It’s 2013. I’m wearing some ‘dressy shorts, ‘ a pile of rings, and drinking this new thing called Kombucha. (I’m not really sure how to pronounce it and it sort of tastes like vinegar soda? But the internet tells me it’s healthy?)
Get Lucky is playing in the background and I’m writing my seventh blog post for that week. Yes. Every single day I have an idea, flesh it out into 500+ words and share it with anyone who will listen.
It will not surprise you, dear reader, to know this is also around the time I started to develop ulnar tunnel syndrome. And my personal life fell apart. And also I wasn’t sleeping well.
Why? OH I DON’T KNOW MAYBE BECAUSE I WAS WORKING WAAAAAY HARDER THAN I NEEDED TO BE?
Since then, I’ve dramatically changed how I write, when I write, and how much I write. And you know what’s happened to my traffic, engagement, and list? Nothing! If anything, they’ve grown and improved! If this sounds appealing to you, here’s how you, too, can work less and accomplish more with your blog.
Your self-worth isn't measured by your productivity Share on X
6 Ways To Work Less + Accomplish More With Your Blog
1. Look through your old posts + expand one point into a whooooole blog post
Fun fact! Did you know The Desire Map was originally a two-page section in The Firestarter Sessions? And now it’s a bestselling book and program with trained facilitators and everything? Did you know my six-week money and happiness course started as a 449-word blog post in 2013?
Many of us cram entirely too much information into our blog posts. We trim amazing, life-changing ideas into 200 words and tuck them between bullet points. Look through some of your favorite old posts and find the bits that could be expanded into full blog posts. Or full books or courses!
2. Update + re-promote the best stuff in your archives
Are you tired of me yammering about this yet? I know I sound like a poorly burned CD your college roommate made, but IT IS ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT.
When I updated and re-promoted this blog post, it went so viral it crashed my site three times. That post has ONE Amazon Affiliate link in it and it’s brought in thousands (!!) of dollars in affiliate revenue. Crazy, right?
Even if you only publish one blog post a week, you need things to share on social media, right? Don’t reinvent the Roomba or send all your social media followers towards someone else’s stuff. Update your old stuff and share it!
If you have a VA or an intern, this is absolutely something you can teach them to do. I exhaustively outline my 11-step updating process here.
3. Recreate your best stuff in a different format
Did you write an amazing post about how to organize your closet? Make a video about how to organize your closet.
Did you write an Instagram caption that elicited 734 likes and 95 comments? Turn it into a blog post.
Did you write an ebook five years ago you never launched? Break it up and turn it into blog posts.
You see where I’m going with this. We don’t need to build everything from scratch every time. It’s unlikely that everyone who’s reading your blog is intimately familiar with everything you’ve ever written.
It’s also unlikely that everyone who reads your blog absorbs information in the same way. The person who skims your blog post might listen devotedly to a podcast on the same topic. The person who doesn’t watch Youtube might love your Instagram stories. Make it easier for you AND for your people by giving them a few options.
4. Stop doing things that don’t bring you traffic, clients, or money
I’m not saying that everything ever needs to be part of your Grander Scheme Of Business Strategy. I mean, here’s a blog post I published that’s just photos of animals in buckets.
That said, if I’m spending two hours a week writing The World’s Best Tweets but Twitter is only sending me 4% of my traffic, maybe it’s time I stop. My Mornings In posts were one of my favorite series but they never got pinned, favorited, or commented on. So with a tear and a prayer, I dragged them into the big Recycle Bin in the sky.
I imagine you have your own version of this – the social media platform that’s time-consuming and poorly-converting, the post series that doesn’t relate to any of your offerings. It might be time to kill your darlings, dude.
Related: If you’re impressed by how much traffic I get from Pinterest, it’s because I took this course!
5. Bring in contributors + guest posters
Did you know I’m not an expert at everything? It’s true! This is why I accept guest posts for my Friday business series and for travel guides.
Accepting guest posts for these series frees up time and energy so I can work on other projects. It also introduces my readers to awesome people they should know and helps me build professional relationships. I believe this is what they call a ‘win/win.’
Related: How to befriend bloggers without being awkward or stalkery
6. Make your work easy to share
Let’s do one of those horrible math story problems.
Sally spends 2 hours writing a 1,000-word blog post. She doesn’t optimize it or share it on social media so the only people who see it are the people who read her blog in an RSS feed. 500 people see Sally’s blog post.
Jane spend 2 hours writing a 1,000-word blog post. Then Jane spends another 30 minutes optimizing her post for SEO search terms and scheduling social media promotion. Jane has a big, Pinterest-friendly photo in her post and a ‘share’ plugin on her blog. When she promotes her post on social media, Jane tags everyone she links to in the post. Now they know she’s talking about them and can easily re-share the post. 5,400 people see Jane’s post.
Who landed more business as a result of her blog post – Jane or Sally? And since she has more business, who earns more money and can afford to hire help and delegate more?
You don’t need to publish new content seven days a week to get traffic. Promise!
But I want to hear from you! How have you made work/blogging/marketing easier on yourself? Share your tips in the comments so we can all improve together!
P.S. Everything I use + recommend to run my business
Yes! I only barely use Twitter now because I hardly get any traffic from it at all. I used to love it, used to actually TALK to people there and make friends, but not so much anymore. Also, I actually really LIKE going back through old posts and fixing them up to make them better. There’s always a million things you could be doing with a blog, but they’re not all 100% necessary, and they’re certainly not all going to get results. Better to focus on the important things. And I love your tips about expanding an idea and putting an idea into different formats. I probably need to do more of that!
I know! Sometimes I ‘relax’ by updating old posts?!
I started reading your “Mornings In” series, and I like it! I feel like I am traveling around the world and meeting these women in abridged form.
Isn’t it fun?! I wish it would have been more successful!
OMG, I have recently started writing in a new space (personal finance). To get to know the players, I’ve taken to twitter, which is a place I NEVER used to go.
Now I love it!! I totally get it now. I think you have to go where your audience is. For me, that has changed a since shifting focus.
Yup! You definitely need to go where your people are – so glad you’re enjoying Twitter!
I needed this today! So good, and just the spark I needed when I have been feeling overwhelmed by the eleventy billion things that come with blogging. Great tips to keep the momentum but not flail away your energy. Great link to the SEO tutorial too, I’ve been needing to dial mine in and never knew where to start. All these things I know I need to do and just need to make a habit of….lol
Also, saw your birthday list of making your own Kombucha. I’ve been brewing for years and have scobys coming out my ears. Would be happy to send you one + my fave recipe!