My Blogging Routine – Part I

There seems to be a new (maybe not so new) trend going on in the blogging world. Everybody, no matter how advanced they are in the blogging world, are writing blog posts about how they spend their time blogging. Whether it’s Darren Rowse or John Doe, every-one’s got a different approach to blogging. I have always thought that trying to mimic someone else’s blogging routines is an overrated approach anyway. You can clone exactly what a super blogger does on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean your blog is going to be any more successful. At the end of the day, no two people are born the same way which means no matter how effective someone else’s routine looks on the paper, you should try to come up with one of your own.

I am not going to be a teaser, and I will discuss what I do on a daily basis in the 2nd part of this post. But I don’t really consider myself a blogger. If you see me at a party, you are not going to hear me talk about what I do as blogging. I am an entrepreneur and far more interested in creating products than blogging. Don’t get me wrong. I love blogging, and I do it everyday, but I don’t look at it as a career but just a passion of mine. So my approach to blogging is very much different from someone who does only blogging for a living. I focus more on the big picture and less on little things. In my book, a top blogger needs to focus on content, promotion, networking, and research & development. It doesn’t matter which phase you start your day with, but you just have to pay attention to all parts of your business if you want to have any success.

The Big Picture

Content is king. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Of course, if you have a great piece of content, you are going to get more recognition if you get to display it on a site such as TechCrunch. But TechCrunch is worth millions of dollars and gets just too many visitors on a daily basis. These folks have done it by providing high quality, relevant content to their audience on a consistent basis. They have built up their reputation by showing people what they read on these sites is the real deal. If you want to get anything close to that level, you are going to have focus on your content. Good content not only brings you visitors but helps establish you as an authority in your niche. Writing great content is not easy work. You are going to do your research and focus on quality instead of quantity. Not everyone can write great content, but if you know what it takes, you have got a leg up on your rivals.

Promotion should be a big part of your overall blogging strategy as well. I am not just talking about pay per click optimization, article marketing, and SEO. I am talking about every possible way you can get the word out about your blog. Whether it’s creating a podcast, sending videos to YouTube, or putting your brand on pens, mugs, and t-shirts for branding purposes, your goal should be to get the word out about your content to as many folks as possible. You got to have a marketing plan and move towards executing it everyday. Don’t keep things in your head. Create a real plan and stick with it. That’s what I do anyway.

Networking should be a big part of your blogging efforts as well. I’d be the first to tell you that I am not a big fan of networking. I don’t enjoy dressing up and going to meet ups, nor do I cherish getting on planes and going to conferences. You don’t have to do everything, but you got to do some networking. If you are not out there, you can’t let people know about what you do. As a small business owner, I try to make it to events that can give me access to my kind of audience (people interested in my products). You should do the same, no matter how much you hate the networking process.

Research & Development is the biggest part of my blogging routine. Whether I am catching up with RSS feeds or developing a brand new web service for my audience, I am always doing something in this area on a daily basis. If you are not researching, learning, and getting better, you are going to fall behind. Besides, you shouldn’t bank your everything on your blog. You should try to develop other products that you can sell to make a living. Who knows. You could end up writing your own book after a while. A lot of other bloggers have done it, and so could you.

All in all, having a great plan is better than having a great routine. Execution is important, so you should test and try new things to find a routine that you feel comfortable with. But think big picture and keep your eyes on the ball. That’s what matters at the end of the day.