Published on July 2nd, 2018 | by Guest

Difference Between Golden Blogging Standards and Real Blogging Options

Blogging is a bit like housekeeping. There’s the ‘right’ way to do it. We’ll call that the golden standard. Most of us would love to keep our houses perfectly. Unfortunately, most of us can’t. We have lives. There are other things that demand our time. We have unexpected company. Some days we’re just exhausted. We might even realize that we don’t have all of the right cleaning supplies, and that we cannot afford to get more.

Bloggers often have the same experiences. There’s a lot of advice out there on successful blogging. Most of it is really great. The problem is that much of it seems to assume that you can treat blogging as a full time job, and that you’ve got little else to deal with. That’s just not reality for most people.

This is why so many people use shortcuts when they keep house. It keeps their houses liveable and nice for visitors, and leaves them time do other things. Bloggers can do the same thing. Keep reading for some real blogging options for those of us who have businesses and lives in addition to our blogs.

The Golden Standard: Write Original Content

The Real Blogging Option: Recycle Crowdsource and Curate Content

Publishing a couple of amazing, fresh, written from scratch blog posts would be great. All of that super new content is sure to be loved by your readers. Then there are the SEO benefits.

The problem is that all takes is a couple of urgencies, a few disruptions, or simply a bad case of writer’s block to throw a monkey wrench in all of your blogging plans. Then what?

It’s time to rely on the real blogging option. Recycle, curate, and crowdsource content to make it easier to get great posts out to your readers on a regular basis. Here are a few of your options:

Guest Blogging

As a blogger, one of your tasks is to build relationships with influencers and other bloggers. One of the benefits of doing this is creating guest blogging opportunities for yourself and others. When you allow bloggers in complementary niches to guest blog, you get a bit of break. In addition to this, you expose your blog and other content to the guest blogger’s audience as well as your own.

Ungate Content

Have you written an ebook or do you have content that you have gated for paid subscribers? By selectively ungating some of that content, you can give your readers something to read they may not otherwise be able to access. For example, you could post an excerpt from a white paper or ebook, or simply establish a policy that gated posts become available to the general public after a couple of months. You’ll have great content to share during busy times, and you might even entice a few people to make a purchase.

Share Great Content with an Authority Intro

Your surfing the net and see something you think your audience will love. So, you grab it and share the link on Facebook or Twitter. This is great, but that super shareable content may serve you even better on your blog. Instead, consider turning that great content into a blog.

Instead of writing a quick comment and sharing on Facebook, write something up that’s a little more detailed. What is it about the content that made it worthwhile for you? How do you think your readers might use it? Type up a paragraph or two, grab a quote, and then link the content for your readers. This way they get the benefits of your insights and some great content.

Update Dated Posts

Remember that ‘best of’ post you wrote a year ago? What about that thought leadership post you did a few months back? The one that was full of industry predictions. Maybe it’s time to revisit these with some updated thoughts?

Repurpose Content

If you’re low on time, consider taking a look through your content library. You might be surprised at the content you can repurpose. Take a look for:

Slide show presentations
Product demonstration videos
Q and A sessions
Marketing write ups
Intranet postings
Team member biographies

Any of these has the potential to be dusted off, polished, and transformed into something your readers might enjoy.

Turn it Over to Your Audience

Crowd sourced content is almost always a hit. It’s also a great way to get content for your blog when you don’t have the resources to write from scratch. Ask people to share stories, pictures, and videos about their experiences with your products and services. Then, compile the best and share it on your blog.

The Golden Standard: Dedicate an Hour to Blogging Each Day

The Real Blogging Option: Voice to Text is Your Friend

The golden standard might be to spend an hour or more at your desk writing, but who really has time for that? Sure, on your best days you might be able to pull it off. On the others, let’s just be grateful that there are some amazing tools to help you save time, and blog wherever you are.

One category of tools are dictation or voice to text tools. These are great for people on the go, and for those of us who aren’t the best typists. These tools, can be installed on your phone, tablet, or PC/laptop. Instead of typing, you simply state them out loud. The tools will record it for you and create a document. Of course, you’ll have to do some editing to make it ‘ready for public consumption’, but you won’t be chained to your desk.

The Golden Standard: Write Long Form Posts of 2000 Words or More

The Real Blogging Option: Audiences Love a Quick Read

There is a lot of blogging advice that states that you should focus on long posts. The idea is that long posts with lots of links to authority sources does two things. First, it gets the attention of search engine spiders. Second, it draws in readers who tend to have decision making authority, and who require lots of data backed information.

These things are true. That doesn’t mean long posts are the only valuable posts. First, not every reader of value needs to have decision making authority. Your blog should be for anyone who has an interest in your brand and products, no matter where they are in the sales funnel. In addition to this, while there are people who do prefer to consume content that is long and detailed, not everybody does. Remember that people are just as busy as you are. The truth is, audiences love a quick read. They enjoy:

Lists and summaries
Posts with more images than text
Infographics
Videos

If you are struggling to find time to write a long blog post, don’t worry. Just think of all your busy readers who simply want something they can read through during their commute. Then, provide it to them.

The Golden Standard: Write Your Own Content to Share Your Voice

The Real Blogging Option: Outsource Outsource Outsource

The golden standard here isn’t wrong. It is important that your blog reflects your voice, values, and personality. Now for a not-so-secret industry secret; you don’t have to write every post on your blog. In fact, take a moment to think about the popular blogs you know. There’s a good chance that these blogs outsource at least a portion of their writing to professional writing services.

Another option is to outsource blogging within your organization. Even if you are the owner or marketing head, there is no reason for you to take on the task of blogging alone. Instead, farm the task out to various members of your team. Each probably has insights that are useful to your audience.

Better yet, ask members of other teams to contribute as well. Your customers will enjoy getting to know the team members from other areas, and they can learn more about the inner workings of your organization.

Conclusion

Nobody can live up to golden standards all of the time. Do the best you can, and take the shortcuts that are available to you. As long as you deliver quality content to your audiences, that is all that matters in the end.

About the author:

At a relatively young age, Donald Fomby has already amassed impressive experience as a freelance writer. Currently, he is a valued member of the writing team at Pick Writers. Donald studied Computer Science at Texas A&M and is a loyal Aggies football fan to this day.

In his spare time, Donald writes Sci-Fi short stories. He’s active on the convention scene as well. He also enjoys local music, and has a soft spot for authentic Texas BBQ. He has a passion for technology, social media and travel.

Tags: blogging, difference, golden, options, real, standards