Right now I am at SOBCon, and we just wrapped up Chris Garrett’s presentation on “More Bang from your Blog”. He’s put a challenge out to us to write a 5 minute blog post that actually creates value.
Since I’ve had to do this in the past, here are a few ideas on how to pull it off:
- Do a quick summary and throw up a link to a post or article that made you think this week (please don’t make a habit of this, or you become an echo chamber)
- Ask your readers a thought-provoking question and turn the conversation over to your community
- Twitterize your thoughts so that you have to come up with an influential thought/idea/statement in less than 140 characters
In fact, I think Twitter has been one of the best influences on my writing of all time. It makes you cut out unnecessary words, thoughts and fluff and get to the point - fast.
So I’ll ask you - leave a comment in 140 characters or less… how can you influence your readers more by doing less? 
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Wow! That was fast Wendy. Get the info. Take it to heart. Post. Great job.
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Barbara
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Oh the power of Twitter to get a great discussion going
After reading this blog post I shared with @eMom that I believed… “Ask your readers a thought-provoking question and turn the conversation over to your community” was the best way to go.
Wendy then asked me…
“So what question could you ask that’s the size of a Tweet of your own Unstoppable Fat Loss community? ;)”
So I responded with…
“How would achieving your fat loss goals improve your life, family, and business?”
and…
“What impact does living in optimal health have on you fulfilling your life’s purpose?”
Thank you so much for offering this thought provoking blog post. I think that it proves my point that proposing thought provoking questions is the best way to go
Keep up the great work and enjoy the event!
Scott Tousignant
http://www.Unstoppable-FatLoss.com
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As I am about to write on 4 blogs I think that I need that , I know i can have the idea, but to write a post in 5 minutes?
Maybe is my blog was more automated that would help
Thanks Wendy
Ask great questions and give quality answers that really speak to your readers’ concerns.
Aloha - came here looking 2 reply to @TheFitB ’s comment - hmmm… well in the meantime - KUDOS 4 this post!
I luv Twitter for teaching biz bloggers the art of Brevity!
Wendy
I just signed up for Twitter today because everyone at SOBcon08 is talking about it! I liked your 5 min post.
Simplify, speak to the needs of the reader, be real and transparent, provoke thought. Encourage open discourse. Twitter rocks. Under 140?
Grandma’s as I am; hope to bring wit and wisdom to her readers. Families today need to feel safe, and know there is a place they can go to when needed.
Getting the word out has been the most difficult part of our blog. Therefor finding good bloggers such as sparkplugging is important to your success. Wendy has made it her mantra to share…her Karma must be pristine.
Grandmas can be there to listen, babysit when needed or offer their home for a good nights sleep.
Surround yourself with others who will offer advice and go for the golden ring.
Determine what dream you want to fulfill and as we have research, plan and move forward. The blogging industry has made anyone’s dream a possibility.
Even suggesting you start one today…the opportunity is here now. If your afraid, call a friend who knows more then you. That’s what I did and here I am with http://www.grammology.com
And writing this in about five minutes..hope characters are under 140.
Regards,
Dorothy from grammology
remember to call gram
http://www.grammology.com
Writing a blog post in 5 minutes?
That’s like having sex for 30 seconds …
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Easy. Just type really fast. =P
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I have to go with Twitter.A well placed question and the answer in your blog posts?
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Your post has provoked much thought within me which is: we can be clear about the goals of our blog, but how clear are we about the goals of a short post? What is the intention of this post?
Is it to give our community something new to read? To convey an aura of busy activity? Or do we actually have something to say that firthers the goals of the blog as a whole?
It is all too easy to ramble in any post. But ideally we want the reader to leave feeling they have received a mini life experience from reading our post. I bear this philosophy strongly in mind when posting. I rarely post short off the cuff posts unless I have a Stop Press news item and no time to expand the theme until later.
As always, live life on purpose and everything falls into place neatly and effectively!
top 5, top 10 lists can always add value. for example, provide links to the best (not most read) small business marketing bloggers.
thanks
Turning the conversations over to readers is a good idea. That is a good idea as long as they feel that the topic or question is interesting or impacts them in some way.
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Wendy, the biggest thing I could do on my own blog to influence readers would be to relax about having the answers, and focus son crafting good questions. Takes the burden off me for having everything thought out in advance(which takes a lot of time), and also creates the opportunity for me and readers to discover something new.
I’ll have to try this….
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Say what you mean and mean what you say!
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Just the facts maam, Just the facts!
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Some good ideas here. I should really make this a part of my daily schedule. The tricky part here is the word “Value”. I can easily ramble on for 5 minutes about nothing, but adding values takes a little more brain power.
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No, but I wish I could. I should work on that.
That’s difficult for me but it make me think how can I write a valuable blog post in 5 minutes? But, thanks for your article. I’ll try to practice to make it for 5 minutes.
Write about a controversial topic - that will get people going. For example: Did you watch the Kentucky Derby and see Eight Belles have to be put down?
Or am I missing the point..
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I am new to the whole blogging thing but I really like thinking about only needing 5 minutes to write a post - I keep psyching myself out about writing because I think it’s a 1 hour commitment every time I do it.
Hey wendy - I could hardly stand how cool it was to meet you at SOBCono8!!I actually need to speak with you and tap into your who you might know circles of influence, could you give me a ring? My number is all over my blog. Sooner is better if you could. Thanks.
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No I can’t write - It took almost two hours for me to finish a quality post.