ProBlogger 31 Days to Build a Better Blog » Daily Tasks

31. 

    NatalieGreen
    Member

    The value for me in this lesson is to incorporate Blog Editorial plan in my To Do List every week. (I don't know why I didn't think of this before and I think this will make my posts more frequent from here on in).

    Like so many people cramming in work, life, parenthood, blah, blah and blah into every week the To Do List is imperative.

    For sanity's sake I've also learned that trying to stick to the list too religiously or forcing in everything is not always a good thing - same for blogging, for those (like me) where a post everyday isn't realistic, don't beat yourself up.

    Sometimes I add a little more to the schedule than I can manage to at least keep me productive.

    Posted 1 year ago #
32. 

    cb
    Member

    This is something I've had in the back of my mind for a while but hopefully I'll be able to get something more concrete hammered out today!

    Blog - Fighting Monsters - A Social Worker's life

    
    

    Twitter - @monstertalk

    Posted 1 year ago #
33. 

    imageforu
    Member

    I am going to blog every day.  I found this to be very useful.  This will help me target more readers as well as, make me an expert in my field.  I found every one of these lessons to be extremely helpful and, appreciate the time that Darren has taken to create them for us.  Many thanks!  Suzanne K. Levis, AICI, "Consulting image seekers to achieve a sophisticated new look."

    Posted 1 year ago #
34. 

    passionateforlife
    Member

    Excellent idea! Thanks Darren.

     

    Blog~Passionate for Life

    Passionate for Life The Magazine About YOU, Your Passions, Dreams, Causes, Hobbies, and more. Share Your Passion.<

    Posted 1 year ago #
35. 

    sharonhh
    Member

    I've got to come back to this one, because after writing the ten posts I came up with into a calendar, I then looked at all the ideas I'd had over the months and added them in, with the result that I can post three times a week for the next two months before I need a new idea. Of course, I still have to write the posts but it's a great start. 

    Straight Talk About Developing Your Freelance Writing Career

    Posted 1 year ago #
36. 

    ManVsDebt
    Member

    On Mondays, I do a themed post that corresponds with a BlogTalkRadio show thats also in my genre.  I add my unique perspective on the show's theme and also link to the show.  It's a chance to get people excited about the show, interact with them, and network with larger blogs in Personal Finance!

    Baker - @ManVsDebt

    
    

    http://manvsdebt.com

    Posted 1 year ago #
37. 

    AgDrgn
    Member

    You know the Painting a Day blogs? I'd like to do something like that but then that would get in the way of any otther posts I might want to make. Unless I blog more than oncve a day and No. Blogging is NOT my life. Also, at the moment my brainstormed blogging ideas do not inspire me. In fact they are more suited to my newsletter than to my blog. But my Newsletter only comes out once a week (ONLY?!)

    I need some guidance I think. I am very definitely overwhelming myself.

    Argh.

    Posted 1 year ago #
38. 

    NatalieW
    Member

    I love the calendar idea -- right now I keep a notebook in my purse and scribble away...but I need to make things more official if I want to really move things up with my statistics. I have things divided out into categories in my blog and I like the idea of assigning them days so I know that I'm hitting the right amount of topics each week. 

    I might not write them in that order, but if they post in that order, that works. 

    I haven't played too much with a Google calendar, but I love google docs and such because its accessible anywhere. 

    Thank you!

    Natalie

    http://www.thebobbypin.com

    @mrsnatalie

    Blog: thebobbypin.com

    
    

    Tweet: @mrsnatalie

    Posted 1 year ago #
39. 

    PaulCunningham
    Member

    This is one of those "I always knew I should have one but never bothered making it" things.  So now I've made one, printed it out, and stuck it to the bottom of my monitor.  Each night when I sit down I now know what my priority #1 and priority #2 tasks are for that evening.  All the fun stuff like Twitter and forums can be done after that.

    Fortunately I already had a loose schedule I was following week to week anyway thanks to deadlines for paid blogging submissions.

