Written on June 12th, 2007 at 05:06 am by Darren Rowse
Keep Yourself Organized with a Blog Binder
This post on creating a Blog Binder to help you keep organized has been submitted by Julie Bonner from declutter it. I first heard Julie speak about her Blog Binder in passing in a b5media forum discussion and thought it might be something others might find helpful. I asked her if she’d write it up and here it is:
Ever since I started blogging, my mind is always going a mile a minute. I find myself constantly thinking about new article ideas, new monetization models or tips I had heard that I knew would add value to my blog.
Before I knew, it my desk was cluttered sky high with scribble notes and articles I had printed out. I also could not sleep! It was driving me crazy. My mind was so full of ideas that when I would lay down at night, the wheels would keep turning, I felt like I was on a hamster wheel.
It’s ironic that I let my desk and my mind get to this point because I used to help people get organized for a living. That means I’m supposed to be perfect right? Well, I have my weaknesses too, and getting my online businesses “organized” was turning into a real problem for me. I knew I needed a system and quick!
That’s when I came up with what I call My Blog Binder. It’s not a clever title, but hey, it works! Here’s a basic description of what I keep in it and how it helps keep me on track and focused.
My Work Schedule
At the beginning of my binder, I have my work schedule written out. Now for me, this schedule has no times on it, but only subjects. I dedicate each weekday to one subject. For example: Mondays I focus on SEO, Tuesdays I visit new blogs, Wednesdays I focus on building traffic, etc.
These subjects are all separate from the actual blogging. I try to blog everyday.
Staying Organized with More Than One Blog
Instead of having separate binders for each blog I have, I decided to condense them into one. It just makes it that much more simple and easy to use.
I have labeled dividers with the title of blog on it. Behind each divider I have several sheets of blank paper. On each piece of paper I have 1 title:
Article Ideas – This is where I write anything and everything that comes to my mind for an article idea. I am never short of ideas, and if I am having one of those days where I don’t know what to write, I go back to this page. This has helped me through many days of writer’s block.
Must-Do List – This is a list of to-do’s that I need to implement within the next few days. These are things that I do not want to forget about and remember weeks down the road.
For example, let’s say you are browsing through a blog and you notice an “Add This to Your Technorati Favorites” link. You then tell yourself, “I really need to add this to my blog!” So, instead of making a mental note that never seems to stick around, you write it on your Must-Do list. The next time you are working on your blog, you check your list and add that link.
Running-to Do List – This is a list of things you want to implement at some point, but it’s not necessarily time sensitive. For example: playing around with your blog’s colors or possibly looking for a new template.
Blogs to Visit – Within each of my niches, there are a number of blogs that I like to visit. Instead of trying to remember which ones they are, I write them down here and this is usually one of the first things I do in the morning. Be careful to keep this list short. You don’t want your browsing time to take away from your productive work. It is so easy to get sucked into blogland and see 3 hours of your day pass by.
Another option is to add these sites to your favorites folder on your computer. It’s all a matter of preference and what works best for you.
Are you still with me? Good.
Organizing the Great Articles I Read
Have you ever been on someone’s blog, read an amazing article and you said to yourself, “Wow, that was good!”? You then continue browsing, telling yourself you won’t forget that tip? Most of the time that tip has left your brain within 5 minutes and you are irritated that you can’t remember it.
What’s the solution? Print out the article and file it in your binder! I have an excellent selection of articles that I refer back to time and time again. After I print out the article, I hole punch it and put it behind the correct divider. Here are the sections I have:
- SEO
- Design
- Monetization
- Traffic
This has worked wonders for me and I have even referred back to these articles when helping other people with their blogging woes. When the sections start to get too thick, I will weed out the articles that are outdated.
Keep it Simple
If you decide to create a Blog Binder, I have a few words of advice:
- Don’t create too many categories. Keep the categories very general at first and as you use it more, you may find more specific subjects to add.
- Actually use the binder. You may be thinking, “Well, duh!”, but I have been in the organizing business long enough to know that we all have good intentions that slip through the cracks. I leave my binder at my desk at all times. It is usually open and ready for me to flip through or take notes on.
- Don’t become an insomniac because of your blogging. If you are like me and you find yourself laying in bed thinking of these wonderful, life-changing articles you want to write; get out of bed, open up your binder and write it down. Then proceed to get a restful night’s sleep.
