Unless you blog full time, finding the time to spend dedicated to blogging and building your following can seem impossible at times. Unless you introduce at least a vague structure into your blogging routine, the chances are something will start to give! Whether it’s the blog itself, or your social media channels, you do need to try to maintain everything in order to grow continuously! Although I wouldn’t recommend and really ridged structure (this can force you to blog when you don’t feel like it making things a little tedious) there are certainly ways you can relieve the pressure on yourself, allowing you to use your time more effectively.
1. When you Really Feel Like Writing- Stock Up!
We all have those occasions when writing a blog post can feel like a bit of a chore. However on the flip-side, there are times when you sit down and things just click! When this happens I often try to write up to 4 posts at once, giving myself a good bit of breathing space afterwards to think up new ideas and edit what I’ve written.
2. Consider Accepting Guest Posts
Guest posts from your fellow bloggers can be a real godsend! However, you do need to make sure that your readers will enjoy what your guest bloggers write up. Make sure you have a few flexible guidelines and ideas to provide the bloggers that ask to work with you. Your readership must come first so never compromise on quality!
3. Streamline your Social Networking
Use programmes like Social Bro to help you find out what’s working for you on social- and what isn’t. Reporting can really help you stop wasting time sharing things on social in a way that isn’t working for you- this can save you lots of time.
You’ll be able to see which status/posts really excite your following, and what posts are consistently hitting a brick wall. Getting a scheduling programme like Hootsuite can also help you schedule tweets when you’re at work/ busy!
4. Put Quality Over Quantity
It’s a classic. Although it is important to update regulary, this can mean different things for different bloggers. If you simply can’t post any more than twice a week don’t push yourself! You’ll only end up compromising the quality of your posts. Instead, continue to focus on the quality of everything you put out and let the content speak for itself. As time goes on, you may find yourself writing faster and being able to post more often.
5. Target Your Posts
This point is in alignment with the above. Rather than writing as often as you possibly can and covering all sorts, find out what your readership actually wants and finds useful. One excellently targeted post per week which is guaranteed lots of shares is worth far more to you than 5 posts which miss the mark! Google Analytics and identifying who your readership is can really help you create posts that you know are going to work for your following.
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How do you manage your time? Give us your tips below!
Thanks for these great tips. I definitely take advantage of tip number 1 when it arises. It’s a great feeling to write a whole load of posts in one go when you’re in the zone!
Streamlining my social media activity is something that I need to do though. I’ve not heard of Social Bro, so will be checking them out!
Thanks, Victoria x victoriachapman.co.uk