Blogging Chores When to Do them!

Onset:

(when you decide to first create a blog)

Considering joining a group blog so you only have to do 1/3 the work.

Select template carefully.

Optimize and Streamline the template.

Create a Profile

Create Your Blogging Goals

Create a Plan of Action

Determine your targeted audience

Set up a Rss Feed

Create lists for new posts, posts to edit, post done, to do list, urls to look at, urls to share, etc.

Create directories on your computer to:
Keep track of correspondence
Place backups of your blog postings
Research
Advertising
etc.

Figure out your best writing method:
ex: hand writing, voice recording to type out later, or direct typing

Find your writing voice,

Find the best time to write (where you won't be distracted)

Write down your strengths and what areas you need to do research on to improve your skills

Optimize adsense (if you're using it)

Write up your brief description of your blog that promotes it best so you can use this when needed.

Determine the process you'll use to generate ideas for your blog posts.

Decide how you will drive Targeted Traffic to Your Site

Daily:

Write New Posts. (or at least every other day if your schedule permits)

Write down/Tape Record ideas for new posts.

Write down/Tape Record ideas you have to edit posts.

Add things to your TO DO List

Do Research

Bookmark interesting sounding articles/blog posts you want to read

Ping Your Blog

Weekly:

Create labels.

Update labels on old posts.

Respond to correspondence related to your blog (this can be done daily depending on the amount you have to respond to)

If you're on any traffic exchanges, do your duty.

Try and do some of the things on your to do list! Important don't let them back up!

Monthly:

Re-Prioritize Your TO DO List

Go Back and Read Your Posts

Edit posts

Unclutter Your Blog: Delete old posts that are not high quality content/relevant anymore.

Check for new features offered by your blog host. (Here's: Blogger.com's updated Features)

3 Months:

Back up your blog

Submit your blog to 9 Rules


And of course whenever you can network with other bloggers and self-promote your blog!

Keeping it clean,
CB Webmaster

5 Reasons to Go Back and Read Your Posts

Why?

1. You'll see that you've created new labels you can organize the old post in since it was created.

2. You'll have new links you may want to included as hyperlinks within it.

3. You may recognize errors you didn't notice with the post before that you can fix.

4. You can get spin-off ideas!

5. You can edit them for length (so you're readers can get the same information but only faster!)


Kickin' it Old School,
CB Webmaster

P.S. For more reasons to review your posts see: Heed Your Own Advice

P.P.S. Remember to occasionally weed out your undesirable posts.

Not All Blog Ideas are Created Equal

You've gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run." - Don Schlitz

The same goes for blogging.

Not all blog ideas are created equal.

Some are just absolutely great and deserve a Bloggy Award.

While others sounded good at the time but.....

So there's no need to clutter up your blog with the ideas that should've been thrown out way long ago like those socks you have with holes in them.

Just because you wrote a post doesn't mean you can't delete it any time you want!

Just think - if you came across a blog with 95% great ideas wouldn't you be thrilled? I know I would!

So toss the junk and add more valuable content to your blog by simply generating better material!

There's no doubt this will make your existing readers even happier and happier readers could definitely lead to more referrals!

-CB Webmaster (creator of CB Success - home of the happiest blog readers! lol)

P.S. I know how personal blog writing is - like your babies - but just because you delete a blog post from your blog doesn't mean you have to wipe it out of existence - you can always save it on your hard drive and then some day down the road you can read through them and laugh and say to yourself "What was I thinking? :)

Feeling Overwhelmed By Your Blog To Do List?

Well I have to say I'm feeling that way myself right now. My TO DO list seems endless and I'm constantly jumping back and forth between things and trying to determine while I'm doing it if it's the best possible action I can be doing for my blog right now.

Well I came across this blog posting yesterday (which I just read today! lol well that's pretty good considering it wasn't on the top of my priority list! haha)

Any ways this article is very helpful in helping you organize your blogging efforts so you can reach your goals effectively.

So definitely check it out!

4 Tips For Making 2008 Your Blog’s Best Year Yet

And remember blogging is supposed to be fun! Try and not get too bogged down with all the little details. I know it feels like no one is ever going to read your blog or even link to it. But they will, they will. Heck you may be the first person ever to read my blog and I've posted almost 60 posts. So I can related to feeling like no one's ever going to find your blog. Have faith.

Love,
CB Webmaster

P.S. Remember if there's anything I can do to help you get your blog into shape I'd be happy to help. And I'm even willing to look over your blog and give you feedback on how I as a reader perceive it. I know we all can use another perspective, blogging doesn't have to be so lonely. Just email me your blog url. Take care.

P.P.S. out of control!!!

lol okay I've been there done that!

Sometimes I have one more thing to say and oh one more and wait just one more and I end up with three extensive P.P.P.S.'s!

So if it really is more a part of the blog posting rather than an afterthought - then just integrate it into the posting.

Which would you rather read a posting that:

-tells you its over?

-gives you one more great tip in a P.S.

or

-one that said it was over (aka signed off with a signature) and then goes on and on and on

It's like the bell ringing in school and the teacher keeping you ten minutes late!

Ay-yi-yi!

You just want to get out of there!

Which means your reader (most likely) won't stick around to hear your relevant comments because they've moved on to another post.

Brief works,
CB Webmaster

P.S. I know you're laughing right about now if you've read any of my posts because they are usually let's just say the "opposite" of brief - but I have my moments! ;)

Keep a To Do List

Anyone who's ever blogged knows it isn't as simple as just typing some thoughts into a post and voila that's it!

There's a lot that goes into it and your blogging life will be much happier if you stay organized!