Final Thoughts
These tips are obviously for those who still know what paper is. If you are not paper- oriented, but prefer to do everything on your laptop, you can take all this information and apply it electronically as well. Just be sure and keep your computer files well organized and easy to retrieve.
I hope this has helped you in some way on your path to becoming a more focused and productive blogger.
84 Responses to “Keep Yourself Organized with a Blog Binder”
antonio
June 12th, 2007 5:50 am
Do u think this tool is good for few visits blogs or only for very visited blogs?
Gamermk
June 12th, 2007 6:13 am
For people that want an online solution for this “Blog Binder”, I’d highly recommend using Basecamp. Their free solution I find ideal for managing my ideas.
Jason
June 12th, 2007 6:14 am
That’s a great idea. I’ve been having to use a notebook so I don’t go crazy, but it’s pretty disorganized. I like the ideas of the running-to-do-list and must-do-list. I’ll definitely break my little filing cabinet out and start an organized group of folders.
foodette
June 12th, 2007 6:17 am
Great idea! I have binders for everything else in my life, why not my blog? The blogosphere is so big and daunting at times - this would really help me organize it all neatly. Thanks for laying out such an easy way to put it all together.
Jason Spence
June 12th, 2007 6:22 am
I keep a condensed version of this. I have a hardback book full of blank lined pages. As I progress through the book I keep pages dedicated to topics. (i.e. upcoming blog topics, June Updates, planned blog updates) The monthly updates are to help me remember what changes I made in that month. The planned blog updates are things that I want to do to the blog, like add a particular plugin or widget.
Jeremy Steele
June 12th, 2007 6:38 am
I keep one binder by my desk, one by my bed, and I have a little notebook thing I carry around in my pocket when I go out. Actually physically writing little notes definitely makes stuff stick a lot better than say writing a note on a PDA.
Never thought of actually organizing the notebooks and binders though… then again I’m pretty disorganized…
Thanks for the tips!
Maria Palma
June 12th, 2007 6:41 am
As I write this, I’m staring at my notebook that is full of ideas, things to do, blogs to visit, etc. It’s complete chaos - no wonder why I feel so overwhelmed! I absolutely love this idea!
Maria Kang
June 12th, 2007 6:46 am
Awesome post - I am soooo disorganized sometimes too and will create a binder tonight. Great to see you post something on the operational part of blogging as well as the marketing/monetizing/design part!
Deborah
June 12th, 2007 6:50 am
This is great. I forever find myself jumping from one task to the next, not really finishing one task with any realy quality. I know this will help me to build better pillar content. Cool, thanks.
Gayla McCord
June 12th, 2007 7:04 am
Love the idea. I have a spreadsheet that keeps me on track of all my blogs, where I need to post, etc. I never thought of a binder.
There goes another post it note! One to remind me to pick up a binder the next time I’m at Office Depot.
Great tip!
Q at $1 Million to My Name
June 12th, 2007 7:22 am
Great idea. I need a place to consolidate all of the ideas I have and the plans I’m making.
adam
June 12th, 2007 7:23 am
Another winning idea!!
Bill Hartzer
June 12th, 2007 7:33 am
Great tips–kind of makes me think of my “electronic blog binder” that I have and use just about all day long. Along with the To Do list I keep and the list of blogs that I have to read every day, I have everything organized in an “electronic format” rather than on paper like you’re suggesting. I try to update it all fairly often and archive it as a backup in a plain old MS Word file. But, that doesn’t mean that I can’t print it out and keep a hard copy so I can scribble notes on it.
At this point, I prefer to type my notes, so I tend to do the same types of things in my “electronic blog binder”. Maybe it’s just because I’m a neat freak and don’t like a lot of messy paper on my desk?
DIY PR Builder
June 12th, 2007 7:39 am
This is a great topic Darren. I’ve found that by chunking my days I can get a lot more done. For example, on Mondays I do all the updating on my site from links, media, etc. Tuesday I focus on new projects. Wednesday is my marketing day, etc. I find that it really helps my productivity.
Another useful tool I use is Google Reader. I subscribe to various feeds based on keywords that relate to my blogs and site. When there is an article I want to write about I save and star it so I can come back to it.
