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When you work from home, it is so easy to get distracted. The phone is ringing; the kids are home; the dog is barking. That can make it difficult to focus and even get you off track from the work you need to do.
And then, if you are not being distracted by outside influences, you have those right in front of you. It may be getting stuck responding to e-mails, trying to work on three posts at once, or even getting sucked into what you find on your Facebook news feed.
All of these take time away from what you need to get done. And, sometimes, it even makes you spend more time working than you would like. So, how do you actually get things done that you need to?
Simple. You create a blogging schedule.
Too much to do but not enough time to do it? All you need is 15-minutes!
Whether you have 15, 30, or 60 minutes, you can work on your blog. Use the Blogging In Minutes guide to better manage your time and become a more productive
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Why you need to create and follow a schedule
I can’t imagine working on my blogs without having a schedule. My schedule keeps me focused on what I need to do and prevents me from doing what I may want to do (like, spending hours scrolling Pinterest or Facebook).
When you run a blog, you run a business.
This means there are deadlines and projects that you need to take address. You can’t just hope you’ll get them done on time. You have to do it.
Your schedule consists of much more than writing a blog post. You need to ensure that you are doing what is necessary to get traffic, grow your list, be present on social media, and above all else – make money!
A schedule guides you along the path to becoming a successful blog owner and entrepreneur. Without one, you’ll miss deadlines, not have the focus you need, and feel less organized when running a successful site.
What goes into your schedule
What is on your daily blogging schedule will differ from what everyone else has on theirs. There is not a one-size-fits-all blog schedule that you can follow.
No matter how long you have been blogging or your income goals, you need to ensure you cover every task necessary to run a profitable blog.
Those you may want to add to your schedule include:
- Writing epic posts
- Engaging your audience
- Market your content
- Analyze and implement income strategies
- Take care of administrative tasks
- Network and growth
- Education
Whew! That sounds like a lot, but the truth is, you won’t address everything every day. Or even every week.
However, it is essential to understand each step and how you can use them to develop the right schedule that fits into your busy life.
Let’s dig into each of these a bit more so you know what the task is that may need to be added to your to do list each day.
Writing epic posts
OK. So that sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? After all, you started your blog to share your thoughts, ideas, or even strategies with your reader.
That’s only one part of it.
Before writing your first word, you need to complete your research. That means finding keywords and the content your audience is looking for.
And not only that but also implementing proper SEO. (If you are not sure how to do SEO, check out this free masterclass to get started).
No matter the type of content you are writing, the most important factor is that it must help your ideal reader. Without that, you are writing for no one.
Engaging your audience
Social media is vital to the growth and success of a blog. Yes, you may have some success focusing only on organic traffic, but the reality is – you need to show up where your people hang out.
That doesn’t mean sharing your latest post and running. That’s not helpful.
It means you will not only share that post but talk with those who leave comments and engage people to interact with you.
If someone leaves a comment on your Facebook thread – respond! If they send you a DM, message them back.
The more you interact with the people you are trying to reach, the more they will want to follow you for your advice and help.
Market your content
Your article is fantastic, but the reality is – that it is not the next Field of Dreams. Just because you write it doesn’t mean they will come.
You have to market yourself.
You need to share your content on social media — on the platforms where YOUR readers hang out. If they aren’t using TikTok, there’s no reason to be there!
Part of marketing is also growing and connecting with your email subscribers. Take the time to grow your list and talk with and engage those who’ve signed up. After all – they did so because they wanted to hear from you.
Analyze and implement income strategies
You are blogging to make money, right? That means you can’t put ads on your site and think that is all you should do.
You have to continually seek out and find paths to make you money.
You may need to increase your traffic to move to a better ad network. It could be that you need to find new affiliate partners to promote on your site.
You may even opt to create a product or offer a service that will add another revenue stream.
You also do not even need to look for new sources. Instead, it could be writing a post that is a perfect way to promote that product you love or the life-changing course you took.
Your goal is income – so do what you can to ensure that you continue to find growth opportunities.
Administrative tasks
Yeah. Unless you have a huge team of experts to help run your business, you have tasks you have to address. That means you need to fit them into your regular blogging schedule.
What types of tasks are we referring to? Those that aren’t actively writing or promoting your content. They can include:
- Website maintenance
- Responding to emails
- Updating or optimizing content
- Blog accounting
- Email maintenance
- Social media posts, graphics, and scheduling
- Creating a content plan or calendar
You can’t ignore these items. Fortunately, many can be outsourced (such as website maintenance) or even addressed once a month.
However, you still need to consider them when creating your schedule.
Networking and growth
It takes a village to raise a child. It takes connections to grow your site.
