25 comments

Write Your Next Post – in 30 Minutes OR LESS

Laptop WordPress Post Hands

Bloggers and gentlemen – prepare to be amazed!

I'm about to dazzle you with instructions on how to complete a feat of Internet magic: You can write your next fashion blog post in 30 minutes – or less.

But like any good magician, you've got to have your bag of tricks at the ready. Your metaphorical top hat and white rabbit, you see? And what are these props that will help you abracadabra your way through a great post in half an hour?

  • Your bank of post ideas that you keep stored in a Google doc or notebook
  • Get yourself warmed up with the blogging work out plan (yes, we have one of those)
  • Close your distraction tabs: G-chat, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Buzzfeed…

Okay, are you ready? Put on your cape, the curtains are parting – it's showtime!

Step 1: Choose your post topic in 2 minutes.

This is why your back-up stash of posts is so important; dreaming up something to blog about can take way too long if you let it. (If you need help – we've got plenty of ideas! Here are 31) Once you choose your topic, make sure it's not something too in-depth or requiring a lengthy photo shoot. Nail down a post that will require only one or two images, and only one or two paragraphs of text at most.

Step 2: Create your visual(s) in 10 minutes.

Time to razzle dazzle them with stunning imagery! If your magical 30-minute post requires a collaged image, you better get to gettin' bloggers – those can be time-consuming. Limit your collage to 5 pieces or so and grab that embed code. It helps to have a very clear idea of what items you want to include before starting (the white rabbit, if you will).

If you're whipping up an extra-quick outfit post, cue up the Camera+ app on your smartphone, and ask your obliging neighbor/roommate/parent/significant other to snap 10 photos in rapid succession: 5 vertical, 5 horizontal. Move your body, smile, strike a couple of poses. Make quick edits in the app, and email the photos to yourself.

Grabbing an image from another site? Be sure to note the URL of the source to include in your post, and size it appropriately for your blog's dimensions. Generally, 600 x 900 for vertical images and 750 x 400 works for horizontal.

Save, upload, presto change-o!

Step 3: Tap out your entertaining text in 12 minutes.

The trick to quick writing is just to go. Don't hesitate, don't debate over how to get started just get started. Even if you can only make a bulleted list at first, do it! The words will come, as soon as your mind begins to form them. Whether your style is stream of consciousness, outlining or listing, the hurdle of the first word is the toughest – but don't let the audience see you sweat!

Once you have your main ideas and points written out, go back in and fill in the flourishes, add your personality, make paragraphs and full sentences – whatever you need to do to make your post you.

Don't read over what you've written until you're pretty much done. Add in your hyperlinks to brands, affiliates, social media, etc. and then save your changes. Preview your post in it's entirety and then look for corrections and edits.

Go back in and make your changes, then save and schedule your post to go live.

Step 4: The big finale – publish and promote your post in 6 minutes.

Drum roll please… You're about to make your big reveal! Push “publish.”

Now quick! Grab the wittiest, most entertaining line or basic gist of your post and widdle it down to the briefest of sentences. Paste it into Twitter and add your post's specific URL. Tweet! That took what, a minute and a half?

Summarize your post or grab the best sentence and paste it into your Facebook page's status box, along with your unique URL. Upload the main image from your post to go with it (Facebook users love to like a good image). Publish that too! That takes 2 minutes, tops!

Go back to your blog and pin your post's images to the Pinterest board that houses your content. Voila, 45 seconds later you are done.

Step 5: Take a bow, you're done!

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25 Responses

  1. Nasreen

    hahha this is brilliant!! I am definitely gonna try this! sometimes it takes me soooo long to write posts 😛 but i enjoy it so its all good!

    http://lazyobsession.blogspot.com

    Reply
  2. Margo

    I totally can attest that the 30-minute blog post is awesome! I usually plan ahead with regard to content, images and etc. so by the time I’m writing the content and adding the pics it’s a breeze! Great tips!

    Reply
  4. MonicaP

    Ooo, I just did this .. I used a hair product this morning and thought ‘hey, I should do a quick post about that’ !

    Monica

    Reply
  5. Luxaholic

    Pretty funny, but does not work for my outfit posts. It takes me at least about an hour to make make up and style my hair. And the editing of the pictures may also last a while.

    Reply
  6. Petya

    I’ll definitely try this with my next post. It was helpful, thanks 🙂

    Love,
    Petya

    http://instyle21.blogspot.com

    Reply
  8. Katy

    Anything that saves a bit of time sounds good to me, I’ll have to try this!

    ~Katy
    http://floralmess.blogspot.co.uk/

    Reply
  9. Kholá

    My blog posts typically take less than 30 minutes because I wait until something really inspires me. I’ve never been a post just to be posting blogger. Maybe this isn’t the right way to do it but I don’t like filler posts in blogging.

    Great tips though 🙂

    Reply
  10. Lada

    Very helful article! Especially for those who has full time job and blogging only during the evenings and weekends! Thank you!
    http://elbeperle.blogspot.de/

    Reply
  11. Katie

    I love this article but well I don’t really agree with the outfit post part. The quality of a image taken and edited on a smartphone is pretty bad and after all, it should be quality>quantity. Other than that, the article is great!

    Reply
  14. stephanie

    But then you can’t catch things like publishing “widdle” (take a wee wee) instead of “whittle” (to carve down).
    😉

    Reply
  15. lalalapatricia

    My thing! But I have difficulty when it comes to choosing what to post. Let me read that 30 – 20 ideas you have. 🙂

    Reply
  16. Christine

    Wow, just learned at least 5 things I’d never thought of doing here. This was a super useful post! I think more posts on how to save time blogging would be great too! Thanks!

    Reply
  17. Hayley

    LOVE the close all other tabs point. I get TOTALLY distracted by other notifications…

    Reply
  18. Audrey

    having a full time job has forced me to have very little time for blogging. this is a very helpful post. thanks ifb 🙂

    Reply
  19. Liz

    i’m always one extreme or the other. I can whack out a perfectly good informative post in 15mins some days, yet the same thing can take me 3hours on another day : )

    Liz

    queen-tree.blogspot.co.uk

    Reply
  22. Wonderland-Zoo

    Thank you for this!!!!! I’m a new blogger and finding myself spending waaaaay too much time and energy spitting out the blogpost! I will be trying these tips! This is awesome! xoxo

    Reply
  23. Lil

    Thaks for the article, but unfortunately, i haven’t succeeded in writing an article in 30 min that you can read with comfort… 🙂

    I’m a french 15 year-old fashion blogger, and your site helps me a lot, i don’t understand every word most of the time though aha
    Happy new year from France !
    Hitthemonkey.wordpress.com

    Reply
  24. Kessa Thea

    Oh! I love this article. I usually dilly-dally and take my sweet time when writing a post that it takes me valuable time before I publish a post. What I also do sometimes is to schedule posts when I have the “fire burning” (which does not happen all the time). This way I spend a day or two writing and scheduling posts and the rest of the days are spent looking for inspirations on what to blog about next.

    Your site is extremely helpful. You are definitely going to be bookmarked!

    Reply
  25. Kirsten Horton

    This is super helpful (especially for super OCD-ish bloggers like me). Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU! 😀

    Reply