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A lots of people ask me, how to learn programming from scratch. From this answer you will learn, how to do it. I am programming for 20 years. I am sharing my experiences and of people, that i have helped in this career path development.The answer was originally written on my blog and received 30 000 views and 1 000 votes on Wykop - polish reddit like site. Enjoy!A lots of people ask me, how to learn programming from scratch. Every day i read comments of such kind. For example, someone is working in different area, and wants to become software tester. Or, he/she works in IT, but wants to jump on a new level and start programming. All these people have one thing in common. They want to start the programming journey. But this area is so broad, they don’t know how to start. And everyone tells other things about how to do it.From this answer you will learn how to start programming from scratch. You will also receive some advice that will help you in the progress. So, lets begin:To learn how to code you need to follow these steps:1. Look aroundCurrently programming is a very broad area. So it’s good to look around and see in what directions you can go. Because if you know possible ways, you can choose the right one for you. It also helps to choose technologies you should learn.For starters i can tell about website programmers. These are people, who use for example Wordpress, or other content management system (CMS) and with help of their skills, they adjust website so it works like the client expects it to. To do it such people need to know mostly JavaScript, HTML and CSS.Website developer - this is supposably the most popular interpretation of a “programmer” in the world.But programming is not only about Wordpress websites. It is much much more. Programming is divided into several reals. First, i will give you three examples of frontend realms. Frontend programming is programming of something that the user / client sees. An interface. In short words:Webapp programming - building business online apps (such as your bank app, or movie comparision app). These are specific applications that fill needs of specific group of users. They don’t serve to manage content (like Wordpress) but to manage processes (that is: so that people can, in short words, complete some tasks). In addition to JavaScript, HTML and CSS programmers needs to know some additional technologies for webapp programming. It depends on a project, for example: SCSS, TypeScript and any of the following frameworks: Ember, Angular, Vue or React. (Framework is a skeleton of an application with build it features).Desktop app programming - like above, but it is about programming applications you can install for example on a Windows system. This group differs from the previous one. It uses other technologies. For example programming for Windows can use C# language and .NET Framework.Mobile app programming - it is about writing apps installed on mobile devices. Mainly on devices with Android and iOS operating systems. Programming for Android uses mostly Java programming language and for iOS: Swift language. For each system there are different frameworks. There are also frameworks for both systems.These were examples of frontend reals. Now lets move on to backend realms. Backend is, more or less, programming something, client / user does not see, but is essencial for the system to work:Database programming - databases like MySQL and MSSQL. Database is, more or, less, an advanced spreadsheet. Database stores thus more data, and allows to manipulate it programatically. Add data, remove them, change. Additionally it allows to set up different ways of handling data. For example reject incomplete data, or gather data from different tables. Database systems use their variations of SQL language (for example T-SQL for MSSQL). The language allows to code various operations on the data. There are also databases that don’t use SQL language. They use a mystical name: NoSQL.Backend programming - backend developer processes data between database and frontend, or between different systems that need to cooperate. Almost every programming language can be used for backend purposes. But since backend has specific use cases people tend to use different languages than for frontend. For example: PHP, Ruby, Python, Java, but also JavaScipt.Most of programmers divide into frontend and backend developers. But there are also fullstack developers. Fullstack developer is a person, who knows frontend and backend technologies. He/she can take care of everything to set up an application: database, backend and user interface.But these are not all realms. And in most of such overviews other realms are omitted. We have more and more advanced devices, sensors, that provide data to information systems. These need to be programmed also. This is called embedded programing. Embedded programming is done mostly in C and C++ languages, because these languages give the programmer access to low level abstraction. It saves resources of these small devices.Another thriving realm of programming is data analysis. Developers of data analysis use large data sets in companies and prepare results for business conclusions to be made upon them. Such programmers use diffent sets of languages, including Python and R (yes, this is a name of a programming language, just a letter R. Where is the world coming to right?).Another realm is legacy programming. Legacy developers know technologies that were used to build systems, but are not popular anymore. They support legacy systems, that need to function, but were build years ago.There are a lots of other programming reals. I won’t write about all of these here. But it is possible to find them.This is