Blogging successfully, like most things in life, requires the discipline of maintaining a consistent schedule. Without one, your blog may become unfocused and writer’s block will be a common obstacle for you to overcome. Scheduling your blog posts ahead of time will allow you to maximize the effectiveness of your blog, plan and coordinate your marketing goals, initiate long-term business strategies and have your blog running like a well-oiled machine.

Although creating a schedule and maintaining it each and every day is near the top of the list of success factors, blogs are expected to be somewhat spontaneous. In addition to your scheduled posts, you should always make time to include other posts that deal with up-to-date events in your industry, breaking news and other insights you might have throughout the week that will have your readers coming back for more of.

How often should you schedule posts?

• As a general rule, you should schedule to publish posts at least once a day. These posts are in addition to any non-scheduled posts you will publish each day
• As a small business blog, you can freely take weekends off, however, you may want to take advantage of the extra time to get ahead in your schedule and write posts you can publish on future dates
• At the end of the month, you will want to have at least 30-50 posts published from your schedule. Clearly this means you will need to have approximately 1.5-2.5 posts scheduled each weekday

How can you maximize the effectiveness of your blogging schedule?

• Use each post to further your marketing goals by coordinating scheduled posts to publish ahead of major business initiatives
• Plan weekly posts that can be grouped together at the end of the week. Once combined, these posts can then be sent to social media sites to increase their reach and your readers
• Use each week or month to plan themed posts which when completed, can be grouped together to create valuable information resources for your readers and interested prospects

What kinds of posts can you write that can be grouped together later?

• Instructional posts that show your readers how to best use your products or services, or that show them how to improve their own skills on a specific topic related to your business
• Reviews of publications or products related to your small business that can help your readers find even more information or tools that will help them succeed
• Interviews and case studies of industry insiders and others who have succeeded or failed in business ideas related to yours

Setting a blogging schedule for your small business blog doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice creativity. Just like your other marketing needs, there are tried and true ideas you can focus on, but there are also opportunities to think outside the box and send the message that your company will succeed on its own terms.

Plan your schedule to advance your overall business goals and stick to it. One of the most damaging things you can do on your blog is to be inconsistent with your posting. Not only will it make your blog less effective, it will reflect negatively on your business, as well. Treat your blog like your storefront, inform your prospects of upcoming events and showcase your core competencies. Together, your blog and your business will reinforce each others goals and begin to create many new opportunities for you.

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