Last week I detailed What Bloggers Do, but then I realized I didn’t really answer the question of what I do. Sure, I’m a blogger so you got the gist of what I do when reading last week’s post, but we all do things a little differently. And while I’d certainly classify myself a blogger by trade, it’s definitely not all that I’ve got going on.
Besides running things over here at TheKentuckyGent.com I’m also a freelance writer for Thrillist.com, and work on various other projects around the city like Best of Louisville. In other words, I like to stay busy. But my true passion remains planted right here. It’s still crazy to me that you people want to tag along on this crazy, crazy journey that I call life, AND that I get paid to do it. That’s a win, win in my book.
I’ve taken what started out as a hobby – a half-assed hobby at that – and turned it into something that I enjoy waking up early and staying up late to work on. While it’s taken some getting used to I couldn’t enjoy being my own boss more than I already do. Most days start out about the same, by hitting the snooze button for at least 30 minutes, and end essentially the same way, scheduling posts before I head to bed. I’m plugging away at this from the time I get up, until I lay my head down at night, but it’s the most fun I’ve ever had a job.
My days usually look something like this
- Wake up around 9 a.m.
- Walk downstairs and start the day with my Keurig
- Drink coffee + read through my blog roll (more coming on this later, but this is the number ONE way to organically increase traffic to your blog while building rapport with fellow bloggers)
- Read + follow up on e-mails (tip: try to do this twice a day, unless it requires immediate attention, otherwise you’ll never get to a stopping point)
- Make my rounds on social media + share my latest content if not already scheduled
- Begin working on content for the next day’s post + social media channels as well as any open projects or assignments for freelance gigs
- Break for lunch, errands, and everything in between (aka: get out of the house for a minute)
- Finish + schedule content for the next day’s post + social media channels
- Attempt to be a real human for the rest of the day
My first tip on how to be a better blogger? Figure out a schedule that works for YOU, and stick to it. Granted, there are some days that I don’t stick to my schedule, but the days I do stick to it I feel 100 times more productive. I’m definitely a go with the flow kind of guy personally, but professionally I understand the importance of giving yourself a schedule and setting expectations.
Hopefully you can now see that being a blogger is essentially a 9-5 job, but in a creative field. A lot of the same rules still apply though, like getting out of something what you put into it. If you want to be a successful blogger you’ve got to put the time, effort, and energy into it that it warrants.
If you’ve still got some questions about how I spend my days, or have a question or two you’d like me to answer in a “How To Be A Better Blogger Post” leave a comment or drop me a line.