the end of this point. Why it is so important? If you know what area you are interested in, you can choose technologies, you should learn. And it is easier to learn a few of technologies than 200 of these.Lets assume you already know what area you are interested in, shall we? What is next?2. Choose technologiesTo move further you need to make an informed decision about technologies you should learn. But honestly it is hard to get a good advice about it. You could ask someone, or go to studies or a bootcamp. But either way, you will end up learning: a) what is popular b) what is know by the person who teaches you c) what uses person who answers. And often it is not a good choice. But i have good news. You can do it better and do it good.Read about what technologies are used by companies that work in area, you are interested in. Search for job offers, see what technologies reoccur. Don’t loose enthusiasm because there are 20 technologies there. It’s a fiction. People write things that are not required later for the job.Often, i read that people know a little bit of this, a little bit of that. And they still don’t know how to become a programmer. They are lost. It’s totally true. Programming is a very broad area, and you can not learn everything. You need to choose direction and stick to it. That way you increase your chance to succeed.3. Choose learning methodThis point is very important and i will write why. Everyone has their opinion how a developer should learn. If you was looking for the answer online, you will find a lots of ideas what is right. One will advice to use YouTube videos. Other will tell book is the way to go. Other person will tell a bootcamp is the best. Software developer learns from a documentation! Some developers say also, that college education is useless. I am sad about such statements.You don’t know what is best. And it’s completely natural. Everyone tells different things. Personally i could recommend ebooks and video tutorials, because i like these. But this would not a proper nor helpful answer.In reality, it does not matter how you learn. As long as you learn. And do you remember how did you learn at school? How did it look like? Did a teach ask you to learn a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Things that have no connection between? No. And in school you learn complicated stuff. Stuff that didn’t matter to you. But everyone remembered a little bit from this.It’s because learning in schools is systematic and methodical. Step after step. The system was developed through hundreds years of experience. If you think it is not good enough: ask yourself: how to make a potato battery? This system is that good!You are interested in learning programming. The best thing you can do for yourself is to choose a method that is methodical and systematical. So lets answer to ourselves, what is the most methodical and systematical method of learning? Obviously it is a high school education. High school teaching staff knows methodical and systematical education very well. It will be hard, but you will learn programming.Another way to learn are books and books. With a little bit of carefullness you will find a book that teaches stuff step by step. From easy to difficult things. From A to Z. But you need to like to read.Video tutorials and online courses - these can be great if the autor prepared it methodically - it will help you with learning. Especially if you like to watch and learn.Bootcamp - an intensive programming training. You can also benefit from this. It is a good solution if you like to work with people in a group.Only thing i want to make you aware of to not use non-methodical, non-systematical and incomplete ways to learn programming. Imagin you learned 50% of a topic from a YouTube video course (because it’s free). But there is no latter part. You search for other course. But in other course there are things you don’t know. Also some things you know. And topic is explained in totally different way. It is so down-spirit! So for starters: content that covers topic from A to Z.Reaching soon the end of this point i wanted also to notice one issue that is extremely important. I read that people advice beginners to use english content to learn. These people don’t know what they are doing. When you are a beginner - don’t make your life hard. If you have content in your native language - use it. Why you should learn programming in foreign language? It is an utter garbage. You could also learn spanish from german book while speaking english, or polish from canadian book while speaking japan. is it possible? Yes. But why?4. Set a goalSetting goals is often omitted in planning a work career. People start to learn one course, than stop, then go to a bootcamp while the time inevitably passes. After several months you don’t remember what you have learned before. It seems you learned something, but what precisely did you acomplish?To make learning easier it is a good idea to set a goal. For example you can swear you will read a 800-page long book in a month. Or, you will end up graduate studies, or find a junior developer job in 6 months.Everything goes better, if you will set a goal. It is someting about our nature, that goals make life easier. Learning is not easy. Programming i not easy. Learning programming is off the charts. That is why a goal is so important. And satisfaction from reaching it gives motivation for further work.5. Learn systematicallyWhen you already have a goal, next step is to make a learning schedule. Every day one hour. But every day, always one hour. And not to take another video tutorial or read an article, but to learn something meaningful.Is there a way to make it easier? Mind focus is required to learn programming. A lots of mind