This post is a stop along Tanya Peterson’s Blog Tour 2010. Tanya is the blogger behind Blogelina, where she writes about blogging your way to success. Be sure to check out all the other stops along the tour and enter to win $100 to use in improving your own blog!
My Daily 10 – Increase blogging productivity with a daily plan
With how busy life is for all of us, making the most of the time we have to spend on our blogs is crucial. To help you make the most of your blogging time, I’d like to share a few of the things that I try to do on a daily basis:
Read and reply to new comments on my blog (5 minutes)
5 minutes might not be enough to get to all the new comments on your blog but I like to set aside at least that much time to respond to some of the comments – as many as I can. It’s important that visitors to your blog see that you are interacting with your readers so taking a few minutes each day to reply to comments needs to be part of your daily blogging ritual.
Send emails to readers who have commented on my blog (20 minutes)
Oftentimes, readers will leave a comment on a post and then never return to read your reply. Let them know that you are answering their question and that you do appreciate them stopping by. I like to take a minute or two to visit their blog, if they have one, and then send an email letting them know that I did. In my email, I might thank them for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment. I will also point them to other things that I have going on my blog – you will be surprised at how many re-visits you will get from sending such emails.
Check my Twitter homepage (5 minutes)
I like to do this to make sure there aren’t any mentions of me that I need to respond to. I also like to see if there are any recent tweets worth re-tweeting. Twitter can be a big time-waster if you’re not careful – I always try to limit my time on it and stick to my limits.
Glance through Google Reader (15 minutes)
Again, this is something that I need to limit my time with. It’s pretty easy to get sucked into reading posts and lose your productivity momentum. Most days, unless I’m looking for inspiration right away, I wait until all the other things on my list are done. Using Google reader is a great way to find articles to retweet to followers, posts to leave comments on, and inspiration for your own future posts.
Tweet about one post or article I have found helpful (3 minutes)
After I’ve looked through my Reader, I try to add value to my Twitter account by retweeting at least one helpful resource I found. This is when I like to put my hashtags to good use and make my tweets easy to find.
Write at least one post (30 minutes)
I try to stay ahead with my posts by at least a few days. Some days inspiration hits and I take longer than 30 minutes to write. Other days, I can barely crank out one post in 30 minutes. Either way, I try to spend at least 30 minutes writing. Supplying your blog with quality content is crucial to your success – it’s worth being part of your daily list to do.
Check and deal with my email (20 minutes)
This includes replying to emails I’ve received and deleting emails I know that I’ll never read.
Try to post a response to a forum discussion (10 minutes)
Sharing your expertise on forums is a great way to be advertising your blog. I would recommend that you find one or two forums related to your blog and commit to visiting them regularly. Build a presence and show people that you know what you’re talking about. This will encourage them to start visiting your blog to see what else you have to say.
Check my comment spam (2 minutes)
This was just recently added to my daily list of things to do. I had never thought to do this until I randomly checked my comment spam folder one day and found several legitimate comments hidden in there! Now, I take just a minute or two to verify that the comments in the folder are actually spam and delete them right away.
Contact one other blog owner (10 minutes)
I keep a running list of blogs that I come across that I have either enjoyed or thought that they might be interested in reading my blog. Each day, I try to contact at least one blogger on that list. Sometimes, I’m contacting them just to let them know that I appreciated a post they wrote or their blog design. Other times, I write to let them know about something on Blogelina that I think they would like. It only takes a few minutes to type up an email and you never know how your words might help or encourage someone.
How do you plan your blogging time? Do you have any productivity tips to share? Please leave a comment below!
Thanks for the tips. :) Stopping by from Meet Me On Monday.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
I admire your plan but your time frames seem very short to me. I've been basically doing the same thing but it seems to eat up much more time. On top of running my own business, it's hectic to say the least.
ReplyDeleteI've been subscribing to your newsletter for several months ... congratulations on your successful blog!
www.karynclimans.com
following you from totally tuesday blog hop....nice blog! :) can't wait to find more tips as i'm just starting out.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you have a plan! Thank you for this great info! So glad I found you ;)
ReplyDeleteStealin'Groceries
I'm already a follower, but I'm stopping by from from Totally Tuesday Blog Hop
ReplyDeleteHaving Fun Blogging
mrsphilipswithonel@gmail.com
http://mrsphilipswithonel.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-very-first-giveaway.html
I could definitely use some hints & I will be back to read more!
ReplyDeleteI am follow back now from Tuesday Tag, You're It! (Latsyrc728.. it is a different picture) I hope you will stop by and return the favor: http://www.thriftyandfrugalliving.com/
These are great tips. I do most of them, but some of them are new to me.
ReplyDeleteyou have great time management skills. and i admire you for that.
ReplyDeleteFollowed your blog! Please follow back
ReplyDeletehttp://realmomreviews.blogspot.com/
I also have a FB page!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Real-Mom-Reviews/162240297149795
I'm a little late on visiting everyone from the tour :( especially since I was one of the blogs hosting.
ReplyDeleteI love these tips! I need to get more organized in my blogging. I agree I think the times are a bit short in some areas. I can type out a post in 30 minutes, but adding pics, proofreading etc take me longer. I'm also more active with twitter and not on forums anymore.
Great Plan and Great Tips!