Here is a fact that, while most bloggers wouldn’t want to admit it, is unfortunately true. Most of us, and by us, I mean people that spend a large chunk of their time writing for blogs, don’t make a great deal of money as writers. Of course there are always exceptions to that rule, but for the most part, blogging is a pursuit of passion.
Most of us blog because we love the topic we are writing about, or we feel like we need to be heard, and blogging, as I’m sure you know, can take up a lot of time.
So for those of you that have day jobs, girlfriends, lawns to take care of or books to read, here are a few tips that I hope will make your life as a blogger easier, or at least give you a few extra hours of free time each week.
Schedules
My least favorite thing in the world is setting a schedule. I already have a day job that I have to go to. I already made plans to meet my friends after work at a specific time and a specific place. The last thing that I want to do is litter my calendar with more dates — more things to do. But, if you are serious about your blogging, then do yourself a favor. Set aside a time to write. It could be once a week or an hour every day. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you sit down and try to write. Eventually it will become second nature and you’ll be a better writer for it.
Of course, you’ll need to have some idea of what you’re going to write about during this time as well. For this, you’ll need some kind of marketing calendar. A good calendar allows you to plan out your content in advance across multople team members and multiple sites. Most of these tools will allow you to customze the interface to your specific needs.
Time Management (get real)
Social media is a huge part of blogging. It’s the way we connect with each other, promote ourselves and keep our fingers on the pulse. Still, that doesn’t mean you have to check your Twitter feed every five minutes. As important as Facebook and Twitter are, no one is going to be upset if you don’t respond to a retweet or wall post immediately. Try to limit your social media browsing to three or four times a day.
Analytics
I’ve written so many articles about the beauty of Google Analytics I can’t even count. But, just like the tip before, just because you can track who visits your site and how often, doesn’t mean you should check twenty times a day.
Of course, we are all excited when someone takes the time to read a post we’ve written. But does knowing the exact number of visitors make you a better blogger? No.
Comments
The comments section of your blog is one of the best ways to connect with your readers, and to build a community. But responding to every comment individually can be taxing and time consuming. Try answering comments in bulk. Wait for a few people to comment and then answer a handful of them with a single response. Don’t forget to acknowledge who asked what question and specify who you are speaking to.
Keep It Simple
The biggest problem with writers, me included, is ego. We want people to think we are smart; that we are good at what we do and know what we are writing about.
That can lead to overwriting. Not every post has to be the best thing you’ve ever written. If you have dedicated readers, they want to hear what you think, not be blown away by your brilliant prose. Keep is simple and don’t push yourself to hard. Just hard enough.
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About Amit Shaw
I agree that keeping it simple is very important. When on the Internet, I typically do not even write in paragraphs! Just 1-3 sentences and then a white space break.
Big blocks seem to frustrate people. Simple is best. As strange as it sounds, simple is probably best.
I used to be so obsess with stats when I just started blogging, especially Google Analytics. Now I think back, what a waste of time! Could have use those precious time to read or write instead.
….Not every post has to be the best thing you’ve ever written. I WISH TO DISAGREE with you on this Daniel. I think the best way as producers is to aim at DOING OUR BEST, Each day. I understand that we must keep it simple, but not at the expense of poor quality. I think it should have been THOUGH every post has to be the best thing you’ve ever written, You as a blogger, you should try to keep it simple. AS BLOGGERS, We are producers of INFORMATION. This is our product – we can’t have an excuse of low quality. We can offer simple, but high quality. It’s me John.
It will be helpful to read what you wanted to mean by … Not every post has to be the best.
Time Management is very important for me as i am a part time blogger and currently going MBA.
Holidays are going on so I am getting time to write articles on a daily basis but I need to make a schedule soon as just 1 month is left for my college to reopen 🙁
Keeping the article simple is nice. Whether you are full time or part time blogger you need to have a proper time schedule for blogging. Nice post.
I agree that time management is very important. Most of the time people spent is writing and posting. Unless you are a full time blogger then its OK but for part timers, I guess time management is vital.
The best I Liked is the Time Schedule and Analytics. These topics are very clear in their way to describe the main focus of the post. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Time Management is really hard to do and one needs to learn this. I am not good at all in managing the time to be frank. But surely i need to learn this. Thanks for the share!!
Hi Daniel,
thanks for the article, nice points.
In order to work from home – i.e. blogging – I think you need a comfortable place,
with no distractions.
I remember reading an article from a famous blogger,
which suggested even to remove internet connection from the computer that you use to write.
When you finished writing and producing content, you can activate connection again and do the online stuff.
Another suggestion is to combine things to do and complete each before moving on to another.
For istance spend an hour reading the e-mail, another portion of time in commenting, another one in doing social media, etc.
But do not jump from one duty to another or your productivity will decline significantly.
Nice article about time management in blogging. I have a small suggestion. Why dont we use google calender to manage our time and get notification to our work. google calender is halpful to remind our tasks and notify us for our tasks. Thank u