Well, if there is anything I have learned from blogging over the past several months, it is how to manage my time and schedule better. Time management is key when you are a blogger, especially if you are working full-time. Blogging is a side hustle for the majority of us bloggers. It is important to remember to find what works for you in managing your time.
I learned really quickly that there is no such thing as work-life balance. It is virtually impossible to find the perfect balance. But, you can find what works for you. Think about what your ultimate goals are. Do you want to quit your day job? Work from home to have more time with your kids (or dog, lol)? Do you want millions of followers and to run your own business? Or do you just want a creative outlet? Figure out what your goal is and let that guide you to finding the right “balance”.
I learned really quickly that there is no such thing as work-life balance. It is virtually impossible to find the perfect balance. But, you can find what works for you. Think about what your ultimate goals are. Do you want to quit your day job? Work from home to have more time with your kids (or dog, lol)? Do you want millions of followers and to run your own business? Or do you just want a creative outlet? Figure out what your goal is and let that guide you to finding the right “balance”.
Plan & Schedule
This might seem like a no brainer but, it is so important to have a plan and schedule your blog posts and social media content ahead of time. This will help you be able to prioritize your weekly and monthly tasks and goals. At the beginning of every month set aside time to brainstorm your content and plan out your calendar.
This will help you avoid falling behind or getting in a creative rut. Set aside time to work on your blog, whether it is before work, after work, over the weekend, etc. Find a time that works for you and stick with it.
Find Time That Works For You
We all work best at different times. For me personally, I have always been a morning person. I do my best work in the mornings between 8-10 with a strong coffee in hand. Everyone's different so it just depends when you feel at your most productive and motivated. Not a morning person? Maybe you’re a night owl. When you get home from work take a quick nap, get dinner and then buckle down and work on your blog.
Outsource Tasks
This was one of the best things I ever did for my blog! We all have things we absolutely love about blogging and wouldn’t want to give up. But, there are also a handful of tasks that I would greatly pay someone else to take care of. For me, it editing photos. Find something that takes up a lot of your time, that you don’t particularly enjoy and OUTSOURCE IT!
Trust me when I say this is worth your investment, especially for those working full-time. Invest in yourself, your brand, and your blog and you will see a return because you will have more time work on what you love.
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Blogging is a wonderful thing, and it enables creatives to express their views and share their passions with people from around the world. For many, though, it’s more than just a hobby; it’s a business venture too.
When done right, blogging can be very rewarding on a financial front as well as an emotional one. However, this is only made possible when the commercial elements are in place. Follow each of the five steps below, and you should be just fine.
#1. Perfect Your Content
If blogging is to become a viable career option, it needs to be both fun and commercially rewarding. Frankly, creating content that actively gets you excited is the only option. If you’re just posting content for the sake of it, readers will soon see through it.
Writing with passion and expertise ensures that blog posts connect with your audience, which is when they’ll keep coming back for me. Even if it’s a niche audience, that sense of loyalty is what will bring the long-term rewards.
#2. Create A Brand
Quality blog posts will keep the readers coming back, but your first job is to grab their attention. As such, you need to build a brand image that will make a huge impact and lead to increased traffic.
A suitable blog name, supported by a premium domain is key. You can always use Fiverr freelance graphic designers to build a logo and web layout. Even if it uses a template, a blog that stands out as carrying a professional look stands a far greater chance of achieving its goals
#3. Be Available At All Times
The world of business never sleeps, and your blog cannot afford to either. A regular stream of content is one thing, but being able to connect with readers on a 24/7 basis is another altogether. If you want to gain that close community vibe, getting this element right is essential.
A smartphone is considered essential for all modern bloggers. If you’ve started this career or side business due to poor financial status, Zaggor SIM only deals are a lifesaver. You can always pick up a used Apple of Android device on the cheap. With minutes and data on the move, maintaining strong links will be easier than ever.
#4. Make Friends
Unlike many business types, blogging is one where competitors can become your greatest weapon. Most readers have time to visit a handful of their favourite blogs. Therefore, teaming up with others allows you to build an audience together rather than fight for individual shares.
Two heads are better than one and can help you create killer content. Moreover, link building through these resources can be mutually beneficial in a way that search engines love. It can bolster visibility and reach while establishing your place in the market. In terms of the business growth, this is pivotal.
#5. Monetise
Building a brilliant blog establishes the foundations of a great business. However, this counts for very little if you aren’t generating money. Google AdSense is the perfect starting point as profits will grow with traffic. Nonetheless, you should look for other money-making options.
You could sell advertising and sponsorships, especially if you decide to create podcasts or other media content. Meanwhile, selling merchandise is another fantastic option once the brand has been established. As the revenue rolls in, you’ll be able to keep building the business. Sustained success is assured.
When it comes to blogging, there is no right and wrong way of doing it. We are all individuals, and as such, our blogs should reflect that. However, there are certain things that all bloggers should do. So today I thought I would share some things that everybody should try and do. Just remember to take this post as a guide: while I’m saying you should try and do it, that doesn’t mean your blog won’t succeed without it.
