I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of times that starting and consistently maintaining a blog can do wonders for your business. I’m not here to convince you of that. Anyone like Marie Forleo, Lisa Congdon, Jason Zook, Danielle LaPorte, and countless other creative entrepreneurs in the digital space are proof of this. Even as I was writing this, I’m taking my own medicine and creating the first posts for my own blog.

Still, that’s not to say that blogging is easy and comes naturally for everyone. I would even say, for most people, writing content is one of the most confronting parts of your business.

This whole marketing puzzle can feel very formulaic and, sure, you might even know all the steps you need to put in place to build a funnel, but when it comes down to really writing the damn thing, often you’re blocked. You’re stuck. The words. just. won’t. come. out. And, that’s a really stinky feeling, especially when you know all that blogging can bring you.

So, here’s where I share a little nuggo’ of wisdom.  There are some very fun and low barrier ways to dip your toe into the world of blogging before taking the full leap. One of the best ways is microblogging.

Microblogging is a fairly new phenomenon taking place on social media.

Essentially, it takes out all the bigger questions that come with ‘traditional’ blogging and leaves you with the freedom to share short-form ideas and thoughts where people will see them more easily and immediately.

So, where can you microblog? Mainly, I see the best cases on Instagram, but there are a lot of other gorgeous examples of this on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

The beauty of microblogging is that the format is pretty standard. You need an eyecatching photo or video (sometimes these images actually have nothing to do with the content of the post, but I would recommend that yours do when possible). You are limited, in the best way possible, to the bounds of a simple text box and of course you can use hashtags and emojis. If you’re like me, emojis will be abundant.

Limited doesn’t feel like the right word here; to be honest, it feels more like being freed. There’s no email marketing, newsletter writing, blog formatting, or SEO optimization to think about. I will be one of the first to sing the praises of all of those things and they definitely have their place. But, when you are trying to grow your writing and idea/opinion sharing practice and make it more routine, microblogging can be an incredibly freeing and helpful practice.

And, like I mentioned before, people are already following you in those spaces. You don’t need to chase anyone down, convince them to click through, open an email, or get them to take any action. They simply need to have chosen to follow you on social media.

If you do a good job of writing a strong pair of first few lines, then you’ve got their interest. Even better, if they love or resonate with those words in any way, there’s a high possiblity that they will leave a comment and share your words with someone they know. Often, followers will save them for a tough day when they need to hear those words again. This is how you build your authentic voice.

Microblogging allows you to get a taste for blogging, experimenting with different themes, and create a writing practice for yourself. All the while, you’re building your voice and sharing your vision with your followers. These are all things you’ll need when you commit fully to blogging. Depending on yourself and your business, it might even happen that you get enough fulfillment from microblogging that you just keep doing that. Plenty of great thought leaders are doing the same.

Before I sign off here, I want to share a disclaimer. Please do not fall into the trap of trying to share only inspiring messages or turn yourself into a social media life-coach. There are plenty of amazing people on social media that do a fantastic job of this. But, there are also people (probably someone is coming to your mind right now) who have suddenly turned into a coach before your eyes on Instagram or Facebook one day.

You don’t need to do this and please dont let it stop you from microblogging! Just be you. Just share your reality. The authentic experience you are having as a creator, a business owner, a human being. You will probably end up inspiring others anyway because you are putting yourself out there and being the true, beautiful you.

 -A

P.S. In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing my pick of the top authentic Instagrammers who microblog. Be sure to subscribe to The Bi-Weekly Creative below so you don’t miss when I post this!

Photo by ANGELA FRANKLIN on Unsplash

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