7 Steps Towards Writing the Perfect Blog

How to be Brief, Concise, and Thematic

Welcome back. This time we’re writing about blogging.

In this blog, we’re going to explore the copywriting process. You’ll enjoy this blog if you’re an aspiring blogger or wondering what to do with your notes after braindumping. 

Whatever your reason, you’re braindumping because it makes your life easier. It helps you ease stress, habit-track, and take more purposeful action.

Braindumping plays a crucial part in blogging. It’s the lifeblood of your copywriting system. It’s worth noting that without systems, our surrounding circumstances begin to decay.

Don’t confuse a system with a tool, by the way.

• A system is a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done. It’s your framework.

• A tool, on the other hand, is an instrument designed to make tasks easier. We complete tasks in a particular order when following a system.

Before we begin, let’s discuss the five most essential tools needed to create an effective copywriting system:

You Need a Medium

First, you’ll need a medium for communicating your ideas. Some people have racing thoughts and need to slow down. For them, the slow, repetitive movements of writing by hand are cathartic. Others prefer working at a quicker pace and fare better using digital journals. Others still prefer braindumping on paper first, then transferring their notes online. Whomever you are. It’s important to know WHERE you’re going to record information. 

You Need Consistency

It’s essential to dedicate a consistent time or space to your braindumps. Doing so shows commitment and helps our brains learn to expect and prepare for brain dumps. It also improves the quality and output of our braindumps, which ensures quality processing.

The better you get at documenting and rearranging thoughts the better you will understand the subject you’re writing about… which is great news for your reader! “Our attention spans are finite. After a certain point, we stop taking in new information.“

Please note: the terms “data dump,” “brain download,” and “brain dump” are interchangeable. It doesn’t matter much what you call it; the key is to make it integral to your routine.

You Need Reputable Sources to Verify Claims

A reputable source is credible, unbiased, and backed by evidence. Providing accurate information is critical to building trust with your audience. Your goal is to establish yourself as an authority in your niche. Inaccurate information will diminish the value of your brand and its message resulting in distrust and dismissal.

 For great sources, you could try: 

• Looking to your audience’s favorite brands for guidance and inspiration.
• Scouring Reddit and Twitter for information on your audience’s concerns. 
• Citing peer-reviewed articles and research papers on Google Scholar.

If research feels difficult, overwhelming, or time-consuming, consider hiring a Market Research Analyst. Market Research Analysts study and report on problems, pain points, and desired solutions. If you’d rather skip this step, book copywriting and market research services with Orchids Octopi, LLC here.

Editing Software to Review Content

Editing is the most tedious part of the writing process. Many of us have a terrible habit of skipping around and paying less attention EXACTLY when it matters most. For this reason and many more, automation is essential to productivity. The easiest way to automate tasks is to integrate tools and technology at your disposal into repetitive processes.

There are tons of applications designed to make your life easier. Apps like Grammarly are perfect for eliminating mistakes and monitoring tone. Our company founder and editor-in-chief, Sabrina Whittaker, uses the Hemingway app because it forces her to focus on brevity and clarity.

You Must Decide to Publish

Finally, you’re going to need a place to post your work. This COULD be as simple as saving to your computer, but if that were the case, you wouldn’t be following a blog aimed at increasing your productivity, improving your organization, and monetizing your passion. [wink]

We primarily post blogs to our website, but you could also:

• guest blog on another creative’s website

• post to a site like the Medium

• create a newsletter using apps like MailChimp or Constant Contact. 

When and where you post largely depends on your business and project goals. 

Step One: Braindump 

The first step in any creative process is to purge ideas from your head. Our memories are fallible, and our processing power is limited. That’s why it’s essential to make room for new ideas. Using whichever medium you’ve settled on, explain your thoughts as honestly and as completely as you are able.

There aren’t too many rules on how to perform a brain dump. It’s entirely up to you. We’ve shared our best tips in our latest guide, the Braindumping Challenge Workbook.  

As a writer, you should be concerned with clarity, relevancy, and cohesive messaging. Business owners should take additional steps to ensure blogs align with their overarching company goals.

Consider adding the following to your process:

• Categorize new ideas according to existing objectives 

• Ask yourself how what you’ve written contributes to your project goals.

• Create a List of Keywords for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

• Review for brevity and clarity

Relevant questions may include:

• What ONE central point are you hoping to emphasize? 

• What problem are you solving? 

• Why are you qualified to solve a said problem?

• Why is the information you’re providing vital for your audience to know?

Pro Tip: Resist the urge to take too many notes. 

Thinking you have to know everything is procrastination hiding in plain sight. Like many activities, information gathering has diminishing returns, meaning it suffers from proportionally smaller benefits as more resources are invested. Don’t waste time, money, or other resources on low confidence. 

[diminishing returns screenshot]

Step Two: Create your first draft

Once you’ve finished notetaking and have clarified the concepts you plan to expand upon; it’s time for your first draft. Create a Working Title to assist with focus. 

We want to emphasize the word “working”; you will likely update your blog’s name later.

There are a handful of blog styles to choose from. Assuming you’ve thought critically about the questions above, you should able to pick a category from the following list:

• Answer a Pressing Question

• Explain How-To

• Cover a Subject Completely; Link to In-Depth Sub-Topics (Pillar Page)

• Share Trending New (Newsjacking)

• Define “What is”

Take the ONE central point you identified while braindumping and list as many supporting details as you can think of. Outline your paper such that you have a general idea of its flow. 

