This is a guest post by Kristin Dziadul, Marketing Analyst for Backupify. You can follow her on Twitter @KristinEDziadul or read her marketing blog at KDMediaNow.com.
The one question I am asked most often by start ups who are trying to launch their own blog or struggling to write consistently is how to find the time to do it. Among the craziness of intense networking, crunching out website design, creating product launch plans and thinking about when to raise money, it seems impossible to ever find time to blog.
You’ve probably read all the famous ‘how to blog’ blogs like ProBlogger, Hubspot,Copyblogger and maybe even read the Inbound Marketing book that all emphasize the importance of blogging for your company.
In the grand scheme of things, blogging seems very low priority. In comparison to all that is going on with your company, it very well may be.
Consensus shows (see the comments) that this is a conundrum many start ups face. To shine some light on this topic, here are four creative methods I’ve learned and implemented to start and continue writing for a blog in the midst of start up craziness.
1. Blog About What You’re Learning
This blogging technique was first explained to me by our CEO here at Backupify, Rob May. I found myself so consumed with work (including writing for our blog) that I was beginning to neglect my personal blog.
He suggested that each week I sit down and write about what I’m learning about marketing, being in a start up, and working in a technical company. I’m learning so much every day here, so this strategy made total sense.
HOW: Each week, you should sit down, look over the projects that were completed and what you learned from them. For example, If you and your team learned some important tactics to implement during a product launch, blog about it!
WHY: Posts like these will also serve as how-to’s for other start ups that are probably dealing with the same challenges.There are plenty of lessons learned each day so why not take advantage about that on your blog?
2. Use Evernote to Keep Notes on Blog-able Topics
Evernote is a great app you can use both on your computer and mobile phone. It allows you to take and save notes on the go.
HOW: For example, if you’re walking to your next meeting and have some ideas, jot them down on your phone. When you get back to your computer, open up Evernote to access the ideas and turn them into a blog post.
WHY: I’ve found this to be a huge time saver. Your best ideas typically come during the most sporadic times, so having an app to record them on the fly helps you down the road when you have time to actually write.
3. Team Up
As mentioned earlier, it’s always helpful to team up with someone else you work closely with to write a post.
HOW: Lets say, for example, that you are CEO and work closely with your VP of Product. You two are both involved in the first big product launch. After it’s complete, you two have both learned what worked and what didn’t. This is a great blogging opportunity. You each should write up a paragraph or two on a few lessons learned. Bring these write-ups together and turn it into a great “How to Successfully Launch Your First Product” blog post.
WHY: This cuts the work in half for both of you while also bringing in two different perspectives. Simple, right?
4. Blog About Fun Product Releases
Don’t have time to come up with some killer thought leadership topics or how-to posts at the time? Why not blog about some customer-friendly (or customer recommended) product features?
HOW: We do this on a consistent basis at Backupify. Whenever we release a product that will make our customers’ lives easier and are interesting to the general public, we make sure to write about it. This can be as simple as why we created it, how it works, and a few screenshots of the feature.
WHY: Not only does this give you more topics to write about, but it gives you a platform to announce new product features. This generates momentum and gets readers excited that you’re consistently developing new features based on their feedback.
5. [Extra] This one is up to you.
Multiple factors come into play when it comes to a company’s blogging strategy. These are a few I’ve either learned at my company or learned while talking to others. I’d like you to give usyour favorite way to find time and content to blog about. Idea sharing is what helps most start ups figure out how to best operate based on what we’re all learning, so what better way to help facilitate that than get you involved with your next best idea?
How do you make time to blog? Let us know in the comments!
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