Written on January 7th, 2009 at 12:01 am by Darren Rowse
The Essential Guide to Growing Your Blog on Minimal Time
This is a guest post from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits, author of the new best-selling book, The Power of Less.
If you’re like most bloggers, you probably want to grow your readership as quickly as possible, but don’t have much time.
Unfortunately, blogging usually takes a lot of time — writing blog posts takes up a fraction of most bloggers’ time, as they also check their stats and earning multiple times a day, customize their blog design, try out new blog ad systems, comment on many different blogs, spend a lot of time doing email, and so on.
If you let it, blogging can become two full-time jobs. But get this: you can grow your blog quickly on very minimal time, by setting limits and focusing on the essentials.
I’m just one example: I grew Zen Habits into a Top 100 blog within its first year even though I was working a full-time job and doing free-lance writing on the side — giving me only about an hour a day to work on my blog, total. I probably could have spent more time blogging by working in the evenings or on weekends, but I have a family that’s more important to me than blogging.
So how did I grow Zen Habits so quickly on so little time? Well, I figured out through experimentation what grows a blog the quickest, and I learned to focus my time on those things. And guess what? Checking your blog stats and earnings — even though it’s the thing than many bloggers do most throughout the day — doesn’t really grow your blog, at all. What does? More on that below.
Limits
The key to growing your blog with minimal time investment is to set limits on how much time you’ll spend blogging. As I said, blogging can easily expand to fill your entire day, if you let it. In fact, whatever time you allocate to blogging is the time that blogging will take.
So limit your time to something manageable … for me that was 1 hour a day, for others it might be two hours or even three, and for still others it might only be 30 minutes. It really depends on how much time you have. Don’t spend less than 30 minutes on blogging, though, if you’re really serious about it. I’d say an hour to two is ideal. Any more than that and you’re not really setting limits.
So what happens if you set a limit of say, 1 hour? You could waste that hour by doing fruitless tasks, and then your blog will get nowhere. But if you’re smart, you’ll focus on the key tasks that will really help your blog, and nothing else. By setting limits, you’ll force yourself to choose only the most essential tasks.
If you gave yourself 4 hours a day, you could do a lot of tasks, but maybe only 1 out of 4 of those tasks would really grow your blog. If you gave yourself 1 hour a day, you’d have to eliminate 3 out of 4 of those tasks to fit within the time limit, and (again, if you’re smart), you’ll choose the most effective tasks.
Set a timer each day and work within the time limit. And while you’re doing so, be sure to do the most effective tasks first, and if you have time left, go to the next most effective tasks, and so on.
Essentials
So what are the most effective tasks for growing your blog? It depends on your blog, your goals, your niche, your target audience, and other such factors, but below I’ll share the things that work best for me. Other top bloggers might have different findings.
Experiment to find your essential tasks, and once you’ve found them, focus on them completely. Here are my essential tasks for growing a blog:
1. Writing outstanding articles. This is the No. 1 essential, by far. If you only do one thing each day, this is it. A great post might take more than an hour — that’s OK, do half of it today and half tomorrow. The main reason people come to your blog, and the main reason they’ll keep coming back or subscribe, is because your content is amazingly useful (or interesting, or both). So focus on creating those posts they’ll really want to read. You should be coming out with outstanding posts, with catchy titles/headlines, at least once a week, and probably 2-5 times a week (I am for 4 these days but had 5-6 in my early days).
What is a useful post? Well, this post is an example, I hope — it contains a lot of valuable info and tips on something that people really want to do. Check out Zen Habits for more examples — I try to make almost every post an outstanding one.
2. Linking, and link-bait. This could fall under the same category as the above tip, but sometimes it gets overlooked. Linking to other blogs is a great way to help out your fellow bloggers, get them to notice you, and build up some link karma. You could do it with a daily or weekly links post, but too many of those can get tiring for readers, so I recommend you keep it to weekly at most. Instead, link to other blogs from within your useful posts, and sometimes you might consider doing “linkbait”-type posts where you do a really useful post that links to a lot of other bloggers — for example, my “Top 50 Producitivity blogs” post that I did more than a year ago … a lot of bloggers appreciated being in that post, and just as I sent a lot of traffic their way, they sent some back. Everyone wins.
3. Guest posts. If you’re not writing guest posts every week or two, on blogs that are bigger than yours (even just a little bigger is good, but the bigger the better), then you’re not really trying to promote your blog. In my early days, I did 2-3 guest posts a week on other blogs, and as a result I was everywhere. It’s the best way to promote your blog on other blogs, because you’re showing the other blog’s readers how good you are. Be sure to write your absolute best whenever you do a guest post.
4. Commenting. First, be sure to read through the comments on your blog and respond if you can — this could take just 10 minutes if you do it quickly. Second, spend another 10 minutes if you have the time to comment on other blogs — and don’t just spam them, but actually say something relevant, useful and interesting. It helps you get noticed, and helps you become a part of the network of blogs (especially in your niche).
5. Email and networking. It’s important to respond to reader email, and to network with other bloggers through email, IM, Twitter, etc. Networking helps you to grow, definitely, but if you let them, these connectivity tools can overwhelm your day. So put them last, and limit them if you can. If your time is limited, just do the emails you can process in 10 minutes. Increase that to 20-30 minutes if you have more time, but don’t spend hours on these tools.
Minimize Non-essentials
Just as it’s important to focus on the essentials, it’s crucial that you limit and try to eliminate the non-essentials as much as possible. While you have to work on these things a little, now and then, don’t let them fill your allocated blog time.
1. Blog stats and earnings. Sure, I like to check my stats daily — but only once a day, and only for a minute or two to make sure everything’s OK. In the early days I became a little obsessive about checking blog stats and earnings, but after a little while I figured out that it wasn’t a smart use of my time. Blog earnings (from ad networks such as Google Adsense) are fun to look at, but if you’re like most blogs you won’t make a lot of money in the early days, until you have a lot of readers. So focus instead on growing the readers, and worry about the earnings later.
2. Ad networks. Many bloggers get excited about earning a side income (or even a main income) from their blog and throw every ad network possible on their blog — in fact, the ads often overwhelm the content. But that’s counterproductive — readers don’t go to a blog to read the ads, and if there are too many ads, the readers might leave or unsubscribe, never to come back. Instead, consider putting no ads, or as few as possible, in your early days … you’ll miss out on very little in terms of earnings, and you’ll probably grow even faster as a result. At any rate, fiddling with ad networks is very rarely worth your time — it does nothing to grow your blog.
3. Blog design. A good blog design can definitely help grow your blog — if it’s clean, uncluttered, attractive, and professional-looking, I think a lot of readers will be more likely to stick around. But spending a lot of time on your design when you could be writing great posts is not a smart use of your time. Instead, pick a clean, uncluttered theme, customize it as needed, and leave it alone. Maybe once in awhile you can remove a little clutter to make things more attractive, but most of the time. leave it alone.
4. Blog memes. As far as I can remember, I’ve only participated in one blog meme — those things where bloggers answer the same 5 questions (or whatever) and “tag” other bloggers to do the same. That’s not because I’m stuck up, or think these memes aren’t fun. They are fun. But they’re rarely of much interest to your readers, as they’re not that useful. Sure, they like to read a little about you, but too often and you’re just stroking your ego. Stay away from these memes if you’re looking to maximize your time.
