Many people start a blog thinking it will be a fun, hopefully a money-making hobby. However, they quick fall off the writing wagon when they realize what experienced bloggers know: that keeping a blog updated is hard work. If you have trouble managing your daily life while trying to keep your blog updated, you are not alone.
However, it is possible to keep a blog regularly updated even while maintaining a life outside of your laptop. Here are five simple ways to keep the flow of information fresh and constant.
1. Be My Guest… Blogger
Whatever your blog’s niche, there are probably many bloggers in similar fields looking for additional exposure. Letting these people guest-blog is a win-win for all parties: they get valuable exposure and a backlink while you can keep your blog updated with almost no effort.
Finding the right guest-blogger can be a challenge, but there are a few approaches that are usually successful. First, find someone in a related niche who has high quality content. Low quality writing is NOT what you need for your blog. Agree on the terms and conditions ahead of time, including how many articles will be written and whether you have editing rights. Settle on a topic and a rough article length. Once the guest-blog article is written, read it critically and decide if it is really material that you want on your blog. Guest-blogging is a great blogging tool if both people are discerning and dedicated to high quality content.
2. Outsource
There is a dirty secret in the blogging world. Many bloggers occasionally buy articles from content writers. Because voice is important in blogging, you should not make this a regular long-term strategy. However, it can be a great way to fill in between the posts that you have time to write.
How do you find a content writer? This can be more complicated. There are several content websites where you can buy articles for a reasonable price. It is important to be very specific about what you want in an article. If you find a great writer through one of these websites, you can directly order posts from them on a regular basis.
3. Work Ahead
Many bloggers keep content fresh by writing several articles at a time and setting them to publish at a regular interval. This may take extra time, but it is the cheapest option. Begin writing drafts when you are inspired and then refine them later. The top bloggers tend to have five or more posts in progress at a time rather than working on just the next one.
4. Keep It Short and Sweet
Not all blog posts must be 1000+ word essays or complicated tutorials. You can share a small humorous anecdote or a photo with a paragraph of commentary. One “short and sweet” strategy is to link to a controversial post on another site and ask your readers what they think. This can build audience engagement as people will likely comment and debate. It can also lead to content for another blog post in the future. Best of all, these shorter posts take only a few minutes, and even the busiest blogger can usually spare that.
5. Hold a Q&A
Your readers likely have questions about your life or your blog. Several weeks before a planned trip or other period when you will find it difficult to write blog content regularly, ask people to leave their questions in the comments. Address one or a few of these in each post for a series of posts and then set these to publish at spaced intervals during the period when you plan to be off the computer.
Keeping a blog updated with original content is a challenge, but you are up to it! These 5 strategies should make it easier to manage a busy life while keeping a blog filled with the fresh information flow that builds a base of readers.
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