What to do when you hate blogging

[rjoyce3582]

I have a blog and I fully understand how important and helpful they can be for an on online business.

However I absolutely HATE blogging. It is a struggle. I have considered hiring someone but because it is about bookkeeping and accounting I would need someone who had knowledge. This is not so easy to find i a freelancer I am confident in.

Any suggestions on how I can stop disliking blogging so much?

[Harold Mansfield]

Any suggestions on how I can stop disliking blogging so much?

Nope. If you hate it, then stop doing it because it probably shows in the articles.

Just curious, what is it that you hate about it? Being tied to the schedule? Coming up with ideas to write about? Or just bored of the content and subject matter?

[Freelancier]

Just stop. There's no requirement that you blog for marketing or SEO purposes. There are other ways to spend your time and money to get the results you want. Writing should be left to people who want to be writers... everyone else usually sucks at it anyway.

[rjoyce3582]

Freelancer


Would you mind sharing what else I could do. I have read a lot on content marketing and blogging / guest blogging seems to be unavoidable to become an "online expert". My biggest issue is that my services are offered virtually (although I do have some local clients that I will initially meet in person) and it is hard to build trust online.

[rjoyce3582]

Nope. If you hate it, then stop doing it because it probably shows in the articles.

Just curious, what is it that you hate about it? Being tied to the schedule? Coming up with ideas to write about? Or just bored of the content and subject matter?

I have a hard time coming up with innovative new topics. Honestly I dislike writing in general.

[vangogh]

I can't answer from experience, because I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to how I feel about blogging. However, like everyone else here I'd suggest if you really hate doing it, then it probably shows and you may want to stop at least until a time when you don't hate it so much. A few thoughts

1. You can hire someone to do the writing. Maybe it will take some time to find the right person, but there are people out there who can write and either know enough about accounting or are willing to learn. I write about subjects all the time that I knew little about before I started writing. Keep in mind though, if you hire someone to write for you then it's really them growing their authority and not you growing yours.

2. If authority is what you want your blog to provide, find some other way to gain authority. Writing blog posts is hardly the only way. Maybe another medium would work better for you. You could try recording audio or video. You could create templates or examples that people could download. It doesn't have to specifically be writing.

3. You might continue writing anyway. Maybe you don't like it, but if you do it well enough then it's just another part of business you do even if it's not your favorite thing. There are plenty of things I do to run my business that I'd rather not have to do. I don't know that I would describe my feeling toward any of those things as hatred, but there are some things I strongly dislike doing that I do anyway to help my business.

Mainly just remember that writing blog posts is done for a reason. In this context written posts are trying to achieve a goal. Think about what your goal is in writing posts and then find another way to achieve that same goal. It might mean someone else writing or it might mean you creating a different form of content or it could be something entirely else.

[rjoyce3582]

Thanks Vangogh this gives me a lot to think about.

[WilliamLacombe]

Just stop. There's no requirement that you blog for marketing or SEO purposes. There are other ways to spend your time and money to get the results you want. Writing should be left to people who want to be writers... everyone else usually sucks at it anyway.

I would have to disagree to some respect. Blogging is important for marketing and SEO purposes in that it is a useful way to engage people where they currently hang out and also provides a resource for people to interact with what your selling. All of these factors, along with a multitude of other resources, provide back linking and can increase your relevance with Google.

I understand that you do not enjoy or find blogging, or writing for that matter fun or interesting. If finding interesting topics is hard for you or unique content, remember that is isn't about what YOU want to write about. Search the web for what your CUSTOMERS are searching for, then write content based off that. If you are doing booking services - provide THE BEST tips on bookkeeping or a TOP 10 list - or a frequently asked questions. People tend to search for what is the best so if you can provide them that resource it helps and a blog is a free and simple way to do that.

If you do not wish to do it, there are companies like ODESK that will hire out copyrighters and SEO experts that will post articles for you. They are fairly cheap. Also, you can contact local schools in your area and sign up for a internship program.