focus. Try this out. Announce to everyone: at 6pm i will learn programming for an hour and please don’t disturb me. Switch off the phone, log out from Facebook. Give children to parents-in-law. Give dog to a neighbour.Observe how much you will learn! You need to cut yourself off from the world, to really grasp the understending of programming.6. Code yourselfI am following a awesome beginner software developer on LinkedIn. She found a great way to practice programming. Every day she puts up a goal to code something. For example: one day: simple calculator. Next day: simple page with movie covers. She creates a animated GIF with what she did and puts it on LinkedIn. She writes what she have learned during the day. I love to follow her. She creates some brilliant mini-projects. Above of this, in early days i have also did what she does. What every good software developer i know did. Devising tasks and programming. This is how you become a software developer.Obviously, it is easier when you are studying, working, or joining a bootcamp, or having a book with example tasks. Because you don’t need to figure out tasks on your own. This is also a good method. But sometimes such tasks are boring, don’t force you to go outside of your comfort zone. And what if you figure out a task by yourself? Than you will hit some obstacles, that will pinpoint what you should learn to go further with your practice.7. Ask for helpSince we are talking about problems. It is hard to articulate with what you have problems in early programming days. For example, when a bug occurs in an appliction. How to translate the problem into words? How to ask for it? Sometimes is so hard, people don’t know what phrase to put into a DuckDuckGo search. Years ago it was easier. There was StackOverflow and support groups, where you was able to ask any question. You could count on help from others.Today you can face such answers like “search the internet”, or “this was asked before” or “again”. This is frustrating. Unfortunately. Internet is filled with answers. What advanced software developers don’t comprehend is that it is hard to name a problem if you are beginner programmer. Even if they had exactly the same problem! I can assure you of this!Thus, i strongly urge you to ask questions. Find a nice place on the internet for software developers, or find a mentor. And ask ask ask. Sometimes you will stumble upon a hesitation. But it shall not bring you down. And if so, find other place that is nicer.The more you will ask, the easier it will become to articulate what you have problem with. While the time will pass, your questions will become better and better, answers will show up faster and faster. And later, you will discover, some problems can be solved just by the act of formulating a proper question.8. Find work fastI often read that people postpone searching for a job until they learn something more. And half of year passes by. Software development is a field where you need to renew your knowledge all the time. Lets say you have learned 3–4 technologies that you need. You start to search for a job, and get into trouble. You could search a job for several months! And while doing it, you will forget half of things you have learned.So my advice is that you should start searching for a job more or less in the halfway of your learning path. For several good reasons. First of all if you take an intern position, or junior job, your employer assumes you know almost nothing. Secondly, recrutation process takes time itself. Before you will fine tune your CV, before you will learn premade, available online, test questions time will pass. It will pass while you will sharpen your recrutation talk without jitters. Finding a job is also something you need to learn.So in halfway of the learning path start to looking around for a job. Send CVs, schedule meetings, get used to it. Than your technical readiness will meet with recrutation readiness and there won’t be any lags.9. Ask for more complicated tasksNow you have a work position. But the biggest trap of programming is ahead of you. Since you have a job, you can put books on shelves and just do what you are asked to be done.It is not like this! Be aware, that often interns/juniors are not asked to do complicated tasks, but very easy. You will notice soon, these take less and less time to be completed, and start to become boring. If you won’t do anything about it, you loose time. You can learn new things. Not run around in circles.Above of that, your employer sees when intern/junior stands still. I am am employer, it is as clear as the sky. And no one wants to have timeless internet/junior.So, when you see, you are getting better, ask your supervisor for more complicated tasks. He/she should know to give you someting more comples. This is important to continue learning and developing yourself while at work.As an intern/junior you need to learn a lots, a lots of more. I am 100% sure you don’t want to become one of these guys on the internet that say intern/junior position didn’t give them anything, learned nothing. They didn’t learn, because they didn’t want to go further. They waster their and their employer time.10. Master new technologiesProgramming is an awesome field, but it changes all the time. What you have learned today, will become outdated in one year. And obsolete in 5. When you will find a job, and feel comfortable with it, master something new. Expand your skills. Don’t stand still with your professional development. If you quit studies, maybe it’s worth to go back. Attend a bootcamp, read a book, participate in an online course. Whatever that will allow you to be up to date with technologies.Update: if you want to memorize programming methods look for the Summon The JSON project. Currently there is a deck for JavaScript programmers. You can learn more here: Summon The JSON: JS DeckIt is all you need to learn to start programming from scratch. This was a really long article, and i am really amazed you have reached the end of it. I am sure 99% of people didn’t do it. It looks like you care about becoming a software developer. Caring is 99% of a success. I wish you all the luck. Programming is awesome and gives a lots of professional satisfaction. Don’t loose your heart for it. Go on. Step by step.English is not my native language. If you find any mistake in the answer, please correct it. You will be mentioned in the answer. Thanks!