5. Reading lots of other blogs. Don’t get me wrong — you have to read other blogs, especially in your niche, to stay on top of things. But if your time is limited, your reading time should be limited too. Reading 50 blogs instead of 10 doesn’t grow your blog any more.
6. Plugins and widgets. WordPress plugins and widgets, while fun to play with, don’t grow your blog very much, if at all. Don’t mess around with them too much. Focus on content.
7. Social media. Some bloggers spend a LOT of time on Digg, StumbleUpon, and other such social media. And while it can help tremendously to have a popular post on one of these social media, spending time on them isn’t the best investment of your time. Very, very few bloggers ever become a top user on these sites — it’s really hard, and worse yet, it takes a lot of time. A better use of your time is to write a Digg-worthy post, or a post that will spread like wildfire on StumbleUpon or Delicious — not because you’re friends with lots of the users, but because it’s insanely useful, interesting, controversial, or what have you.
Focus
Even if you’ve set limits and identified the essential and non-essential tasks, it’s easy to get distracted. It’s important that you learn to clear away distractions, such as email, Twitter, IM, social sites and even general Internet browsing, so that you can focus on the important tasks.
If you look at the essential tasks that I listed above, most of them are writing — which means you could do them with the browser closed, in a word processor or text editor (this post is being written in TextEdit, for example). This really helps you to clear away distractions and focus.
Once you’re done with the writing, you can connect and comment and do email, but even then try to stay away from the distractions until you’re done. Then if you have spare time, feel free to go wild.
Read more from Leo Babauta in his new best-selling book, The Power of Less: The Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essentials … in Business and in Life.
Tags: Blog Promotion
192 Responses to “The Essential Guide to Growing Your Blog on Minimal Time”
Wesley
January 7th, 2009 12:24 am
Really useful article, you’ve summed up pretty much everything.
I like the concept of limiting the amount of time you work on the site to maximize it’s return.
Jamie Harrop
January 7th, 2009 12:28 am
Excellent post, Leo.
I’ve often wondered whether the reason many bloggers don’t succeed is because many bloggers are too comfortable. They have a comfortable income and a comfortable environment so there’s never any real incentive.
In the same way, if somebody is able to devote 5 full days a week to blogging, they could become too comfortable doing the meaningless tasks that don’t help. I’m in this situation at the moment. Working 9-5 doing nothing but blogging and a little freelancing on the side. I seem to be managing it well, but there are some days when I get caught up in Twitter, Facebook and reading other blogs rather than doing something more productive.
Fantastic advice, Leo. One of the best posts I’ve seen in a while.
Thanks!
Jamie
Matthew
January 7th, 2009 12:30 am
Focus and prioritization s very important indeed.
Social network like Twitter can be great way of expanding network but can be addictive. Again prioritize the important things that bring the best results.
cheers,
Matthew
http://twitter.com/MatthewSM1
Make Money Online with a 17 year old kid
January 7th, 2009 12:31 am
Hello Leo,
Its so strange to see many of you write unbelievably amazing, great, and very useful posts.
You know what, I am sure many of the readers here who will read this will feel guilty of wasting time on checking their stats. Mostly earnings. Even a few cents earnings forces new blogges to keep checking their stats.
Although new bloggers know all their mistakes mostly but are not ready to accept it.
Such great posts like the one above have contributed a lot in improving the professionalism of new bloggers.
Great post
Regards
Laksh
http://makemoneyonline-withme.blogspot.com/
Scott Williams
January 7th, 2009 12:51 am
This post is absolutely right on the money… I really like the “Minimize the non-essentials!”
Twitter has become a great tool to notify existing readers of posts and expand the cathcment area of potential readers.
Farrhad A on Twitter
January 7th, 2009 12:51 am
Focus is the most essential point I feel.
And if it is in synergy with hard work, there is no stopping you :)
http://www.twitter.com/farrhad
Farrhad A
January 7th, 2009 12:52 am
In addition to my previous comment:
I forgot to mention, loved reading your post :)
Ruben Ricart
January 7th, 2009 12:53 am
Pure Nuggets of Gold!!! Thanks for Sharing Darren and Leo
Harley Pebley
January 7th, 2009 12:54 am
Thanks for the reminder. Great advice. Nothing like limited time to focus resources. Deadlines, even if artificial, are useful for this. Reminds me of an observation that we tend to get more on the last day before a vacation than other days.
Cheers,
Harley Pebley
David
January 7th, 2009 12:56 am
Minimal Time is something I have in abundance.
A Maui Blog
January 7th, 2009 12:56 am
WOW! I needed this. Thank you. I will apply these at A MAUI BLOG…now. :).
Aloha,
Liza
Shevonne
January 7th, 2009 12:57 am
Wonderful tips here! I definitely need to limit the amount of time I spent on writing blog posts.
ShriNagesh
January 7th, 2009 12:59 am
That’s wonderful advise. Some points resonate with me too (like reading lots of blogs).
This post complemented with Darren’s post on Social media Time suckers can save bloggers loads of time and help peeps focus on their blogging goals.
http://twitter.com/ShriNagesh
Jess Stratton
January 7th, 2009 12:59 am
Great post. And best yet, you’ve stumbled onto a question that I’ve had before when you mentioned that you were a guest blogger on 2-3 posts a week on other blogs.
I’ve wanted to do this for awhile but don’t know how to start. Can anyone offer any tips on this, or could you write another article specifically on this?
How would I approach another blogger to ask to write an article for them? What’s the etiquette on your byline containing a link back to your blog? What’s the desired time in sending an email asking to write a guest post, to sending a follow up request when you don’t hear back (if at all?)
Thanks,
Jess
http://momelettes.com - Moms are beaten and fried. These tech tips will help!
kgrantcareers
January 7th, 2009 1:00 am
Just saw this on Twitter.com and I have to say that I like the short and sweet approach. It is easy to get “caught up” in the extra internet stuff such as widgets and not focus on what matters. I’m going to share your tips with my students because I want them to understand how to set up a focused and effective blog to help them in their career.
trida
January 7th, 2009 1:04 am
your tips very usefull, and alot of experience, thanks for u
Ganesh - Online Bull
January 7th, 2009 1:04 am
Even though one does build a huge blog, the experience is the most rewarding thing.
I never thought about limiting the time I spent while growing blogs. I usually have the habit of spending hours and hours together working on one of my blogs.. :)
TechMata
January 7th, 2009 1:05 am
2 hours a day is enough. But I can’t stop checking my stat (especially google analytics) and earnings always. Its time for a change.
Excellent Post! ^_^
Tina T
January 7th, 2009 1:08 am
I’m definitely guilty of the widgets trap. I’ve been fooling with them because some bloggers insist that they have grown their blogs tremendously from using them. Many of them have smaller blogs than I do, so I’m not sure how I fell into this trap.
Thanks for getting me refocused.
Molly
January 7th, 2009 1:09 am
I just blogged on this this morning, not as well or indepth as you did, of course.
Thanks. I’m saving this to reread when it gets too overwhelming again.
Molly
gioperation
January 7th, 2009 1:10 am
This was a great blog post… I know I spend way to much time looking at my stats, but they have gave me some insight on what search terms people are using to find my blog… clearlng out the clutter on my blog is one of the things I am focused on right now… thanks for the great post.
Hannah Katsman
January 7th, 2009 1:11 am
Those are very useful tips, thank you.
I’m starting a new blog, but I’m not so familiar with the niche (although I know the topic well). It seems like it will take lots of time to figure out which bloggers to focus on for linking, writing guest posts, etc. Are there any shortcuts for this?