If you have any further questions let me know. I hope this helps at least a little.

[Harold Mansfield]

Plenty of companies are successful online without blogging. Of course they spend money, but blogging is not the only way to see success online. It is however, the cheapest thing you can do.

[Freelancier]

Blogging is important for marketing and SEO purposes in that it is a useful way to engage people where they currently hang out and also provides a resource for people to interact with what your selling. All of these factors, along with a multitude of other resources, provide back linking and can increase your relevance with Google.

And yet, for absolutely no time wasted on my part, I can spend about $100/month and get the same results for my business by spending on adwords and I never have to worry about constantly coming up with new content.

But that's for MY business. Other businesses need/want to cultivate that fuzzy online presence where people keep coming back to a web site for some vague reward. I don't discard that approach, but it's not for everyone. Instead of wasting time on blogging because some SEO "expert" tells you you should do that to get better SEO, why not first figure out whether that's the fastest way to get your best potential customers to buy whatever it is you want to sell them?

[Harold Mansfield]

And yet, for absolutely no time wasted on my part, I can spend about $100/month and get the same results for my business by spending on adwords and I never have to worry about constantly coming up with new content.

But that's for MY business. Other businesses need/want to cultivate that fuzzy online presence where people keep coming back to a web site for some vague reward. I don't discard that approach, but it's not for everyone. Instead of wasting time on blogging because some SEO "expert" tells you you should do that to get better SEO, why not first figure out whether that's the fastest way to get your best potential customers to buy whatever it is you want to sell them?

I can't disagree with this. The closest distance is a straight line. I rarely blog on my business website, yet the phone still rings. When I do blog it's usually something important and I try to make that post a reference post for other people to link to as a source of important information. Usually trouble shooting stuff, tips and "tricks".

I blog everyday on my other site because..well it's a blog.

In eCommerce blogging for sales is a slow process. You have to do SEO, build Social Media communities, establish yourself as knowledgeable and then maybe..just maybe you can start selling them stuff. Ads work if you target and construct them properly.

If you notice on Social Media, some companies just do ads and they use the blog and social media to announce specials, product updates, usage ideas and so on. They don't waste time courting people with a bunch of free information unless it's about how to use their product.

[Freelancier]

If you notice on Social Media, some companies just do ads and they use the blog and social media to announce specials, product updates, usage ideas and so on. They don't waste time courting people with a bunch of free information unless it's about how to use their product.

This.

Have a plan. Tie the plan to the customers you want to reach. Don't just hope for people to show up because you write about it. Figure out what your customers really want and give them that.

A personal blog is all about you. A business blog is one marketing tactic. There are MANY MANY other possible marketing tactics that might produce more sales for less effort. If having a blog really does entice your customers into buying more from you, then you should definitely consider exploring that tactic. But if you're doing that to hopefully someday maybe get noticed, you're wasting your time that could be better spent selling.

[rjoyce3582]

I really want to thank everyone for their responses. I took a different look at how I was going about blogging and what I felt my customer could benefit from. I came up with some ideas that don't requiring blogging as far as writing. But I can use it as a medium to provide what my customers really want. I am still working out some details but I am more excited about this than writing articles or blogs.

[Harold Mansfield]

Glad to see that you've found a way forward. Judging by your excitement, it may even turn out better than what you've been doing.

[David Hunter]

Just be yourself and write whatever is on your mind.

If all else fails, quit doing it!

[Ocha]

Royce,
Do your clients ask you questions about their books? Write the answers in your blog. Do you have employees? If so get them to write answers to questions they get. Someone, somewhere, wants that answers you are holding back from your blog. You can do it.

[RayC]

Some ideas for your blog:
Client spotlight - Talk about a client, the industry they're in, the problems they faced, and how your services solved that problem.
Client testimonial - Since your site doesn't have a testimonial section, put it here!

I really don't enjoy blogging either so here's what I plan on doing:
1) Keep at it to get better.
2) Look into getting an intern from the English department of a college nearby. Test the applicants - give each a list of bullet points for a blog topic and ask them to compose it. Pick the one that best fits us.
3) Hope this plan works!

