Maintaining a blog is a crucial marketing tool for any small business owner, especially in a fast-changing and highly visual industry such as the wedding industry. Most business owners say they don’t have time to write blog posts, but what if I told you writing a blog post should only take you about an hour? It’s true! If it takes you more than an hour or two to write a blog post, it means you’re not focusing! Here are a few tips to help you focus on writing and getting those important blog posts published! No more excuses!

6 Tips for Staying Productive While Writing Blog Posts

1. Take some time to brainstorm blog post topics and save them as drafts. In the same vein, write down blog post topics or ideas as soon as you think of them. I keep a running list on my phone; you can also text or email yourself when you think of an idea. Then save it as a draft on your blog as soon as you can. When I find myself with some time to write but don’t know what I want to write about, I can go back to my list of topics instead of blankly staring at my laptop for hours!

2. Set a timer. This is a big one for me! I have Shiny Object Syndrome and find myself constantly distracted when I sit down to write. But if I set a timer on my phone (usually for an hour or 30 minutes), just the act of doing this helps me stay focused! I think to myself, “Okay, don’t do ANYTHING else except write until that timer goes off!” And it’s a challenge for myself to get the blog post finished before the timer even goes off. This really motivates me!

3. Use a blogging checklist. Anyone who keeps a to-do list knows that having a task list is the best way to stay productive. Reference a blogging checklist to remind you what to do in order to finish your post. This way you’ll finish your post faster and you also won’t forget any important steps! (Keep reading to download a free blogging checklist I’ve created just for you!)

4. Write the body of your content first, then go back and write your introduction paragraph. Unless the introduction flows right out, then by all means. But I often struggle with the introduction, so generally I write the bulk of my content first and then go back and summarize the content in my introduction.

5. Don’t agonize over images. I can sense all the photographers out there clenching their jaws right now, but I mean it. Look, if you’re a photographer then by all means, be particular about the photos you share on your blog. Or if you’re a wedding planner or if you’re blogging about a real wedding you were involved with, then of course photos are important. But don’t spend more than 30 minutes selecting photos. In fact, even that seems too long to me! Also, you only need about 10-15 images per blog post. Remember readers on the Internet have short attention spans. For any other kind of post you only need 2 images – one portrait image for Pinterest and one landscape image for Facebook. And remember to always properly credit the photographer for any image you share. (Need free stock photos for weddings? I like Pixabay and Pexels.)

6. Remember perfection is another form of procrastination. Some people get tripped up thinking their blog post is not perfect, and therefore they never publish it. Guess what … I always find something in my blog posts I consider to be “wrong” or something I could have done better after I publish them. This is SUPER common and I’m even willing to say it happens to everyone who blogs. So don’t be so hard on yourself and just hit PUBLISH!

Click here to open my Blogging Checklist. I recommend saving it to your computer, or printing out copies to reference every time you write a blog post.

What is your best tip to staying productive while writing? Please share with me in the comments!

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