Many thanks.
Bridgett
January 7th, 2009 1:14 am
Excellent post. You are truly “walking the walk” - your suggestion to write good content and allow it to bring traffic your way based on its value (to its reader) is reflected here. I am still wondering how you know that I waste my time checking my stats when I should be writing :)
Corin
January 7th, 2009 1:19 am
Thank you for this great post.I’m quite busy with the school and this post comes in the right time for helping me to organise my time.
Almost all you’re post are usefull and interesting but this is great.Se ya
Tiffany Monhollon
January 7th, 2009 1:22 am
Back to the basics, no? I love it. I think 2009 will see more bloggers returning to these writing roots, and I see this as a good thing. It’s a lot easier to get over the mental obstacles of blogging if you can use this laser-sharp focus. Great motivation for the new year.
Enduring Wanderlust
January 7th, 2009 1:22 am
I love the concepts of link karma and commenting. Help your fellow blogger and it will come back to you. Blogging can be a non-zero sum world
Gokhiel
January 7th, 2009 1:25 am
most people recommended “Writing outstanding articles”..its easy to said but hard to do ..:)
Miguel | Blogging With Ethics
January 7th, 2009 1:27 am
Leo
Using a timer is a must because time has a way of escaping us whenever we start reading and commenting on other blogs. If I don’t use a timer of I’m asking for trouble. I have a timer of my desktop called “Cool Timer.” Simple but effective, it helps me get the job done.
I agree, knowing your limits and focusing on both it and your strengths or overall goes is central to ones growth. Thanks for sharing your story. I’m starting Grad school again in two days and my time will be of the essence. I may have to resort to employing a similar type of system you used on writing quality blog posts for an hour per day and then continue writing the next day. Interesting idea on guest posting… but I think I see where you’re coming from.
What rules do you have with regard to guesting posting? As far as, did the bloggers come to you or did you nicely request to post on their blog?
You’re right about networking and email, forgot about it- don’t let it drain your time! When I first started blogging, these areas were my downfall. I check my stats maybe once a week, I don’t look forward to seeing those numbers, instead, I like to see comment numbers- interaction and community involvement is what matters. :)
Leo, thanks for sharing! I enjoyed it.
-Mig
Shannan
January 7th, 2009 1:29 am
First off, you have provided some reassurance that I am on the right track with my own blog, so thanks.
I do wonder, as some of the other commenters, how to get a guest post opportunity. Should you actually e-mail the post ahead of time or try to establish a relationship before providing the actual text?
Thanks so much for the info!
Shannan
http://www.livingawholelife.blogspot.com
KyNam Doan
January 7th, 2009 1:30 am
Hello Leo. I’m still fairly new to blogging and so see myself doing a lot of the things you’ve called non-essentials. For example checking stats, tweaking blog design, and reading too many other blogs.
I’m also spending 3+ hours a day blogging, but end up posting only a fraction of the posts I write.
So thank you for the tips! I’m going to work on becoming a better and more efficient blogger.
-KyNam
Amy Boyack
January 7th, 2009 1:33 am
Thanks for the tips. I often spend too much time on the computer and blogging is definitely a big part of it. I just found this blog article through a recommendation on twitter and felt it was something I really needed. Again, thank you.
Joel Pearson
January 7th, 2009 1:34 am
Great post, Leo. I have recently started blogging and was asking myself some questions earlier tonight which have all been answered in this article. I am primarily interested in getting more traffic, if only to increase the amount of discussion that will take place.
Like Jess who posed above me I am extremely interested in the idea of doing guest posts on blogs. Can anyone shed light on the best way to approach this? I’m mostly interested in what kind of etiquette one should apply when making ‘first contact’ with another blogger regarding a guest blog.
Cheers,
Joel
boey
January 7th, 2009 1:35 am
Totally agree. Sometimes we just waste time over focus on certain area & forgot important tasks.
Nice sharing, thanks.
Lyman Reed
January 7th, 2009 1:36 am
Now that’s what I call a useful article. Thanks for this, Leo… you just blew my biggest complaints (excuses?) right out of the water.
cube
January 7th, 2009 1:40 am
Very good tips. Thanks for sharing.
Chris
January 7th, 2009 1:40 am
One thing I have never done in my 2-year blogging history is writing guess posts. Link-bait is a lot, as I’m writing a gadget blog, which quite some times, we do a blog post via other blog posts..
Yiannis
January 7th, 2009 1:44 am
you are totally right .Last week, i really identify write content is the most important key.But i think 70% people have experience to spend time to do some Non-essentials.
Writer Dad
January 7th, 2009 1:46 am
Guest posts are great not only because they get your name out to a different audience, but because they allow you to refine your craft at another’s home.
Tori Tait
January 7th, 2009 1:50 am
Another great post. Thank you for the reminder about limiting our time, and setting aside a certain amount of time for certain online tasks. It is just too easy to spend endless hours and not really feel like you’ve made progress. You are right that an hour of focused time can be way more productive than 3 hours of unfocused. I am definitely encouraged to limit myself starting now. Thanks
Sebastian
January 7th, 2009 2:02 am
*sob*
This is so true. Articles like these really are worth reading. Its so straight to the point. Definetely a blog post worth bookmarking. Makes me want to buy his book.
Thanks for sharing this information. It really does come in handy to follow you on twitter. Otherwise i wouldn’t have read this post.
Putra Eka
January 7th, 2009 2:05 am
With minimalize our blogging time to productive way, it can be so impressed. Thanks to share your mind
Sara
January 7th, 2009 2:19 am
I’m sure Darren will also chime in, but to comment on Jess’s question — I’ve been approached by other bloggers to provide guest posts, but right now I’m looking to do more guest posting so am actually pitching ideas to other bloggers myself. I haven’t been super picky about byline. My philosophy is, make it as easy as possible for the other guy/gal, so I included my byline, blog title, everything he’d need to post, and that way my byline and bio were exactly what I’d want them to be.
Patty Reiser
January 7th, 2009 2:21 am
Thank you for sharing this information. I found it very informative and useful as I am still navigating through the world of blogging.
Wishing you a scent-sational 2009!
Patty Reiser
Thomas
January 7th, 2009 2:31 am
Great collection of advices. Even I like the idea of setting aside a fixed amount of time for getting my blogging done.
As I am writing on different blogs (and in different languages at that, which sometimes requires some time to adjust), my daily amount of time per blog unfortunately does not even come close to one hour.
However, I have started to allowing allocating more time to different blogs on different days and minimizing the time for the other ones that day.
Ron
January 7th, 2009 2:52 am
Thank you, this post is exactly what I needed to be reminded of: don’t get sucked in! It is easy to get distracted, especially with everything going on in the world today. I definately like the idea of closing the browser while writing posts. I’ll be making that a normal practice. Thanks again, Mr. Leo and thanks for posting Mr. Darren.
Sincerely Ron
http://www.lucrativenicheblogging.com
Luca
January 7th, 2009 2:53 am
very interesting article, I agree with all the points reported in it
15 Minutes to Riches!
January 7th, 2009 2:55 am
EXTREMELY informative article, Leo! Thanks!
Rhiannon
January 7th, 2009 3:02 am
~”Minimise Non - essentials”….I think ‘ll print that up in big letters and stick it up over my computer ! Thanks :)
luq
January 7th, 2009 3:13 am
wonderful post! i really needed an article like this, im in a juncture where i can spend only minimial time blogging and this post will help me a lot, i’m pretty sure i’ll refer back to maintain my focus and eventually make my blog successful while getting everything else other than blogging (like exams) done as well.
thanks again Leo and Darren.
