Make Money Blogging When You Get Productive

One of the easiest, and most fun, ways to make money online is via blogging. Hundreds of thousands of bloggers make fulltime income. Super-star bloggers have million-dollar incomes.

Sadly, many new bloggers start out well, and then let their blogs wither because they lose interest and motivation. Don’t let that happen to you. Increase your productivity, and you’ll make more money.

Here’s how.

1. Develop Your Posts at Least a Week Ahead

   You’ll do your best thinking and planning for your blog when you’re relaxed. I try to develop posts away from my computer, either at the library, or at a coffee shop.

   When you’re looking for ideas, brainstorm, and check your blog’s statistics, but also think about your audience. What’s affecting them? What content could you create to help?

   Collect images you’ll use in the coming week, as well as relevant links you’ll include in the body of your posts. If you’re researching, and need to contact sources, do that well in advance — at least a week before you need the information.

2. Keep a Running List of Topics

   There’s nothing worse than trying to blog when you’re fresh out of ideas. Keeping a running “blog log” — a list of ideas and topics is useful. I keep the list on my phone, so that I can add to it wherever I am.

3. Use Your Blog’s “Drafts” Publishing Option

   All blogging services have an option to publish a blog post as a draft. I like to create draft posts as outlines.

   Then, rather than publish a post as soon as I complete it, I schedule it. Scheduling your posts means that you can line up a week, or a couple of weeks’ worth of posts in preparation for a busy time, or for your vacation.

4. Blog on the Go to Make the Most of Spare Minutes

   If you’ve ever been frustrated at the waste of time when you’re waiting for a meeting to start, or are in a queue, use those spare minutes to work on your blog.

   If you’re a WordPress blogger, check out the the WordPress for iOS app, which makes it easy to blog from your iPhone and iPad. You can also post to your WordPress blog via email, by setting up a special email account. The settings for this are in your WordPress dashboard.

5. Batch Write Draft Posts

   If you’re not familiar with batch writing, it involves writing several posts at a time, rather than just one.

   This maximizes your time, because you stay in the flow of what you’re doing. You won’t complete them all on the same day, but you’ll be amazed at how much more quickly you complete your posts.

Exercise 26. Create a running list of topics for your blog.

Create a list with at least ten topics on it. Make sure that you create the list where you’ll have instant access to it, on your phone, or in a notebook which you carry around with you. You’ll get inspiration in the strangest places. I usually get inspired in the shower.