contrived?
Make any further improvements you need to make.
6. Look for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors
Once you’re reasonably happy that you’ve created the final draft of your blog post, read through it carefully, looking for spelling mistakes and errors in the punctuation and grammar.
Don’t rely on spelling and grammar checkers because, although these tools are helpful, they sometimes make assumptions that are incorrect.
7. Ask someone else to check your final draft
If possible, ask someone else to read through your final draft, checking it for readability and errors. Ask them to give you their honest feedback and comments.
Ask a friend or family member, another business owner or an editor. If you can’t afford to engage a professional editor (although editing services are usually priced very reasonably), ask another business blog writer if they’d like to collaborate, so that you edit each other’s work.
Feedback given by an editor of any kind is invaluable. They will tell you things about your work that you would never have found out by yourself, improving your writing skills over time.
If you'd like some help with writing or editing your business blog posts, contact me for a free, 30-minute consultation with no obligation.
Roz Andrews is the founder of RA Writers For Hire. Her mission is to help businesses improve their written communications.
She writes and edits blog posts, web pages, website content, newsletters, eBooks, and other communications on behalf of busy business owners. Other services include proofreading non-fiction books and eBooks.
Request a quote for your project or order online today.