Luqmaan
Jackie Dishner
January 7th, 2009 3:26 am
Interesting post. It’s good to know where to focus my time, and to know what I can do better. I haven’t yet taken the time to explore guest posting. It’s that time thing. But I’ll give it more thought this year.
Thanks,
Jackie
SEO Genius
January 7th, 2009 3:37 am
Great article, definitely an important point that you have stumbled upon. Something I have been wanting to try for ages but for reasons have not is guest posting as the benefits can far out weight the time invested.
Jaspal
January 7th, 2009 3:52 am
Great tips .. @Zen Habits you have earned 1 new subscriber in me .. keep it up !!! .. i will meet u at your blog :)
Frugal Dad
January 7th, 2009 3:56 am
Excellent tips, and ones that really hit home for me as a father of two with a demanding full time job. Not much time left there for blogging, but I have managed to grow my blog some over the last year by employing many of the ideas you mention. A big one for me is staying away from time-sinks like Twitter, email, stat checking, etc. when I’m in “writing mode.”
On a side note, congrats to Leo on the success of his latest book!
Chris
January 7th, 2009 4:11 am
Fantastic article. This is definitely something that I need to adhere more closely to. I have limited time for blogging, and as you say, unless I maximize my own time, I’m not going to maximize the potential of my blog.
Thanks for the wonderful guidance!
TrailBlazer
January 7th, 2009 4:20 am
Very Interesting. But how much time it take a blog to really hatch as per your experience, with the Essential Components?
Suthnautr
January 7th, 2009 4:23 am
Now you tell me. :)
Melissa
January 7th, 2009 4:27 am
Sending you a great big THANK YOU and a {{{{{{HUG}}}}} really needed to read this today. Needed to be reassured that I am on the right path :-)
Lisa Cummings
January 7th, 2009 4:28 am
Hey Leo, thanks for the great tips. I have a question for you on guest posting. I write a blog for MBAs, and your tip on guest posting looks appealing. What’s the protocol for offering yourself up as a guest?
Thanks,
Lisa
ATLANTA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
January 7th, 2009 4:32 am
I think this is blog 50 that Im reading today so Im going to go now!
$Money Savin' Momma$
January 7th, 2009 5:35 am
Wow, great article! I can see how you grew your blog easily within a year! I think some would disagree with your opinions on social media however… especially when it comes to Twitter… lots of people are using social media to grow their blogs in one way or another…
just my two cents! :)
$Money Savin’ Momma$
Feature blogger at Engineer a Debt Free Life
(lots of freebies, bargains, and money saving tips… even some ways to get paid to search online!)
http://www.engineeradebtfreelife.com/
$Money Savin' Momma$
January 7th, 2009 5:36 am
Wow, great article! I can see how you grew your blog easily within a year! I think some would disagree with your opinions on social media however… especially when it comes to Twitter… lots of people are using social media to grow their blogs in one way or another…
just my two cents! :)
$Money Savin’ Momma$
Feature blogger at Engineer a Debt Free Life
(lots of freebies, bargains, and money saving tips… even some ways to get paid to search online!)
Julian
January 7th, 2009 5:38 am
I think I’m going to make a habit of reading this post every couple of weeks to remind myself of what not to do!
Voila Megan
January 7th, 2009 5:40 am
Tremendous! You’ve inspired me to close my browser and start constructing those essential articles.
Thanks for the powerful advice.
Ben
January 7th, 2009 5:44 am
I believe that when you limit the amount of time that you dedicate to a project, you are much more efficient with your time. This is probably because of the feeling of urgency you have. Knowing that you only have 20 minutes to complete a task helps you stay focused on that task.
frank
January 7th, 2009 5:48 am
Thanks for spending the time on this post! I appreciate the time and effort. It’s always helpful to hear perspectives from people who have been successful !
The hard part: Figuring out what the things are that need to be focused on. :)
How did you figure out what to focus your time one? Obviously writing good content is #1 (which you continually do very well), but other than that, how did you figure out what to focus on?
Also, you put socila media (SM) into the non essential bucket. I’m sure you have had your fair share of feedback & conversations about this. My initial stance would be that SM is key to anyone wanting to burst on to the bloggin’ scene.
Social media is such a growing area and provides people with a lot of potential value related to growing a blog (this is assuming that good content is being published regularly).
Thoughts from anyone out there?
Thoughts Leo Babauta?
–
http://twitter.com/franswaa
Terra Andersen
January 7th, 2009 5:53 am
Wow, you definitely summed it all up very nicely. I really do agree that when it all boils down to it, content is king.
Look at some of the better blogs out there,(like Problogger) and you’ll see they they all add immense value with each and every post.
Graham
January 7th, 2009 5:54 am
Thanks for the wonderfully distilled information, Leo! Although I’m an amateur, blogwise, what you say is equally relevant to my situation, so this has given me some good guidance as to how to allocate my time.
Evo Evo
January 7th, 2009 6:05 am
One of the biggest traps new bloggers can fall into (and I’m as guilty as any!) is to spend too much time on social network sites. Spending hours adding lots of friends may boost your ego, but probably won’t translate into steady long-term traffic.
Digg and Stumbleupon only work if you write great content and people come to you!
Wendy Sullivan
January 7th, 2009 6:17 am
I read a ton of news sites and blogs every day, and rarely do I get a gem from them. I think maybe cutting back on my reading will be a way for me to focus.
W
PoLR
January 7th, 2009 6:37 am
haha, wish I had read this earlier today - I just spent a full day catching up on reading, writing a stash of future posts and generally using up way more than an hour!
Think I may try limiting my blogging time for a week and see how it goes.
Monthiel
January 7th, 2009 6:47 am
“…spend another 10 minutes if you have the time to comment on other blogs — and don’t just spam them, but actually say something relevant, useful and interesting….”
I think that is the most important thing to do to growing your blog…
Take care,
Monthiel,
Kate
January 7th, 2009 6:54 am
This one is starred on Google reader to refer back to - I really like Leo’s blog & the story of how his blog grew - I think we can all learn a thing or two from his techniques. Great guest post.
Andreas
January 7th, 2009 7:16 am
Leo, as usual. Super on the point and super useful. Thanks for sharing the way how the most impressive blog grew from zero to hero!
In blogging you are a hero for me for sure!
I will adopt your advice.
Julie
January 7th, 2009 7:27 am
This is a great guest post!
I too would love information about the etiquette of asking bloggers to be a guest on their blogs.
Thank you Leo!
Julie
wearingmascara.com
Michael Natkin
January 7th, 2009 7:30 am
Great advice, Leo! You are absolutely right, I spend way too much time checking stats and other nonsense. I’m starting on essential #2 immediately, and plan to focus my time much more in the coming year.
Simona Rich
January 7th, 2009 8:01 am
Focusing on most important things and setting time limits is crucial if you want to have some spare time from blogging. This is what Tim Ferris talked about in his book.
It is called Parkinson’s Law. “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
MikeWords
January 7th, 2009 8:06 am
Thanks Leo. It’s amazing how much time you can waste when your workspace (the internet) is the ultimate time waster. Refreshing…
Nick
January 7th, 2009 8:12 am
I’ve been doing a LOT of reading on this subject lately and this was the best thing I’ve read of the bunch.