    Read Me | Follow Me | Hire Me

    Posted 1 year ago #
40. 

    elizof
    Member

    As always Darren - another smashing idea!

    Cheers!

     Tempus Fugit -Carpe Diem!  I need this reminder...

    Posted 1 year ago #
41. 

    excitedbylife
    Member

    Since our blog is relatively new having a set theme for each day of the week sounded like a great idea to us. It's like something different to look forward to each day of the week and we can effectively "live" our brand and be more authentic.

    So we came up with this

    1. Monday - Inspirational Book Review
       We want to setup the daily habit of reading 2 chapters of a book a week. Since most books are about 14 chapters it means we should be able to finish a book each week for review.
    2. Tuesday - Healthy Living Tip
       Content extracted from latest health news and research from google reader RSS feed subscriptions
    3. Wednesday - Inspirational Story, Person or Guru
       As we get more traffic we can extend to be interviews
    4. Thursday -  Amazing Scientific Discoveries in psychology, science etc.
    5. Friday - Life Online Links Roundup
       Discover interesting blogs and tools in our niche i.e. a bit of a web surfing fun day. I mean who wants to do hard work on friday night?

    Weekend is rest and catchup for "31 days to blog success"

     

    Children are born ExcitedByLife. When did we forget?

    Posted 1 year ago #
42. 

    theHealthAdvocate
    Member

    Thanks a lot for this one Darren.  I called myself doing this anyway, since the launch of my blog 5 months ago.  Each month is focused essentially around one Health Observance Month (and maybe one or two smaller yet related health observance weeks/days).  I then created First Fridays in First Person and Fitness Fridays (4th Friday of each month) but I had no idea just how intricate the topic/exercise actually is.  I believe it's really going to help me further 'flesh' things out.  So far, it has helped me identify an unmet topic/need in my niche/subniche....Woohoo!!!

    Alisa, theHealthAdvocate

    
    

    for a mind, body and spirit...enBloom

    Posted 1 year ago #
43. 

    kzemek
    Member

    I have my regular Friday post of listing things I've learned that week.  A lot of times these things will be from posts on other blogs so will also have links. I use blogthings to develop some posts with and collect them in one of my email accounts.  When I'm looking for a filler post, I'll pick one of those.  I try to add comments to it and maybe even change the picture to make it more personal and interesting.  (Here is a good example of a post I did this for:  http://karenzemek.blogspot.com/2009/04/we-were-same-kind-of-shoppers-what-kind.html).

     I also use that same email account to draft posts as I get ideas.  Then I'll draw from there and put them into my posting schedule on blogger and revise and tweak as necessary.  I found it best not to schedule for every day because then if something comes up unexpectedly, I can just stick it on on one of those empty days.  This system works well for me.

    Karen, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"

    Posted 1 year ago #
44. 

    Holly Jahangiri
    Member

    I think this exercise is the one I need to focus on most. I've been following along, nodding, thinking "Yes, yes, I do this - good..." but what my blog lacks is any sort of rhythm. While I don't want to lose the spontaneity or personality of the blog (as I said to you earlier, it's a BLOG, not a newspaper!) I can see where, from a reader's viewpoint, the lack of structure and rhythm (not necessarily dogged consistency) might be off-putting. To at least know the general category of posts one's likely to find on Tuesdays might be good.

    Posted 1 year ago #
45. 

    samsall
    Member

    Hi all

    ifound out that my site is having about 400 aday on wednesday,thurday anad  friday other day of the week i get maximum of 40 hits

    so i decided to post in wesnesday, thursdayand friday  so i willpost 3 times aweek

    Sam Sall

    
    

    www.speechstarter.com

    Posted 1 year ago #
46. 

    Radiance
    Member

    Since I'm not a professional blogger (blogging is just a hobby, for now) I don't really plan my blogs too much in advance. It depends on when I find something I feel interesting enough to blog about. If I find more than one things that I want to blog about, I write the drafts up and save them and then publish one per day. However, I don;t really have an editorial calendar. The only things I have recently decided to do on my blog are to write a "sunday spotlight" concentrating on a person or organisation or book etc that I feel are mentionable and on Saturdays, write a "sneeze post" :).