Thank you for your question. This is a good question. The main objective of a Business Plan is to record the series of activities that an entrepreneur plans to perform in order to exploit a given business opportunity that exists.Let me answer your question(s) as raised:A) How to write a Business PlanThere are two ways of writing a Business Plan yourself:Using Templates – there are templates both for free and for sale on the internet.B/Plan software - e.g. Bplans, LivePlan, etc. Most of these have a subscription fee.B) Tips on how to do it wellThis is a very wide topic. In fact, I am writing a 25 page eBook to answer this very question. The two main criteria are:1. The Content: This is the ‘flesh’ of your B/plan. The content (in its entirety) should conclusively answer these two fundamental questions:Have you stated and identified a viable business opportunity?Are you able to exploit this business opportunity to realise a positive financial return2. The Structure: is the content organized and presented in a manner that entices the reader to open page after page until they have ready your entire document?But to provide more concise answers for now, I have written answers to questions that touch on this question here at Quora below. Please click on them and go to the answers I have provided.(Note: The first question talks of business loans but its answer is a bit general and covers the side of investors too (i.e. venture capitalists, angel investors, etc).https://www.quora.com/What-must-be-included-in-a-business-plan-in-order-to-secure-a-business-loanhttps://www.quora.com/What-does-a-solid-Business-Plan-look-likeC) Whether you can employ someone to help you put one togetherThe Answer is Yes. Allow me to promote my own services here…I can help you write you a Business Plan. But why should you hire me?Value for MoneyI provide all my clients Value for Money. How? By hiring me, you get:a) High quality, customized workb) A Competitive Fee – fee of $500c) Fast turnaround or according to set deadlinesd) Unlimited revisionsMy TestimonialsPlease check out my Upwork Profile for TestimonialsI hope I have answered your question. Please feel free to contact me in case you have further questions.Thank You.Kind Regards,Alfred.

While it might seem tough to break beyond the 400 to 800-word posts, it can definitely be done with practice and persistence.For over 5 years, I’ve been writing and all along, I’ve tried to get faster at it. I know that you want to improve your speed and content quality, as well, because I get emails every week from readers and fans, all asking me to share my writing secrets.Google favors detailed content. According to SerpIQ, successful blog posts should contain a minimum of 2000 words, if you want it to rank in Google’s top 10 organic positions.The 4 strategies below will supercharge your writing and improve your SERP results.Learn how I generated an extra 395,526 visitors a month by writing 2000 word blog posts.Step #1: Flip Your ScriptMarie Forleo says that if you want to write faster, you’ve got to flip your script. Believe that you can do it and you will do it. You Are A Writer, says Jeff Goins.Reevaluate whatever’s stopping you from writing - those things are just a mirage. Deal with them. The reality is there is no perfect blog, readers will forgive simple errors in a blog post and you will still achieve positive search engine optimization results.How? Start writing.If you want to make a living as a digital marketer, then you’ve got to recognize that taking responsibility is the key. You can’t make excuses and money at the same time.No question, creating high-quality content takes time. But, if you can write a blog post from within, you can dramatically cut the time required to complete a 2000-word article.Marie says that if you want to change anything - including writing an article that will help others - ask yourself, “what story am I telling myself?” If your story is that you “can’t write,” you won’t write. It’s as simple as that.You’ll never become an expert if you keep making excuses. Let the benefits of consistent blogging inspire you to do more, if you want more leads and inbound links.Step #2: Get Your Facts ReadyProject managers perform several important tasks - chief among them is requirement gathering. Without assembling the required resources, the project will fail.So, according to Cisco’s Problem Solving Model, once you’ve defined the problem, the next step is to gather facts.One of the reasons why people struggle to write a 2000-word article is that they lack the facts to develop the new post.Writing isn’t all about typing - you’ve got to know what you’re writing about. For example, before I started writing this article, I first researched and collected lots of resources on how to write more easily and quickly.Your facts will form the outline that you’ll expand on later.It’s also important to update your resources for a great blog. If you write based on what was true six months or a year ago, your article may be wrong. This is especially for topics like SEO, PPC advertising and content marketing, things change fast