The Accordion Method (And Now You Never Run Out of Content Ever Again)
Here's something I've been doing for years, that literally saves me a MINIMUM of at least an hour per week, which is 52 hours per year.
Because things are more fun to discover (and remember) when we assign cutesy names to them, let's call this the Accordion Method.
When it comes to blogging, e-mailing, Tweeting, creating membership content, or anything... they simply don't manage their time well. They burn out their blog too fast.
You can be better. You can be cautiously optimistic and schedule your content ahead of time.
And here's how to do it:
- Schedule six short blog posts, one month apart. That means where most people have six weeks or six days of content, you have six months worth...
- When you have time, write six more blog posts -- remember where talking SHORT posts or re-use your old articles...
- Now, compress it back down into six months -- so it's a new post every 15 days...
- If you have less than six months in the queue, schedule more monthly posts -- but if you hit 12 months, compress all posts 30 days apart back into 15 days
Get it? It's like an accordion... out, and in, and out, and in...
At the worst case, you only have a post or two, which means you have 1-2 MONTHS of content.
- Maybe this is for a $7/month membership site... add more content, bump it to $17/month or $27/month or higher
- Maybe this is for a blog... you can leave it on autopilot for months
- Maybe this is for your email sequence... you can actually have that thing sending messages automatically
The average person might get excited about their blog at first, write a bunch of stuff, then have nothing new to say... but not you! You used the Accordion Method!
Do you pre-schedule any of your blog or autoresponder content this way? Are you going to, from now on?
Filed in: Productivity
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Love the name of the method Robert, and also agree totally with writing short blog posts.
There’s nothing wrong with scheduling longer blog posts occasionally (or writing one when you feel particularly inspired), but a good use of a blog is as a ‘jumping on’ point for people new to you, and to encourage discussion.
I’ve got a confession.
I’ve actually got about six months of content scheduled on my blog, most of it deliberately timeless, but I tend to push the release of most of it back, because I come up with interesting and more timely items to write about. On the positive side, that content will always be there for when I need it.
And the reason I have things set up like that is from one of your excellent paid trainings.
I don’t like to put up a post more than fortnightly, as I like to give each post time to propogate and allow my readers to leave comments.
Thom
Great concept I’m looking forward to sharing and acting on, Robert. I know my life gets in the way of my blogging and I also know there are spaces of time where I have LOTS of time and ideas to blog. Understanding the ways to keep the blog going when I’m not around is essential!
Thanks!
Hey Robert,
Yeah, I stuff my blog with at least 20 posts for time release and space them out every other day, if not everyday sometimes. If I get really inspired, I sometimes stuff up to three posts in one day!
All in all, it doesn’t take me much to find things to talk about. Back in my college days, I was conditioned to research, scan and regurgitate on my term papers. I guess this carried over to blogging! It’s a good thing:)
I do like your accordian method.
Regards,
Bruce
Guilty as charged… in fact the other day I considered buying 365 useful tweets to put my Twitter account on autopilot so it doesn’t rely on my Aweber account only.
Timely. I’m actually doing something like this right now, as in this morning, because the weather here in East Bay finally turned nice and no way I’m staying indoors all day writing blog posts and stuff.
@bruce – writing papers was my favorite part of college. That’s definitely carried over into blogging for me.
The name says it all! What a great concept. In fact, I’ll share it with the audience this weekend at the conference where I’m speaking – with attribution, of course.
I totally agree – we get all enthused when we start blogging, then quickly let life interfere. Then you’re left with an empty blog. Thanks for another great action-tweaker, Robert!
Good tip Robert.
I’m one of those who use the trumpet method rather
than the accordion. 😉 I tend to BLARE things when
they become relevant…
Think I will try the accordion from now on an allow
myself some much needed time for myself!
Hey, I finally read a post I am already acting on, sort of. I have a daily devotional blog I keep loaded and scheduled at least 30 days in advance. Gotta get over there today and update those. I also have a blog about the definiton of PLR which has had no posts updated in over a year. I mad the original posts, sent out a message to my frieds and list members thinking someone would be interested. After seeing only 1 comment I just lost interest. If you are interested in what I think PLR should be visit http://plrexplained.com and leave a comment. Maybe it will catch on and I will start posting again.
Great tip, Robert!
I tend to brainstorm a bunch of posts and put them in the blog as drafts. Then when it comes time to publish, I polish up the draft of my choosing and publish.
I think if I combine my method with yours my posts will be more frequent (something I’m working on, especially since my schedule is so crazy busy now), but still have the spontaneity and relevance for time-sensitive stuff.
Thanks! 🙂
Robert,
I must confess that I did this for awhile, and then my posts ran out. As a result I had to whip up something real fast just so that I didn’t go a whole two months without a blog post.
