The Secret to Blogging 2-Hours a Day Revealed

I know you might be skeptical but it is true. I’ve experienced it first hand. Okay so you have some prep work to do throughout the week but you really can spend less time behind your screen.

Ready? The Secret Is …

FOCUS

How many times do you go on Facebook to post about your new blog post only to find that 2 hours has past and you still haven’t shared your post? You did chat with your friends and caught up on your Grandma’s hernia surgery. Oh, you also browsed the latest crochet projects in your stream.

Pinterest Anyone? 

Craig Smith of ExpandedRamblings.com shared some very ‘Pin-teresting’ facts in his article (November 2013) By the Numbers: 36 Amazing Pinterest Stats. (source) Here are just a few:

• 80% of users are Women
• 70 million users
• 35% are mobile only users
• 2.5 Billion (yes that is a B) pageviews per month
• Average time user spends on Pinterest per month 98 minutes

Did you see that last stat? 98 minutes per month? LOL maybe per week but I guess I’m not the average user.

Why did I go through all of those stats for you? First, if you are a crochet business owner or blogger you are most likely on Pinterest. Second, you are visual which means sites like Pinterest suck you in, and Third, you probably spend more than 98 minutes per month on Pinterest. Right?

If the secret to 2-hour blogging is FOCUS, then what must you do?

Although I’d like to claim credit for this clever idea it is not my own. Jackie Lee, whom I met during my Squidoo.com writing days, shared this with her blog subscribers. (internetmarketingmommies.com)

She has since retired it but I tweaked it a little which I encourage you to do. YOU are the creator of your schedule – if it doesn’t work for you, stop it. You have my permission.

Step 1 – Your Daily Activities:

These include link building, social media, writing and promotion.

Step 2 – Use A Timer

If you were in the webinar last week you heard me rave about how I use Roninapp.com to manage clients. Here’s the deal – you don’t have to have clients, you can be your client.

Simply start the timer, and get to work. It tracks your time and if you catch yourself wandering, restart that clock. You don’t get paid for chatting with friends and surfing the crochet pattern directories.

Bonus: You can use RoninApp to track your crochet time.

Step 3 – Divide Your Time into Power Sessions

• 45 minutes Writing
• 30 minutes Promoting
• 30 minutes Social Media
• 30 minutes Link Building

Simple right?

Step 4 – Get to Work

Do I really need to explain this step?

You have the basic framework, now let’s get a little bit more detailed. What is Writing? What is Promotion? What is Link Building? What is Social Media?

The 2-hour Blogging Plan

Writing (45 minutes)

During your first 45 minutes you will write and publish a blog post OR write a rough-draft of a guest post OR work on writing your crochet pattern OR ______ fill in the blank.

Promotion (30-minutes)

Pay attention to this one. Not too long ago I was stuck in writers mode. I wrote blog post after blog post after blog post. I also did article marketing and other writing activities as a way to drive traffic to my blog. Did it work? Yes and No.

The best piece of advice I received about promotion was from my fav blogger – you know her by now right? Michelle Schaeffer. She said that writing a blog post is only the first part, promoting it is the next. Spend more time promoting than writing. (generalized)

Watch her video – How to Promote a Blog Post

Pretty spectacular huh? This is what you need to be doing once you write your awesome blog post. Not the little updates or family and life updates but the really good stuff – patterns, how to’s, tutorials, etc… In other words, the stuff that can go viral. (fingers crossed for this post)

 How do you promote your post? 

Comment on other blogs (see Monday’s Crochet Blogger’s Comment-a-thon), share on forums (if allowed), share in groups and with your mailing list.

Pin your photo to Pinterest, share it with your Facebook fans, Tweet it to Twitter followers, Share in Linkedin Crochet groups, and on G+ communities. (see Crochet Business Bloggers Community).

Social Media (30-minutes)

Use this next 30-minute session to socialize. Don’t promote your blog post during this time. Answer questions and interact. This isn’t the time to chat with friends and family but with your fans – the people that put money in your pocket – your customers.

This is your customer service time.

Link Building (30-minutes)

Now this is the back-end work that helps you get noticed by the search engines. This isn’t link spamming this is targeted placement of your blog. Examples might be RSS directories, Linky’s, Blog Hops, or Blog directories. Remember, targeted is a keyword in this activity. Where will your link make sense? Auto-parts directories or Crochet directories?

Remember if you submit your blog to a directory, be sure you place it in the right category.

Bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon.com and Digg.com might be useful.

Content curation sites like Scoop.it and CraftGawker or Sussle.org are good too.

Conclusion: 

Work out your ‘must do’ activities like writing, promoting, link building, and customer service. Spend focused time doing your work and then say goodbye to the screen and get on with your life.

Your Turn: How long does blogging take you? Do you think a system like this will help you cut that time? Share in the comments below.

A couple of things to note: (all are optional)

• Comments are welcome and encouraged 
• Visit the FB group and add your post for the day to the pinned post if you’d like to receive at least 2-comments on your post.
• Join the Crochet Business Blogger G+ Community
• Community Event: Get Your Daily Fiber – Hangout on G+ 12pm PST
  
• Add your blog url to the #31CBBC linky (not the post url) – this will help you identify who is participating
• As you are visiting other bloggers, take note of any similarities you have or complimentary projects/services you have. This is a great time to jot down the blog name and get to know the blogger behind the blog. 
• Don’t stress on writing a post each day. A picture with your thoughts, a video, a top 5 list, or simply a quote on why you like crochet all counts as a post.

P.S. Someone pointed out to me that I wasn’t adding gifts to the blog. (not all people are signed up for the emails) I am, just not in the post. If you look on the right sidebar you’ll see a section entitled “Don’t Forget: Gifts from Me” – those are the gifts.

I will change that starting now. Just in case you missed the daily gift here is a roundup:

1. 365 Crochet Blog Writing Prompts
2. Start Your Day Off ‘Like a Boss’ aka 3 Quick Tips to Start Your Day Off Right by Chris Cade 
3. Achieving Your Dreams Without Fear by Chris Cade
4. CBB-sellingcrochet1
5. Pinterest Traffic by Michelle Shaeffer
6. commentingworks-hookingforcash-worksheet
7. A Guide to Google Plus Hangouts 

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