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On February 1, 2015, I posted my very first blog. More than 10 years later, there are now 420 blogs published, about half of which are in English.
My goal in writing these blogs is to inspire you to elevate yourself so that you, too, can live a happier and more loving life.
The blogs are about things I have learned that I am convinced you can benefit from. There are a few book reports, and many articles are about my passions: finding and living your WHY and the Haka.
After ten years, it is time to reflect and learn lessons from writing articles (blogs). These are my 10 lessons:
1 Take a course (and find a coach)
During my coaching training in 2014, I was encouraged to start blogging. After I had posted my first (short) blogs, I took a blogging course by Nisandeh Neta. This was the basis, and I still apply many things I learned from him. After that, I took a course at Dennis Schrijfvis to improve my writing skills. Bastiaan Vercouteren has been coaching and guiding me for some years. From him, I learned, among other things, how to score better on Google with your blogs. A coach keeps you sharp and points out new techniques to blog better to reach people.
2 Put it on your agenda
“Get in line and stay in line.” I learned that from Nisandeh. For 10 years, you can see a reminder in my agenda that I have to publish a blog every second Friday of the month. It was on Tuesday for years, but I noticed more people read my blogs on Friday. The lesson is that if you want to blog consistently, you must plan and put it on your agenda. This also applies to all other things that you want to do consistently.
3 Prepare yourself
The first step is to collect topics (see lessons four and five). Then, I draft my blog with a topic title, subheadings, and points I would like to elaborate on. Then (this can be the next day), I tidy up my workroom and prepare myself for writing. I put on special music, speak an intention, invite (inner) experts (the council) to help me and diffuse lavender oil in my workroom.
->Reading tip: Focus Better
I used to use the Pomodoro technique to work focused for 25 minutes. I haven’t done that for a while because the bell took me out of my flow.
4 Write for yourself
I started writing about subjects that interested me, inspired me, and involved things that I had learned. I often write about subjects I hear on the radio, things I read (in other people’s blogs), or interesting questions people ask me. I wrote down those subjects, so I now have 95 draft articles!
By working out subjects in writing, I understand them better and can remember them better. This way, I have built up a portfolio of over 200 articles I can draw from when someone asks me to lecture on mindset or procrastination, for example.
5 Write for others
Ultimately, it is about writing about what other people find interesting. I do this by asking people and listening carefully to them. Writing articles fits well with my WHY, so I always find inspiration, energy, and perseverance to write for others. I often write about current topics (such as the hype about Periscope or LinkedIn) with catchy titles.
6 Use catchy titles
I notice that my readers like lists or examples. That’s why I often use “8 ways to…”. My blog, which includes examples of WHY statements, has been very popular for years. Challenging titles also work very well, but I won’t use the title “Engineer like a Motherf#cker” again, even though this title attracted a lot of attention.
7 Write a newsletter
Publishing a blog is just one thing. Next, you must alert readers that there is a new article about an interesting topic. I do that with a newsletter. My newsletters used to be very short, but they have become longer and always contain a quote from the week about a new book I am reading (or want to read). About 40 percent of the subscribers on my Dutch and English mailing list open my newsletter. I no longer call it a newsletter but ‘the Lift.’ It fits in well with my WHY. I notice that my newsletter is read better if I also come up with catchy subject lines and include my article in its entirety. Do you want to receive the Lift as well? Sign up here!
By the way, I am looking for an alternative to Mailchimp…
8 Use AI (but not too much)
I have been using AI (ChatGPT and Perplexity) for my blogs for a few months now. I come up with a topic myself and ask the tool for inspiration, but I still write most of it myself. I can ask the tool to give me eight tips to improve my mindset, but then I write the content myself. Now and then, I ask ChatGPT to rewrite my text. I took a course on working with ChatGPT and taught the tool how I write. So I can ask it to rewrite something in my writing style. Even though it takes a bit longer, I prefer to write myself. Texts generated by AI tools are not authentic and sometimes feel ‘not real.’
I have Grammarly to check my English texts for grammar and typos. I often implement those corrections in my Dutch texts as well. It turns out that it is best to have your texts read out loud.
9 Reuse articles
Sometimes, insights and techniques on certain topics change (such as on LinkedIn). That’s a good time to edit and republish articles. I also changed the layout and checked the links to other sources. They can change from time to time. If you read my blogs more often, you’ll see I’ve done that more often in recent years. It’s a quick way to repost content.
10 Read other people’s blogs (and respond to them)
I like it when people read my blogs and respond to them, so that’s why I read other people’s blogs. Of course, I read Simon Sinek’s articles, Tim Ferris’ 5 Bullet Friday, Bastiaan Vercouteren’s blog tips, the School voor Training, Ozan Varol, Asian Efficiency, and Darius Foroux. I also respond to articles by people I follow on LinkedIn. I write about what a new insight has been for me or something that works for me.
And what now? I will continue blogging. Do you have any tips for me? What could be better (and what is going well)? Do you have a blog? Let me know in the comment box below. I, and other readers of this article, look forward to read from you!
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