[DennisChang]

If you hate blogging so much, then maybe you can consider hiring guest bloggers. Or just share relevant information (such as changes in accounting regulation, etc) on your website.

[LeadMaster]

Great discussion. As time involved blogging can be, it can wear many hats when making a statement about your business. It is ideal to step outside of the box when determining how a blog can benefit you, for example the blog will give you content to share in your email newsletters you send out to clients and let them know your website is worth visiting from time to time because it has fresh content going up. This let's the client know you are passionate and active in your business which is very important in keeping your name fresh in their mind. Good luck!

[vangogh]

I missed some of that good discussion. I completely agree with Freelancier about not needing to blog. Like I said in my first post a blog in this context exists for a purpose and blogging is only way way to achieve that purpose. We're talking about it as a way to market and there are other ways to market your business. Now, I think blogging offers some things advertising doesn't. For example an ad can lead someone to your site, but the ad doesn't convince the person to trust you. It doesn't show them you know what you're doing. Not every business needs to do those things, but for those that do the blog can offer more than other forms of marketing.

The main thing is to take a step back and realize why you're considering a blog and then think about what else you could do that serves the same purpose. People like to talk about things like a blog or seo as though you have to be successful with them or you have no chance of being successful in your business. That's not the case. Both are good ways market, but they aren't the only ways.

[danstelter]

Blogging has a great ROI. Unfortunately, either you like it or you don't. If you don't, you never will. Hire someone else to do the work.

[Damon the Marketer]

Three reasonable options

1. Switch media

2. Outsource the blog

3. Do a one-time blog

[krymson]

Personally I hire a content writer to manage blogs for my customers... I pay mine very well though, because she has to write for different industries and some research is involved, but she knows a lot about many different industries now and she enjoys it... at least that what she tells me... i never hear a complaint from her.

[kamilagornia]

If you HATE doing it - then don't do it. OR you could consider getitng a ghostblogger. Blogging is great for SEO so it's still good to have some sort of blogging, if once a month. In terms of content, you can do others things to get in front of potential customers - videos, podcasts, graphics, etc. Everyone's got their own thing and you don't HAVE to rely on blogging :)

[Paul]

I think as an accountant/bookkeeper you should focus on very local networking, mostly traditional. I don’t see much chance for widespread online virtual success. Expand your local business. Don’t try to be an internet business; it’s just not a good fit in my opinion.

You may have some success by blogging on very local community type sites and forums. You are probably living among plenty of work opportunity without trying to reach out across the internet. Capture your own local market first.

My humble opinion, the internet isn’t the answer for every business.

[PixelRocket]

Don't stop blogging! SEO is an ongoing job. Just hire some unpaid interns from Craigslist. Learning to train people on the importance of marketing and blogging and SEO will be far more fulfilling than typing each post yourself as well.

[CallBettie]

I have a company I do a lot of work with that only charges $75 per blog post. Very reasonable and the staff is so amazing. I could talk all day about their servant leadership and fantastic culture. If you really hate it and want to keep it up maybe hire someone to write a few here and there when you aren't feeling up to it. Also, blogs can be super short. I recently spent a day brainstorming ideas with my team and have about ten new topics to write on. If there are days where you feel up to it perhaps you can write several at once and then post them 1x a week.

Another idea is Vlog instead of writing. Create 60 second videos and publish them.

[MedTutor]

You should totally hire someone to do it for you - make sure they're passionate about the topic. Hire a college student (they're cheap and passionate)! I've found that writing about things when I don't want to really shows in my posts - so I'd just stop if I were you!

[vangogh]

Hire a college student (they're cheap and passionate)

But passionate about what? It's probably not your business. I'm not saying you can't find a college student who's going to care about your business and can do a good job, but I'd be the majority wouldn't. I'm just thinking back to when I was in school. I can't think of too many of my fellow students who would have made a good hire. Once they graduated, then yes, but while in school your business would have fallen low on the list of priorities.

