triple your blog post frequency
DESCRIPTION
How to force yourself to post more - how you need to behave and what tools might help you do that. How to write blog posts regularly? What tools to use? How to use editorial calendar? What are other tools to be used - Zemanta and Blogspire. Presentation at WordCamp NYC 2012.TRANSCRIPT
Triple your post frequency!
WordCamp NYC 2012Andraz Tori
@andraz
Your blogging heart rate
• Alive and kicking?• Content recency
• Walking or running?• Frequency
• Healthy?• Regularity
Goal
Increase frequency and regularity
without compromising qual ity!
But, before we start...
But, before we start...
What helps?
• Having a plan• Having equipment• Having a coach
Three directions of attack
1. A system of post types2. Adopt a pacemaker3. Spend less t ime per post
Three directions of attack
1. A system of post types2. Adopt a pacemaker3. Spend less time per post
And blog 'plots'?
ProBlogger: 52 Types of Blog Posts that Are Proven to Work
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/09/03/52-types-of-blog-posts-that-are-proven-to-work/
Taking a look at
1. Case Studies/Profile Posts2. How-To Posts
Case Study Post
bit.ly/Kpny8o
USE CUSTOMERS' OWN WORDS
AND USE VISUAL CUES
Case Study Post
bit.ly/Kpny8o
KILLER HEADLINE
Case Study Post
bit.ly/Kpny8o
REAL EXAMPLES
Case Study Post - Checklist
1. Create a Killer Headline2. It's a Story3. Use Customers' Own Words4. Use Visuals (graphs, images of product in use, video testimonials)
How-To Post
bit.ly/Kpny8o
CONCISE INTRODUCTION
How-To Post
bit.ly/Kpny8o
CLEAR STEPS
How-To Post
bit.ly/Kpny8o
USE EXAMPLES
How-To Post
bit.ly/Kpny8o
SOLIDCONCLUSION
How-To Post - Checklist
1. Concise Introduction2. Clear Steps3. Include Examples4. Solid Conclusion
Three directions of attack
1. A system of post types2. Adopt a pacemaker3. Spend less time per post
Importance of frequency and regularity
• Predictabi lty for your readers• Increasing recal l of your blog name• Material over which to engage about on social channels
Adopt a pacemaker!
• We are al l lazy• So we use tools that help us do the right thing:
• A Boss• An Editorial calendar• Inspiration delivery
A Pacemaker
• A tiny thing• Hidden from the view
•
And hugely important
Editorial calendar
• Can be as simple a Google Docs spreadsheet
• Or robust like Edit Flow...
Simple to manage calendar
http://editflow.org/
Custom post status types
http://editflow.org/
Editorial Metadata
http://editflow.org/
Editorial comments
http://editflow.org/
What to write about?
Inspiration, delivered daily• Input:
• blogs on the topic you want to write about• Output:
• Articles and topics that you should write about• Integrated with WordPress (.org and .com)
• You:• Start writing your thoughts immediately
Takes you to “Add new post”
Three directions of attack
1. A system of post types2. Adopt a pacemaker3. Spend less t ime per post
Writing does not a post make
What makes a post?
• Writing• Decorating• Connecting• Tagging
Writing
• You can get inspiration out there• But no automated tool can write instead of you
• So good luck!
Decorating
Skyword study found an average increase of 94% for articles that included an image or infographic .
http://skyword.com/blog/96-skyword-study-add-images-to-improve-content-performance.html
Connecting
• Links to:• Your sources• Your inspirat ion• Good links for readers to dive deeper
• Linking out is one of the best ways to get noticed
Toto, I don't think we're on paper anymore!
Don't be an island
• Don't be a
content island!• It's lonely• No space to grow
• BYP periodical ly references LifeHacker articles
• One of the Lifehacker bloggers took notice and l inked back to one of Blogging Your Passion posts
http://bloggingyourpassion.com/how-using-the-zemanta-wordpress-plugin-can-increase-your-blog-traffic/
Tags
• Important for SEO• And sometimes user-discovery• Very important on WordPress.com
How to be efficient at all this?
Age of smart
Optimize, enhance
• Search Engine Optimization
• Professional copy editing
• Basic spell & grammar checker
• Personal writ ing assistant• Helps with recommendations while writ ing:
• Images• In-text links (Wikipedia, authoritative sites)• Related articles (Blogs, big & small media, yours)• Tags (so people can find your content)
Adding images
==
Adding links
Adding tags
And publish!
Takeaways
Exoskeletons
Or like this
Links
• 52 types of blogs http://bit.ly/qV1spC• Checklists http://bit.ly/Kpny8o• EditFlow http://editflow.org• BlogSpire http://blogspire.zemanta.com• Zemanta http://www.zemanta.com
And remember
• Purpose of all this is to build a habit• Without a habit no tool or approach will help long term
• There is no magic bul let
Thank you!
Andraz Tori@andraz
Photo credits
• http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/B2B_Trends_2010.pdf
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/aye_shamus/2929888687/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/stylianosm/3989939286/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/betta_design/2200198472/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferranp/317125624/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanaka/5949395563/lightbox/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeaks2569/3700355684/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trj/1032572214/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/cazatoma/6086507585/
• Raytheon Sarcos
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Photo credits
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/ioveva/2582842514
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/n28ive1/431939090/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/riekhavoc/5117958417/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/jontunnell/4417137695/
• Full Metal Jacket Drill Seargent
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Resources
• http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-tips-for-writing-great-blog-posts/
• http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2011/10/10-tips-for-corporate-bloggers/
• http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/32105/The-Top-10-Qualities-of-High-Quality-List-Posts.aspx
• http://blog.kissmetrics.com/creating-a-great-case-study/
• http://www.bloggingtips.com/2010/01/05/50-examples-of-great-blog-engagement/