    But reading through this section gave me a lot of useful info. So in case in future  happen to become professional blogger, I'd be thankful to all of you :).

    Follow me on,

    
    

    My blog

    Posted 1 year ago #
47. 

    rahsheen
    Member

    I think it's easier to just draft the post and make all the notes/links I need right there. Maintaining a separating document seems like too much work for me. I can also write/schedule the posts ahead of time to make things more efficient.

    Rahsheen Porter

    
    

    Increasing Your Quality of Life With Every Post - http://sheenonline.biz

    Posted 1 year ago #
48. 

    PLaystead
    Member

    I would also suggest keeping a long term editorial calendar to keep track of ideas you want to use in the future. You might have a great take on a holiday or date in history -- it helps.

    Craig

    http://fullcontactfatherhood.com/

    Posted 1 year ago #
49. 

    conradtheart
    Member

    I already feel less stressed out about getting things to write about and when to post them. My editorial calendar has been made.

    I like the idea of a different type of post for each day of the week. I'm listing the category next to each post in my editorial calendar in order not to do too much of one type of post.

    Posted 1 year ago #
50. 

    caterpillargoesbutterfly
    Member

    I loved that one as most as the lesson before!

    I have now a plan about my momentary serie (it ends on Friday) and have for each post one thats go deeper in the theorie (published the same day). That's great. I even have a glue about the next week's posts and how I will schedule the days.

    And, this is the best, the last to days I had 150 Visitors per day (before I had an average of 40 per day). I just couldn't believe!

    Posted 1 year ago #
51. 

    blueclarissa
    Member

    Another really useful task. I had done some planning on a google calender but doing this exercise last night on a spread sheet produced a whole load of new ideas for postings - and I have several more to add to the list this morning. Just the act of writing them down sparked off new ideas. It will vertainly take the pressure off me in always trying to think of a post idea from scracth. It also does add some pattern and rhythm - so all in all gret stuff - thanks!

    Clare

    Make it and mend it because life's too good to throw away

    Posted 1 year ago #
52. 

    Keira
    Member

    I use Google Calendar to keep track of my past and future blog posts. I organize it by using the colors of different calendars so I can see what's going on by a visual glance. As a book reviewer, I use most of the colors to indicate a specific publisher for books/author interviews/guest blogs, especially if I was contacted by a publicist vs. the author themself. One color is posts distinctly my own for posts I set up without contact by author/publisher.

    Love Romance Passion ~ Because Books Don't Fall Asleep Afterwards.

    
    

    Posted 1 year ago #
53. 

    SAA
    Member

    Thanks for this tip! I have been wanting to add more structure to my blog and reading this lesson and the comments from others helped me do just that. I have now implemented the following "structure" on my blog:

    Monday – “Meet my Muses” These are the blogs I love to read and get inspired from each day. These blogs make me want to be a better writer, a better person, and/or a better citizen (okay…less shallow…whatever!). Every Monday, I will tell you a bit about one of the sites or blogs I have in my Bloglines Reader.

    Tuesday – 10 Things Tuesday Thanks again to Mrs. Chili for starting this theme. Yes, I’m going to put this back on my main blog. That’s not to say I won’t copy the same post to “I’m a Meme-a-holic” but it will definitely be on this blog. By the way, I’ve changed the look of that blog. Check it out!

    Wednesday – “Whatever Wednesday” This is going to be my catch all day. Anything can show up on a Wednesday – whatever pops into my mind, whatever I may want to vent about, whatever picture I would like to post…you get the idea.

    Thursday – “Thursday Thoughts” There are quite a few things I’ve been thinking about, but I haven’t figured out how to post about them yet. This is the day I will set aside specifically for those topics.

    Friday – “Photo Friday” This will be a day I post pictures I like/love. I may have taken the photo or found it on the world wide web. Either way, I will tell you what I love about the picture and why its one of my favorites.