Create a media kit
A media kit is an absolute must if you want to get taken seriously and considered for brand partnerships to really start monetising your blog. It’s actually taken me over a year to make mine, and I really wish I had made it sooner. Basically, a media kit is like a CV for your blog. It tells prospective clients what your blog is about, its achievements, and how well it is doing. You can then send this off to brands if they approach you about collaborations. It's a lot less wordy than an essay explaining the niche of your content and the demographic of your readers. Prospective clients can get all the info they need about your blog on a single page.
Hosting
You'll also want to self-host your blog with a trusted site. The reason you want self-hosting is you have more flexibility to do what you want with your blog. Self-hosting means you own your blog entirely. You can grow it however you want, add multiple domains, and pay for site maintenance/support. It’s all under your control. For beginner, to mid level-bloggers, I recommend Bluehost because it has all the capabilities you could possibly need for a reasonable price. You won’t need unlimited bandwidth with 10,000 KBs of memory (I don’t even know if that’s the right terminology I’m just making this up right now). Plus Bluehost has outstanding customer support. You send them one email expressing your concerns and boom they email you back almost instantly. This is especially helpful if you don’t know what the heck you’re doing.
Create a content calendar
One of the most exciting things about starting a new blog is having all those ideas of different content that you're going to create. But what's the best way to plan out exactly when you're going to post when and where? A content calendar of course! The first step in creating a content calendar is to create a weekly schedule. What I mean is you designate each day of the week to a specific topic. For example, fashion bloggers could do something like this: Monday = Shopping haul, Tuesday = Outfit post, Wednesday = Outfit video, Thursday = Round up of your week, Friday = Follow Friday. This way, even if you're not actually posting content everyday at least you've got a big backlog of posts just sitting there ready to go - perfect!
At this point, you should be pretty well organized – you got your weekly schedule down, and you've got your content ideas ready to go, now it’s time to actually create. Most bloggers blog as a side project or hobby so we're very limited on time. We have a lot to balance and without managing our time accordingly, our side hustle can suffer. It’s easy to get off track and miss one day which turns into one week which turns into one month and then you’re back at square one. In order to avoid this, you need to make time for when you’re going to write the post, when it’s going to go live, and what time you’re going to promote it, otherwise it might not get done at all.
Make your blog easily searchable
It’s SO important to get those Google bots crawling your website regularly so that your site data is kept fully up to date. The easiest way to so this is by creating and uploading a simple Sitemap file. It lets Google know every time your content has been updated, and crucial every time you launch a new page or product if you run an E-Commerce store. This is super simple if you’re on Wordpress because this tool will do all the hard work for you.
Yoast is a Free Wordpress plugin that enables you to preview how your site will appear in Google results, as well as take some of the most important keywords you’ve picked up from Google Trends and give you the best tips of how to optimise for them efficiently. It’ll also advise you on the best pages to internally link and the most common phrases and keywords used throughout your site to give you an excellent summary of your site’s performance vs. the most important search terms you’ve been researching.
In a challenge to be more productive outside of the blogging scope, spending more time with my head more into reading something that scrolling social media seems to be the perfect antidote at the end of the day. Magazines sometimes feel 'out of date', a thing of the past and something not a lot of people spend their time reading these days. With the digital age people find it a hell of a lot easier to read topics their interested in online, because they are so quick and easy to access but also because magazines can be full of advertisements which leaves little actual writing structure to the publication.
Recently, I've have collected together a few of my favourite magazines to show you, some are old and some are new favourites that I would hand on heart recommend for my fellow bloggers to get stuck into. They are also great props for that blogger flatlay too!
Blogosphere Magazine
This is the one publication that most bloggers need to get their mitts on if they haven't done so already. Blogosphere is now in it's 4th year since it's beginning back in 2013 and serves as an essential for bloggers to get some inspiration, understanding in the blogging community but also to find new blogs to explore and love. The tag line says it all - For bloggers, by bloggers. It's filled with fascinating interviews with up and coming bloggers as well as seasoned pros.
Kinfolk Magazine
Kinfolk is a 144-page quarterly that focuses on food culture, hospitality, and community. Launched in 2011, Kinfolk uses short articles, photo essays, recipes, and practical tips to convey its philosophy of community. As founder Nathan Williams describes it, “It’s about being more intentional in how we approach food and community. It’s about gratitude and reverence for the community we have. Taking an overly casual approach shows an error, that we don’t appreciate them as much as we should.”
Much of Kinfolk’s international success (it’s been translated and published in Russian, Japanese, and Korean) is due to the ways it tries to live out its own ideals. Kinfolk has organized hundreds of community gatherings all over the world, centered on seasonal or culinary themes. They’ve also sponsored international food-based workshops, published a cookbook, and are at work on a short film series.
Umbrella Magazine
Umbrella is a magazine inspired by style, cities, design and culture. I’ve always been a fan of Umbrella; it’s one of those magazines that are well written, with interesting and varied content, but somehow I also felt it deserved a bit more than the well made online version. Nothing beats a nice printed magazine, does it?
It's a magazine aimed at guys, which I really appreciate. The likes of GQ and Esquire have become so stale and full of useless ads over the past few years and Umbrella is leading the way to a new generation of content for the guy that cares about style.
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