Are You Lost Online
If there is one thing I have learned in my time as a full time blogger and Internet Marketeer, is that it is easy to get lost online and start procrastinating.
Maybe you are a new blogger you may have noticed like I have that you are working very hard on your blog and not reaping the rewards yet. Or in other words you are a “Full time blogger on a part time income”. In time however those rewards will come, all it takes is a little time and patience, have faith my friend!
I started my blogging career way back in December 2009 and have learned a few tricks and rules I follow to make my blogging much easier and ultimately more enjoyable. In this post I am going to share with you what I have learned to turn your blog into a source of joy, not a chore and turn yourself into a “Part time Blogger with a full time income”.
Below is a set of guidelines I have set myself and follow every day to make it easier for me to work on my blog.
- Set a timetable to work on. I limit myself to work on my blogging activities to 5 days a week and only 5 or 6 hours a day. It is important to set one up and to stick to it. If you are in full time work then I suggest just working 1 or 2 hours a day on it! You will find this gives you more focus and make it easier to work on your blog.
- Write a Post. I try and write 2 or 3 posts a week. You may want to do 5 or 6 but as a new Blogger sticking to 2 or 3 is what I suggest. Try and stick to the same times and days when you publish your posts so your audience can expect to find new posts from you at certain times of the week. It is also important to keep this up as you will lose your readers, subscribers and reputation especially if your write 5 or 6 posts a week for months then give up for weeks at a time (All that months of hard work has gone down the drain). Stick to what you can manage, even if you write 1 post a week build it up to what you can manage and never go down, i.e. from publishing 6 posts to 2 a week.
- Write Offline. Turn off your internet. I find it easier to write my posts in MS Word (or if you have not got word then you can get free software from openoffice.org) and also offline as then you have just one thing to focus on, Your Post. I found that when I was writing a post direct into the WordPress posting field I kept getting distracted from friends online, my social networks, my email and other cool new websites for me to check out so a post I was writing on that was meant to take 30 minutes ended up taking 2, 3 or even 4 hours. I also found that writing offline in word gave me more focus which made it a lot easier to create good quality content and was more enjoyable to write. Also you can check your spelling and grammar a lot easier in word. I also save every single post as a word document on an external drive so if for some reason your hosting provider cancels your account or you forget to renew your domain then all is not lost and it is also easier to update old posts! Also once you have finished the post you should always read it to see if you can change, remove or expand on any point you may have brought up as well as checking your spelling, grammar and that the post makes sense.
- Send one tweet. Once your post is published and on the internet then just tweet once to let your followers know that you have new blog content. Avoid RT’ing the post just send it as a normal one, your followers will do that for you and avoid tweeting about the post loads of times in the day as you will just get labelled as a spammer. Try and colour it up a bit with stars so that it stands out like…..****Your Post Title****http://postlink.com****.
- Your Blog is nothing without readers and followers. So to build up my following I visit ten Blogs a day, read their new posts and Leave a comments on them. I also Bookmark the sites and subscribe to their feed. Try and leave a good long comment that provides positive feedback, constructive criticism or something of value to the authors (if you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all) they will then in turn have a reason to visit and read your blog and hopefully become a regular reader and a contributor. I also backlink those blogs I follow on my blog. Every new blogger should start to follow 30 or 40 blogs on similar subjects to your own but visit 10 a day 1 day and the next 10 the other day.
- Another Way to build traffic is to join and contribute in forums like Better Networker, Why Do Work and PeopleString. I open all my forums in new tabs and visit 1 at a time then leave feedback on all the latest posts I have an opinion on, Then I perhaps start a new forum string with something I may need help with or a tip I want to share with the rest of the community but never just spam your new post on them. Instead I have my Blogs header as a small graphic banner in the signature line on my profile in the forum that links back to my blog so if I leave a good post that has helped that forums community in some way then they have an excuse to visit my blog. Also using a banner instead of a text link in the signature creates impact and also helps brand your blog.
- Next I visit my social networks like Facebook, Yuwie, Peoplestring and Twitter to see what’s going on and if I can help in some way much the same way as I use the forums above! Maybe join a few relevant clubs and make new friends but never spamming my links everywhere.
- Finally its housework time. After doing all of this I go back to my blog to check if I have had any comments for me to approve and comment back on, this is important as your reader has gone out of his or her way to leave you a comment and so it’s only fair and polite to reciprocate with a reply comment which in turn shows your readers that you care and will continue to follow you and read your blog as well as promote you to other bloggers. Think of it as a snowball rolling down a hill. That’s your blog getting bigger which in turn will earn you a full time income. This also a good time to clean up your blog by making little tweaks to the layout. Upgrading, installing new and removing old plugins. Monetizing your blog to make it earn its keep with affiliate products like domain names and hosting banners, Google AdSense, Bidvertiser and Kontera intext advertising are just a few. Then finally you can start to write an eBook like I have to go give away on your blog in order to gain a good reputation and Following.
- Work on 5 out of 7. I have found that it is easy to let your blog take over your life. So although your blog can be a source of joy for you it is important not to work on it every single day as your health will suffer. Like I have said above its important to set a timetable to stick to otherwise you will find that your on your PC all day which is not good as you can become irritable, lose sleep, become overweight and unhealthy and ultimately your blog will also suffer from your lack of focus. So in order to combat that you should refresh your mind by completely forgetting about your blog for at least 2 days a week and to go out and enjoy yourself. Do something that you enjoyed before you started blogging! For me its bird watching, growing my own veg on my own plot of land, brewing beer and spending time with my mates down the pub as well as taking my partner Louise out for dinner or just spending quality time with her. Your Blog is important but so is You, your friends and your Family. You will find that after 2 days away from your blog you have more focus on it and cannot wait to get started on a new post!
I hope that you have found this post helpful and that it has focused your mind. If I have missed anything out or you wish to expand on something I have said on here then please leave any Comments or Criticisms you may have below!
Happy Blogging Guys!
-Phillip Dews
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