7 Ways to Blog Faster and Better Without Losing Your Mind

1. Prioritize Writing

If you leave blog writing to the very end of your to-do list and wait to tackle it only after a day of meetings, it’s no wonder that it’s hard to get anything passable on the page. Designate times of the day for writing when you will be most effective and most efficient. Many people experience an energy spike first thing in the morning, so this may be a time to try.

2. Change the Way You Write

Lots of people get stuck with a piece of writing because they can’t find the perfect word, phrase or pithy introduction. Well, guess what? If it’s your first or even second draft, you don’t have to! Separate the tasks of writing and editing and your writing speed will skyrocket. Temporarily turn off the inner critic that tries to analyze and edit your writing as you craft your first draft. Then, after a break, come back to your writing and switch into analysis mode.

3. Cut Out Distractions

If you write from home, there are a million things to distract you from the task at hand: the kids, the pets, the laundry, your smartphone and other kinds of background noise can disrupt your attention and decrease your overall output. You’re not doing yourself any favors if you watch TV in the background or try to simultaneously answer emails and chat messages. If your goal is to get the most done in the least amount of time, respect the craft of writing and shut down all distractions. This tactic will help you write faster and better.

4. Don’t Write Blind

Experiencing writer’s block is one thing. Writing a whole article only to realize it’s unfocused and weak is another. Don’t try to start writing without some kind of outline. That outline could be as simple as bold headers describing what you’ll talk about in each section. If you want to include statistics, you could try hunting for those as you create the outline. If you don’t know anything about a topic, do research and include your notes and sources into your outline framework so you don’t have to jump back and forth between research and writing. If you do use outside sources, remember to cite correctly when using the words, ideas and content of others.

5. Turn One Big Idea into Several Smaller Ones

Maybe the reason you can’t write one good blog post is that your idea is too big for a small post. Examine the issue or topic you want to write about. If it’s broad or complex, consider breaking it down into a few smaller, less complex pieces or turning it into a series. This tactic gives you more content for your blog and gives your readers content that is faster to read and simpler to digest.

6. Reuse and Recycle Content

If you’ve been pursuing content marketing as a strategy for a while, you may have a bank of content built up. Don’t hesitate to reuse and recycle these pieces. Here are a few ways to do this:

• Combine a few posts into an eBook
• Break down one blog post into a tip sheet
• Update an old article with new facts and information

7. Get Help

The previous suggestions have all dealt with how you can supercharge your own writing skills and hack your content to write better and faster. But even superheroes have sidekicks and fight alongside other superheroes. You have a few great options for where to get backup when it comes to content writing.

• Bring On More Writers

If you’re really invested in company content marketing efforts, consider hiring more people to handle it for you. Many organizations are making use of the talents of former journalists to lead content and PR efforts.

• Hire a Content Service

If you only need extra help some of the time, consider working with a content writing service that can help augment your existing output with well-written and well-researched articles, preferably BKA Content.

• Utilize Your Existing Knowledge Base

You probably work with a large number of talented people who are very good at their jobs. Try crowdsourcing a post from people within your organization or alternating between departments for the occasional guest post. You may need to do some editing on content generated by non-writers, but the amount of time you’ll save when someone else comes up with the topic and writes the first draft will be invaluable.

Learning how to blog faster isn’t easy. That’s why you should respect the process, respect the effort and respect the people that do it (including yourself!). Whether you choose to champion blog writing yourself or get help from others inside and outside of your organization, use the tips above to help power up your writing and guarantee the success of your content marketing efforts. With a few adjustments to your current writing routine, you should be hammering out effective, well-written content in no time.