Ive always been a big advocate of planning your posts on a business blog but I was asked recently whether I felt that this would have the effect of stifling the spontaneity and authentic voice that blogs are supposed to have.

For me, the answer is a categorical no. The issue, as I see it, stems from the belief that the two elements, planning and spontaneity, are diametrically opposed. Theyre not – in fact, they sit very comfortably alongside each other. From a blogging perspective, it’s good to be able to find a balance between the two while, from a business perspective, planning is all important not to stifle spontaneity and creativeness but to channel and focus it.

Think of it like a river

If I could use an analogy here, think of your business blog as a long winding river a river flows in a clear overall direction and has a destination which it moves towards; sometimes it meanders off but ultimately rejoins the main flow of the river and continues back on track. It also has its own boundaries in terms of its banks and encounters obstacles which it has to overcome.

If you can achieve the same with your blog then you are doing well. Keep the blog moving along and focused; also make sure that the goals you outlined when you initially planned it are clear in your mind thats the ‘destination’ you want for your blog. You can go off at tangents where appropriate and display all the spontaneity you like, provided that you return to the main flow of your core topics. There lots of scope for flexibility but ultimately there are boundaries as well which you need to respect.

Plan where you can

So do plan your posts ahead of time where possible:

• try to outline a week or even a month ahead, at least with some of the main topics and potential post titles that you want to cover;


• have a themed series ready to go even if you then develop it more later once it is started;


• make sure that you continue to add to your Foundation posts which will often add most value to the overall blog.

But at the same time when you spot something in your RSS Reader that you feel is important to comment on, then do so. From a publishing point of view, blogs give you an exceptional speed of response, so take the chance to report on breaking news in your industry and voice your opinion on it ahead of your competitors.

As a final key point: dont look at planning as a constraint, think of it more as giving a focus and direction.

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