One of the most common things I hear about content creation for the purposes of marketing and PR is that there’s no time to create content. No time to blog, no time to create, no time to get things done. Here’s a simple, foolproof method for blogging that you can do every day if you have a commute or just a few minutes of downtime and a smartphone.
Step 1. Think about what you want to write about. As much as you can, assemble the topic in your head and think about what you’d say. Aim to speak on a topic for about 5 minutes.
Step 2. Using the built-in microphone or the one built into the earbuds on your smartphone, turn on the Voice Memos application. (Android users may need to download a free voice memo app from Google Play)
Step 3. On your commute, while you’re standing in line, or any place that you have downtime and relative quiet (doesn’t have to be silent, just not at a rock concert), record your thoughts as coherently as possible, as though you were writing.
Step 4. Find the recordings on your phone or desktop computer and download them.
Step 5. Using either your own personnel or an audio transcription service, send the recordings out for transcription to text. There are many, many audio transcription services out there; search for them and pick the one that best matches your timeframe and budget. The standard for audio transcription is $1 per recorded minute of audio.
Of course, if you don’t have the budget or staff, you can just transcribe them yourself later.
Step 6. Take a few minutes to clean up the transcript. After editing, copy and paste the transcribed audio into a blog post. You’ve now blogged during a period of time that was previously not optimal for sitting down and writing.
If you have 5 minutes a day, you have time to blog. Our normal speaking rate in the English language is anywhere from 150-300 words per minute, so if you can speak for 5 minutes, you can create a substantial blog post. Even if you end up transcribing the audio yourself later on, you’re at least recording your thoughts during otherwise less productive periods of time.
Christopher S. Penn
Vice President, Marketing Technology
