How to Spend Less Time Writing and More Time Earning

The most irritating part of starting a blog has to be hands down, filling it with content.

Your notes app is full of promising titles, you may have even sat down and organized a content calendar to keep yourself on track, but now here you are, staring angrily at your computer screen because in all the excitement of your new venture, you forgot that letters don’t just magically arrange themselves into informative, entertaining words and paragraphs.

Perhaps you wrote an article and were running high on the fumes of success only to look up from your keyboard to the horrifying realization that you only managed to write 800 words and 6 hours have passed since you sat down.

Disorganized writing can create a masterpiece, but it won’t create you meaningful income if you’re spending days writing one piece. It’s time to Marie Kondo your time.

This outline is easily replicated, can be used for any type of content, and once mastered, you’ll be churning out thousands of words a day.

Outline Overview:

• Introduction
• Hook
• Immediate answer
• Breakdown
• Subheading
• Breakdown
• Subheading
• Breakdown
• Subheading
• Closing Paragraph
• Call to Action
• Sources

Easy as can be, let’s break it down a little further.

Introduction

This should be one to three sentences that explains to your reader exactly what they are about to read.

It should be a place that lets your reader know you are a voice of authority on whatever topic you are writing about, and it lets them know that they clicked on exactly the right link to find whatever information they are looking for.

It should be friendly, but professional.

Hook

This should be one to three sentences that draws the reader in further. This is where your personality should come through and you should make it clear that if they keep reading, they are going to get exactly what they are looking for.

Note: Your introduction and your hook should be a paragraph AT MOST.

This is not the time to get into your entire life story of how you became a writer.

We’ve all just wanted to make a simple meatloaf only to glare at our phones as we scroll 83 miles to the bottom of the screen for the actual recipe. I assure you, NO ONE cares.

Immediate Answer

This is the paragraph in which you will present the exact information your reader is looking for. Whether it’s a How-To, a recipe, or even a simple entertainment piece.

Get to the point immediately.

“But then my reader won’t stay on my page long enough for me to make money!” You’re surely exclaiming to me right about now.

False, they absolutely will continue reading, and that is because you are going to provide them with even more information that they didn’t even know they wanted or needed.

Breakdowns and Subheadings

The body of your blog post or article should be the “meat” of your piece. You’ve already given the reader the short and sweet TLDR answer they were looking for, but now in the body of your article, you are tasked with breaking down that information into easily digestible chunks.

This is where you are going to take each part of your short answer above, and expand on it further.

For example, if I were writing an article about the 10 Best Bakeries in Chicago, I would write an introduction, a hook, and then I would list the 10 best bakeries in Chicago in my answer paragraph.

But why are they the best?

This is where your breakdowns and headings come in. It would look something like this:

Bakery #1 (Breakdown)

One to two sentences about the bakery itself (location, Yelp star status, etc)

Subheading (Something about the bakery that is unique)

2-5 sentences about what makes this bakery the absolute best.

For this same example, it may look something like this:

Bjorn Cakes

With over 50 five star reviews, Bjorn Cakes is a minority owned bakery near Goose Island in Chicago.

Organic and Fresh

Bjorn Cakes is the only bakery in Chicago that uses all organic butter, organic eggs, locally sourced raw honey, and organic yogurt in all their products so if au naturale is your thing, be sure to stop by for your next special treat.

Reviewers on Yelp praise Bjorn Cakes for being a progressive and accepting space and have made note of their exceptional customer service.

Now rinse and repeat for the rest of your body.

Closing Paragraph

Once the body of your article is complete, you will want to write a simple conclusion that wraps up all the information you've just provided.

This is a great place to backlink any other blog posts or articles that you have written that may be relevant to the reader.

In our bakery example, if I had also written an article about fun birthday activities, or Valentine’s date ideas, this would be a good spot to direct my readers to those as well.

Call to Action

This is going to be a sentence or two that will create engagement with your readers.

This is where you are going to point your readers to your social media accounts, or ask them a question pertaining to what they just read so that they will be prompted to comment.

In our bakery example, a good call to action would be:

“Have you been to any of these bakeries? What was your favorite treat? Leave a comment below and let us know!”

Sources

This section is on an as needed basis.

If you’re writing an informative piece, you should always include your sources.

Many writers tend to backlink their sources in the body of the article. I would advise not to do that, and instead simply list all sources (with links) at the end of your article.

You don’t want your reader clicking links that take them off your site or page.

With practice, this simple outline will cut down your writing time exponentially and free your time up for more important things like customizing your blog and marketing.

For more tips and tricks of the trade, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest @thenicjules.

What was your biggest takeaway from this post? Let me know in the comments below and feel free to add any shortcuts and writer-hacks you may have for our readers!

Sources:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/bjorn-cakes-chicago