Scott Mahler
January 7th, 2009 8:18 am
Very helpful information. I spend the bulk of my time working on creating websites of clients I already have. I started a blog as a means to give more information to my existing clients and a marketing avenue to get more clients. Using a few of the things you mentioned here, can leave me the time I need to focus on the work I’ve already accumulated, and perhaps, allow for family time. Thanks for the ideas.
Ben Clapton
January 7th, 2009 8:23 am
Great post leo. I’m trying to renew my blog this year, and will try and use some of these tips. Just a word about plugins - I redesigned my website to tie in with some external advertising, and in the process I decided what plugins I was going to use. Once I completed the design and uploaded, I won’t be searching out for any more plugins, unless the blog develops so that it demands it.
Peace Mitchell
January 7th, 2009 8:35 am
An excellent article, Darren, thanks so much lots of great tips there. Time management (and knowing what to direct your time and attention to) really can be the difference between succeeding and floundering.
Warm regards,
Peace
Anastasia
January 7th, 2009 9:42 am
I often hear/read that if people are not reading your blog it simply means they are not interested in what or how you write. Might be a stupid question but - before making the call “they just not into it” should you try advertising your blog? Woudl it make sense to invest just a bit into Facebook ad and google AdSense for a month and then see what ahppens for a month or two fter you’ve advertised?
I’ve just started my blog. I know it is too early to say anything about its future - just wondering if you would know that your blog “will fly” without doing anything at all to market and avertise it?
Robby G
January 7th, 2009 10:30 am
Blog Memes? never heard of them til now but still don’t really understand what they’re for. Either way you suggest not to use that method so I guess I don’t even need to know about it.
My suggestion is to not try and redo your blog theme or style too much, that takes a lot of time to get it perfected.
Wise Tourist
January 7th, 2009 10:32 am
Thanks for the great inputs, Leo.
I am Twitter-free at last!
Carla
January 7th, 2009 10:40 am
I’m glad I stopped checking my stats 3-4 times a day - it was getting to distracting. I do need to spend more time on my posts. Thanks for the reminder!
threeundertwo
January 7th, 2009 10:54 am
Excellent article, thanks!
Brandon Eley
January 7th, 2009 10:55 am
Great tips! I think I remember seeing your Zen Habits blog a while back, but for some reason I didn’t subscribe. I’m glad you did this guest post because I’ve now subscribed to your RSS feed and look forward to reading more.
Thomas
January 7th, 2009 11:38 am
I thought I was the only one who has spent considerable time working on my blog. Guess I’m not.
Great post!
Arwin
January 7th, 2009 11:45 am
yeah that was really useful tips, but it really takes time before a blog get a lot of traffic, get me here: http://buyatblog.blogspot.com
Bash Bosh
January 7th, 2009 11:46 am
Top quality post!
Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips with us!
Steve
January 7th, 2009 11:50 am
I feel rebuked! It’s so easy to get distracted by what seems important, but actually isn’t. Or what is fun, but isn’t productive. Thanks for the reminder.
Desiree Fawn
January 7th, 2009 11:53 am
As usual there’s some pretty good stuff being said here :) Thanks for the fab post.
Smart Boy
January 7th, 2009 12:02 pm
An excellent post. Your ideals regarding successful time management are superb. What I like best is the way you bring simplicity into blogging. The fact is - it should be simple. Set your goals, and your time - and work hard. Don’t dabble - it doesn’t help your own life, or your readers’.
Tom Miles
January 7th, 2009 12:25 pm
Just beginning and caught this on FF, so glad I did. Very useful reminders - and admonishments.
Vincent
January 7th, 2009 1:01 pm
Once again, great tips by Leo. This tips would be definitely helpful to new bloggers like me. Thank you once again.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Ariel
January 7th, 2009 1:19 pm
Great list. Thanks Leo. I like your suggestion about writing posts in a text editor to reduce the distractions when writing. :)
JP Holecka
January 7th, 2009 1:50 pm
I think that you need to spend more time on your blog in the first few weeks, design, planning, development etc. It’s no deferent than starting a business. Good planning and hard work up front will mean that when things finally do get rolling that you are ready for the traffic, monitoring, administrating and writing content etc.
I have been in the web game for many years on the agency side and am now just beginning to blog. I am having a blast what ever the stats say!
JP
htnmmo
January 7th, 2009 2:04 pm
I think the biggest problem is that many people follow this advice but not all of them can really write well or things of interest. Especially if they’re in a competitive niche.
Thousands of people probably already read this, yet there are only 100 spots in the top 100 list on Technorati.
Shaan
January 7th, 2009 2:16 pm
Really a great post and having nice tips about time management which is a very important thing for bloggers of young age like me
Denise
January 7th, 2009 2:19 pm
Thanks Leo. Appreciate the breakdown, especially which areas are more important to focus on for growing your blog and which ones to minimize time wise. This will help with scheduling my time out significantly, and especially focusing less on plugins and networking in particular.
John Bullard
January 7th, 2009 2:22 pm
This was great information. I am finding myself consuming my time with my blog rather than writing good content. I am fairly new at this and trying to learn what I should be concentrating on. I also watched the first video and signed up for the second. this is really good helpful information.
Thanks so much
John http://www.jjbullard.com.
Debra
January 7th, 2009 2:38 pm
Thanks for the very useful post (they always are!). Give new bloggers, like me, some focus.
German Romance
January 7th, 2009 3:22 pm
Thank you for this post. Focus is really the important thing, put your phone on silent mode, turn off TV etc. I usually schedule something interesting to do after blogging, that way you are enjoying mere the fun task at hand.
Zach Dunn
January 7th, 2009 3:27 pm
It surprised me just how well linkbait list articles worked on my blog. However, it was a little discouraging to see that the surges in traffic come from posts that do not take as much thought, especially when there was a considerable amount of “higher caliber” content.
Clara Mathews
January 7th, 2009 3:41 pm
What an excellent post. As a new blogger, I appreciate the tips on how to stay focused on the more important things and how to use my time more effectively.
Sometimes I find myself spending more time reading about how to blog than actually sitting down at the keyboard and writing content for my blogs. I have set some goals for my blogs in 2009 and now I will put your advice to set limits and stay focused on the top of my list.
Shannon
January 7th, 2009 3:44 pm
Awesome tips! I am bookmarking this to save and read more of later. I really want to grow my tiny blog.
Dale Sackrider, II
January 7th, 2009 3:56 pm
Great post - I’m just getting started and I’m already making the mistakes you have pointed out here - this was a timely and useful blog article for me!
Maureen Sklaroff
January 7th, 2009 6:49 pm
Today was the perfect day for me to read this! I just started blogging a couple of weeks ago. I did not set out to do it for money, but quickly realized that if I want people to read my blog, I need to use the same SEO tactics that marketers use to attract readers. If I don’t have any readers, what is the point? The problem has been that in doing research about how to get going, I’ve been overwhelmed with all the tasks that other bloggers say that I need to do. Writing, researching, adding cool plugins, reading other blogs, commenting, social networking, etc. - I’m exhausted! I’m going to take your advice and start prioritizing things more carefully, starting right now with getting some sleep instead of reading anymore blogs!
jennnine
January 7th, 2009 7:47 pm
this all sounds great… i am definately going to apply some of these tactics, and some of them i already do… like stats, only once in a while, as i can tell how i’m dong by comments and inbound links.
however, i think you are missing one huge point and time consumer and that is research. i cannont stress enough how much research plays into developing quality content. writing a post is no problem, but unless i’m writing random stuff out of my mind *which no one cares about* each post has research behind it. not to mention the time it takes for image sourcing, whether from creative commons or my own photos.
i wish i didn’t have to do so much research, but unless i’m writing drivel, or stuff that everyone else has i’m going to have to do it. actually, i take that back, i like the research part, i was doing it anyway before i started my blog, in fact it was one of the reasons i started it.