You need to find the people in your community who will help you work towards achieving your goals. That may lead to finding a new affiliate program or offer or even connecting with a brand that wants to pay you to write about them.
Your connections may even lead to backlinks or guest post opportunities that may open the doors to more traffic or opportunities.
Education
There is a lot to learn about blogging. A. Lot.
And, the minute you think you know it all, you quickly realize you don’t. I’ve been blogging since 2009 and continue taking courses and following experts to expand my knowledge.
That’s important to running a successful blog.
You want to buy books and take courses from experts who can provide you with the help you need. Yes, you can Google it, but that will often lead to multiple posts, conflicting ideas, and more confusion than when you started your search.
Add time to your schedule to follow the lessons — and apply — what you learned in the course. Ask for recommendations on who has the right product for your needs.
Too much to do but not enough time to do it? All you need is 15-minutes!
Whether you have 15, 30, or 60 minutes, you can work on your blog. Use the Blogging In Minutes guide to better manage your time and become a more productive
Creating a blogging schedule you can follow
Knowing everything you need to do is one thing. Putting it together on paper in an organized way is another.
How do you know what to put on your schedule each day? What is important and what is not?
There’s one rule you always need to follow when it comes to deciding what to work on:
Focus first on the task that makes you money
Yes, you have to take care of tasks that won’t lead to income, but they are part of your business. But, think about what you want to do today. Is your time better spent searching social media for threads to engage on better spent writing a post you can sprinkle with affiliate links?
When it comes to making your schedule, it is best to focus on it one week at a time rather than a month or even a year. And then, keep the following in mind when putting it all together.
As you get better at your schedule, you will be able to look ahead to the one, six, and even twelve-month plan.
Your goals
Before planning your blogging schedule, you need to know your goals. What do you want to achieve this week?
Is it to increase your income?
Do you want to get more social media growth?
Is it to finally land that sponsored post?
First, look at your goal, and then you can look at building your schedule around achieving it.
Add your personal times
Before you plan your blog schedule, you need to write down your personal schedule first.
If you work from 7 – 5 every day and have softball practice on Monday and Wednesday evenings. You can’t schedule to work those days.
Grab your planner or calendar and jot those events down first.
Block your blogging times
You carve out time to take care of the kids and the house. You also need to add in the times you will devote to blogging.
When doing this, be realistic.
Sure, you’d love to spend 4 hours working on your blog on Wednesday evening, but can you do that? Maybe you have only 2 hours that work that night.
Don’t try to overlook your blogging time but make sure you include it when planning your regular schedule.
Add your tasks
Once you see the time available to work and know the goals, look at all the tasks you know you want to complete this week.
You know you can’t do them all. That means you need to prioritize.
- What 2 – 3 things will make you money?
- What is the one administrative task you must do?
- How will you market yourself this week?
Review each item and determine what you should focus on each day so that you can get done the few things you need to and be moving forward towards achieving your goals.
Plan for the unexpected
It is going to happen. You will have a sick child, or the Internet will be down. That means you won’t be able to get everything done.
You need to include some buffer time in your schedule. If you can’t get to your computer to work, you will still get everything done.
And the weeks when you don’t need the buffer? Work on your content calendar or plan ahead for the following week.
Don’t forget yourself
It is easy for us to plan every minute out and forget that we matter too. We need to include time for ourselves.
It may mean a 5-minute walk around the block, a bubble bath, or taking the night off to binge-watch your favorite series.
You do not need to do anything significant, but you always need to give yourself time to breathe. You have more of yourself to give to your family, work, and blog when you do that.
What does a blogging schedule look like?
You know what tasks to include and consider when building a schedule, but what does that look like? How do you know what you need to do each day?
First, make sure you keep your time management in mind. You don’t want to waste your precious blogging time on non-blogging tasks or even waste those minutes on what does not matter.
Your schedule all starts with blogging time management. You need to know how that looks, and then you can use your schedule.
Here’s a sample schedule that may work for you:
Monday
Plan weekly content
Review and respond to emails & social media
Update accounting
Keyword research for the next 4 posts
Tuesday
First draft of post
Schedule social media for next week
Respond to social media content & emails
Wednesday
Site maintenance
Pitch 2 brands
Review post and add graphics
Social media & email responses
Thursday
Publish post
Write 2 emails and schedule
Social media & email responses
Friday
Social media & mail responses
Review old post for updates & optimization}
Brainstorm product ideas
Saturday
Draft of product
Draft of next post
New social media graphics
Sunday
DAY OFF
Your schedule can be anything you want it to be. The point is that you take the time to create one allows you to work effectively and efficiently so you don’t waste time and can more quickly achieve your goals.