I get asked that question a lot. Friends and other bloggers ask because they’re curious about how much time I spend blogging. Clients and prospects ask because they’re nervous about the time commitment.
I usually reply with a question of my own, “Are you talking about the time I’m thinking about blogging and the content I want to produce, or just the time it physically takes to type stuff out?”
Typing up a blog post takes anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. It rarely takes longer than that, although occasionally it does when I’m hunting around for a great image. Ultimately, it’s not the writing (and editing) time that’s significant – it’s the thinking time.
Blogging successfully means adopting a new mindset.
That’s really the challenge. When you get neck-deep into blogging you realize that the physical act of writing is nothing more than getting pre-written blog posts out of your head. They’re pre-written because you’ve been thinking about them already, sometimes for days or even weeks.
The Blogger Mindset has a few elements:
- You become much more observant. Bloggers are observant people. They have to be. They need something to put into their blog tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. The Blogger Mindset means that you’re always looking around for something interesting to spur on a post. It might be a funny anecdote, an experience you’re having in life, or a song you’re listening to that triggers an idea. You’re always asking, “How can I turn that into a blog post?”
- You become more focused. Bloggers need to focus. Whether it’s on one idea for a blog post or on the news in their industry / subject of choice, the Blogger Mindset means more focus. It is easy to get distracted when you start tracking hundreds of blogs and feeds, but successful bloggers know the importance of focus and they’re mastering it daily.
- You become more of a salesperson. Bloggers need to be salespeople. Why? Because you’re selling your blog and its content. You’re selling it as important, meaningful, entertaining, worthwhile…and the more you blog and get into the Blogger Mindset the more you want to grow your audience and community. The result of that is becoming a better salesperson. In blog terms, selling means writing great headlines & copy and networking online.
- You become more social. Blogging isn’t a one-way form of communication. There’s plenty of interaction involved. You want people commenting on your blog. As a result of blogging and developing the Blogger Mindset you’ll find yourself being more open and accessible, wanting to socialize and interact with people all the time. This is key component of blogging and part of why it takes commitment and time.
- You become more strategic. Bloggers are strategic in a number of ways. As your blog gains popularity you’ll start looking for ways of leveraging that opportunity. Heck, opportunities will just come to you, but you have to be in the Blogger Mindset to recognize them and pounce on them. The Blogger Mindset means being strategic about what you post, how, when, why…you’re no longer just writing whatever comes to you, whenever you want.
It also means being strategic in terms of planning the development of your blog and using it as a springboard to other things. Your blog becomes part and parcel of everything you do. It’s strategically placed at the core of all other activities, things you’re doing, and how you think.
So, how much time does it take to blog?
How many hours are you awake in the day?
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