:)
Chris Prakoso
January 7th, 2009 8:00 pm
Thanks for pointing me out what I’ve already known but afraid to admit :)
I definitely fall under those distractions more often than not, which obviously taking away my precious and already limited time to do what is the most important thing, i.e. writing great post.
Cheers !
Gini
January 7th, 2009 10:08 pm
Thanks so much! I definitely need to get started on guest posts. May I suggest adding a link to your “How to Get Guest Blogging Jobs” article to this post? When I saw your suggestion in this article, I immediately searched your blog for an article on guest posting, and found it very informative. As always!
Travelwriter
January 7th, 2009 10:09 pm
Good Article. Only at 4 I would not agree. I can’t comment many blogs within 10 minutes. I need the whole 10 minutes to read one article (if it is a good one, like yours)
Martin@TF
January 7th, 2009 10:38 pm
Very interesting article. I am in the process of starting to build a blog so I will keep these things in mind.
At the moment it is growing quicker than I ever imagined but I worry that it will run out of steam too quickly!
Martin
http://www.talkingfuture.com
Pat
January 7th, 2009 10:46 pm
Excellent article. It can be hard to focus of the right activities and all too easy to get distracted by other stimilus on Facebook etc. that don’t really help your cause.
Article writing also takes some getting used to but improves with practice in terms of quality and time taken to produce.
PatB Photography
Marianne Hynd
January 7th, 2009 11:15 pm
As a new blogger, I really appreciate the points made in this post. This is GREAT information! I admit I have been in the “stat checking” mode in these first few weeks - definitely a time waster!
Thanks for the advice and GREAT information! This will definitely help me in this new endeavor!
Michael
January 7th, 2009 11:52 pm
I really enjoyed the post as well.
However, do you all really think that commenting on other blogs is an efficient use of time?
Most comment links do not count for SEO purposes, and the traffic from comments is low compared to other sources most of the time.
—-
http://twitter.com/Revelation1217
J. Michael Warner
January 8th, 2009 12:41 am
I have found that another good thing to do is socialized with other people in your business or niche. When I first started on Linkedin I was a little skeptical that it would be worth it. It has helped me not only make contacts, but has helped with focusing my “position” in the market and given me article ideas.
Roy
January 8th, 2009 12:55 am
simple common sense really, but it’s always best reminded sometimes.
yeah, i’m guilty on those stats and social media.
blog posts should really come first.
thanks for a great article!
Seralathan
January 8th, 2009 1:09 am
That’s really great advice. I some how realized that,, but wasn’t sure whether I’m finding reasons for not to work hard. An eye opener.
Edward Brown
January 8th, 2009 1:20 am
NNNOOO!!!! EVEN AFTER ONLY A COUPLE HOURS, I am the 132′nd comment!! UGH.
NEXT TIME I’M FIRST, BABY!!!!
Anyway, great post.
Have a great day! -Edward Brown
http://www.edwarsmoneyblog.tk
George
January 8th, 2009 1:37 am
I like blog memes too much not to do them, and I don’t get them enough to really impact my productivity. However, the other tips are right on the money. Great advice.
Simran
January 8th, 2009 1:52 am
Really useful post :) I’ll surely follow your advice but I think one hour a day is very little time for new bloggers as I am also a new blogger. Anyways thanks for such a nice article.
Eric Tan
January 8th, 2009 2:46 am
Awesome post Leo! something clicked in my head after reading the “Limits” part… i’ve been looking at blogging the wrong way…
BTW Leo, we have a mutual friend from guam…
AquaDaily
January 8th, 2009 3:00 am
Once you add upgrading wordpress etc to the list, the amount of time spent messing with a blog can easily run into hours.
I probably spent 2-3 hours on WP Super Cache alone this week.
From now on I’m all about my tropical fish posts. :)
Tess The Bold Life
January 8th, 2009 3:02 am
Leo this is excellent. I will put this into action and watch my blog grow. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
HIB
January 8th, 2009 3:16 am
This is a great article and a timely one at that.
I know I spend too much time looking at stats. I’m really trying to break that habit. I’ve also fallen into the social media frenzy where I spend a lot of time trying to promote my blog through social media while I would be wise to spend that time writing more quality content.
I’ve written a few guest posts, but this article reemphasized the fact that I really need to key in on writing guest posts.
-HIB
Brandy
January 8th, 2009 3:54 am
I am still new to blogging, started in December (just last month) and trying to figure out my niche. I love to write and love helping others, but I would also like to tell others how successful I am in working from home. So I hope to find a new year with new focus. this post will be kept for me to read again as I do need to focus! I am looking forward to learning from others who are successful in blogging.
Vintage Mommy
January 8th, 2009 4:15 am
I just read an article at Marelisa’s Abundance Blog that talked about “analysis paralysis”, which very much fits in with what you’re talking about. Sometimes you have to stop planning, thinking, researching, etc etc and just write!
Golf-Swing-Plus
January 8th, 2009 5:15 am
Good information…thanks for the advice…Mike
Laura Graves
January 8th, 2009 5:37 am
Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated!
Mikko
January 8th, 2009 6:15 am
At least I confess being guilty of checking the ad sense stats every hour. That’s insane, I admit. But in fact I’m happy to earn anything at all from two blogs that I spend about hour a day with.
Merry Mary
January 8th, 2009 6:25 am
Great tips. I think a lot of us, especially those new to blogging, are easily distracted by the non-essentials. Checking stats and earnings can almost become an addiction. Its great to get a reminder on avoiding these distractions and focusing on the things that will help grow a blog.
Agitationist
January 8th, 2009 6:30 am
Very nicely done.
I think we were writing at the same time:
http://agitationist.com/150-visitors-a-day-in-2-weeks-the-bootstrap-method
A little different perspective, more personal and ethics-centered but some of the same conclusions.
GP
January 8th, 2009 6:48 am
Great article. I totally understand not having alot of time. I do so many things in short amounts of time. This article gave me a few tips I can use.
workout mommy
January 8th, 2009 7:10 am
great tips Leo, thank you! and congrats on your book!
Frank J
January 8th, 2009 8:24 am
Great article!
I find that many of us who have a main source of income blog as a hobby, and I am one of those bloggers. I do in fact try to monetize my blog, and have made some coin that bought me neat toys.
If blogging was a living I would be a grunt and turn over every stone I could find.
Frank J
January 8th, 2009 8:31 am
Leo that’s a bingo!
I couldn’t agree more on the importance Guest posts. I really helps your reputation and gets you noticed fast. I try to do at least 2 to 3 per month when time permits, but hope to do more soon.
Thank you!
Dan McCarthy
January 8th, 2009 12:09 pm
Leo -
Wow, what perfect timing. Having been blogging for a little over a year, and hitting somewhat of a plateau, I’ve been searching for ways to increase traffic. I came up with a list of ideas, and half of them were on your “non-essential” list.