[JinaSinese]

Then comment on blogs that interest you and related to your business. Not everyone should have a blog, though that goes against everything you will read online. If you want to only blog once in a great while, then offer a one time post to those blogs that:
1. Target the readers you want to attract to your business
2. Are a personal interest of yours

Whatever you do, don't allow what others do pressure you into doing something you will regret. There are too many "dead in the water" blogs left abandoned by business owners who learned too late how time and resource dependent having a blog turns into.

I'm a professional ghostwriter with clients who have blogs. Most had not updated since 2012..a long time to rely on it to help market their business.

[CallBettie]

Your blog doesn't have to be 100% directly related to your business. What's important is that you blog 2-4x weekly and they can be short! I like to post things like Betties tip of the day. I spent a couple hours on Monday making a list of 5 topics and then sent them to the gal I use who will then go and add cute graphics and make it look much nicer than I want to spend time doing. She also posts them to my business Facebook and Twitter accounts as well.

Doing it all at once is easiest for me. Knock out the meat and potatoes of the content once a week and you are good to go!

[MichaelBK]

If you hate blogging, just hire someone. There are many writers on elance/odesk I guess you can find there affordable writer. It's better to have a blog, because you can rank higher your website and increase traffic.

[smallbizfinancier]

Rjoyce3582:

Blogging is absolutely a huge part of SEO, if only for the fact that content is updated continuously giving the domain more authority. Whether or not paid ads offer better results, comparatively, can be argued like the origin of species. A great example is a domain called Ripoff Report-currently having an estimated value of $1MM. Its content is nearly meritless, but the constant updates, backlinks and keywords lend tremendous credibility.

Blog + videos yield measurable results and can be accomplished on a budget. As Harold noted above, your disinterest most likely resonates in that which you pen, therefore you may want to outsource. Try elance.com for bloggers/copywriters.

[Harold Mansfield]

I disagree with outsourcing your blogging if this is for a company website. Yeah, maybe if you're just posting general articles that have nothing to do with attracting leads or helping clients...then who cares what you write. Those won't do you much good anyway except to possibly attract general traffic just looking for information.

But if you're blogging to present yourself as an expert in your field or to communicate information about your products and services to clients or potential clients...you need to be in charge of your own messaging. There is no way around it. You cannot leave your marketing up to a stranger and expect that they will communicate your brand and expertise correctly or effectively. They won't.

Elance and other cheap content writers don't write for quality. They just put words together with your keyword splattered around a few paragraphs. They aren't copywriters or marketers. Copywriters and marketers cost more than $5 an article.

If blogging is that much of a chore for you, then find another way to market yourself. You don't have to do every thing that everyone else does. It's a combination of things that make your marketing effective. Find what works for you. If you hate blogging, then that particular element of marketing doesn't work for you.

But remember this...as a Business Owner who wears all hats, we all have to get things done that aren't exactly our favorite tasks. Don't get comfortable disregarding things that are important to your success just because they aren't fun or you struggle with them in the beginning. You struggle with EVERYTHING until you learn how to do them efficiently.

5 years ago it took me days to come up with and write a blog post. Today I can bang one out in an hour, 2 if it's complex ( with images). That's because I'm always looking for and thinking about my next subject, instead of sitting down in front of a blank screen and then trying to figure out what to blog about. If you pay attention, there are opportunities for blog posts all around you. I've got 3 in my head right now as soon as I get time to write them.

Also, write when you have the idea. Just because post on a schedule doesn't mean you have to write on one. If the mood hits you at 3 am on a Saturday, write your post and schedule it to go live at a future date and time. Heck, write 2 and have them post days apart.

Subscribe to other publications and industry blogs. Stay informed with the things that your readers would find helpful or interesting. One thing is for sure, you can't blog if you aren't knowledgeable or else it will take you hours to write a post because you have to look everything up or you will end up writing crap that no one gets any benefit from.