One more suggestion - if you use WordPress you can post the article and not have it publish until later so you can write 5 posts at once and have them go online throughout the week. Blogger isn’t as flexible but you can save it as a draft and login and publish later on. By chunking your posts you can also get more out of your day to focus on the other issues with your blog (design, SEO, media, new idea generation, etc).
Hope this helps!
Marcel
June 12th, 2007 7:46 am
awesome idea… thanks.
I was using sheets of paper.
Dumitru Tira
June 12th, 2007 7:56 am
I use google notebook along with google notebook firefox extension for this, it’s FTW!
Adam Snider
June 12th, 2007 8:05 am
This is a pretty neat idea, but is the “blogs to visit” section really necessary? Isn’t that what feed readers are for?
Personally, I think it would be much easier to just add the blog feeds your reader. I suppose having a paper list of blogs that you visit regularly would be useful in case something happens and your feeds are deleted from your reader some how.
HART (1-800-HART)
June 12th, 2007 8:31 am
I recommend http://AZZcardfile.com .. over any binder and I always have at least 1 of 3 AZZCardfile data open .. (it stays in resident memory)
1) for all general phone numbers clients and information about meetings etc it’s great for memos, emails, URLs, addresses etc
2) FTP Logins for all my domains and other server stuff and passwords
3) Online earnings, advertising affiliation url’s for each domain and similar stuff like that.
This sure beats any BINDER or spreadsheet or notebook .. although, you can print out any individual card or page out of AZZcardfile.
Tara
June 12th, 2007 8:40 am
Oooh, good idea.
Sam
June 12th, 2007 8:42 am
I’m not so happy about the idea of printing out stuff and writing down URLs to visit. That won’t work for me - but the general idea is good, I’ll just have to find a digital way (or “digital ways”) to do this…
Joey
June 12th, 2007 8:51 am
Very well organized post. I have had a binder sitting in my truck for over a week. Now I have the motive to actually use it. Thanks for the word and visual kick in the pants.
jhay
June 12th, 2007 9:15 am
This binder will really be a great tool for those like me who don’t have a laptop or a PDA.
With powerblockouts quite frequent and ink cartridges quite expensive here in the Philippines, this old-school solution will work like a charm!
Aaron
June 12th, 2007 9:40 am
Sounds good. I have to start doing that. Thanks
Chris @ Martial Development
June 12th, 2007 10:00 am
Printing out all the web articles you like is NOT a good idea. Julie should read (but not print) “Stop trying to print out the Internet“.
Jen / domestika
June 12th, 2007 10:16 am
I’m one of those people who gets easily distracted — ooh, shiny baubles! — as I surf through the day so a Blog Binder like this might be just what the professional organizer ordered!
Lori
June 12th, 2007 10:17 am
I was just getting griped at from my husband because I’m on the computer nonstop trying to come up with ideas, tips, trying to increase my traffic, …the list goes on and on.
I think these ideas are wonderful. The pictures are a nice touch..you can visualize it and that helps so you’re not completely clueless.
Great Post. I’m headin’ to work on it right now!!
terra
June 12th, 2007 10:32 am
I have a system very similar to this, but it’s all on my hard drive. I find computer files easier for me to access, since I am already on the computer while blogging. Any notes I jot down are generally right there in my computer file. What can I say?…. I am apart of gen-Y … we are glued to anything that even resembles a computer. *=)
probloggermom
June 12th, 2007 10:51 am
This is just what I needed! My desk is so cluttered with post it notes everywhere, the first thing on my Must Do list is to find my desk again. Thanks for the great idea!
Julie
June 12th, 2007 12:22 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone! I am glad it has helped some of you. Like I said at the end of the post, this is definitely a system for those who are paper-oriented. I LOVE my computer, but when it comes to scheduling, taking notes, jotting down ideas…I need my paper!! :)
I am feeling very unorganized today because we just moved from Georgia to Texas and got here yesterday. I couldn’t even find my blog binder for the longest time, but we have reunited and all is well.
Thanks Darren for the guest blogging opportunity!
MrGadget
June 12th, 2007 12:29 pm
This post makes me feel so unorganised. Thank you :P
Stephen C. Rose
June 12th, 2007 12:47 pm
I use Note Tab Lite from Fookes Software — free. Just keep a single alphebetized textfile open whenever I am online. It has everything related to my recurrent needs in order. Actually the rest of my organizing is simply up there in terms of the relationships between my blogs. Whatever you do check out Note Tab. I think it is the best text utility bar none.
