NOTE: Since the writing of this post I have merged all my blogs into one. The information is still relevant though for juggling multiple blogs so I’m keeping it up.
In blogging as in any job it is helpful to create goals based on priorities. My priorities are time with my family, making money blogging, and interacting with people through my blogs. My new goal is to blog 12 Hours a week (was 15 hours a week). To make a doable schedule I pulled out the concept of how to make acronyms and came up with the acronym “CHI,” Content, Housekeeping, Interact. Below is the breakdown for each of my 4 blogs. I feel I have enough tools and shortcut streamlines in place to still make money while working less hours. Mind you, a blogger can’t buy a paying source like a life insurance lead, but as with anything … slow and steady wins the race. As I explore this paradigm, I will post my discoveries.
PFTFF Monday (3 Hours)
CHI Tasks
Content – Write post(s)
Housekeeping – Tech/code/upgrade stuff
Interact – Traffic/Feed Reader/Comments
(More examples of tasks)
Content
Research if necessary
1-5 Posts future Time Stamped
Write Sponsored Posts if available
Modify Pages as necessary
Housekeeping
Upgrade Plugins
Check Backlinks, thank those who’ve linked to me by commenting.
Tweak Theme if desired: Custom headers etc.
Interact
Read and comment via Google Reader (Just the blog of the day)
Drop at Entrecard (start with this blog – hit as many as possible)
Other Social Media
DATSOL Tuesday (3 Hours)
CHI Tasks
DLP Wednesday (3 Hours)
CHI Tasks
PODCAST Saturday (3 Hours)
CHI Tasks
NOW FOR MY FAVORITE PART OF CHI TASKS: TH, FR, SUN – MY DAYS OFF BLOGGING ;)
To read about another acronym I wrote to make money blogging, check out CAN Blog Rating.
What do you think of this schedule and the 3 CHI tasks? Would they work for you on your blog(s)?
9 Comments
OMG, if I took 3 days off from blogging I would fall apart. I try to do 1-2 hours per day 6 days a week instead of cramming 3-4 hours in three or four days myself.
That being said, I find I am doing more “social networking” and my blogging is hard to maintain. I wanted to redo my blog theme, but can’t find the time or brave the experiment.
With wordpress plugins being upgraded many times a week, I have to upgrade plug-ins almost every day.
Congrats on being so task oriented, you are quite efficient at it.
Hi, This is exactly what I’ve been trying to figure out the last week or so. I want to map out a schedule for those items you described above. One item in particular is where to post comments, where to effectively interact.
My goal is to make it a full-time gig. You had reviewed my blog back in Dec., and I was grateful for the feedback. Perhaps if you’re not too busy, you could have another look and see what progress (or lack thereof) I’ve made?
Thanks,
Shopper Diva
@Dragon Blogger: Hi Justin. I understand about not wanting days off. I’m beginning to need them mentally. My mind gets so consumed with tasks that I am actually less productive. Having said that, I am only starting the “days off” idea and actually haven’t done it yet. The first day off would be Thursday so we’ll see. I am excited about giving myself permission to take a full day away. Mostly, I am excited about the clear-headed idea I will get away from the comp. Thanks for the compliment.
@Shopper Diva: Hi there, yes I do remember your blog. I’ve put you on my reader because I rarely get people I review on BC coming back and asking how they’re doing. :)
I like your clean look and the images. You are skilled in making the posts look really pro. What I thiink could be improved is your tagline/description. As it is now you write: “Shopping Deals on Fashion, Electronics, Home Goods, Beauty, Health and Gifts”
This would be a great tagline if you had deals. I browsed down the page and didn’t find any. Instead I found descriptions of things … stones, creams, et al. Perhaps you’d have more readers and “sticky” visitors if you crafted a tagline more about your actual content: ie; “The stuff you should know to get the best deals.”
What do you think?
I put you on my reader so I’ll be checking your blog out for a while :) Thank you.
I’m (finally) reading this post: thanks for the heads-up on Twitter.
This looks doable (after a quick read). And, something that could be applied by others.
Best wishes with this.
@Norski: Hi Brian. Thanks for your super positive comment. When I wrote this my hope was more for people to come up with some sort of plan all their own. Without a plan, you’re outta luck. But I think you are right that these tasks could help anybody gain success at blogging. I really appreciate your comments lately bud!
Hi Everybody. After looking over my stats for last month, I have revamped my CHI Tasks strategy for April:
Updated: CHI Tasks
CONTENT
3 hours a week
*Each day I blog, I will check all sources for income potential, taking all opps I can.
*Weekly Guest posts at
–IMBL (Chelle)
–Fuelmyblog (Sylvie)
–Blogcritics (-)
–DragonBlogger (Justin)
HOUSEKEEPING
3 hours a week
Ordinary blog stuff — upgrading plugins, adding seo, etc. This is a misc section.
INTERACT
6 Hours/week
By far the most intensive labor! Also the most potentially rewarding and the most moral of the three.
*I will work to raise my circulation and analytics because this will bring advertisers and sponsored post opps.
-Entrecard
-Thoughtful Commenting -EVERYTHING I READ
*Stumble and Soc. Media. My own and others intermixed.
I’m trying to get back into it and break what I feel is a writer’s block wide open. It didn’t occur to me until now that a schedule might just help with that. I’m going to come up with one and see if it works!
I really like how you place family first and then your blog. And thanks for sharing CHI. It’s exactly what I need to do to be better organized.
Good luck and keep up the good work.
Carl
Thanks Carl. I added a note at the intro stating I have all blogs in one now but the info on family first and compartmentalizing time and focus is still highly relevant. Talk to you later.