Ten Ways to Crank Out Killer Posts in Ten Minutes or Less

Mar 10, 2009
85 Comments
  1. alarmclockPick  three blogs you respect and introduce your readers to them. Three links to three different posts, followed by a sentence for each explaining why your readers should go read them and subscribe to these other blogs.
  2. Go to the main category page for one of your categories, copy and paste five of your best posts from it, then paste them into the Visual tab of the new post screen in WordPress. Pretty it up a little bit, and write a couple sentences at the top to introduce the idea.
  3. Ask your readers to ask you questions, which you’ll answer in future posts. You can’t hardly ask for a better reason for a short post that still helps your readers immensely!
  4. Answer a question from your readers, either from questions which have already been asked, or from doing what I mentioned in item number 3 above. Another super high-value/time-starved tactic.
  5. Ask a question of your readers and have them answer it in the comments. Ask the question in a somewhat polarizing, either-or way, such as: Mac or PC? Blogger or WordPress? Chicken or Pork? (well OK, maybe not that last one.) Your readers do all the work on this one. Don’t do this too often, but once in a while, people will love it.
  6. In the same vein, put together a poll and post it. People love to give their opinion and you’ll learn more about your audience, which will help both you and them in the long run. Total win-win in ten minutes or less.
  7. Google for the top ten sites in your niche and post them as, literally, the top ten sites. These kind of posts are highly linkable. Just copy and paste the search results page into your post writing window, pretty it up, write an introductory couple sentences, and hit “publish.”
  8. Record a video at YouTube. Use the feature that lets you record directly to YouTube so you don’t have to upload or edit anything. Talk for five minutes about a very focused topic. The other five minutes, you’re copying and pasting the embed code and writing a headline and a couple of introductory sentences. This one combines well with some of the other post ideas in this list.
  9. Embed a video from a video site such as YouTube or Viddler about your blog’s niche topic. Five minutes to find, watch, and embed the video. Five minutes to write a brief bit of commentary on the video (no need to watch every second of the video).
  10. Write something nice about the coolest new person you’ve met, recently. Link to their blog and “talk them up.” It’s good for you, good for the other person, and good for both your audiences.

If you guys can come up with even more ways to write killer posts in ten minutes or less, I’ll do another one of these that will be made up of your ideas with links back to you.

  • Marc
    Hi. I'd like to suggest a blog post topic for you. It has to do with where a blogger draws the line about posting someones comment. This is a complicated and highly personal topic since no two bloggers have identical personalities and have different tolerances for all the ways that commenters can be rude. It seems there's a large spectrum in how bloggers deal with commenters. Some don't want to bother themselves at all with this and keep the comments turn off. Others seem to cherry pick their comments and some are very sensitive to the slightest hint of disagreement or debate. And there are some like Jim Edwards who will publish even the rudest comments (but will defend himself). I personally don't have skin as thick as Jim Edwards and am somewhere in the middle. I do feel that my blog isn't Youtube (I'm always amazed at the frequency of quarrelsome comments over there) so I have my own limits. There are also a number of ethical issues such as whether to publish a criticism regarding a product one promotes that also provides the money to feed ones family.

