How to give your new blog the upper hand

Starting a new blog from scratch can seem like a colossal task. Watching that brand new WordPress installation with the ubiquitous “Hello World” post can make even the most prolific writer tremble in fear – as he feels a mind-numbing case of writer’s block creep slowly down his spine.

Fortunately, things don’t have to be that way. The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time… so if you follow this simple strategy, you’ll have a blog that is packed with great content a lot sooner than you had ever imagined.

The trick to populating a new blog with great content is to start out by writing only 10 articles). Does that sound too scary? Certainly not, but let’s make it even less so by narrowing it down to 5 simple steps that anyone can follow…

Step 1) Write for just one category
If you already have a bunch of categories created in your blog, delete them for now. You only want to have your main category active for now. Why? Because the first 10 posts you will make on your blog will be on that one subject and you don’t want visitors trying to access empty categories or they will leave your blog for good.

Step 2) Make a list of 10 article topics
Take out a sheet of paper or open a new document in your word processor and make a list of 10 potential article topics you’d like to first cover in your blog. In my case, I tend to write fake article headlines because it inspires me to generate more ideas.

If you run short of ideas for new article topics, simply use the six formulas that I describe in “How to generate ideas for remarkable articles”. Those should give you more than enough fuel to finish the list. After all you’re not writing the articles yet, you’re just making a list of topics to cover.

Step 3) Write, write, write
When you have the 10 article topics, it’s time to get those fingers moving. To get started, open a new document in your word processor take the first item of the list you just made and follow my 7-step formula for writing articles fast.

The idea is to get these 10 articles done as quickly as you can, while still making your best effort to make them high-quality. Think of them as the only articles you’ll ever post and you will be using them to make a good first impression… so give them your best shot!

Step 4) Re-write the headlines.
Now that you have the articles written, you can calmly devote some time and thought to coming up with a better headline for each one of them. The headlines you create for these articles will virtually make or break the success of your new blog. They are the foundation of your blog and without a good foundation, any building just crumbles down to bits and pieces.

Take the time to come up with a few headlines for each article. If you’re lost for ideas, use these trustworthy headline formulas to come up with a good number of ideas for each article. Once you have them ask your friends or family (or better yet, a few people in your niche) which headline they like the best, and run with it.

Step 5) Post the articles.
When you’re done writing the articles and have winning headlines for each one, post the foundation articles in your blog and go out to buy a nice and thick chocolate milkshake… you’ll definitely deserve it because your blog can now be launched.

What next?
Remember that this is just the start… but holly guacamole batman, you’re off to a GREAT start! The next step is to write another 10 articles – 8 new articles to launch each sub-category you want the blog to have and 2 new articles for your main category. You don’t need to rush these articles, but if you are able to, put them out there as fast as you can.

If you want more information on this topic, I suggest Chris Pearson’s “How can 10 simple articles change your life” and of course Chris Garrett’s “Creating killer flagship content” e-book – both resources highly recommended.

Finally, when you have written and posted articles on each sub-category you want your blog to have, keep writing new articles on whatever schedule you decide. Contrary to what many bloggers say, you do NOT need to post on your blog every single day… that depends on your particular niche and it is a very interesting topic that will be covered in a different blog post altogether.