Amit
June 12th, 2007 12:59 pm
Thnx darren! Just yesterday I started writing in a diary all the stuffs you have mentioned above. At first i was confused, but your post once again came at the right time.
Brad
June 12th, 2007 1:00 pm
Hey, that’s a great idea! The only thing I’ll add is instead of printing out articles and blog posts (wastes a lot of paper) copy them over to Google Notebook. There, you can categorize and organize them any way you want and you can access them from any computer with an internet connection.
A Tentative Personal Finance Blog
June 12th, 2007 1:18 pm
I don’t have a binder perse, but I do keep notes on my desktop. It’s just as useful. For articles I want to write, I keep a little notebook, and for links I want to remember, I keep a highly organized bookmarking system on firefox.
Scot Newbury
June 12th, 2007 2:00 pm
Another great post.
Personally I’m still working on getting organized - I can never settle on a system or format - but I feel a bit more like I’m in control every day.
I’ve read and highly recommend for all those working on getting organized David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. The book is a quick and easy read and there are a host of websites dedicated to it. Interestingly enough the whole system is based on lists.
Chad
June 12th, 2007 3:26 pm
Great article, I’m exactly like that I wake up in middle of night with ideas for blogging.
Speedendurance.com
June 12th, 2007 3:29 pm
I’ve always had a notebook with hundreds of thoughts, ideas, and to-do’s. Thanks to your 4 sections, I will go out and buy 5 highlighter of different colors, and sort them out! Too bad they weren’t in a PDA and sort them by category!
Goddess Carlie
June 12th, 2007 3:41 pm
it’s a great idea, I use it myself. Instead of a binder I have little exercise books, one for each “section”. When I’ve done something in it, I’ll cross it out so I know where I’m up to. I have a book for “reviews” (my website has a lot of reviews) one for the education part of my website, and then a general one for things to do on my website, articles to write, and more. It’s fantastic, and I couldn’t do with out them.
Oh, and i find using little exercise books easier than a binder because I can carry one book around with me if I need to etc.
Jonathan Franzone
June 12th, 2007 4:19 pm
That’s a great idea, but I’m more keen on the electronic idea of this as well. I have spreadsheets that keep lists of social sites, etc. for getting the word out. I have everything organized in a folder by blog and function such as TO-DO, Blog Ideas, etc.
Matt Jones
June 12th, 2007 5:45 pm
It’s freaky seeing ’sqidoo’ written down! aah!
steve
June 12th, 2007 8:01 pm
I may incorporate something like this but organise it online. I am pretty new to wordpress blogging and I must admit I struggle for things to blog about. I do tend to use my blog as an online diary, although I do have two other wordpress blogs for specific interests.
Ben Licher
June 12th, 2007 9:21 pm
Great tips but indeed, less paper. Google notebook for great articles and Google reader for the blogs I like to read (this one for example). I type down great titles, make notes about what to write and save them as concept in my blog. I took one of Darren’s tips to heart and write series almost completely before I start publishing the first one. It works great for me.
JMR
June 12th, 2007 9:37 pm
Great tips. I use Google Notebook to jot down article ideas and even flesh them out straight there until they are ready to post via copy paste.
For blogs I really want to read I use Google Reader. I even subscribe to my own blog so that I don’t need to spend too much time looking for comments on my posts. When I get some reading time, logging into Google reader will show me how many comments I have unread as well as if my favourite blogs have posted new entries. All there on one easy to read screen.
I posted about google the other day here, http://www.jmrpub.com/blog/2007/06/09/google-fanatic/
I love technology :-)
I am JMR from JMRPub.com
Steve Mills
June 12th, 2007 10:21 pm
Great tip. The human mind, while being a powerful tool can be a terrible categorizer of ideas.
I always keep a notebook in my pocket, to take down notes for my blog and article ideas. You never know when inspiration is going to strike
Paul Bradish
June 12th, 2007 10:50 pm
A blog binder is a pretty smart idea. I keep a small posting schedule next to my computer monitor that has all of my sites listed. It would be nice to take that one step further.