    When I decide not to publish a comment, I often wonder how the person will take the rejection. Anyway, this is a topic that interests me but I'm not holding you to making a post about this. If you do, it'll be a pleasant surprise. If not, I won't even be aware of it as I've too much to do to gives this anymore thought.
  • remarkablogger
    Not a bad idea at all, Marc. I think I'll make that this week's open
    discussion topic.
  • I am SO bookmarking this page, thanks! Lots of good ideas in the comments too. Here's mine: a related quote or word of the day. I did both almost ten years ago and now have regular, evergreen traffic to some of those old pages, even though I nearly let my poor blog die for lack of attention. I'm reviving it, though, and really need these ideas!
  • remarkablogger
    Love the quote idea, that's great! Good luck with reviving your blog.
  • tenov
    Your open my eyes. Thanks for your tactics. I never heard these ideas until I came to your site.
  • Rob
    You make some interesting points. I am lucky as my niche can be as easy as a 'cut and paste' for a quick post. Cheers.
  • Interesting post - I'm a big fan and have my own blogs. I think I'll give this a try.
  • Geektechlive
    love your article. I am going to use some of your info for my weekly podcast site at http://geektechlive.com ... soon to be using headway!
  • remarkablogger
    Awesome, thanks! When your Headway-powered site goes live, be sure to tweet
    about it with the hashtag #headwaywp so we can promote it for you and send
    some traffic your way. :-)
  • I post a great deal of information regarding successful blogging tips, improving your writing, fresh blog post ideas, etc. This is the first time I've seen a list this common sense. #1 is one of the simplest yet ingenious ideas I've seen yet. glad I stumbled on this site today. thanks again Remarkablogger!
  • Along the lines of #3, I wish there was a way to not just ask them a question but to ask them to fill a whole survey. Are there blogger or wordpress plugins to do survey within a blog? As you can tell I am a beginner. Please respond, I'm subscribing.

    Katty
  • Katty there are indeed WordPress plugins for this. Since you are a beginner, let me teach you something simple and valuable. Whenever you need to know if something is "out there" on the web, just do a search for it on Google. Try searching for "survey plugin," and see what comes up. :) A Google search should always be your first step when you have a question. That's one of the most helpful habits I've developed.

    Best of luck with your blog, and thank you so much for subscribing!
  • Thank you! I found a survey online and it is on my blog already! Of course, there must be other, better surveys.. the quest continues! Thanks again for your help!

    Katty
  • I think the interaction between readers is a vital tool that we all need to be thinking of more.
    People like to be included within blogs and also to contribute to a post. It also gives you inspiration for another post. This is really great stuff thank you!
  • I love your ideas! I was feeling some writers blog but now I have a handful of new posts for my business blog. :)
  • WOW. Just reading your post which I found thru blogcreationworkshop got me cranked up. What an absolutely fab ideas and so do-able too, well except for the Youtube part... which seems a bit intimidating.

    It takes me way too long even with a draft and as am writing other ideas come or I decide to expand on a point and then it all gets away from me. But am a newbie so maybe that's why. I don't have system that works for me yet so I'm willing to try your excellent suggestions especially when am short on time or unfleshed out ideas.

    I comment/ramble on newspaper article(s) and blog posts that interest me and only started linking to posts in the past two weeks (after I found out how to do it by chance!). Then I churn them out or drip feed according to how current the subject is.

    But how do you get readers to comment though? I've been blogging for 3 months now, my readers fluctuate and I don't have any idea how to encourage them to comment or ask a question. I personally need the interaction to know how am doing and what they would like to read, know, share, etc.

    I understand from more experienced bloggers that that's the hardest thing to come by. I'll keep on blogging in the meantime though. I love it!

    Again, thanks ever so much for your suggestions!
  • Two more sources of ideas: brainstorming-that-works.com and the book Power Brainstorming.
  • Thank you so much for the wonderful tips - I especially appreciate the one about commenting on and linking to an article worth reading. I have been wondering how to recommend other articles without violating copyright rules.
  • Thanks for the great ideas! Now I will not be stuck for an article idea for at least the next 3 months.
  • Wonderful ideas. As always, thanks. Now I just have to find ten minutes!! No seriously, every time I read your blog I get new and better ideas. Really enjoy your advice.

    Thanks!
  • Dudes, great stuff. I'm always looking for ways to fill the gaps when I'm occupado on a day I should be posting. Thanks! @bigrobby
  • Very nice tips in the comments too...

    I mainly use cool or informative videos when i'm in need for a easy post to my blog.
  • Great post Michael, I'm definitely going to give number 3 a try in the near future!
  • Thanks for the great ideas. I'm working on one of these today; sharing links to various blogs/web sites shared by followers on Twitter. (In fact, that is where I found your blog post!)

