Blogging Buddies: Catapult Your Writing Success with One Simple Idea
Entrepreneurs often say that they’d like to blog. They put someone on the job (often the poor intern who has no idea how to motivate others, let alone get the blog going), and hope for the best. What happens, though? The blog is dormant, wakes up from time to time, goes back into a Rumpelstiltskin-like slumber, and then languishes. While a team approach works well for some, putting a single (often inexperienced) person in charge of a business blog isn’t the best idea, in my opinion. A much better idea? Put two people in charge, and let them motivate each other.
Drafting
Drafting in the sense of writing means creating a rough outline. Drafting in the aerodynamic sense, and for a business, can mean that everyone gets a break and works off each other. Take a look at this swell article from The Huffington Post: Why Birds Fly in a V-Formation. It’s aerodynamic. The lead bird does the most work when it’s out in front. Then it falls back and someone else leads. I like the idea of appointing a leader, but with a twist: have two leaders who are buddies with a similar work ethic and writing skillset.
The Buddy System
With two people in charge of blogging, neither of them bears full responsibility. And they can brainstorm with each other, pass the writing back and forth, and one can take over when the other is ill or on vacation. Blogging is critical for a startup or for anyone who wants to be found online. In my opinion, it’s a responsibility that shouldn’t be left to an intern, but given to someone on the team who is more invested in its long-term success. And when one person runs out of ideas, the other person can say “what about this? you’ve never covered this before!”
Hire a Writer or Two
Want Blogging Success? Hire a Writer!
If you want your business to succeed, hire someone whose primary job is to create content. This can mean social media posts, but more importantly it means original writing that positions your brand as a leader. Writers can not only write blog posts, but create playbooks, headlines for curated content, online materials, and slideshows. You want someone with experience as a writer, and that includes good grammatical skills. There’s nothing worse than seeing good content ruined by spelling errors and bad grammar.
The Best Movies Have Writers
The idea of having a writer for a movie might sound silly and straightforward. But often movies with fantastic special effects seem to miss one element: a writer. As a writer, this is offensive. Why couldn’t they hire one writer to make sure the script makes sense? Aside from continuity editing, the writer’s job is to create dialog that flows and sounds natural. Like a movie, your business needs a good writer, too. Preferably two or more writers!
My Blogging Buddy
My blogging buddy is Bridget Willard. You can read her work or subscribe to her blog at You, Too, Can Be a Guru. We often bounce ideas off each other, comment on each other’s crazy ideas, and keep each other sane through our ups and downs. She posts her videos on YouTube if you’d like to hear, rather than read social media tips. Here’s one about how to post the “same” content across platforms:
Feeling All Alone?
Whether you’re a solopreneur or a brand, I highly recommend the blogging buddy route. If you run your own business, find someone with similar ideas. If you’re a CEO or startup, and can hire two writers, they’ll keep each other motivated and your blog will always have enough content. Content has become more important and a blogging buddy can help your cause. Do you have a blogging buddy? Tell me about yours in the comments! Thank you!
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