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Blogging Consistency Question

by Ofthemix
10 replies
I've been getting very frustrated with myself lately. About a month ago I decided to turn my business model towards blogging. I've had success with other things, but I've found I enjoy blogging the most. So I read up a bit on it. Many probloggers say that it's important to post at least once a day. Other people say that it doesn't matter how much you post as long as you're consistent.

So, I've tried consistently posting every single day. Mind you, I'm focusing on 3 blogs, not just 1, since I don't believe in keeping all of my eggs in 1 basket. I know that blogging is a long term plan and it can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to earn a good consistent full time income from it.

I currently work a full time job, so updating 3 blogs every single day with new quality content sucks away all of my free time. When I know I'm going to be away from the computer a day, I try to write content in advance. The problem is those unexpected days when I end up away from the computer and miss a day because of it. I get so frustrated with myself.

I fear scaling down because I'm worried it will take longer to get to the income level that I'm trying to reach. But at the same time, there are some days that creating the content takes me so long that there isn't any time left over for marketing the blogs, which I know is equally if not more important than creating content.

As it is right now, having a full time job and limited time, I don't see how I can realistically keep up a consistant 7 day posting schedule for all 3 blogs. So, my question is to people earning a full time living from blogging. Would it be better for me to scale down my number of posts and focus more on marketing, perhaps posting 3 times a week to each blog. Or, should I just continue to do my best creating as much new content as I can, and not beat myself up over missing a day or two a week. That seems to be the norm, missing about 2 days a week of posting.

I'm just so worried I won't meet my goal if I scale back. Any advise would be appreciated.
#blogging #consistency #question
  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    Originally Posted by Ofthemix View Post

    I've been getting very frustrated with myself lately. About a month ago I decided to turn my business model towards blogging. I've had success with other things, but I've found I enjoy blogging the most. So I read up a bit on it. Many probloggers say that it's important to post at least once a day. Other people say that it doesn't matter how much you post as long as you're consistent.

    So, I've tried consistently posting every single day. Mind you, I'm focusing on 3 blogs, not just 1, since I don't believe in keeping all of my eggs in 1 basket. I know that blogging is a long term plan and it can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to earn a good consistent full time income from it.

    I currently work a full time job, so updating 3 blogs every single day with new quality content sucks away all of my free time. When I know I'm going to be away from the computer a day, I try to write content in advance. The problem is those unexpected days when I end up away from the computer and miss a day because of it. I get so frustrated with myself.

    I fear scaling down because I'm worried it will take longer to get to the income level that I'm trying to reach. But at the same time, there are some days that creating the content takes me so long that there isn't any time left over for marketing the blogs, which I know is equally if not more important than creating content.

    As it is right now, having a full time job and limited time, I don't see how I can realistically keep up a consistant 7 day posting schedule for all 3 blogs. So, my question is to people earning a full time living from blogging. Would it be better for me to scale down my number of posts and focus more on marketing, perhaps posting 3 times a week to each blog. Or, should I just continue to do my best creating as much new content as I can, and not beat myself up over missing a day or two a week. That seems to be the norm, missing about 2 days a week of posting.

    I'm just so worried I won't meet my goal if I scale back. Any advise would be appreciated.
    If you have a base of solid info/content on your blogs, I'd turn about 75% of your attention now on promoting those blogs.

    Maybe something like: Write a comprehensive article about "100 Tips for _____ ".

    Put it on a blog.

    Now mix and match those 100 tips into abunch of "5 Tips for _____" with a call to action to visit your blog for "95 more tips for ______".

    You can get way more than 20 articles from 100 tips if you mix them correctly.

    Take 5-7 of your best tips, add a couple that aren't on your 100 Tips page and submit to big-time bloggers in niches close to your's, but not direct competitors.

    Use the article marketing advice and use some more of your "5 Tips" pages and create some articles, blending 3-4-5 of your 100 tips with 1 or 2 new ones.

    This is just general advice and there's plenty of other marketing strategies you can use.

    IMO, you should start making the shift from "production" mode to "promotion" mode.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
      Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

      If you have a base of solid info/content on your blogs, I'd turn about 75% of your attention now on promoting those blogs.

      Maybe something like: Write a comprehensive article about "100 Tips for _____ ".

      Put it on a blog.

      Now mix and match those 100 tips into abunch of "5 Tips for _____" with a call to action to visit your blog for "95 more tips for ______".

      You can get way more than 20 articles from 100 tips if you mix them correctly.

      Take 5-7 of your best tips, add a couple that aren't on your 100 Tips page and submit to big-time bloggers in niches close to your's, but not direct competitors.

      Use the article marketing advice and use some more of your "5 Tips" pages and create some articles, blending 3-4-5 of your 100 tips with 1 or 2 new ones.

      This is just general advice and there's plenty of other marketing strategies you can use.