    I also reserve my Monday post for a quote (Monday Reflection) and sometimes use Wednesdays for unique words/definitions found in CH Elster's book "There's a Word For It." I create these posts in one sitting and publish them individually at a later date.
  • @Amy - Those are some great ideas, thanks for sharing them!
  • Google for the top ten sites in your niche and post them?

    Hmm this one in interesting?
  • Great tips! I'm going to start with a few of these ideas right away. Thank you!
  • Howdy Michael,

    I find that so few people have a sense of humor nowadays. My idea for a 10-minute (or less) blog post is to create a ...

    "Monday Morning Chuckle"

    Smiling and laughter cause the release of endorphins in our bodies. Endorphins are natural pain relievers and wonderful mood elevators. Perhaps the title of the post could be ...

    "Monday Mood-Elevators"!

    Write On!

    MELANIE
  • mark
    "4. Go to the main category page for one of your categories, copy and paste five of your best posts from it, then paste them into the Visual tab of the new post screen in WordPress. Pretty it up a little bit, and write a couple sentences at the top to introduce the idea."

    is another way of saying copy and repost your old stuff??
  • Similar to idea #10: talk up one of your favorite small businesses, included their website, and hopefully drum up some business for them during this recession. Ask your readers to do the same for THEIR favorite small businesses.

    Best,

    John
  • Michael,

    This is a print-and-keeper. You've got a few ideas here that I hadn't thought of.

    Mine: Once a week, every week, I post a quotation related to my blog's subject (and I usually tie it into whatever theme I've loosely been writing about that week). I write a paragraph or so discussing the relevance of the quote or the author, and poof!

    It's good for me because most of my articles, I labor on forever. Knowing I've got one "poof" per week is a big relief.

    Regards,

    Kelly
  • Some great ideas I'll use. Here are a few more:

    1. For a local or community style blog, post a diary of upcoming events. We do a 'what's on next week' post every Sunday evening for my husband's blog. We can prepared them all at the beginning of the month and just tweak and publish in minutes each week (www.masseysfinefood.com - doesn't sell anything online so hope nobody minds my showing an example)

    2. Keep your mind open to something that happens in your day that illustrates something relevant to your audience. A couple of days ago, Hayley posted an item about jelly beans and employee engagement - when we filled up the office jelly bean jar.

    3. Book reviews - if you keep them short they can be quite quick to write when the book has a really powerful message.

    Hope these are useful.

    Vandy
  • ahhhhhh ... I have really done a lot of hard work for nothing!

    Well I think it's important to balance your postings ... some original quality posts, and some fast posts.

    Content is King
  • VitaminCM
    Great, now I can post a new article and still see my TV shows.
  • I was thinking 'Wow, huge claim' as I clicked on the link posted by problogger on twitter and wasn't expecting specific 'to-do' ways. As always, I'm impressed :)

    Going to try all of them out over the next couple of months and post up a report on how it went.
  • Dan
    I have one! How about a list of 10 ways to crank out top 10 lists about how to crank out blog posts in ten minutes or less? That seems pretty easy.

    10 PRINT OLD NEWS
    20 GOTO 10
  • Way to go there Anon. I really admire people who have a stab at good blog posts but are too chicken to leave a URL.
  • Anon
    Thanks on the tips in order to uselessly dilute the blogosphere. Your post seems more focused on creating content for contents sake, or at least for the sake of said content generating revenue.

    Typical 'pro blogger' type post, complete with pavlovian 'great post!' comments from other wannabe pro bloggers. Thanks for the tips!
  • Really good ideas there Michael.

    Considering most of my blog posts are done during the lunch hour these tips come in very handy!
  • Hi Michael, this is an excellent post.

    I recently started doing a Friday roundup of interesting articles I'd read in the past week. It's a simple, effective way to post something worthwhile.

    Total time to write? Less than 10 minutes.
  • Thanks for these very doable tips. I frequently spend entirely too much time churning out my blog posts.
  • At many a times, I feel the need to post something quickly. This post has given some wonderful tips on how to do that.

