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Reader Question: How Do I Find the Time to Blog?
By Michele Martin | November 18, 2007
It’s been a few days since I posted here, so it seemed appropriate that the next reader question from our continuing series that I should tackle is:
How do I find the time to blog?
Let’s start with the fact that you will not always have the time to blog. Other parts of your life will intrude and it will be more important to address those than it will be to blog. This is OK, as long as you observe one simple courtesy–Tell your readers.
If you’ll be taking a planned break from blogging (like a vacation), put up a post saying you’ll be away for a few days and will return to your regular schedule when you return. If you’re swamped with other things, post about that to let people know what’s going on. Most readers know and respect the fact that you won’t always be able to blog on a regular schedule. As long as you keep them informed, they’ll usually stick with you.
That said, let’s get back to the original issue–how do you find the time to blog on a regular basis? Here are a few suggestions:
- Do not treat blogging like writing a report or article. Blogging, by its nature, is a more informal type of writing. It is expected that your blog posts won’t be as well researched and articulated as your more formal writing efforts. That’s not the point of blogging anyway. So while you should make an effort to ensure that what you write is accurate and reasonably well-written, don’t get hung up on perfectionism. It isn’t the nature of the this beast.
- Make blogging part of your process. In her article, Blogging without the Time Sink, journalist Amy Gahran advises that you treat blogging as a sort of “back-up brain” where you write about in-process research, interactions, initial brainstorming, etc. One of the primary reasons for blogging is to engage in online conversations. Blogging as part of your work process gives you an opportunity to obtain feedback for final products (like that report you’re working on) and to reflect on what you’re learning.
- Re-purpose old content. You don’t always have to start a blog post from scratch. Look back through other materials you’ve written and see if you can find a post in there. Usually with a little editing, you can find some good content.
- Write shorter posts. Jakob Nielsen has done extensive research on how people use the web. He’s discovered that a mixture of short posts (600 words or less) with some longer posts (around 1,000 words) offer the best value for most blog readers. The majority of your posts should be shorter, supplemented by some longer posts for more in-depth coverage.
- Write less often. Most bloggers try to find a regular posting schedule and stick to it. One post per day is pretty common. But depending on your blog’s focus and audience, you may want to post only a few times per week, especially if you write longer posts. It’s OK to do this–just set the expectation with your audience that this is how you post.
- Write list and link posts. When I’m short on time but feel like I need to put something up, I’ll often turn to a list post or a link post to fill in the gap. A list post is what it sounds like–here’s an example on Ten Tips for Writing a Blog Post. A link post is a list of links to other sites or resources, like this one. And here’s an article on how to write a link post. If you blog using Wordpress, there’s even a way to automatically create link posts using your de.licio.us bookmarks so that as you find and bookmark new content, you can add the info to your blog without writing a separate post. A very nice timesaver, especially if you’re in research mode.
- Plan ahead. One thing I’ve learned is that if at all possible, it makes sense to plan and write a week’s worth of posts at one time. It may take you a few hours to write everything, but then you’re done for the week and can move on to other things. Usually you’ll find that you’ll get into a writing groove and can knock out several posts fairly easily. This is also a good way to write a blog series.
Time is always going to be an issue when you’re blogging. There will be weeks when blogging fits easily into your schedule and weeks when it doesn’t. For most people, though, with a little planning and thought, time can become less of an issue. And the benefit you get from regular blogging will be a great inducement to finding the time.
Tags:TimeTopics: Reader Questions |
November 18th, 2007 at 9:40 am
hey very informative for beginner like me ,your tips inspire me to go further.
Many thanks,
Tracy Ho
www.wisdomgettingloaded.com/
November 18th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Glad this helped, Tracy. Let us know if you have any questions we can help with.
November 18th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
I changed my daily practices when I started to blog. Time I used to spend reading magazines and newspapers is now spent reading and writing blogs. I also found myself spending less time answering customer emails and phone calls, because they could find the information on my blog or I could refer them to it.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:09 am
Hi Michele, thanks for highlighting my piece on writing links posts. Although I’d have to say links posts don’t tend to be quick (for me!) unless you’re literally just posting out a list of links. The slower sort are more valuable though - to your reader, and also to the person you’re linking to. As I read somewhere once, linking is a form of relationship building, and if you want to make a positive connection with the person you’re linking to,it’s worth taking some time.
By the way, I was interested in Christine’s point - that although blogging takes up time, it also means we can drop other activities. My main saving is evening TV - I hardly watch any TV any more - blogging is so much more fun!
Best wishes
Joanna
November 21st, 2007 at 8:51 am
Thanks, Joanna–I think that you’re right that the most blogging value from a links piece comes from putting links in context, as you did in your post. In a pinch, though I think that a del.icio.us type of linking can be a good option.
I also agree with you on what Christine said. I’m the same way–much less TV and much more blogging. Although when I’m really tired as I’ve been recently, TV can start to win out again so that I don’t have to think.
Thanks for your very thoughtful comments.
November 21st, 2007 at 10:04 am
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