      IMO, you should start making the shift from "production" mode to "promotion" mode.
      I actually do have several articles I could do this with already. Great idea and I'll definitely implement it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ruth P
    It sounds to me like the option is really between scaling down and making it more manaegable, or face burnout in the future. While it may be "ideal" for some people to post daily, if it's not feasible for you then it's definitely better to scale down now so you can have more time for marketing, and even relaxing!

    I do believe that newer blogs can sometimes benefit from non-daily posting, and then increasing as your readership grows. You'll get more of a feel, then, for what your readership are looking for and how many posts they like to see each week. Sometimes, daily posting can lead to dramatically lower open rates by your subscribers.

    But really, don't beat yourself up. We all set ourselves high goals and they can't always be reached. Go for what's right for you. If that means less than 7 posts a week, so that you can be consistent, then that's probably a good idea.

    ~Ruth
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    • Profile picture of the author Marian
      If it's possible for you, let's say over the weekend to schedule more posts - all at once - it would be great. I use a few plugins to update my blog automatically without me ever touching it - once I have some good content.

      You perhaps need some good time saving tools and plugins in your arsenal - to do the boring stuff and saving you some time that you could use in your promotions efforts.

      That's one of the possible ways....

      Marian
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  • Profile picture of the author sparckyz
    Posting once every three days should still keep the SE spiders coming back to a blog. So for 3 blogs -1 post a day
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  • Profile picture of the author Marc Rodill
    Interesting. My take...

    Focusing on one site at a time doesn't mean you're putting all your eggs in one basket. It means you're doing your best as time allows. Imagine holding onto 3 real life baskets. One in each hand, and one between your teeth. Now take your other hand, and... wait a sec...

    Gonna be kinda hard to put any eggs in there, isn't it?

    But try it this way instead. Imagine holding onto one basket and using your free hand to put some eggs in there. When it's full, you put it down, pick up an empty one and begin stacking those eggs again. Just because you can't do it all at once, doesn't mean you can't do it.

    It means your expectations (too much, too fast, too soon) might need slight adjusting.

    P.S. Do what Kurt said. Jenius tip.

    P.P.S. There's no rule that says you have to blog x amount of times per day. Remember, you made it up. Don't feel pressured by it, if it stresses you out. Just make changes as you go along.

    Plus, there's no reason why you can't earn an income BEFORE 6 months to a year. Don't do plain old blogging, placing adsense ads, that everyone else does etc. Start selling something directly like through an affiliate marketing funnel. Pay yourself for your time. It's worth everything.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ofthemix
      Originally Posted by Marc Rodill View Post

      Interesting. My take...

      Focusing on one site at a time doesn't mean you're putting all your eggs in one basket. It means you're doing your best as time allows. Imagine holding onto 3 real life baskets. One in each hand, and one between your teeth. Now take your other hand, and... wait a sec...

      Gonna be kinda hard to put any eggs in there, isn't it?

      But try it this way instead. Imagine holding onto one basket and using your free hand to put some eggs in there. When it's full, you put it down, pick up an empty one and begin stacking those eggs again. Just because you can't do it all at once, doesn't mean you can't do it.

      It means your expectations (too much, too fast, too soon) might need slight adjusting.

      P.S. Do what Kurt said. Jenius tip.

      P.P.S. There's no rule that says you have to blog x amount of times per day. Remember, you made it up. Don't feel pressured by it, if it stresses you out. Just make changes as you go along.

      Plus, there's no reason why you can't earn an income BEFORE 6 months to a year. Don't do plain old blogging, placing adsense ads, that everyone else does etc. Start selling something directly like through an affiliate marketing funnel. Pay yourself for your time. It's worth everything.
      Lol That's an interesting thought, and it makes me think of how I usually carry 6 grocery bags on each arm when I come back from the grocery store and still somehow manage to lock my car, walk down a flight of stairs, and get into my apartment without dropping anything.

      One of the reasons I want to keep all 3 is because they are all monetized differently because they're all in different niches. One is primarily Adsense, and it earns every day. I post a few affiliate ads on there, but unfortunately the target audience aren't really buyers. Another one of my sites is 100% affiliate income dependant. The 3rd one relys on a back end sales funnel.

      After doing a bunch of Googling last night, reading the replies on here, and thinking of a method I used to do to manage multiple activities when I was in highschool, I think I've thought of a way to make things decently manageable enough.
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  • Profile picture of the author hunktom
    Yeah If you are posting every day a post on your blog that would be good for Search Engine.
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    • Profile picture of the author fated82
      When it comes to blogging there are many different way of doing it. The key is consistency. Here is the thing, you define how often you want to blog and stick with it. There is no hard and fast rule on how often you have to blog.

      Evaluate the time you have and then decide yourself how often you want to blog. Some bloggers find success with one post a day. Others can make money while posting once every week. My suggestion is to post once a week. Not too long that your readers will forget about your blog and not too often that it actually overwhelm your readers.
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