Over the last month I posted 36 posts in 31 days: 1.16 posts per day.
A post a day, after the first week, can easily turn become a chore, but in my case it never became one. Here are my three insights into how I avoided this.
First, I developed a frictionless system of posting which worked for me.
In my case my system is very simple.
- I go out for a one hour walk daily with my Sony Micro-Recorder in hand and an idea in my brain.
- I dictate a sentence at a time, as if I am in a conversation, and when I get home, I transcribe it on my computer using Dragon Dictation. ( For more info, read my post Physician to Busy to Blog? then Blog While Walking )
- I do two edits : One on my word processing software, Pages, and the other on my WordPress post page after a printout.
- I try not to get wrapped up too much in media, but will include the occasional interesting image or photo, like the one above, which I saw just as I was dictating this line!
- Then I either publish right away, or, more commonly, schedule for the next morning.
- Finally I tweet out the post titles with a shortened link and a few keywords.
The whole process takes about 90 minutes, with 60 minutes doing two of my favorite activities, walking and talking.
Second, I don’t write blogs about subjects that other people like; I write posts about subjects that I like, with my point of view.
Why is this important? Again, it is about being frictionless. I like a lot of subjects, and I like the details contained within these subjects. In practice, this means at any given time I have a running list of 50-100 titles to choose to start blogging about.
Heck, if I extended my walk for 20 minutes and improve my editing skills I could easily post 50 times a month with very little effort. Perhaps i will,
Third, and most importantly, I blog to clarify my own ideas for myself.
I can’t claim this idea on my own. It’s a concept well known to all writers and described best in the context of blogging by an interview I read with one of the most prolific and creative bloggers of our time – Seth Godin. ( Seth Godin Explains Why You should Blog Daily. It’s well worth reading.)
This journey towards clarity is where the true value of my blogging resides.
My blogging is not about SEO, conversions or metrics; it’s about creation of ideas, perhaps some which haven’t yet been put into words – and what can be more important than that?
Anyway that’s about it. Create a posting system with minimal friction. Blog about things you enjoy with your own point of view. Blog to achieve clarity for yourself.
This approach will certainly not be for everyone, but for a busy physician it may well be a great starting point.