and often.When you base your blog content around what worked in the past, you’re making assumptions that may no longer be true. Jodi Flynn, founder of Luma Coaching, defines assumptions as “beliefs that are based on the premise that because something happened in the past, it is automatically going to happen again.”Going the extra mile to get accurate facts for your content is critical. You can’t write an effective blog post if your points aren’t supportable by current, accurate facts. Assumptions can destroy your creativity, so gather your facts before you start writing that new post.Gathering facts for your subheadings, bullet points and outline builds your foundation for a solid article.However, you don’t have to be perfect at this “fact-gathering” stage. Your goal is to assemble enough factual support for your points, then move on. In the chart below, Marshal D. Carper highlights and measures the five stages of persuasive writing. Planning is 15%, while revision is 45%.This means that planning is an integral part of the writing process, but the real work comes in the revision stage, which is where you perfect your writing.There are several ways to gather facts for your article, and lots of sources where you can find the best information for your article. A few of them are:i). Check online publications: Online publications, such as magazines, newspapers, brochures, journals and catalogs, are great sources for writers. This will also later help with back links for search engine optimization, so keep a record of them.A great site that helps you find online magazines and publications in diverse niches is Digital Publishing Platform for Magazines, Catalogs, and more. All of the publications there are free to use, which makes them a great resource for writers. Follow these steps to find the facts that you need for your article:a). Go to Issuu.com: On the homepage, type your main keyword (e.g., “digital marketing”) into the search box and hit enter:b). Flip through the publication:Issuu is a powerful online publication search engine that takes your keyword and finds relevant magazines that you can read for free. Click the cover of your chosen magazine to help develop great blog ideas.c). Extract your facts: Once you’ve clicked the magazine cover, flip through the pages and extract the facts or ideas that will help you write a high-quality article. For example, while flipping the magazine entitled “A New Era of Marketing,” here’s a checklist that I found:If I want to write a 2000+ word new post on the topic of “push marketing vs. pull marketing,” these checklists will come in handy. Let’s focus on the pull marketing checklist, since that’s what content marketing is.Here are some of the headlines that could work for an article like that:12 Effective Pull Marketing Techniques You Should Use in 201512 Pull Marketing Strategies for Generating Email LeadsHow to Use Pull Marketing to Persuade Customers and Increase SalesWhat Are the 12 Techniques Used to Pull Customers to Your Business?When it comes to writing the article for any of the headline ideas above, you can simply expand on the pull marketing techniques listed (i.e., SEO & PPC, thought leadership, community building, influencer outreach, blogging, earned advertising, etc.).ii). Leverage research data: “Your business depends on finding, understanding and connecting with your best customers,” says Nielsen. There are several research institutes, centers and agencies who have done extensive research on those customers. Most of them post their findings on their blogs or package them into a special report or ebook that you can download.Sites such as MarketingSherpa, HubSpot and ChicagoBooth.edu share documented findings and data. Let’s see an example of marketing data from HubSpot:HubSpot’s page above is a compilation of data from several different reliable sources. If you scroll down the page, you’ll find all of the data that you need for search engine optimization, social media marketing, blogging, email marketing and related topics.So, when it’s time to write that perfect blog pertaining to SEO, for example, you could start by integrating one of the statistics above:Do you want to drive customers from the search engines? In 2012, Interconnected World conducted a research study on shopping and personal finance and found that 61% of global internet users research products online.Remember that when you’re creating a 2000-word article, you’ve got to back up your points with data, because your opinions may not be enough. What your readers and customers want is proven, reliable solutions to their problems. That means your writing has to be well-sourced and credible for search engine optimization and user longevity.iii). Industry blogs: No matter what niche you’re in, you should have a list of industry-related blogs belonging to influential personalities and thought leaders.For example, Copyblogger and MarketingProfs are two of my favorite blogs in the content marketing industry. Choose a category (e.g., “marketing strategy”) and you’ll see a lot of blog posts that you can use as fact sources.Each of these content marketing blogs can help you in your quest for facts and ideas for your own successful blog post.And what about those ideas? You can improve your writing speed by more quickly generating and choosing underlying ideas. Here are a few ways to do that:1). Begin with the end in mind: Ideas can come from anywhere. As a writer, your duty is to recognize that no idea is entirely useless.In his classic book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey said that one thing highly successful people have in common is that they “begin with the end in mind.”This simply means that before you start a project, you should know how to finish it or