    Thank you for sharing these ideas.
  • Great post! It's amazing how easy it is to crank out quality, useful information in such a manageable amount of time. Here are a few more suggestions:

    1) Review a product/service/website in your niche that you are already familiar with. Develop a 'review rubric' and you can streamline this process.

    2) Similarly, create an interview template and send out emails to those you would like to interview. It takes ten minutes to write an introduction and format the post.

    3) Copy/Paste any interesting email exchanges you may have. Hate mail? Question and answer sessions? Philosophical ramblings?

    4) Link drop! If you are a heavy bookmarker, pick 5 of the most interesting sites you have bookmarked in the last week/2weeks/month, and write a few sentences about them.

    Hope this helps,
    Alan
  • Wow, some really good ideas here. My blog has over 1500 readers and I find myself getting nervous when I can't think of anything useful to blog about so this list will help greatly!! You've got a new subscriber here.
  • Another idea... create a quick post of "famous quotes" on a specific keyword in your niche, then ask readers if they have any favs (for future posts, of course!)

    Thanks for getting my thought process rolling!
  • Michael, these are gooood. Like quick recipes with a few simple ingredients--not junk food, but quick and satisfying. I love it.
  • I've found that requests for clarifications can make great posts. This is especially useful when you don't fully understand a sentiment or concept you read, say in a book. Sort of an excerpt-based question, part info, part question. But you really have to be wondering. Also, the more controversial, the better.

    Also, this is lame, but I had an interview fall through on my blog yesterday (I'm not giving the blog address because it's a separate, highly unprofessional identity) but anyway, I slapped up some pet pictures and it was a freakishly popular post.
  • Brilliant ideas, Michael!

    I particularly like the idea of making a YouTube video - I may give that one a shot soon.

    Reddited, Stumbled, Tagged, and Tweeted!
  • Another great idea is to take what happened during the day/yesterday and relate it to your medium. It's amazing how many parallels I can draw between making money online, say, and my mooses, Twitter Budgies, kids and the rest.

    Data points, Barbara
  • Glossaries: Define a buzzword for your target audience, then back it up with links to practical examples.
  • When my company puts out press releases (often survey results), I link to the press releases, summarize the results/finding, and then ask readers a question about their reaction - whether the results surprise them, where they think they fall in regards to the majority/minority opinion, etc.

    Thanks for more great ideas!
  • I loved this post. So much value for such a short post. Thanks very much. I'm going to try all of these things. Will RT, Digg, and Stumble. Great stuff!
  • Great post and ideas! Thank you very much!
  • Great ideas, thank you Michael! I'm really behind on blogging because I always think it will take too long. I'm definitely going to try some of these approaches. @cherylwkrass
  • I post Foto Friday - simply a photo of a girlfriend getaway memory
    with a brief description.

    These are great tips, thanks!
  • Kick ass post here!
  • Thanks for the great ideas. You got my brain percolating:

    Post a favorite resource and link to it. "My favorite source for photos/keyword research tool/WP themes or plugins/whatever..."

    Post a photo, with or without comment. A number of bloggers do "Wordless Wednesday" posts with only a photo.

    Take a list post you did in the past and expand on one of the list items. Give more how-to and/or link to a tutorial or other resource. For example, what do you use to set up a poll as suggested in item number 6? Tips?

    Post the results of the poll you did in suggestion number 6. Include commentary on the poll results, and comments submitted by those who responded to the poll.

    Top 3, 5 or 7 tips for doing something.
  • Gosh darn it, I just cranked out a boring post in 45 minutes before seeing your post. You owe me 35 minutes, Michael...
  • @Patsi - You had your flux capacitor in backwards. That'll do it every time...
  • Hi Michael,

    Some really interesting ideas in this article. Indeed this techniques only take few minutes to set up an article. Thanks for sharing.

    @TomaBonciu
  • @Toma - Thanks! If you try any of them, let me know.
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