Writing Challenge Day 1: What to Expect

Have you ever accepted a challenge without knowing whether or not you'd be able to finish? Or worse, have you ever proposed a challenge not knowing if you could lead the way?

That's what I've done this August. Today marks the first day of the 31-day Writing Challenge. And, I'm not sure I'll be able to see it through.

When I decided to start a #writingchallenge, I had two things going through my head.

Two Truths

First, I knew that most people take August off, and that successful people don't behave like most people. As Gary Vee says, when everybody else is at the pool, August is when you put in the grinding hours. Watch the video below:

Second, I remembered the effects blogging three times a week had on my website's growth a few years ago. When I published with higher frequency, my traffic grew.

The Challenge Was Born

So, when one of my clients talked about how the summer months were a slow time in his business (and they're a slow time for me too), I wondered if that was just the way things had to be, or if we could do something about it.

And I couldn't get the idea that “when average people relax, successful people put in the work” out of my head. I knew that my client and I couldn't just sit back and accept that things were slow; we had to take action, put our thinking caps on, and do something to make a positive change in our businesses.

And that's how the 31 Day Writing Challenge was born.

A full month of daily writing and publishing content that will improve SEO, help participants market their products, tell their stories, and grow their businesses.

A Monumental Task

Publishing daily sounds like a lot of work until you actually sit down to plan it all out. It's only after you've started planning that you realize it's not a lot of work, it's a metric shit-load of work.

Publications that create content every day usually have a team of writers and someone on staff who edits full-time. I have neither of those things.

But, what I do have, is over 250 topics, ideas, outlines, and notes, all waiting to be written. See, for the past several years, every time a topic came up that I wanted to explore, teach or learn more about, I wrote it down. Now I've got a digital drawer full of things to write about.

What's Coming in August

So a few Sundays ago, just days after announcing the #writingchallenge for the first time, I sat down to outline the 31 posts I'd publish in August.

Here is the list of posts I wrote during the writing challenge:

• Day 1: What you can expect
• Why You Should Treat Your Online Store More Like a Retail Shop
• How to Fix a Website that's Running Slow
• The Only 2 Things You'll Ever Need to Know About Building Credibility
• The Most Powerful Momentum-Builder for Your Beginner Business
• An Open Letter to Entrepreneurs
• 3 Friends You Need to Make Today
• 8 Weeks to Exit: How to Start Your Business Online
• What If You Decided Today Was the Day You Started
• 4 Reasons I Made Almost No Money My First 2 years
• How to Identify Your Target Market
• What is Fear Stopping You From Doing?
• 12 Lessons I've Learned from My Journey
• What If You Decided that Today Was the Day You Started?
• An Open Letter to Aspiring Entrepreneurs
• What's the Worst That Could Happen?

And I'll keep this list updated as the month progresses.

A Little Assistance

If you're participating in the #writingchallenge yourself, and if you're struggling to come up with content, think about how you can help your customers or clients achieve their goals. Consider grouping posts by topics, and making each week a different theme. Or, break up longer pieces of content into smaller chunks and use each one for a different day.

If you're a participant, check your inboxes (including the promotions, social, and spam folders and tabs) for additional writing prompts, tips and resources to help you out.

If you're NOT a participant in the challenge, make sure you subscribe to my blog so you can get notified of upcoming challenges, new posts, and other helpful information.

Over to you: Did you accept the #writingchallenge? If so, post a link to your site in the comments below so we can track your progress!