what the final iteration will look like. Marie Forleo agrees, in this “how to write faster” video.Specifically, Marie says, you should think about what you want readers to walk away with - in other words, the result you want them to achieve or feel after reading your article.So, for example, if you want to teach blog owners how to get 500 email subscribers in 30 days, keep that end goal in mind from the very beginning.Your headline could look similar to either of these:How to Get 500 Email Subscribers in 30 DaysThe Step-by-Step Guide for Adding 500 Email Subscribers in One MonthThen, your introduction would address the end result and flow from there:Adding quality email subscribers to your list is hard, especially when you’re just starting out. In this article, I’ll show you how to add 500 or more subscribers to your email list using a simple step-by-step method.I always begin with the end in mind, when I write a blog post. For example, in a recent post, I promised to show my readers how to increase pageviews by 23.52%. I focused on the result and made sure that every word and sentence aligns with that promise:No matter what type of content you plan to create, this approach works - not just for articles or text-based content, but also for infographics, podcasts and ebooks.With infographics, you may not have the opportunity to include an introduction in the design, but you can write a 200 - 300 word post before embedding the infographic.Chris Ducker knows how to engage the user with infographics by starting with the end in mind:If you want your landing page to convert visitors into leads and your sales copy to draw customers in, tell people the end result and walk them through the process of getting there.Pat Flynn and Chris Ducker used this strategy for crafting their 1 Day Business BreakThrough landing page copy:2). Keep a topic list: Steven Johnson gave a powerful TED talk on the topic, “Where Good Ideas Come From.” Since 2010, this clip has been viewed by over 3,000,000 people around the world.Why? Because everyone is desperately searching for good ideas.We all need good (preferably great) ideas for blog posts, projects, webinars and products. Most people are looking in the wrong places for their ideas.According to Caleb Wojcik, co-founder of Fizzle, “great ideas come when you aren’t trying to think of them.”Your responsibility, therefore, is to be open and ready for new ideas. Wherever you go, have something - a notebook, smartphone, app - with you at all times. Evernote is my favorite, but you could also use a writing pad and pen. If you are perusing social media, you might note a post that captured your attention.When ideas come to you, don’t immediately dismiss or edit them. Write them down in an ongoing topic list.You could even create a template on your writing pad where you can fill in the blank spaces with topics and ideas that occur to you, like this:It’s a lot easier to design and develop an editorial calendar using your topic list. But, even if no ideas come to you and you don’t know what to write about, you can leverage a tool.Simply go to HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator and plug your topic into the box. Then, click the “Give Me Blog Topics” button.The software will generate 5 headline ideas that you can write a new post about.Step #3: Bring Your Facts to LifeIf you want to be a writer, you’ll have to start writing eventually. There’s no way around that. Begin to write and you’ll learn and improve as you go. Like a surfer in search of the perfect wave, be in search of the perfect blog.Taking action is more valuable than the latest, greatest ideas. Unfortunately, human beings usually want to take action only when the task seems easy. It’s your job to convince them to act.That means you must learn to bring your ideas to life. Don’t procrastinate. Get to work. Don’t aim to write a masterpiece - that might happen, but it's more likely that you’ll never finish even one article. A successful blog aims for high-quality content knowing writing will improve with more practice.1). Expand your outlines: In order to bring your facts to life and write your article, you have to expand on your outlines. For example, if your headline is “3 Ways to Generate Leads,” your outline could look like the following, with each item a separate subheading:Reach the right audienceCreate useful and practical contentDevelop a relationship funnelIn expanding your outlines, what you’re basically doing is taking each of the subheadings and explaining them. This will also play into the meta tag when you sit down to publish your great blog piece.Tell the reader how to “reach the right audience” - what methods to use and how to do it. Since you’ll be writing a 2000-word article, it’s even better to capture screenshots that will show the user the exact process.A perfect example of a blogger who understands how to expand an outline is Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko.com. Take a look at his recent in-depth article:I also use this technique when writing my articles. In one post, I shared the 15 types of content that drive traffic. The article required a long outline. I realized that if I wanted users to benefit from the article, I had to expand each outline point and show how it works.2). Don’t write and edit at the same time: This is the basic rule of writing effectively. The truth is that writing is quite different from editing.Content rules the web. If you want to have a successful blog, you’ve got to write content and promote it to the right audience. But, 29% of B2B and 15% of B2C marketers are struggling to produce engaging content.One of the reasons why they struggle is because writing itself is hard.There’s no question that you can make writing fun and enjoy