Become a Blogging Maniac

When most people find out that I write four blogs plus maintain my About.com Jewelry Making web site, which has a blog-style front page, they think I’m insane. That alone is a lot to handle. Add to that the fact that I’m writing a dissertation for school, work a part-time job 20 hours a week, and still manage to squeeze out an occasional jewelry making book or magazine article, and you can say that my plate is more than full.

How do I manage all of this without losing my mind? How do I come up with enough content, especially since some of my blogs are related? 

One way I do this is by turning myself into a blogging maniac. Below are some methods I’ve used to juggle all my blogging time and energy:

• Schedule myself. I work three days a week away from home, so that leaves me four to get my writing done. This requires that I basically schedule my writing work just like I have a schedule from my part-time job. For example, on Mondays, I work on two of my blogs, on Tuesdays I write my dissertation, on Wednesdays and Saturdays I work on my About.com site, and on Sundays I write another blog.
• Warm up blog. One of my blogs is just for fun, or actually, I use it sort of as a personal diary about my long journey to losing weight and getting fit. I try to write in it first thing in the morning as a way to keep myself focused on what I will eat that day and how I plan to exercise. However, I’ve also discovered it has turned into a great way to sort of warm up my writer’s voice. It reminds me of Julia Cameron’s “morning pages” (author of many books including The Artist’s Way) where she suggests you write three pages every morning to just limber up.
• Topic immersion. I write two blogs and one web site that are all somehow related to jewelry. I cover all aspects of it from making it, selling, buying, trends, etc. This is a topic I’ve totally immersed myself in so I rarely have a problem with finding content. Usually, it’s the other way around. I have loads and loads of it. I have a huge list of sites I regularly visit, numerous magazine subscriptions, an active forum I moderate, receive books on the subject to review, take classes when I can, well, you get the picture. It feels like information overload sometimes but better that than having writers’ block.
• Daily Maintenance. While my scheduling requires that I set blog posts to publish automatically at certain days and times throughout each week, that doesn’t mean I ignore them after that. I check in daily to make sure blog posts published okay and to reply to comments. This usually takes just a few minutes a day for each blog, so it is a good way to quickly make sure your blogs are well maintained even if you did your writing earlier in the week.

Unless you’ve been at it a long time or have some killer topic, it can be difficult to eek out a living as a blogger. Therefore, it’s not unusual for most bloggers to have multiple blogs. However, you want to ensure you are making more than minimum wage even if you are lucky enough to be writing from home. The methods I’ve described have helped me create an income which subsidizes my other writing, sort of filling in the holes when I’m waiting for a big check for a book or other project.

While I know this post is not directly related to jewelry making, many of my readers blog about their jewelry experiences, so I thought it would be helpful. Even if you don’t want to become a blogging maniac, you might find some of my methods are helpful for regularly maintaining even just one blog. This will free you up to do what you love, make jewelry.

For more on blogging professionally, check out ProBlogger and his latest writing project for more tips on successful blogging.