Danielle, Celebrity Baby Blog
June 12th, 2007 11:11 pm
Thank you for this article because it gave me the kick in the pants I need to REALLY get organized. I have a notebook that I use to jot down to-do’s but it’s not organized. Long term to-do’s are mixed in with the urgent to-do’s. I think it’s also really important to stay focused on writing things down and doing them because I get so distracted with new emails.
Ben Licher
June 12th, 2007 11:22 pm
Sorry, typo in my emailadress, so my reply is still waiting for moderation. About being organized :-)
Dawn
June 12th, 2007 11:27 pm
I love this idea - thanks for sharing it.
Teach Me to Make Money Online
June 12th, 2007 11:29 pm
Julie,
I must say I am coming over at your blog, I had the impression that Darren wrote this article. I just went over to read it one more time and saw your name mentioned.
All these tips and guidance are allowing me to learn how to organize myself.
Vijay
Shaun
June 12th, 2007 11:58 pm
Haha awsome idea :) I never use “real paper” to keep organized but wicked idea.
Dawn
June 13th, 2007 12:02 am
Great idea! I love having hard copies of different articles around and your binder system will be big help in my organizing.
Debra Brown
June 13th, 2007 12:55 am
What a blog-saver! Being new to blogging, websites, and surfing, this binder idea is a god-send. Plus I am an ex-handwriting analyst so writing is still on my list of preferred organizing methods! :) Just had a wonderful organizer come to make sense of 15+ years consulting work. I now have several empty binders who would enjoy a new life as a blogging “assistant”. Thanks for this great tip!
Scott Clark
June 13th, 2007 1:34 am
I’ve utilised a Fujitsu Scansnap scanner to take a bit the opposite approach. This program comes with a terrific digital filing program which interfaces with Adobe Acrobat for OCR/Indexing. Combine this with Copernic Search and RSS Bandit, I’m able to clear my desk of paper. The system synchronizes with my laptop each day using secondcopy (shareware) so I have all of my desk notes and such with me everywhere. I also use Mozy.com backup to transfer the materials to off-site backup. Having this material with me has saved my rear end plenty-o-times.
The Scansnap takes just about anything without complaining, from postcards to two-sided legal - very tolerant of wrinkled pages and such. It’s one of the few “full circle” systems I’ve assembled that has truly worked start-to-finish for years. I’d be the first to throw it acrsoss the room if it didn’t.
Mark
June 13th, 2007 2:54 am
Great idea! I keep a notebook (you know, the one with pages that doesn’t need a battery) where I scribble all kinds of ideas but it’s not very organised. A blogging binder seems the way to go. It’s always nice to get away from a computer screen for awhile anyways.
nicole
June 13th, 2007 2:55 am
Thanks for a great idea——I love it! I’m still pretty new to blogging, and I’m already finding it difficult to stay organized.
I will definitely give this a try! :)
nicole
Trula
June 13th, 2007 4:15 am
This is very helpful. I do something similar on my computer and phone.
Rachel
June 13th, 2007 5:13 am
This was a perfect article for me, i will definately print this out and refer back to it.
Baby Blog Addict
June 13th, 2007 12:50 pm
I have a little notebook that I have been using to brainstorm for our site. We’ve had our personal baby blog for 2 1/2 years now and just started a blog about a month ago for Baby Blog Addicts.
I have to admit that until I really dove into it, I had no idea how HUGE and involved the blog world is. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that we need binders to organize our blogs now!
Julie
June 13th, 2007 1:00 pm
I posted a comment yesterday, but it looks like it didn’t go through.
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their comments. I learned a few things myself from some ideas you all gave.
I have tried to organize myself electronically, but it never seems to work for me. There’s something about physically writing it down that makes it stick in my brain.
I once had a client who loved post-it notes. He literally felt like he couldn’t function without them. So instead of trying to change the way that worked best for him, we just tweaked it and created a board where his post-it notes went. We basically organized his post-its. It seemed to work better than them being attached to every surface of his desk. :)
So as far as organizing yourself for your online businesses, if you do not like to deal with paper, then definitely don’t try to create a blog binder. This idea is for the paper people. :) If you try to change your system and don’t cater it to what works best for you, then the system will fail.
If any of you ever have any organizing questions, just come on over to my blog, shoot me an email and I will be glad to help you out.
Thanks again everyone and thank you Darren for the opportunity!
