Consistency is key to a great coworking blog.
You need to publish content regularly to keep your readers, and Google, engaged and aware of what you’re up to.
Whether you blog once a month or once a week, there are things you can do every day to make your content creations process easier.
Here are eight of my best tips.
1. Pay attention. Blog post ideas are everywhere. Sometimes the best blog posts come from combining seemingly unrelated ideas. Keep an open mind about where content inspiration comes from and you’ll start seeing blog post ideas all around you.
2. Capture ideas as soon as you have them. Once inspiration strikes and you have your next great blog post idea, write it down—preferably someplace you’ll be able to easily find it.
You can use a notepad for this, but I’d advise creating a list in Trello, Evernote, Wunderlist, or any other digital organizational tool you can access on your phone. That way, good ideas all get put in the same place and when it comes time to choose your next post, they’re easy to find and you have a pool of topics to choose from.
3. Find and follow interesting blogs. See what other people are writing about. What posts get lots of social shares? Which ones attract and keep your interest? You can learn a lot about blogging by observing what other people are doing well.
4. Brainstorm SEO keyword phrases you want to be found for. Blog posts generally drive traffic when they’re published, but what about once the initial bump has slowed down? The best blog posts keep people coming back for months or even years because they show up in search engine results when people search for specific keyword phrases.
Good keyword phrases for your space might include: “coworking in [your town],” “[your town] freelancers,” “office space in [your town],” “artist workspace in [your town].”
If you’re a woman-owned space, go for those keywords. If you partner with the local university, focus on keywords around coworking and education. If you have a strong presence of social justice projects in your space, work with those keywords.
Determine what sets you apart and what you want to be found for, then create posts with those keywords in mind. Brainstorming ideas for keyword phrases is something you can (and should) do regularly.
5. Stay up on local news and events. To attract the attention of local freelancers, entrepreneurs and other potential members, you need to be tuned into what’s important to them. The more you create posts around news and events that they care about, the more you’ll be seen as a valuable resource.
6. Write something. The more you write, the easier it gets. You don’t have to blog every day (though if you want to, go for it). But if you want to become a better writer, you should write something every day.
Whether your writing is a short entry in a gratitude journal, a non-business email or letter, a stream of consciousness ramble, or a diary entry, get in the habit of getting your thoughts out of your head and out into the world.
7. Read something. As Stephen King says, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.”
Make time to read every day. Yes, you’ll pick up ideas and increase your vocabulary, but this cool thing happens the more you read: your ability to clearly lay out thoughts and ideas improves as well.
Much of this happens subconsciously so, while you’re enjoying a book or kicking back with a nice longread on your ipad, your brain is making connections that will serve you the next time you have to explain a complex idea or concept to someone.
8. Take one step to further your next post. You don’t have to take a blog post from idea to published piece in one sitting. In fact, I advise against it. Create posts in steps:
- Decide on the topic of the post
- Brainstorm points to cover in the post
- Outline the post
- Write a rough draft of the post
- Finish the post
- Edit and publish the post
When you work this way, you can create a consistent content strategy in just a few minutes a day rather than waiting until you have a free afternoon to do the whole thing. Do something today that moves your next blog post (and maybe even a few after that one) further down the path to completion.
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