I love your “one hour per day” and guest posts ideas. And most importantly, you’ve reminded me it’s all about great content. That’s going to ne my #1 goal for 2009.
Leopoldo Lopes
January 8th, 2009 12:36 pm
Well, for me these guidelines open my eyes a little more concerning to expose my blog which is also a Magazine and Radio Station. I find really hard to monetize my blog without the usual tools bloggers have to do it. I use the old fashion way of selling add space, to bands, promoters, record labels. I think extending even more my blog way down with more space ads would be a little too much for the blog itself. I hate ads, I don’t like to scroll down a page because of one or two ads, and I thing I’ll never do that on my blog.
With so many blogs and websites on the WWW, every day is hardier to promote and expose our daily work.
Oh, by the way, and maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I found my self as one of the few persons who write and try to promote music, bands and related subjects almost (well ’till today) for nothing. It’s a pleasure to write and help our Idols!
Cheers all!
gendut
January 8th, 2009 12:51 pm
thanks for remaind me, the useful guide…..with limit time …getting bigger result
charles palma
January 8th, 2009 1:24 pm
But if you don’t have anything to do, you can extend that limit or just consume that extra time on other tasks. But it’s good to set limits and pressure yourself. In reality, 2 hours is not enough if you want to grow your blog fast. :)
James Wicketts
January 8th, 2009 3:29 pm
Thank you Darren! Very informative and interesting. I didn’t realize how all the other distractions were limiting my focus and time. I would love to be a guest on another blog and am always open to having a guest on my blog.
Cheers,
James Wicketts
Kevin
January 8th, 2009 3:49 pm
Great post! Definitely a lot of useful information and tips. I’ve been blogging for about 3 years, but only recently moved to proper host which allowed more flexibility and was wondering just how others do it in terms of their traffic flow etc.
Some of the tips mentioned I managed to pick up from visiting other blogs, other tips I’d be sure to try out.
Another thing I would like to know though, is the guest post, how would one go about getting into that? I’d love to do that, that would definitely love to get my writing exposed on a much larger scale.
Grace @ Sandier Pastures
January 8th, 2009 4:28 pm
What a fantastic post and a great read for people who almost allow blogging to take over their life (me)! I do not actually count the number of hours I spend on my blog but I feel it is too much.
Thanks for this post! I am very much enlightened!
Tinh
January 8th, 2009 6:13 pm
Amaziiiiiiiiiiing post. I could not think how much time and energy you invested in this post. I would take me a month to do so and the product might be much worse than this :-)
Thanks
Ravi Ahuja
January 8th, 2009 6:21 pm
A very good article and will figured out problems with a blogger. The main problem a blogger face is distraction which not make there blog grow fast.
Focusing on writing great content is the most important part and most of the blogger fails in this part. In this article Leo Babauta has pointed how not to get distracted this is the advice I liked most.
One more thing where are you Darren there are not much post these days from you. I am waiting for your post.
Jon
January 8th, 2009 6:51 pm
Good guest post… learned a few tips from it.
Jon
http://Buzvia.com - Where’s Your Traffic Going?
khmerbird
January 8th, 2009 8:00 pm
thank for this useful information, i am just a new blogger and most of time i think i spent my night on what you call it Non-essentials.
great advise,
ariane
January 8th, 2009 10:48 pm
i love the advices and ideas you share to bloggers like me. i get lots of ideas that i would surely execute.. thanks! more powers!
JeepnDave
January 8th, 2009 11:29 pm
Great post Leo!
Thanks for all the tips on focusing our efforts and drilling down to the bare essentials for what really grows our blogs.
I have to admit I was guilty of spending way too much time on stats, plugins and site design. Thankfully I have been able to realize the precious time that I was wasting.
Ekawaaz
January 9th, 2009 12:44 am
Wow..thanks for sharing such useful and informative post. I love the idea of reading lots of blogs and ofcourse I will make sure I leave my say so that people can understand my mind set. Thanks man..thanks a ton
Sedie
January 9th, 2009 2:23 am
Thank you so much for this easy to read and implement post. I’ve recently been laid off and while I look for a job, I want to do what I can to enhance my blog as well as my knitting and crochet business. Focusing my time and efforts on areas that will be most useful it essential.
Reading this post really helped me put things in perspective so that I can design and implement an action plan that will be most effective.
Thanks again.
Kelly Young
January 9th, 2009 2:59 am
I loved this. This is a great time of year to set goals and start focusing. Thanks for the wonderful insight.
Franck Silvestre
January 9th, 2009 3:00 am
Hi Leo,
I am an avid fan of yours!
I read and visit your blog almost everyday. That was a very insightful post, thank you for the information you have put up for the readers and noobie bloggers like myself. I am always on the look out for useful information on how to further ‘pimp’ my blog traffic and I specially bookmarked this post for future reference.
Best,
Franck
Theresa Mayhew
January 9th, 2009 5:09 am
This is one of the most helpful articles I’ve read on blogging or internet business altogether.
Breaking activities down into Essential and Non-essential tasks is crucial to accomplishing anything.
Many of us have a problem with focus and attention, but your outline makes it easy (if we follow it).
You must be a fan of Timothy Ferris’ 4-Hour Work Week.
All the best,
Theresa
Gary Largent
January 9th, 2009 5:15 am
Thank you for this important article. It is relevant and concise.
This will help me avoid many pitfalls and maximize my blogging efforts.
Daniel
January 9th, 2009 5:52 am
Excellent post, great tips, nice blog. Thanks a lot!
Zack
January 9th, 2009 6:36 am
Very inspired, especially the linkbait type posts, I’ve never think of that before. That’s why there are so many “Top X” posts out there, I guess.
Thanks for this great post.
Market Secrets Blogger
January 9th, 2009 7:10 am
Yea I’m guilty of playing around with too many widget/plugins because like you said they’re fun!
Guest posting is the thing I really want ramp up on so Darren:
How about reading my blog and then tell me if you’re willling to accept a guest post from me??
Kevin
January 9th, 2009 11:24 am
I also forgot to mention from my previous comment that I have written an article a little while ago regarding how to maintain a blog as a part time writer which I believe has a lot of relevance to this particular post.
http://ijunkyworld.co.cc/blog/2008/12/06/maintaining-a-blog-as-a-part-time-writer/
And also, would like to offer my services as a guest writer, I believe I am understanding this whole concept.
OngKL
January 9th, 2009 3:05 pm
Thanks for the great information.
It is really enlightening to a new blogger like me.
Cheers
Mia
January 9th, 2009 3:53 pm
Thank you for writing this. I actually have been thinking about this very subject…how to manage my time and grow my blog. I probably read too many blogs, but I do try to quickly absorb titles, etc to see if it’s where I want to spend my time.
I almost got completely sucked into twitter, but am taking a step back and not allowing it to use all of my time. I’ve also given myself a goal so to speak where I refused to look at my stats before a certain date. (I’ll be sure to analyze them completely then).
What I need to work on is guest posts and ensuring my content is good. Thank you!
Siegfried Garcia
January 9th, 2009 5:00 pm
I very much like the idea of “setting limits.” In my humble opinion setting limits goes down to Time Management. Alotting time for each blog or site you’re managing would really give you more focus on each of them.
thanks leo.
Ari Lestariono
January 9th, 2009 7:00 pm
Thanks for the post I just read and it seems just like any other tips,and my guess would be that you take at least 1 year to be on currently.Anyway thanks for sharing, I think you need to explain details on how you do it.