Julie
June 13th, 2007 1:02 pm
For some odd reason, I can now see my comment from yesterday. I think I am brain dead or something from all the unpacking. I need a vacation! :)
Dave Starr --- ROI Guy
June 13th, 2007 2:10 pm
I spent 38 years in governement offices depended upon three-ring binders. Whenever we got rid of paper we had to make an archival file copy before we got rid of the original. Binders,”six part folders”, files, safes, file rooms, on andon.
Then there came a thing called the “Interrnet” .. Google is your friend.
http://www.netvibes.com
Everything you can put in the binder and more, accessible where and when you are located and … no papercuts
Hans
June 13th, 2007 7:33 pm
Thanks for the idea I really like it. But I think there are things that need to be noted and managed online itself. While building my “blog binder” I found that reading and replying to emails was an important aspect of my blogging. So it should be given a specific amount of time and organisation if I don’t want to see myself running over an over on emails.
Before your “blog binder” idea, I was using Todoist to sort out my daily activity. Now I think I don’t have to drop it permanently, Todoist can still be useful since you can incorporate features to allow you to pin important emails that need consideration. That way Todoist can be used to sort out stuffs that need an online consideration.
Thanks indeed for this great article.
Razeen
June 14th, 2007 12:00 am
Wow, what a nice article. Honestly, i am very difficult to keep my activities organized and this article is a great tip for me. I must buy a new binder soon….
J.T Dabbagian
June 14th, 2007 3:44 am
I love this idea! However, I decided to take the Blog Binder and give it an upgrade so that people who associate with the GTD Cult would be able to use it to its potential:
http://www.jtdabbagian.com/2007/06/13/getting-things-blogged-the-gtd-blog-binder/
Hope you don’t mind.
jgodsey
June 14th, 2007 6:27 am
A paper binder, with printouts is completely contrary to organizing internet material. there are many online notetaking software, including tiddlywiki. there are many pc based softwares, azzcardfile.com does exactly the same as your ‘binder’ without paper.
Sam
June 14th, 2007 7:39 am
I just started using Microsoft OneNote to pretty much do electronically what Darren is talking about in this post. For my blog at http://musicbeginnings.com, I have had to do something to stay organized. I found I was running into what Darren described where you have so many ideas running through your head, and you don’t want to forget anything. OneNote has helped me to organize all of this into different “folders” and “notebooks”, etc…
Sam
Bev Schweigert
June 15th, 2007 5:46 am
I love it! I’m going to print this off right now so that I don’t forget about it ;) Seriously though, it’s true, I always have good intentions when I find ideas on other blogs but seldom remember to go back and actually do something about it. If I print if off, it will serve as a reminder to me!
Bev
Christy Reisinger
June 15th, 2007 6:51 am
Great article Julie!
Everyone has there own way of organinzing but we sometimes need a place to start. Great ideas!!
Debbie
June 16th, 2007 5:24 am
Thanks for the fantastic idea. I plan on using this “blog” binder idea for website building and email marketing also.
Daniel Sitter
June 16th, 2007 6:31 am
Thanks for posting Julie’s article on your blog Darren. Organization is a key component to productivity. Although I prefer to organize electronically, Julie’s method obviously works well for her and likely will for most of us as well.
Organization leads to clarity, which leads to focus, which leads to productivity and efficiency, ultimately leeding to profitability and enhanced earnings!
May
June 17th, 2007 1:15 am
wow! great post!
certainly gets rid of the pieces of paper, notebooks that get waylaid on the way.
blessings.
May
Sharon Sarmiento
June 19th, 2007 6:36 am
Julie–I’m with you. I’m a paper gal, and after spending so much time online, it’s nice to have something I can flip through and write in. For me it helps to switch modes and get the system out of the computer.
I’m especially finding a system like this necessary now that I’m managing multiple blogs. It just helps my peace of mind to know that all the little pieces are corralled in one central place.
Thanks for this post–it’s inspired me to create my own blog binder :-) .
Lorraine
July 2nd, 2007 2:20 am
I am loving this post, because it’s exactly what I do! I don’t use a binder, though- just one of those 5 subject notebooks (which I developed a fondness for back in high school). The notebook goes everywhere with me, right in my laptop bag with my MacBook.
ali eteraz
July 2nd, 2007 5:06 am
This is the stupidest idea i have ever heard. I have two blogs, page rank 5 and 6 and have been top wordpress blogger on three different occassions.