Although it may be tempting, don’t throw any ideas away yet. You’re not yet ready to edit. 

Right now, your primary concern is sharing your complete (focused) knowledge on a given subject before validating your claim. Determine your CTA, or Call to Action, during this step. 

People are looking to understand why you’ve shared this information and determine their immediate next steps.

Step Three: Explore the Concept More (Perform Further Research or Hire a Market Research Analyst) 

Our editor-in-chief quite literally creates a list of concepts to expand upon. She derives this list from her daily braindumps and organizes ideas according to the current needs of the Orchids Octopi audience.

What happens during this stage? 

Use the following set of questions to create what we call “Concept Exploration” notes.

• What’s Your Headline?
  • You might have already thought of a handful of names for your article. Great! Scroll through social media. Which headlines catch your attention? What’s the general format of those article titles? Could you adapt any of your potential headlines to match this format? Don’t make a final determination until you’re finished with your final draft.

• What’s the most common word(s) in your piece? 
  • Use the list of keywords from earlier to confirm your main ideas align with the keywords you initially outlined. Revise and Review your keyword list as necessary. 
  • Once you’ve settled on a list, use these keywords to optimize your blog for Search Engines. If you don’t know what that is or how to do it, consider booking a Marketing Consultant to ensure your voice is heard among the noise of the internet.
• What’s the benefit?
  • Let people know what’s in it for them, and do it quickly. We’ve repeatedly emphasized clarity and brevity throughout this blog for a reason. Don’t waste time. It’s rude to your friends and a disservice to yourself and your business. Time is a non-renewable resource. It does not replenish itself.
    
    Add the bold text to your affirmations. It works wonders on your productivity.
• What will it cost your reader? 
  • While we’re on the subject of resources, let’s explore the cost of your blog to the reader. At a minimum, your blog costs a reader the time it takes to read it. 
  • What other actions must your reader take? Have you asked readers for money, information, or additional effort? Is your content a worthwhile investment to your ideal reader?
• What transformation are they expecting?
  • Thanks to the benefit you’ve outlined for the reader (i.e., 7 Steps to Writing the Perfect Blog), they will experience some sort of transformation. How are they different? Are readers left more informed or entertained? How has your piece improved their life?

• What motivates the reader to seek this benefit?
  • This one’s easy if you ask yourself: Why would anyone want this transformation?

Asking these questions allows you to choose a perspective and stick with it. You’re forced to be specific in your examples and maintain a comfortable flow of information for someone in need of the transformation you’re providing. 

Information packed too densely or spread sparsely will bore your reader. Sprinkle the answers to these questions throughout your work. The result is an engaging, well-paced, informative read.

Copywriters and Market Research Analysts are perfect aids for Writers that have trouble researching their audience or clarifying their message. 

Step Four: Update Blog Article to Account for Research Performed

This part’s pretty simple – things still don’t need to be perfect. You’ve organized your thoughts and are ready to fill in the gaps in your explanation. Perhaps you also hired a Market Research Analyst to determine the most timely and relevant message to your audience. 

Save a copy of your work to create a second draft. Use your “concept exploration” notes or the report provided to you to update your second draft with specific examples and other supporting evidence.

• Pretty Simple – Still Doesn’t Need to Be Perfect
• Answer Earlier Questions (they’re your guide for filling in gaps)
• Save Your Second Draft

Step Five: Review your work (or Hire an Editor)

We’re going to cut to the chase. Be ruthless in your pursuit of brevity and clarity. It’s imperative to respect people’s time. 

Here are a few key items to keep in mind when editing content.

• Use language and grammar your ideal reader understands. Please don’t force them to learn new vocabulary and think critically about a new concept. People do not retain information well when they’re multitasking.
• Don’t try to divert people’s attention towards your interests. Instead, focus on meeting people where they are. What do THEY need right now? Does your content provide relief or improve conditions for audience members?
• Enlist a second pair of eyes. Apps like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor make editing a breeze by highlighting issues and suggesting alternatives. 

Step Six: Final Review

Seriously consider letting someone see your work.

Even if you use an editing app, consider having a human read over your work before publishing.

Ask them:

• Would the headline get your attention?
• Does this article deliver a complete message?
• Who do you think might enjoy this content?
• Was the main idea of the article clearly outlined early on?

Document their reactions. Take note when they are especially impressed or put off. Use this to guide any final edits. You should save testimonials and positive feedback from anyone willing to review your work. This comes in handy when establishing and maintaining authority with your audience.

Step Seven: Share your work

Congratulations. You’ve made it through the entire process!

It’s time to share your work. Publish your content to your blog, your business partner’s blog, or a platform like Medium.

We’ve got a few teeny-weeny final requests

1. If you haven’t yet, join our newsletter, Sabrina Whittaker's Thought Museum, so we can help you get started. 
2. Follow @orchidsoctopi on Twitter if you’ve learned a thing or two from this blog article. 

3. We'd love to hear your feedback. Seriously, I’d love to answer any remaining questions you may have or learn more about why you’re interested in blogging.
4. Support black and woman-owned business when you shop our services.
5. Join us on a fifteen-minute call to ask a question and learn more about how our services help you increase brand awareness, drive conversions, and build community.