Tracksuit CEO

by Tracksuit CEO

In our SXSW Interactive session entitled: Blog on Company Time Without Getting Dooced, we’re going to be looking at the relationship between your blog and your day job. We’ll show you how not to get fired for your blog, we’ll also show you how to get a promotion because of your blog. But right now I’m going to show you why you don’t really need company time to blog (believe it or not).

In my post on How to Use Diigo I showed you how Diigo can make your blogging routine much more efficient. Diigo is just one of those online tools that has so many uses, you can actually adapt it to do what you need it to. My team and I are helping Diigo alpha-test the next version of their tool (coming soon). In our eBook we’ll share tools like these that we could probably live without, but life would just lose all of its joy and vigor if we did.

So you may be asking, “How can I possibly write a blog post without dipping my pen in the company ink?” Well, here are some ways to do just that:

The 2 minute blog post

To execute the 2 minute blog post you must do 3 things:

1. Join Diigo.com

2. Have a blog

3. Read things on the Internet

Okay, so if you’re still reading that means you have all 3 of these things under your belt (or soon will).

When reading an article that inspires you to write a blog post, you should simply highlight the text you want to quote then right click and choose “Blog This”.

If you haven’t already done so, you will then be prompted to set up your blog(s). Once the initial set up is done you will see a window like this:

In the window appears the text you highlighted (they even indent it for you), so all that is left is for you to do is write your post. Because of certain constraints of this tool (difficulty uploading pictures, limited visual editing), I’m allowing 1 minute for you to write here. Just a comment or pithy summary of the quote will do, nothing fancy. More involved and longer posts should be reserved for your blog’s editor or BlogDesk (Ross Hunter writes all about this great tool in the eBook).

The last thing for you to do is simply publish your post. You’re done, a 2 minute blog post! You can tell your employer I said, “you’re welcome”.

Bank Your Blog Posts

Fellow Tracksuit CEO contributor, Joan Red Ditto Blogger lists Problogger as a tool she can’t live without. Here’s an example from that excellent blogger resource.

“Do you write and publish your posts in one sitting? Many bloggers do. Unfortunately, this kind of posting habit presents a number of problems. For example:

• You won’t be able to develop a consistent posting rhythm. Your publish times will vary depending on whether you’re inspired, whether you have writer’s block, or whether you have time to write.
• It’s difficult to be relaxed as you write when you need to publish your post quickly.
• You’ll find yourself forced to publish what is really still a rough draft when your post takes longer than expected and you need to go somewhere, meet someone, or do something.” How to Develop the Habit of Writing Posts in Advance

So they recommend writing your posts for the week in one sitting. When you do this you will discover what most professional writers already know – once you’re warmed up, it’s easier to keep the ideas coming. Even if you’re doing a bunch of drafts or outlines for the week, you will benefit from having this grunt work out of the way, leaving you to the more creative side of the writing process.

As an alternative to the weekly writing marathon, Problogger recommends writing one extra post per week.

“If writing a bunch of posts in one sitting is something you can’t imagine doing, I’d suggest developing the habit gradually by writing one surplus post each week. If you usually publish 4-5 times a week, you’ll be one week’s worth of posts ahead after a month.”

I’ve written about how our family cooks and freezes extra meals so that we’re not tempted by the convenience of the drive-thru. So it is with banking extra posts for your blog, you won’t be tempted to skip a post or to publish a low-quality rush job (the blogging equivalent of fast food). There is nothing wrong with a short, fast post. But a short, rushed post that you don’t really put your heart into is not what you want to be putting out there, leave that to the blog spambots.

You will realize how great it is to have a banked post the next time you realize, at the last minute, your post isn’t ready for prime time. You will go to the blog bank, pull out a completed post, and hit publish. Imagine the tremendous sense of self-righteousness you will feel. And then, when you switch gears and are able to come back to that incomplete post, you will hear the inspiring theme music of your choice. I know because I bank posts regularly and here’s my theme music:

TrackSuit CEO will be at SXSW Interactive March 9 at 11:30

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