Your LNC Blogging Success Requires Commitment
The number one thing you need for LNC blogging success is to commit to writing consistently.
LNC Blogging Success by Meeting Deadlines
An actively updated blog does wonders for your search engine optimization. Once I attended a conference for women entrepreneurs. Of the approximately 75 people present, about one-third of them had blogs. Only two people in the room, including me, blogged once a week.
This pattern is a sad missed opportunity to bring people to your website. Once you commit to starting a blog, work out systems for meeting your blogging deadlines.
Few things look more neglected in the online world than a blog that has not been updated for years.
Consistency is essential when running a top-notch blog. There are many ways to manage your LNC blogging schedule successfully. Every writer is different and each of us has his or her own flow.
I like to prepare my blogs for the week on the weekend. Others write posts for a month at a time.
WordPress lets you write a post today and schedule it to be published at a specific date and time. This feature allows you to write when you have time and to release your post when it fits your typical publishing pattern.
Here is a five-step process that has worked well for me based on the best practice of goal setting to help keep me on track: setting goals and working backward.
Blogging Deadlines
1. Create a publishing schedule.
Start by deciding when and how often you will publish. A very general guideline is to shoot to publish at one post weekly.
2. Set Specific Dates for Specific Posts.
Do a brain dump of all the possible topics you can think of to blog about. This list is your idea list. If you already have an idea list, assign a specific date to each subject or idea.
This listing is a provisional schedule, so you can switch posts to different dates once you start to see a pattern, logical or relational flow in the content ideas. For right now, it is good to just have blogging deadlines you can commit to and work with.
3. Create an Editorial Calendar.
A calendar organizes topics for you. This list is simply a decision about what topics you want to cover. One pattern is to post on a particular topic for a month. You could post once a week for a month about cases in the legal news (and your take on them.) The next month, you could provide tips on analyzing medical records.
Or you may vary the topics and focus on five or six main topics, alternating between the topics. You have total flexibility.
Consider newsjacking, a term coined by David Meerman Scott. When a hot topic hits the news, determine how to apply it to legal nurse consulting. Weave the topic into your blog and add your take or how it applies to the medical-legal world. The newsjacking’s benefit is the increased traffic to your blog because you are referring to a hit topic in the news.
When I was promoting a conference on sexual assault that I co-organized, I newsjacked several stories related to prominent men on trial or penalized for sexual assault. As an example, see LNC.tips/newsjacking.
4. Identify the Steps
Identify the steps necessary to create a single piece of content. You may be able to sit down and dash off an excellent blog post on the day it is to be published, but you probably would not be maximizing your effort.
On the other hand, you may decide to write all your posts at once in one “writing” day or afternoon to make keeping your blogging deadlines easier.
I have had days when the urge to write is so strong that the words flow and pour out of me. Those are moments of pure joy.
Examples of preparation steps might be:
- Planning and research
- Outline
- Rough draft writing
- Editing
- Publishing
- Promoting
You may find it best to plan and outline one day, write the next, and edit and post on the third day. Decide what works best for you, and if you are not sure, use the list above and see how it goes. You can always add or adjust your steps later.
Keep your perspective. It should not take you all day to write a blog post. Generate direct income first.
5. Schedule or Time Block the Steps on Your Calendar
Finally, assign a specific date and time to complete each step (use your calendar’s duplicate or repeat function to set aside, so it becomes a habit). Work backward from the publishing day and set aside time for each step on your calendar.
For example, if you have just the three steps of planning, writing, and editing, your publishing schedule might look something like this:
Wednesday: Create an outline
Thursday morning: Write a post
Friday morning: Edit post and publish
With each step entered consistently on your calendar, you will have a good blogging schedule where you never feel rushed. There is plenty of time to give each step the attention it deserves. This action helps ensure you consistently publish quality content within your blogging deadlines.
This isn’t a blog post to read once and put away. I designed it as a resource that you can refer to frequently.
Now that you’ve finished your first reading let’s look at any remaining reluctance you may have to start blogging.
Commitment
The commitment issue is major.
As an LNC business coach, I know that people react differently to commitments. Learning how important it is to put out a blog that engages attorneys, gets published regularly, and is a compelling introduction to your LNC business will inspire you if you welcome a challenge. If you fear failure, you will put off starting a blog until sometime in the future, which often translates to never.
If you are in the second group, don’t beat yourself up. Get some practice in writing blogs—without the pressure of publishing them and continue doing so regularly. Write, and show people you trust what you wrote. If you have writing weaknesses, work on them.
Read about how to tell a story. Study grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Improved skills will raise your confidence level.
Use my book, Blogging for LNCs, as a resource. Sometimes people tall because they can’t find a style of blog writing that matches their personalities and ways of expressing themselves.
Here are three of them.
- You can choose one quotation and comment on it at length.
- You can tell anecdotes about your business that give it the human touch.
- You can highlight how your company serves its community.
Also, cut yourself some slack about how often you must post a blog. Don’t be intimidated by the daily posters. Carefully consider if you have the time and energy to post a weekly blog. I’d rather see you posting consistently every two weeks than attempting a goal you have trouble achieving. Feeling like a failure rarely creates success.
Is your biggest fear still coming up with ideas?
Stockpile Your Ideas
Collecting your ideas will help you.
We all have unique energy cycles. Determine when you feel most creative and write then. If a good idea comes to you, write it down, at least the main points. If you have time, write a rough draft.
Did you review a case that made you feel sorry for the patient? Perhaps the damages were so compelling that you felt strong empathy for the patient. Write a blog about the meaning of suffering.
You can also learn to look at so-called adverse events as lessons you can write in your blog. Maybe you had a situation where the joke was on you. Write about it. Much of the sting will disappear, and people will identify with you.
The more you answer the inspiration call, the more it will visit you. You’ll find that when you write without the pressure of a deadline, your writing will flow more easily.
The more your writing flows, the more authentic it will feel to those who read it, and the more they will recommend it to others.
Care about your audience
Caring about attorneys is your most potent path to success as a blogger.
Adopt this belief:
“Someone needs to read what I am writing.”
Stay positive and be patient.
You CAN succeed.
Pat Iyer is president of The Pat Iyer Group, which develops resources to assist LNCs in obtaining more clients, making more money, and achieving their business goals and dreams.
Pat’s related websites include the continuing education provided on LNCEU.com, the podcasts broadcast at podcast.legalnursebusiness.com, and writing tips supplied at patiyer.com.
Get all of Pat’s content in one place by downloading the mobile app, Expert Edu at www.legalnursebusiness.com/expertedu. Watch videos, listen to podcasts, read blogs, watch online courses and training, and more.