HOW TO TURN YOUR IDEAS INTO BLOG POSTS
When in comes to blogging I'm one of those people that has at least five notebooks on the go at one time, can easily spend hours on Pinterest, has separate folders of inspiration saved on my phone and bookmarks all of my favourite posts. I find inspiration and ideas for posts everywhere I go and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming when it comes to narrowing down and working on my content. I thought I'd share my creative process and top 5 tips for turning my ideas into blog posts!...
1.) Brainstorm: I always sit down once a week and brainstorm my ideas for the coming weeks post, I look through my notebooks, my popular blog posts, Pinterest and my inspiration folders for ideas, jot them all down and then work out I can translate them into blog posts. I always flick through magazines, catch up on the latest news and websites too in case there's any important upcoming events or news that I can tie my posts into.
2.) Create a weekly plan: After I've brainstormed and homed in on some blog post ideas I'll write them all into my weekly desk planner (I picked one up from Paperchase for under £10 and it's so handy!). I always find my posts easier to plan once they're written down, I also like to make sure they are spread out in categories, I'll usually try to split up posts by doing one lifestyle, followed by an outfit post, then beauty, then maybe some blog advice, baking etc. I like to keep my content varied so it's not the same theme or topic daily.
I also have a Kate Spade yearly planner which I use on a weekly basis, once I've planned my posts for the week I'll copy them into my monthly planner so they're all in there. It's also great to jot down any deadlines etc, if I've been sent something to shoot within a 2-week turnaround I always jot it into my planner as a reminder then I'll know the following week I need to shoot the item and blog about it.
3.) Take your pictures in bulk: Once I've worked out my weekly posts, I'll then try to shoot them in bulk. I'll brainstorm ideas for pictures or have a think about how I want them to look then shoot them in one go. Outfit posts I tend to shoot in bulk and store them in folders on my desktop so I can edit the pictures accordingly and slot them into my weekly schedule. Once I've taken all of my pictures I group them into my folders on my laptop, work out which pictures I want to use, edit them and pop them into posts ready to go.
4.) Write the content: Now all of my pictures are into my posts, I tend to to write them a few days at a time or on the day I want to publish the post. I find it quite difficult to write my posts in bulk but I'm usually most productive and creative in the evenings so I tend to write them then. If you can write the posts all in one go I'd recommend it so you can start working on your next weeks content.
5.) Schedule and promote your posts: Once your posts are ready to go, schedule them in for the week ahead. I always keep track of popular days and times to post so I can bear that in mind when scheduling my posts, for example I find Saturdays aren't a great day for blog posts as everyone is out enjoying their weekends. I've found for me Monday, Thursdays and Sundays work well, usually first thing in the morning, lunch time or around 3/4pm whilst everyones enjoying a quick tea break at work and also around 6-7pm for peoples commute home etc. I tend to schedule in my social media in advance too so I can stay on top of that.
How do you turn your ideas into blog posts? I hope you found this post useful!
