How to Write 20 Blogs in 30 Days: Increase Traffic, Improve SEO and Create Opportunities

As the end of the year rolled around, I knew I was headed for a change. And I noticed that the people in my network, didn't quite understand it. 

Even after I told them the news that I now had a full suite of marketing services backing me, they still introduced me as a video creator. My next thought was, why would they know (and remember)? After all, everyone has a lot on their mind about their own business and life.

So, I saw a need for an awareness campaign.

But what could I do, as a small business owner, to raise awareness about my new direction?  

Why should anyone care? I had to make it relevant for them to want to know about. 

Time to blog about it. 

Because I know, if I write about it, a few things are certain.

#1) I'll be more knowledgeable and have more information top-of-mind while networking.
#2) It gives me something of value to share in conversations and on social media. 
#3)  I'll have valuable content to use as a reference for clients and prospects. 
#4) I'll drive some traffic to my website. 
#5) I'll create some more SEO related keywords on my website. 
... to name a few. 

But writing takes time. And it's the holidays in December so how can I write enough on my own, to make a difference?  

Enter ChatGPT and a mastermind...

Through a mastermind I am now a part of with other entrepreneurs, I've been learning a lot about AI and ChatGPT. (Don't know about you but I need community and accountability to stay sane and on track!)    

Sure, there is some resistance to AI and many opinions about it. But just like the resistance I recall while working for a newspaper with the invention of social media (specifically Twitter), we still have to learn about it. Because if we fail to... our competitors won't. They'll get ahead and we'll be eating dust. 

So, I decided to set a goal for myself. Using SMART goal style, I declared: "I will write and publish 20 blogs about marketing in December! (one for each business day of the month, minus Christmas Day)" 

Game on... 

Now, for the plan of attack I used to get it done...

How to Write 20 Blogs in 30 Days  

The first thing I did was brainstorm topics. Using ChatGPT I wrote, "What are 52 different topics on marketing?" Originally, I was thinking a blog per week, for the entire year. Thank God I checked myself before I wrecked myself so my goal ended up more realistic. 

After generating some ideas, I realized that not all the 52 suggested topics were marketing topics I felt I could write about or wanted to write about. "Marketing" is a HUGE topic...   

So, I edited... and made the list "me." As you'll see, your personal edit becomes the valuable human thinking that you need in order to make ChatGPT authentic, valuable and REAL. 

Next, I needed to identify the first week (or so) of topics since the first of December was on a Friday, I wanted 6 topics to tackle and finish right out of the gate. Why? 

Cue the saying about being on time: "Early Is On Time, On Time Is Late, And Late Is Unacceptable." 

Tip #1: If you want to meet your deadlined goal, get ahead of schedule. 

It's worth mentioning that at that point in time, I was using the free version of ChatGPT (3.5), which was quite enough (I've since upgraded, more on that later). 

And BINGO... I struck a nerve. So much is said about using social media as marketing. But how many of us are actually using it to our full advantage? This was an opportunity to dig in on some valuable tips. 

So, the first article in the series was born:  

Social Media is More than Posting Content! Key Steps for Effective Social Media Marketing

New Year Success = Me + ChatGPT 

One thing to always keep in mind is that it's the human intelligence combined with the technology that makes what you create, worthwhile. It's not an either/or mentality but both/together that makes it of value. 

When you ask multiple questions, dig deeper and layer questions, you get a better result. When you edit in pieces from different sessions from ChatGPT, that's when you can write a good, worthwhile blog article.  

By the second article, I had figured this out more. A good starting point comes from your own human curiosity. Try to think like a beginner since that's where your audience's level of understanding will be.

Since I have experience with email marketing and have a genuine curiosity to learn more about it, that became my next article...  

My pompt was:

"What are some creative ways to use email marketing to grow your business? Explain why email is so relevant and powerful in business growth. Share a bit about the statistics of effective use of email marketing for business growth. And what are some do's and don'ts when it comes to email marketing?"  

The result? The article, Email Marketing for Business Growth: (Plus Do's and Don't to Remember). 

Tip #3: Ask layered questions and don't forget to use the prompt "continue" after your first set of results. 

That last tip about using the word "continue" in ChatGPT came directly from the mastermind I'm in. (If you'd like to know more about being a part of the AI mastermind, let me know and I'll see if I can get you an invite. 😉)

Spark More Ideas with ChatGPT

After using the tech to write a bit, prompting it, brainstorming and using it as a thinking parter, I started to get more ideas that weren't even on the topic list.  

Just by having "conversations" with the GPT, more of my own ideas were lit afire! 🔥 And I was off to the races writing. I used stories and experiences from my own life as fuel. And I could leverage the tool to help me think in lists and short bursts, which are a good structure for blogs.  

If you ever have a problem asking yourself, "what should I write about?" this tool is a great way to get unstuck.

Then I started to think about my current audience vs my coveted audience. The result was, the article, "Why Marketing Director's Need External Agency Support." 

Tip #4: Let ChatGPT help you spark more of your own creativity.

Staying on Deadline

All was well and good, my ideas were flowing and I was writing and publishing articles. Another AI feature that helped me stay ahead of schedule was the scheduled publishing feature of my website. Which meant I didn't need to log in to publish articles daily.  

I was posting articles to social media along the way and noticing engagement and page views on articles which became a fun game. It was interesting to watch how I could drive traffic with my efforts.   

To stay on track with deadlines, I consistently put myself ahead of schedule. I used evenings and weekends to generate ideas, mine ChatGPT for copywriting and edit the writing to make it my own. That is, until I went out of town!

Deadlines got a little trickier when I was away from my office but I had prepared in advance. Before leaving I drafted the remaining 4 blogs and set it up so all I needed to do while traveling, was to edit and publish. 

Since this was the week between Christmas and New Years, I did find myself in a bit of a crunch. But because I was prepared, it didn't take me off track with my goal.  

Tracking Results and my Upgrade to ChatGPT

Maybe you're thinking, 'well what results came from your writing goal, Kery'?  

To that, I say there are some results I know now and others that will unfold with time. Blogging is a long-game marketing strategy. That's the big difference between sales and marketing. Marketing is NOT a transaction, that's a sale. 

In the words of famous management consultant Peter Drucker, "The purpose of marketing is to make selling superfluous." 

Here are the results I can measure right now. 

Year-over-Year Page Views: Traffic Doubled! 

As for the results that are yet to unfold, I'll have to keep you posted. But what I can report now is that I've already had conversations with other business owners about how I might be able to help them with some of what I wrote about in the articles. Time will tell...but there may be a sale/conversion in my future! 

Deciding to Upgrade:

Throughout my monthly challenge of writing these 20 blogs I thought to myself, "No way am I going to pay ChatGPT, free is good enough for me!" But of course the folks at ChatGPT have their marketing geniuses at work too. And just as I went to log in again, it asked me if I wanted to upgrade for additional features. Features that I've been learning about in my mastermind. So when they dangled that carrot, my choice turned into a yes.  

One thing I knew I wanted to use was imagery. Through the paid-version you get different extensions of ChatGPT. And with them there is A LOT more you can do including creating images like two included in this blog.   

As a creative, I could not resist! There are a lot of levels to using this tool and I plan on diving in more in the upcoming year. All with the goal of how can I leverage the technology to help myself and clients grow. 

If you're curious about any of the marketing-related topics mentioned here or in my series, the mastermind or how to use AI to support your business, I'm just an email away and would enjoy hearing from you!

Now, what will my next challenge be? Join the list and find out!   

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