[optimumlabels]

If authority is what you want your blog to provide, find some other way to gain authority. Writing blog posts is hardly the only way. Maybe another medium would work better for you. You could try recording audio or video. You could create templates or examples that people could download. It doesn't have to specifically be writing.

[JonaB]

If you hate blogging just stop it and hire someone to blog for you. If you blog with this hatred in your mind it will show in your posts and probably won't do any good to your business.

[Adel Landman Steyn]

I have a blog and I fully understand how important and helpful they can be for an on online business.

However I absolutely HATE blogging. It is a struggle. I have considered hiring someone but because it is about bookkeeping and accounting I would need someone who had knowledge. This is not so easy to find i a freelancer I am confident in.

Any suggestions on how I can stop disliking blogging so much?

Actually, I am a certified Business Accountant in Practice in South Africa.
I also happen to love blogging.
Not always about accounting and bookkeeping, but also about more general topics. I actually keep two blogs, one personal and one for business. I find that there can be quite a bit of cross-pollination between your sites.

The main thing is that in order for blogging to be worth anything at all, you need to create great quality content that other people link to. So, writing "thinly-veiled" promotional articles, while it did work in the past, is a really outdated method of SEO and the effect is mitigated by Google Panda (one of their algorithm updates).

For blogging to be truly useful, you need to invest some time into it. How much time are you currently spending on blogging?
Keeping in mind that your blog will probably be read across the world (mostly in the U.S. if you blog in English), will you really be reaching your local target market in your own city or town?
Could you be spending the time you currently spend blogging better by personal networking, listing with online classifieds, a newsletter for an e-mail campaign, or even by printing flyers or listing in the classifieds section for your local newspaper? Where are potential clients the most likely to see you?

Just a few thoughts to consider.

[shipwithchris]

I'm in the same boat as you. I want to keep my blog as a valid active resource for my customers, but I hate it as well. I just hate to sit there and write, especially when I want to be pounding doors to help drive sales.
But I look at it like this. Inbound vs. outbound. Which type of prospect would rather have? One that you have verified can use your service, but is cold because they don't know you, your company, or your people and you have to work hard to get them engaged or the prospect that came to you because you were able to show credibility in your writing?

Create highly intelligent posts and share each and every one of them on LinkedIn and everywhere else. Even if a small percentage actually reach out to you, the value of that inbound lead if far greater than reaching out a hundred times and churning and burning. The value of a blog is extremely high when well written.

[Adel Landman Steyn]

I'm not so sure about the value of sharing links to your posts on the various social media, to be honest.
I have been kicking and screaming against it, but I finally took the plunge and tested it out this month.
It is my belief that, in order for this approach to work, you need well-established LinkedIn / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Pininterest / whatever other social media you are thinking of profiles. And to build these up take either a large circle of personal connections, or a lot of time.
Since I am a very private person, I only recently started making my presence known online and only because it was necessary for business.
Although I did get quite a few traffic referrals from links I shared on FB, I got none from LinkedIn, despite joining groups and sharing the link with the group.
I suspect that building these networks will take substantial effort and time.

[Phil Gregory Seo]

This is an interesting post. You hate blogging, but as some of the other respondents have said, you don't have to do it. That's true, but consider the potential of value you could add to your site.

Maybe consider writing some white papers instead that explain the sector a little better, or downloadable PDF's with the best "Go To" resources in your industry, these will attract links and hopefully drive some traffic.

A well run, well maintained blog will serve you though, but it's something you have to commit to. Getting someone else in, in my experience never works that well, because they don't really know the sector. Consider this, It's you your clients /potentials/ want to hear from.

Try to remember, what made you get into your sector in the first place, hopefully it was your passion for what you do. Try to convey that, convey how good you are at your job, citing examples of how you have helped your clients. Just try to do one blog per month to start with, Set it on the calendar with a week's reminder. After a Year you'll have 12 blog posts that offer some valuable info on your sector. What's not to like?

[Jozsef]

You should consider outsourcing to a country such as the Philippines. There are many 'good' and some 'great' writers over there. I've used several.