How to write a blog post without really trying

Updating your website is always last on the list, isn’t it? Sure okay, basic contact info will get updated out of necessity, but what about that next blog post, or adding new portfolio items on a regular basis? So hard to prioritize.

You’re not alone. We update websites left and right all day long, we’re professionals, that’s what we excel at and love to do. Except for one. Our own. Of course; we are just as guilty as every other small business of prioritizing ourselves last in the service we offer. Case in point: we launched this great new site in October, and how many blog posts are there? Well, we’ve been talking strategy, how to just buckle down and do it, and here’s what we keep coming back to: lower the bar already!

A blog is a useful, easy way to add content that pertains to your work, establishes you in your field, keeps your site fresh, improves SEO and communicates what you’re doing. Heck, communicate that you are doing stuff. When you visit a site and the last blog post is from six months ago, there’s no telling whether that’s because the business has been too busy, or not busy at all. Either way, no news is not good news in this case.

So the next time you’re belaboring over what your next blog post should be, try this trick: log in to your website, click that ‘add new’ link under ‘posts’ (I know, feels like a scary commitment), put your cursor in the main content box, set a timer for ten minutes, and GO! Write nonstop about anything that crosses your mind. Write “I can’t think what to write” or “I need to buy kitty litter” or “I hope I look as cool as I think I do in my new red glasses” … just write. For ten whole minutes without stopping. Remember, no one can see what you’re writing, and you don’t have to hit ‘publish.’ You can keep drafts or delete anything at any time. The point is just to get going, get moving, and I guarantee by the time that timer dings you’ll keep going right along with a sudden idea. A cool new thing you just remembered, something you figured out today that you’ve been puzzling over for weeks, a story about how you met the gallery owner that’s hosting your next show. Who knows. It’ll show up. All you have to do is show up first.