To keep your sanity I suggest you create a "To Do List" text file on your computer.

If you have a Windows Computer just click on: Start, programs, accessories, and open: Notepad.

Then enter things you plan to do on your blog in the new text file.

And of course since this list will grow and grow - you may want to prioritize the tasks you want to do first at the top of the list.

The great thing is you can copy and paste and delete text to move it around to easiily arrange what you want to be priority tasks at the top of your text file.

Note: If you need to learn how to copy and paste scroll to the bottom of Quote Posting Guidelines for instructions (it's right under the text: How to Hyperlink).

Things you may want to consider priority tasks:

1. Errors you come across on your site.

Especially broken links, improperly loading "widgets", etc.

People get flustered easily - and if your site doesn't "appear" in order they may not return.

Just remember every day your blog and blog postings have an oppotunity to appeal to new readers!

So basic upkeep like this will safeguard you against people's impulses to find another site that isn't "broken"

2. Optimizing your blog settings.

Don't delay doing this! You'll save a lot more time in the long run if you label your posts up front instead of doing it down the road.

Your blog probably has tons of features you're not even aware of!

At blogger.com you can subscribe to their Rss Feed of their New Features called: Blogger Buzz

And remember you can always check your blog's help files

Some blog sites even have forums where users exchange tips for improving the functionality of their blogs.

One of the most important features you want to display on your blog posts is an RSS feed.

3. Self-Promote

Once you have at least 5 or more quality blog posts you're going to want to get the word out to people about your blog!

Check this out:
The Importance of Linking Your Blog Posts!

4. Things you want to research

5. Things you need to finish

And the best way to avoid more tasks accumulating on your ever-to-do list is to prevent them from accumulating in the first place!

Also I keep a text file called Blogs to Post - where I write down any ideas I have for blog posts - even if it's just one line describing what I want to write about - that way I don't forget it. And if I don't have time to write the post right now I'll have something to trigger me to remember what I wanted to write about. I also like to make notes to myself about what labels I should add to the post - to make it easier for myself later when I'm posting it and selecting labels for it!

And to keep things really organized I even have a text file called Blog Posts to Edit. This is a list of posts I've already posted that I have something new to add to (either a new thought or a link). Because I usually don't remember the title of the post off the top of my head I just write down the thought/link for each post I want to update. Then I use a dotted line to distinguish that the information below each line is for a different post that needs to be edited. Can't decide if your new thought should go in a New Post or Add to Previous Post?

You can even create a seperate list just for URLS that you want to reference in your posts - remember you can go back anytime and edit your posts and add hyperlinks to relevant blog postings or articles you come across.


Phew,
CB Webmaster

Save Yourself Time!

Menial tasks got that name for a reason - that's why it helps if you get them out of the way every time you post a blog posting.

Trust me if you don't they'll accumulate over time and you'll feel so overwhelmed it's unlikely you'll go back and do your essential housecleaning!

So here's some things you should do after you publish a post:

1. Label it - for the love of God do this please!

2. Title it - I cringe at the very thought that you aren't doing this!

3. Add hyperlinks - click here for my post on what to hyperlink.

4. Check your Hyperlinks - make sure they actually work!

5. Proofread - your and you're are not the same! Accuracy is a nice quality you can give to your readers for free!

6. Hyperlink your signature - I just have this code in a text file so I can copy it whenever I'm posting!

7. Backup your post. That means copying and pasting it in its entirety (hyperlinks HTML code and all!) to a text file on your computer! That way you won't end up flipping out in the event that your blog posting one day just ups and disappears! Just think if you do this now then you won't end up crying into your cheerios about how you've lost your baby! By the way blogger.com actually offers its bloggers a way to Backup their entire Blog! I haven't tried this yet but when I do I'll let you know if it works.

8. Ping Your Posts - well even I'm guilty of forgetting to do this one! But it's essential because it's basically how the search engines and RSS Feeds know that you've created new posts on your blog.

Think about how many thousands of blogs are out there that are outdated - well if you are keeping yours up to date you might as well get credit (and readers) to your blog! Here's a link to a site that submits the ping for your blogs

Personally I could really stand to find an excellent free automatic ping service because at Chatblog I have to ping over 50 blogs and that's just tooooooo much upkeep for me! But I guess if you have only one blog it's not that big of deal to enter your URL in a ping site every time you update your blog.

Though I have to think even you could stand from an automatic submission on your behalf - sign up once and bam it does the work for you! lol! Well I can dream, right? Heck, if you know of any free automatic ping services tell me about it so I can share it with all our bloggers! Thanks!

Well that's all I can think of right now, if I come up with any more I'll make a Part 2 for this post. Oh and if you can think of any I missed let me know!

Take care,
CB Webmaster

P.S. In case you're wondering - keeping it clean isn't only for your readers - it is for your ability to retain readers, gain new readers, keep your blog improving its rating, and increase your blog's success. Maintaining high quality is one of the best self-promoting things you can do for your blog!

Make Your Post Titles Easy to Remember

I have this post that I could never find just because I couldn't remember the name of it! And I always wanted to link to it but it was a pain to find.

Finally I just ended up changing the title so I could find it easier!

So why not make your posts easier for your readers to find faster as well!

Take a moment and think: What is this post essentially about?

Then that becomes your title!

Simple is good.

And what does this teach us class?

Don't be a stubborn old mule! It took me about five times looking for this seemingly lost post before I realized all I had to do was retitle it!

How in love was I with that old title?

Well let's just say I can't even remember it now!

Kicking myself,
CB Webmaster