When I work with business clients in the writing lab, I often tell them to pay attention to the questions they get asked all the time. The answers to those questions make perfect blog posts.
I’ve noticed that I’ve been explaining my process of writing, publishing and sharing my blog posts quite a bit lately. So, it seems appropriate to blog about it. It’ll save me from explaining the same thing over and over again. I’m also hoping that other bloggers will share their formulas as well.
My formula for writing, publishing and sharing blog posts:

1. I have a regular blogging schedule.

   I typically write my blog posts in the evening because that’s when I have the most time. During the day, I’m meeting with and writing for clients. At night, I’m more relaxed and can crank out posts pretty easily. Blogging at the same time each week helps keep me consistent. I usually take weekends off from blogging, unless I’m really inspired.

2. I schedule my posts to publish in the 5am hour the next morning.

   Chances are, my blog post is ready to go some time after 9pm. I could hit the publish button then and be done with it, but I like to consider when my readers will most likely read it. I find early in the morning works best because many people scan email on their smart phones when they wake up or right when they sit down at their desk for work. If people get my posts via email, I have it scheduled to go out between 7am and 9am. If I post after this time, the email won’t go out until the next day, and the post may not be timely anymore. If they’re reading posts via an RSS reader, it’s ready to go when they wake up.

3. I amplify the post on social media at specific times during the day.

   If you want to reach people who aren’t already subscribing via RSS or email, you need to share your post on social media. I have my post automatically publish to my personal Facebook page using NetworkedBlogs, so it’ll go out in the morning when people are scanning. I like to manually share my posts on my Facebook page, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and StumbleUpon because it allows me to say something about each post, in the language that’s most appropriate to the social media channel (read: what you say on Facebook doesn’t always translate the same on Twitter and vice versa). I try to do this before 9:30am. If I can’t share before then, I wait for lunchtime, another good time for social media scanning. Depending on the post, I might wait until the evening between 6pm and 8pm to share. That’s when my mom followers are usually winding down.

4. I comment on other blogs.

   I skipped this step in my early days of blogging. Who has the time to scour the internet for blogs to comment on, right? Well, I have a number of blogs I’ve found through various sources that I read regularly. I comment on their blogs, and they comment on mine. This helps me gain readers and find new bloggers to read. I also add my posts to Wordless Wednesday “linkies” and participate in the SITS community, where a different blog is featured every day. The featured blogger is then showered with comments. I’ve found some wonderful blogs and blog readers this way. The secret is the support, people.

5. When in doubt, I schedule it out.

   I sometimes schedule posts to share automatically on social media using tools like NetworkedBlogs, Hootsuite or using the new Facebook page scheduling feature. I’d rather have a less personal message go out from a third party than not share at all. And, sometimes, I like to take a vacation. Or, I’m just stuck in meetings. Yes, I do have a life outside of blogging.

So, what is your formula for writing, publishing and sharing blog posts?
Photo Credit: sheepfur via Flickr