At the very least, I should write the articles now for the rest of this year and schedule them out. If I can make more than that.. then I’ll do exactly as suggested and compress it down.
Thanks for the amazing tips… as always!
David
Great post, Robert.
I’m sure we all go through periods of a lot of activity, then slack off for a while. Using your accordion method would help even out the flow of info.
I’ve used a similar method in the past, have lately been posting twice per week, but need to fill up potential future holes for when business takes me out of the office for days at a time.
Thanks as always,
Bob
Orange Cat
Clever, very clever! And extremely actionable.
Genius idea — this could be a great way to keep me out of those “quiet weeks” on my blog. Usually I write two posts on the weekend and schedule them for Tuesday and Friday. But since I’ve gotten swamped at my day job my posts have become less frequent. I’ll be putting this technique into action so I don’t have to stress over the blog anymore. Thanks!
Very good advice which is easy to implement. This can help new and established bloggers alike.
And the best part is that lederhosen is optional!
It isn’t rocket science but it is a great idea.
I’ve heard others talk about that but your explanation or method really makes it clear. Okay, even I can do it!
Thanks Robert, this is a great and useful post.
Phil
Hi Rob,
Definitely a useful post and one that will pave the way for finishing other projects while keeping my audience engaged.
Thanks again,
Nando
This is a great way to do it…emphasis on the “short” is important too. Thanks for affirming that scheduling is the way to do it. I do much better when I’ve got posts written and put in the queue way ahead of time. Thanks Robert
Terrie
Thank you for the accordion method. I’m new and I was thinking right along these lines so, you confirmed it for me.
Wow, great post! A light bulb definitely went off in my head! You are so correct how a person will post like crazy at first and then burns out. This method is what we have to start employing like right now. We have a lot of blogs and too many eventually get neglected.
Thanks so much for the post it’s the best thing I have read in a while!
Denis
Love this post and the strategies.. I have a few posts I’ve written but have not put them in queue. Your post has prompted me to make this a habit and create a system as you outlined.
I try to have 7-10 autoresponders for my landing pages and add broadcasts to them. Having more content is definitely better because different things pop up from time to time and our business needs to continue without interruption.
Thanks, Robert
I haven’t used that method much but it’s a good plan. I’ll start utilizing the method more since I’ll be building up larger sites. Thanks for the tip!
Cool idea, dude. Initially I was thinking this wouldn’t work, especially if I wanted to do a series of blog posts on a particular topic, but who says you have to space them really close together?
I like the idea of batch processing tasks. Do email, writing, video recording, video editing…in a big chunk, rather than one at a time over the course of a few days.
Makes a big difference, but I’m still not that good at it. 🙂
Nice tip to implement. This can be a big time saver for me…
This is brilliant, and perfect timing! I’ve been seriously stressed for the past couple of days because I can’t seem to keep everything updated as much as I would like.
This will make my life so much easier!
Thanks,
Lena
I did that once, building four months of content on a new blog in just one week. That’s 40 posts at once and then I never touched the blog again for half a year.
Thanks for the reminder, I will do the same technique again for my latest site.
Thanks. I’m always looking for new and better ways to come up with content, especially for my blogs. Right now I have a blog that I just can’t figure out what I want to say on. It’s my personal blog, so maybe I’ve said too much! LOL
Now, how about giving us some ideas on what would make great content? I would love to hear it. 🙂
Great post.
Hey Robert,
Congrats and BIG HUGS for once again a truly genial Idea! 🙂 What a Superb Name for WOW Tactic!
Frankly, you both with Lance are absolutely “must-know”
and to get inspired from!
Do you mind if I ask you: do you make a competition between you both or what? Looks like you are kinda engine where each ring force to turn each other…WOW! 🙂
Well, I don’t know how would be better to say, here any phrase, any word become instantly kind of “silly”…:-D
THX!
Respectfully yours,
engaged marketflea
Hi Robert,
What I like about this idea is that it expands time. And by breaking it down to smaller chunks, it takes out the overwhelm factor.
You didn’t mention it, but your plugin, WP Import, is a great time-saver for people who are uploading articles they’ve previously written. I used it to upload 80 articles for weekly posting earlier this year. That gave me 18 months of content!
Thanks,
Dr. Bruce
Hi Dr. Bruce,
I’m glad you like it. It definitely beats spending a day putting 100 or more posts on a blog. The link is http://www.wpimport.com and it’s free (for the moment) for anyone else interested.
I’m always interested in new blogging techniques…
I enjoy using article packs, and the wpimport plugin…
Thanks for all the tips and tricks!
Jeff
This is excellent advice.
I love it and can think of a few of my sites which could benefit.
Gav
This is excellent advice.
I love it and can think of a few of my sites which could benefit.