the process.But when you edit, you’re using an entirely different set of skills. According to The Open Notebook, “not every writer can edit, nor every editor write.”Daphne Gray Grant, a publication coach, knows exactly why editing-and-writing is so destructive. She discovered that slow writing is a result of looking over your words and sentences to ensure that they’re correct as you’re writing them.Editing while writing slows you down and distracts you from your purpose and points in new post development.For almost every writer, the first draft is never great. It’s the process of revision that makes it great. The famous Ernest Hemingway said it succinctly:If this is you, you’re not alone. A lot of writers still struggle with this impulse. Social media blog post writers are no different.So how do you deal with it? Well, Daphne Gray Grant says that you should “monitor your self-talk and tell yourself you’ll do it later.”The main challenge is to discipline yourself to write and to not let your distracting thoughts pull you off-task. It requires discipline and there’s no shortcut.3). Write shorter sentences: If you want to speed up your writing speed and craft an interesting, easy to ready and useful article, then write shorter sentences.A recent study found that reading on the screen hurts the human eye. For this reason, people read 25% slower on a computer screen compared to print. Writing shorter sentences will help your readers assimilate your ideas and put them to work.Your sentences don’t have to be short, staccato bursts. You just need to balance the longer phrases and sentences with shorter ones.The best writers don’t waste time. They give you what you need and no more. Jonah Berger, author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, knows how to captivate the reader in this way.Chris Brogan, the famous social media strategist and founder of Owner Media Group, also writes shorter sentences. He tells stories using strong and vivid analogies, but they're still easy to read.Don’t pad your words or try to sound clever. Write with clarity. Successful blog writers use common words. Write to teach and inspire people, not to sound like a retired English professor.4). Use a timer: The next time you sit down to write, grab a timer. Using the Pomodoro Technique™ and set the timer to 25 minutes.Write at a solid clip without checking your phone, watching TV, or anything else. Stay focused. Turn off your social media and Skype notifications, log out from your email account and just write new post sentences, one after the other.These are the 5 steps in the Pomodoro Technique™:Decide in advance what you want to write about.Set the timer to 25 minutes.Work on the task with full concentration until the timer rings.Take a short break (3–5 minutes).After four 25-minute sessions, take a longer break (15–30 minutes).Focus is the #1 habit that can speed up your writing. Here are some other benefits of using the Pomodoro technique:If you don’t have a timer, go to tomato-timer.com. By default, it’ll be set to 25 minutes. Just click the “start” button to get an alert when the 25 minutes are up. You can also set desktop alerts (but this works for Chrome browser only).5). Embrace the bullets: “These days, especially in the email and online - bullet points are the most-read copy on the page,” says Anne Holland, Content Director Marketing Sherpa.Bullet points should be used to highlight specific, important information. They help the reader understand key points and issues quickly.Copyblogger recommends that you craft each bullet point as if it were to serve as your headline. Marie Forleo’s latest course “The Copy Cure” uses copy with strong bullet points to highlight the key lessons in the course:Whatever you’re writing for your business, you should embrace bullet points. It’ll improve your writing and readers will follow along.I use bullet points in 96% of my blog posts at Quick Sprout. Take a look:Bullet points are a powerful way to express your main points when writing longer articles. But, you’ve got to be smart about it.The Bracken Business Communications Clinic from Montana State University says that you should “keep bullet pointed information short, usually no more than two lines in length and use the same font and margin width for each bullet point.”6). Trace data to its primary source and use it to back up your points: Data-driven articles, like the one that you’re reading, can build your personal brand faster, because people will perceive you as an expert.However, be mindful when using data from other blogs and research institutes. What you have to understand is that most data online has been compiled from other sources. But, the primary source may not be attributed and this could pose a problem for you. Search engine optimization will penalize you for duplicate content, so don't copy long sections either.For example, most of the data on the HubSpot’s Marketing Statistics page didn’t come directly from HubSpot, which only researched and compiled the data:HubSpot does it correctly by attributing the primary source. So, you see that the primary source of the data above is Pew Research Center, which conducted a study on Search Engine Use in 2012.Your job is to find the original research work from the primary source.The first step is to copy and paste the primary source and year into Google and search for it:When writing your article, link to the primary source. For example, if you’re writing about search engine marketing or optimization, you could start this way:In 2012, Pew Research Center conducted a study and found that 88% of consumers stated that using a search engine allowed them to learn new things.Note: If the primary source of the data that you want to use is unknown, or you’re unable to