Easy Blogging 101

I'm a cheater. I'm a super cheater. I take a lot of shortcuts when it comes to blogging. I absolutely love blogging, but sometimes life happens and it gets tricky to juggle. Here are some ways I make blogging easier and increase my audience.

How do you think of blog posts even if you feel like you have nothing to write about? 
I keep a document called Blog Ideas where I write down all my... er... blog ideas. It's got all kinds of post ideas, from different recipes I've been thinking about trying, to party ideas, to household tips, to etiquette tips, and everything else from here to the moon. When I feel like I have nothing really current in my life to write about, I turn to the list and am not only inspired for a new blog post, but to create something! I get to try new recipes or projects. Any time I think of something I've been meaning to try, or an idea for the blog, I write it down there and save it.

What if you have lots of ideas all at once?
This is my favorite thing. It happens to me a lot. Sometimes I'll have a new recipe, a new outfit, a new project, a memory, and millions of other ideas all ready to blog at once. So I blog them all! To stay consistent with my posting (I try to post daily, and more lenient on the weekend), I schedule my posts in blogger. I'll write a separate post for each awesome idea, then schedule them for the day I want them to post. I can write several days' worth of blogs at once, and not have to worry about it for the rest of the week!

How to schedule your posts to go up automatically: 
When you're in your dashboard on Blogger and you're writing a post, in the right column is a list of tabs (Labels, Schedule, etc.). Choose "Schedule," then select "Set date and time" and "Done." On the calendar that pops up, choose the date and time that you want it to post, then click "Done." When you've finished writing your post, hit "Publish" like you normally do (sometimes it says "Schedule"), and it will post on its own!

Organizing your thoughts
I started scheduling my blog posts in my calendar, as well as on blogger. This way I can see what I have planned to post for the week, and I can schedule "event posts" in advance. For example, for Mother's Day, I scheduled a post devoted to Mom way ahead of time, because that post takes priority. I want to make sure that I blog about relevant things.

How do you get more viewers?
There are encyclopedic amounts of advice for this one, but I'll start with the really basic starting points.
1. Follow other blogs. And when people follow you, follow them back. It's nice to be followed, and you're not the only blogger. Pay it forward.
2. Use keywords and phrases in your posts. If you're posting a recipe or a how-to project, make sure you include words that people would search for. Simple things like "Stroganoff recipe" or "How to Remodel Wood Furniture" are great key phrases to include in your posts, and even better as titles. If people can easily find your stuff on the internet, you can bet more people will see it.
3. Link-ups. Post links to your blog posts all over the internet. Here is an awesome list of link "parties" where you can share your helpful posts as well as view others.
4. Make your posts interesting. A huge piece of this is including pictures in every post. A picture's worth a thousand words. Another huge piece of this is to be happy. If all you do is rant about how difficult and horrible your life is, you'll depress your readers and they won't come back. Be a source of light on this dark thing called the internet.
5. Make your posts unique to you. What do you have that other bloggers don't have? Showcase it. Make them come back for more. Maybe it's your awesome recipes, or your high-end photography, or your insatiable wit.
6. Hold giveaways and sponsor other blogs. In my own experience, this is the one that will really get you more readers. Get your blog out there by sponsoring other blogs. Readers from other blogs will see your button and hop on over. A successful way to make them stay (besides your insatiable wit) is to straight up bribe them. Promise them goodies if they follow you. Hold giveaways. In the future, I'll do a whole post about sponsoring, and a whole post about giveaways.

I love these kinds of questions. For any specific questions, email me at tesiahwilk@yahoo.com! Oh, did I mention that if you send me a question, I'll link to your blog in the post? Hello, free advertising!