Nicole of JustAskNicole.com
January 10th, 2009 12:47 am
I found this post to be oh so helpful and insightful! It’s very easy to get distracted online these days, so it’s especially important to do whatever’s necessary to stay focused. Thx for sharing!
Frank Dobner
January 10th, 2009 1:24 am
Thank you very much for this contribution. This advice suits the rigor I used to apply to my work. Lately I have gone into “creative mode” thinking that writing takes as much time as it does. I like the discipline in this article and will aim to move my work in this direction.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/frank_dobner
Frank
Team Nirvana
January 10th, 2009 2:18 am
Thanks for posting and reminding one more time on what to aim for when starting a blog and wish to hit the blogosphere.
Stephen Cobb
January 10th, 2009 4:15 am
Great timing Leo! Help’s reinforce the New Year’s resolutions: build a better blog, be a better blogger.
Thanks…Stephen
http://monetate.com/blog
Malcolm Bastien
January 11th, 2009 3:33 am
I always forget about these sorts of simple rules and just limiting the time I spend on non-productive activities.
It seems that these rules are like the 80/20 of blogging, especial given how much time most of us spend just browsing digg and other blogs and not really thinking about how much that adds to the bottom line.
Emma
January 11th, 2009 3:38 am
Great stuff, thanks Leo and Problogger. I guess you really live that “write on top of your form for guest posts” thing :)
I’m one of those in “just starting out” mode and this is probably the most useful piece I’ve read yet. Bookmarked, emailed to a couple of people, and commented on. Thanks again lads.
Ari Lestariono
January 11th, 2009 4:43 am
The problems in blogging is you may have to update everything in narrow time, suppose if your aim is on blog comment it will occur to you that you have to read almost connected comments prior to read the article itself, and base on my activity on making comments that could sum up time consume around 30 - 60 minutes, which could be more and need to think before making good comment, so the pareto 80/20 is to be applied, the problems occur since blogging business is dynamic you just can not focus on one method to attract visitors to your blog for example last 2 months I made a good traffic rapidly, suddenly before X-mas and New Year’s Eve it dropped drastically so I have to make big u-turn on trying another method and this is also not easy since your doing trial and error similar to research project with the attitude go-no-go.I hope this will clarify most problem we’re facing, and Leo is right he can find method to do more less with most result done using the Zen philosophy.Cheers
albert
January 11th, 2009 7:36 am
Having just started blogging, I have to say this site is an absolute goldmine. I already created 2 wordpress blogs. Infact one is now ranked PR4 by google in less than 50 days! I am thankful for the tips I got here.
Robyn
January 12th, 2009 11:27 am
sorry for the dumb question, but I don’t see the difference between linking and “link-bait” - they seem the same to me as described here. Can someone clarify?
Thanks!
Erin
January 12th, 2009 12:09 pm
Thank you so much for this blog, i found it incredibly helpful as I have just started my own blog and have looked and wondered why i havent been getting many readers yet, but as you say it takes time and I am very new to this, so advice like this is (i was about to say goldmine but the dude above me said it) excellent and valuable!
Alexis Bellido
January 13th, 2009 4:45 am
Thanks for the nice advice. Focus is the key, really.
A few months ago I stopped using too much Twitter and checking my email every five minutes and I’ve gained a lot of time to invest on researching topics and writing new posts.
Frank Dobner
January 13th, 2009 8:43 am
Regarding Alexis’ comment, Twitter can be a huge sponge of your time, if you watch Twitter like a TV show, it will soak a lot of time. Twitter is a social interaction tool to be used when I have something to accomplish. It is fun though. Sometimes I have to put my toys away though.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/frank_dobner
Frank Dobner
January 13th, 2009 8:44 am
Regarding Alexis’ comment, Twitter can be a huge sponge of your time, if you watch Twitter like a TV show, it will soak up a lot of time. Twitter is a social interaction tool to be used when I have something to accomplish. It is fun though. Sometimes I have to put my toys away though.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/frank_dobner
Magali
January 14th, 2009 1:15 am
Thanks for the excellent tips. I’m in the process of setting up a blog and one concrete skill I need to know is how to go about determining the top 10 or 20 blogs in a niche? What goes into doing that?
Niche Affiliate Marketing
January 14th, 2009 8:58 am
thanks for the these tips. This was such a good post that I made a link from my blog to this post.
Arwin
January 22nd, 2009 1:16 pm
thanks for the great advice.
DemoGeek
January 24th, 2009 4:45 pm
That just nails the base really strong, an excellent write-up Leo. I know you are a great guest-blogger. I wanted to do it as well but had some questions around where to start. Do you normally ask permission before sending them the guest post? Or do you just send the post and ask them publish it if they like? I see advantages and on both and wasn’t sure which will work out better. Your insight on this would be greatly appreciated.
Natalie at BMore Natural
January 26th, 2009 3:50 am
As a total newbie to blogging - still in the research stage with blog yet to be started - I am finding this site brilliant in giving easy to understand advice. I only made the decision recently to start a blog and reading my way through this site has got me very inspired. I’ve also linked through to the Zen Habits site which is totally up my street so thanks very much for that introduction! Keep up the great work, I have bookmarked you and will be referring back often!
Wedding Planning
January 30th, 2009 11:29 pm
My wife and I started a wedding site as a hobby after our daughter got married. We just now started to search the internet to review other wedding sites and holy cow we had no idea there were so many blogs and web sites about weddings. Looking to create a list of the best we can find.
eVentureToday | Michael
March 15th, 2009 10:24 am
I’m a big fan of both Zen Habits and ProBlogger. Great article Leo, thanks for the advice.
Ari Lestariono
April 3rd, 2009 12:59 pm
I am big fan of those top notch bloggers, not because they have thousands subscribers, it’s their posting innovative and informative articles.
Seth
April 8th, 2009 1:54 am
I am really going to work on guest posting at least once every two weeks. That way I can grow my backlinks, increase traffic and encourage authority in the blogosphere.
Thanks for the great tips!
Asa
April 8th, 2009 10:17 pm
There really is a limit to how much you can get done in a single day. Automating some of your efforts can be extremely helpful. You can always outsource some of your efforts such as the article writing and the link creation. Outsourcing is really not as difficult as most people think.
As a blog owner, I feel that your time is really best spent coming up with new ideas for your blog and thinking of more ways to promote your blog rather than getting too focused on repetitive tasks.
Web Designing Quotes
April 11th, 2009 7:50 am
Focus and priority is very important. I like the concept of limiting the amount of time you work on the site to maximize it’s return.
flowers Moscow
April 13th, 2009 5:51 pm
I’m one of those in “just starting out” mode and this is probably the most useful piece I’ve read yet. Bookmarked, emailed to a couple of people, and commented on. Thanks again
Ari Lestariono
April 13th, 2009 7:13 pm
Great tips and advice.I can only say to my points of view from newbies, for start up you need to do blogging almost 8 -10 hours a day to get into running and posting article, making quality article requires research, and that also consuming.After around 6 months then you will get the idea to do the concept of doing less and get more things done.
obama russia
May 6th, 2009 3:44 am
Glad I found your blog. I’ve found a few good tips on your site. I’ll be a regular visitor from now!
Lindy
June 6th, 2009 3:00 am
It took my husband and I about a half year to get our Disney wedding blog to generate a significant amount of traffic. It takes a lot more time in the beginning and then it takes on a life of it’s own - kind of like a baby.
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