find or access those results, you could simply quote it and link to the secondary source that compiled it.Let’s assume that I didn’t find the primary source of data above. I could simply quote Pew Research Center, but link to HubSpot:As reported in recent marketing statistics compiled by HubSpot, Pew Research Center found that 88% of consumers say that they use the search engines to learn something new.You can also link to the source of the data without quoting the research institute, firm or organization. Remember, part of the perfect blog is the combination of high-quality content and link building. I do that a lot in my posts:7). Attribute graphics and images correctly: What would it look like if this article with over 5,000 words was all text, with no graphics or images to break up large chunks of words? I bet you’d never read past the first subheading.It’s important to use images and relevant charts in your article to build trust and authority. Also, the brain processes visual information (graphics, charts, infographics, memes, photos, etc.) 60,000 times faster than plain text.In the image above, the author combined several pieces of data and created a Slideshare presentation. All I did was credit/link to the exact page on Slideshare.Attributing graphics and images correctly is one of the skills that you have to develop as a successful blog writer.When you find any graphics or chart that you’d like to use in your article, you have to know where it came from (primary source) and not (only) where you found it. It’s possible that the site where you saw it didn’t own it. Always read the fine print on the graphics or chart to know the rightful owner:Always link to the web page where the image was published with the post. Don’t link to the image URL. So, instead of linking to:Link to the web page where the visual asset was published:If you want to capture a screenshot or a particular section of someone’s post, you can use Skitch, a simple tool from Evernote. That’s what I use to capture and annotate (add notes to something) all screenshots for my Neil Patel blog.8). Proofread and edit after writing: When you’re done writing, the next step is to revise and edit your article. Your draft may have typos and other errors, especially if you’re writing your drafts quickly.This doesn’t mean that it has to win any prizes. In fact, if you’re a perfectionist, you’ll have a harder time becoming a successful blogger or content marketer. The perfect blog is like that perfect wave, it usually only exists in our minds.The purpose of revising your work is to eliminate common errors that can make you look uneducated or unprofessional.But, understand that there is a difference between proofreading and editing. In editing, you adjust the sentence structure and style. You might rewrite an entire paragraph, for example. When proofreading, you focus on correcting spelling and grammar errors and typographical errors (typos).When you’re editing your article, don’t lose sight of what matters most: your users. The goal is to make your content readable and useful for the target audience. Search engine optimization metrics will reward you.You can use Hemingway App for basic editing and proofreading. It’s really helpful for beginners with a new post.See also:Get Your Eagle Eye On: 10 Tips For Editing Your Own WorkHow to Edit, Proofread and Revise Your Own WorkStep #4: Create an Editorial CalendarDo you have a documented content strategy? According to Content Marketing Institute, only 27% of B2C content marketers do. One of the best ways to begin the documentation process is by keeping an editorial calendar.According to Spectate, a B2C Content Marketing Firm, keeping a dedicated and up-to-date editorial calendar can improve your productivity and help you stay on track in meeting your business goals. These two elements are crucial if your blog is an integral part of your business (which it is).With your topic list in place, it’s a lot easier to develop a roadmap to follow consistently in creating your articles. After all, sometimes it might just not be possible to create a 2000-word article.But, as you learn about your audience and develop passion for writing, you’ll soon start to write 2000 - 5000 words article on a regular basis. That’s why you need an editorial calendar.There’s nothing fancy about an editorial calendar. So don’t waste time or fret over it.Depending on your goal or the demand of your target audience, you may want to publish new articles on your blog every 2 days or once per week.An editorial calendar tells you beforehand what topic you should research and the facts, data and case studies to focus on for that one successful blog you want to create. You could develop a calendar for a week, a month or more. Here’s an example from CoSchedule:Perhaps your audience wants case studies or research summaries on Mondays and how-to’s or tutorials on Thursdays.That’s exactly what an editorial calendar does. As a blogger or content marketer, you need to develop one. An editorial calendar helps you stay in control and offers many other benefits as well:ConclusionWriting is an art and requires creativity. Without it, you’ll be lost in the crowd. But, getting faster at the process helps you harness that creativity and put it to better use.Recognize that the rate at which content is being produced and published these days has accelerated and marketers are planning to invest more money and time into content creation.Writing is also a science. You’ve got to study your target audience, your market and the emerging trends, in order to stay current on what works and what doesn’t.I’m confident that if you can focus on these five steps, you’ll be able to write a 2000-word article that you can be proud of - in 2 hours or less.