Why would any blogger go lo-tech like a silly little elementary school kid, complete with binders, paper tags, and stupid markers?
I can just imagine carrying this stupid folder around when I go to live blog.
“Hi, I’m nerdy blogger guy, can someone please help me carry my ugly, white, elementary school folder, god its so heavy. Please, while you’re at it, can you also call me a nerd, and place a Kick Me sign on my back? I really never grew up from fourth grade.”
A real blogger knows without having to write it down that you have to focus on building traffic, outreach to other blogs, and CERTAINLY doesn’t need to write down his or her ideas (because that is what the draft folder is for). On top of that, there is no need to print articles because that is why God invented delicious. This article has wasted more of my brain cells than the entire four week long Paris Hilton news coverage. Get yourself Firefox, integrate Delicious into it, and then when you have blogged about an article, delete it from your Del.
And most importantly, never again read declutter blog.
Darren Rowse
July 2nd, 2007 6:47 am
ali eteraz - no one is forcing you to use this approach - it’s just one blogger’s way of doing it. I think it’s something that some types of personalities will appreciate more than others. You might be able to keep track of it all in your head or by using tools like delicious - however others work better when they print things out and have hard copies. Does that make them bad people?
If you read the 73 comments above yours you’ll find that this article did connect with many.
I’m all for people having their own ways of doing things but your comment is quite rude. Feel free to disagree with the articles on this blog but if you’re going to do so please take the time to remember that there’s another human being on the other side of the post who is simply sharing their story.
You should think about what impact attacking someone who has the courage to share a little of how they work will have on your own blog. You come across as a snarky elitist blogger - someone who I doubt most people who read your comment will want to read.
ali eteraz
July 2nd, 2007 10:33 am
“Does that make them bad people?”
No Darren; just inefficient, and misguided for they want to spread their inefficiency. I read tech guys to make me more efficient. They usually do. I like posts like this one:
http://www.matthuggins.com/55-essential-articles-every-serious-blogger-should-read/
Going paper seemed to me quite a waste of time and resources, thus the snark (which isn’t always wrong; only sometimes, and I only engage in it sometime, not always).
Vero
July 2nd, 2007 8:38 pm
Great idea, but to echo a few other commenters’ thoughts, paper just doesn’t work our for me. The likelihood of me remembering to carry a binder around all the time is too low, and I need a digital repository for URLs and ideas.
For that reason, I use Basecamp, which allows me to log in from anywhere, for notes and work-in-progress ideas. For links, I use del.icio.us, for which I have the Firefox plugin both on my home and work Macs. For on-the-fly notes, I use a small Moleskine, but always transcribe notes to Basecamp the next morning.
Or anyways, that’s the theory of it. We’ll see whether I manage to keep this process up now that I’ve started blogging professionally. ;)
Very inspirational, and hopefully, a good solution for those who tend to work from a single location.
Matt Heinz
July 2nd, 2007 10:51 pm
Clever. I also use a binder to help me keep organized (link to how I do it below). I organize most things online, but find that I simply can’t avoid offline organization as well.
http://mattonmarketing.blogspot.com/2007/01/getting-organized-part-iii.html
Trent Hamm
July 2nd, 2007 11:33 pm
ali: there are a lot of bloggers that are made more inefficient by carrying everything online. For example, most of my own research is offline. You’re criticizing someone’s creative process without understanding it - what does that say about your own critical thinking?
Zach
July 3rd, 2007 4:25 am
I second basecamp =)
Karen is Thrifty
July 4th, 2007 2:20 pm
Great tips Julie!
I have a folder in my file cabinet where I put blogging ideas that I have found in magazines, newspapers, etc. I have folders under my favorites for blogs I like to visit and for blogging ideas. I also have folders set up with my email so that I can move things to a folder for blogging ideas and get them out of my inbox. Whenever I’m having a dry spell, I just go to my emails, folder, or blogging ideas that have been bookmarked.
My system works great for me, but right now it has been neglected some and is getting messy. I need to do some maintenance.
Blogging Tools | extraworld.net
July 14th, 2007 12:51 pm
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July 18th, 2007 1:00 pm
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Heidi
September 9th, 2007 1:11 am
I like this idea =) Very creative. It’s not the thing for me, but I really think it’s a brilliant idea =)
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