    Saturday – “Saturday Sayings” I have a LOT of favorite sayings that I have in Word documents on my computer. On Saturdays, I will be sharing one or two of them with you and tell you what I love about it, what it makes me think of, or how it makes me feel.

    Sunday – “The Week in Review” This will be a post letting you know everything that happened during the week (including blogs or websites I may have found that have not yet made it into my Reader).

    Thanks again for this lesson. It helped a LOT!

    SAA Scattered and Amused

    Posted 1 year ago #
54. 

    Marilyn Roxie
    Member

    I put my blog post ideas and deadlines on my Workhack list- very much recommended! I've never been able to stick with planners or calendars of any sort, so this is a good option for those who feel restricted by that sort of thing.

    Posted 1 year ago #
55. 

    crixtopher
    Member

    I find this to be a great way to organize and motivate. As my blog grows I will surely be using a calendar with reoccurring themes weekly. Cheers.

    Undrafteds.com

    Posted 1 year ago #
56. 

    rosepeck
    Member

    I just started my blog about a month ago. I have lots of idea, lots of posts, but not sure how is best to organize them? I'm currenlty using iCal on my Mac for my editorial calendar.

    Basically, I need advice about whether it's better to group like-topic posts together, like a series on breastfeeding, then move on to a new topic, or if it's better to skip around as topics occur to me, trying to vary the length and style of posts to keep it interesting (this is what I've actually been doing).

    What models do you see that work?

    Thanks for any tips! I'm having a great time working on my blog, and have found these 31 Days very helpful!!

    Rose

    Posted 1 year ago #
57. 

    Hamperific
    Member

    Finally!!! After weeks of actually having my calendar planned - I printed it!! Yay for me...

    At this stage I am going to post twice a week. One post on a Monday will be my gift quandary, the second later in the week will be an "article" type post where I might do like a mini online coursey type thing, or as I have planned for the next 20 weeks (or so) it will be about anniversary gifts.

    I am considering a third post during the week, but will have to try to manage what I have planned at the moment.

    Loving this course Darren!

    My blogs:  Hamperific and The Gift Assistant

    Posted 1 year ago #
58. 

    minmin
    Member

    I am blogging every day. Here is my schedule:

    Mon - Fri : Learn a Chinese character a day

    Sat : Weekly activities, which include grammar notes, pinyin tutorial, Chinese songs, etc.

    Sun : Worksheet for the week.

    Min Min

    
    

    Learn a Chinese Character a Day - Learn Chinese Everyday

    Posted 10 months ago #
59. 

    JB
    Member

    Super. Lucky it is Sunday so I spent a lot of time looking over different spreadsheets and wordhack and I've decided on my google calendar. Since my blog is evolving and a little of this an that, I am tempted to have daily topics. After reading posts here I won't announce what they are and in fact I will keep a file folder for each topic and put them in randomly. So far my topics are:

    • My inner child writes.
    • lists
    • links
    • how to
    • applied psychology
    • Observations
    • Closed eye processes

    Another nice thing that happened is at the NaNoWriMo forum which I love, www.nanowrimo.org they listed a NaBloPoMo forum. It's National Blog Posting Forum. www.nablopomo.com I already joined about 12 groups on different topics. I am having fun, thank you all. XD

    Posted 9 months ago #
60. 

    EF Cussins
    Member

    It too a little thought how I was going to put together a posting schedule. At first I was going to use a plugin from Wordpress. I could not find one that would take the least amount of work and let me see at a glance what was ready and what needed work.

    Finally, I settle on a simple Excel spreadsheet. As if this writing, I am thinking about putting in my Google Calendar. That way it would be on my desktop and on my phone.

    We will see how this works over the next few days.

    Saving Money One Product at a Time at The Shopping Nazi

    
    

    EF Cussins<!

    Posted 7 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply »

You must log in to post.

ProBlogger 31 Days to Build a Better Blog is proudly powered by bbPress.