How To Blog Without Actually Blogging

So, I have been hearing from my clients a LOT about how much they hate blogging. How hard it is, how confusing it is, and how it’s just the worst part of their business.

You know what I say to that?  Don’t blog.   If you hate it, if it’s like pulling fingernails, don’t do it.  I give you permission to run and build your business YOUR way.

If you can make your biz thrive and hum and bring in the benjamins without blogging, get it.  But I’ll tell you, blogging is important.  It’s a super straightforward way to share your message and vision with more than just your mom + besties.  It’s a way to dropkick your awesomeness out into the world, and connect with people that really need to hear your message.

It’s also super important from a ‘how the internet works’ point of view.  Sites that are more regularly updated (i.e. blog posts added) Google seems to like more.  It also lets you tell google and the internet even more of your favorite words and topics to talk about, so you get more visitors that are people looking for those exact words on those exact topics!  If you don’t have a regularly updated blog on your site, it’s hard to get ahead, or even stay afloat, in the googlerace.

So don’t blog if you hate it, but know what you’re saying no to before you slam the door.   And most people have an idea it’s important, that’s why they drag their feet and eventually create a blog post.  Feeling like it’s hard hard hard the entire time.

So if you think blogging is HARD, or you’re not a writer and you just hate coming up with 600 words a week, here are some ways to blog without actually blogging.  I like to call this, the art of un-blogging.

Make Videos
If you’re not a writer, perhaps you’re a talker.  Start talking to your computer screen (after you’ve turned the recorder on).  Make short and sweet videos of you talking about your mission, vision, how-to’s, tips and tricks.  You can record more than one at a time, then release them on your ‘blog’ – which is now just a glorified distribution method for your videos.  This is pretty much how Marie Forleo runs her blog, she does a short introduction to the video, and then, the video.  She writes a very short amount, all based on the video she’s sharing with us.  You can do a pre-amble, or just share your amazing videos.
Bonus: They’re also on youtube or vimeo, so you can drive extra traffic to your site that way. 

Curate Content
You can post other peoples work on your blog!  Properly credited, of course.  If you hate writing, and talking about the work you do and the change you are making in the world, start getting super familiar with other people doing similar work.   Invite them to write for your site, or publish links to their work.  Some people even have a note on their site that says you can use their work as a guest blog post as long as you properly credit them.
Bonus: You build relationships with experts in your field. 

Get really clear about who you are talking to, and what you are talking about
This is, huge.  I generally hate the phrase ‘get clear’ – it’s so unclear!  But in this case, it’s critical that you deeply understand WHO you are talking to when you are writing or recording or reposting your blog, and WHY.  If you don’t have a deep understanding of those two things, of COURSE blogging is going to feel hard.  It’s totally going to feel like an uphill climb because you don’t know why you’re doing it, or who you’re talking to.  There are oodles of hacks to come up with great blog topics – but if you don’t know who you’re creating content for, and why you’re doing that, it’s going to feel HARD.
Bonus: Everything becomes easier!

So, how do you feel about blogging?  Share your best tips + tricks, or secrets to blogging without blogging in the comments!