Have you ever trained for a 5K or a marathon? You don't just get up one day, decide you are going to run a marathon, and run 26.2 miles. That's crazy! Instead you start training for months before the marathon. You may start off with 1-2 miles the first week, and by the end of the month you may be running 5-10 miles. Throughout the month you slowly increase how much you run every week to help you train for the marathon.
The same applies to blogging. You don't start off by publishing industry research or intricate opinion pieces on your blog on Day 1. It takes time to develop your blogging routine and create high-performing content. The question is where to start.
In this post, we'll take you through a five week program designed to get you ready for your blogging marathon.
Why should I blog?
Blogging isn't easy. It can take hours to research, write, and promote a post. How do you know it's worth the time and resources invested? We wanted to know, so we did some research.
Did you know that HubSpot customers who write just 3-4 blog posts per month get 20 more monthly lead submissions, 800 more monthly site visits, 60 more Twitter followers, and 50 more Facebook likes than customers who only write 2 blog posts per month? And did you know that 82% of marketers who blog on a daily basis acquired a customer using their blog, as opposed to 57% of marketers who just blog monthly? (Source: HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing 2013)
Blogging has been reported as one of the best ways to generate more traffic to your website. Sure it takes a lot of time and resources to do it right, but it also is a great business tool.
How can I start?
Just like you train for a marathon, consider training to blog. Below is a five week calendar designed to help you train to become a full-fledged blogger. Week 1 starts you off with a brainstorming exercise to help you publish a post. Each week gets a bit more advanced until you reach Week 5 and publish new industry data.
In addition to the content suggestions, use some of these resources to help you create content:
- Blog Topic Idea Generator
- Blog Templates
- How to Write a Blog Post: A Simple Formula to Follow
- How to Write an Introduction [Quick Tip]
- A Simple Formula for Writing Kick-Ass Titles
- How to Choose a Solid Topic for Your Next Blog Post
Sometimes you need a marathon buddy. Sign up below and we'll send you weekly reminders to blog with some content ideas to keep you motivated. The reminders will run for 5 weeks and then you're off and running on your own.
Sign up for weekly emails to help you prepare for your blog content for that week.
How do you come up with blog content ideas?