GavIn Allinson
Great idea Robert… Time management is probably my biggest bug-a-boo and your Accordian Method makes populating one’s autoresponder campaigns sooooo easy. I’ll be doing a lot of accordian playing today.
Great idea here Robert,
I use WordPress to write and schedule publish times as you suggest. Gets you lot more traffic that way.
Then, each time I check my blog when one of my new posts comes up, I send it out to my list asking for comments. Result: More traffic to the blog.
One other thing I do is use Google Calendar to remind me to think about writing more. I schedule it for a weekly reminder and have my gmail account put an orange “filter” on it to make it stand out in my inbox to remind me to read it.
Keep up the great work!
Fred
703-203-4648
Woodbridge, VA
Followup: I pushed 2 in the queue, updated 2 more for republication, published a couple of page drafts for future promotion to get that Google age factor started.
To summarize my take from your Accordian Method post it is:
PLAN AHEAD, HAVE A PLAN
You can sit around and wait for something to happen that will bring you a windfall but you will probably be waiting for quite a while if history is any guide.
Alternatively, you can plan your business and develop habits and practices which allow you to work smart and make things happen in a purposeful way.
Simple blog post with a valuable lesson.
This is a great method. The things that bug us the most and cause us the most stress are the undone things. They are on our minds and we know we need to get them done but then often we don’t get enough done to feel any relief.
This accordian method will really solve a lot of problems while keeping us moving forward plus it will save time.
Thanks for this great advice, Robert!
Hi Robert,
Nice method, just found you and love your advice, very helpful. I am not musically able to play but this is one instrument i’ll be playing heaps, thanks.
Wow Robert,
This is a great idea. I am really bad about blogging regularly and when I do, I seem to ramble too much.
I think this a good idea. Shorter posts and pre-load them.
I like that.
Thanks a bunch, Pete
Great idea and cute name too! I get so tied up with client projects that my own sites and blogs suffer. I do tend to schedule a few posts but before I know it a week or even two or three have slipped by… This is definately a technique I will be using – so simple I cant believe I didnt think to do it before!
Hi Robert,
I use this idea on one of my blogs but I have yet to implement it on the other one (or two).
I use an autoblogging plugin and then adjust posts using a calendar post plugin. Drag and drop, makes it much easier than amending the publish date one by one.
Note to self: use this principle on one other blog within next two weeks.
Cheers,
Gareth
It works! I haven’t been quite this organized with the method, though and I’m anxious to see if that’s even better.
Great post Robert!
It’s cool how you break everything down as idiotproof as possible (good for me lol ;))…
Also, is that your own pop up script? I’ve seen some great looking ones but they appear HUGE for some reason and kill the whole experience of the website.
Best regards,
Dean
Hi Robert I read it but i will have to reread your article and brake it down. I think I will get when I go over a couple of times. I did read agin I get it now. Thanks. Take care and God bless, Tony.
Absolute rubbish!
Hey, someone had to not be a syncophant. Ok , OK, it is a great idea. One I picked up from you a while back and have used with WPImport … then ran out. So, it’s Easter and I can schedule in a couple hours to write up a batch and schedule them out – the trick is to diarise when I need to do the next batch for scheduling so the gaps don’t occur.
Never get sick of you guys. Top value. Cheers!
Thanks for sharing that, Robert. 🙂
It’s a really creative approach, and has a nice name too. 😉
Apart from that, I think if your content isn’t series based or step by step, you can insert the new content in between the spaced out content as well?
Cheers,
Allen
Good one Robert. Maybe I’ll cull my blog posts down in size. And publish more frequently. Actually what I’d like to read about from you is what 5-10 things do you do immediately after you make a blog post? Because it’s easy enough to make blog posts but what if no one and his brother reads them? Then it’s not going to matter how long or short they are. But anyways ALL is good here. Stay cool, Martin
Martin,
1. Email list to blog post
2. Hit retweet button
3. Contact a couple of people personally to get the first comments started
4. Add blog reminder email to followup sequence
5. Make 10 forum posts with the blog post in your signature link
6. Leave 10 thoughtful blog comments on other high traffic blogs with the blog post as your signature link
If you are struggling to get even 1 blog comment on your blog then you definitely need a bigger list.
As always, a unique perspective on blogging. 🙂
I have used the schedule feature in WordPress for quite some time, and this has ensured fresh content – especially around new months to add an extra “category” to the archive that allows users to find a living blog when they pay a visit.
As always, the idea requires some planning to follow your plan, but it’s interesting, and I thank you for inspiring your readers to think outside the box.
Since I saw this post the first time, the idea has grown inside me. It is going to be internalised, meaning it will be part of me. Thank you for presenting the method, which will live inside my box (everyone think it is modern to think out of the box these days).