How I Blog Successfully

While I certainly don't claim to be a blogging expert, I feel as though I've fallen into a good routine when it comes to blogging. I love this because blogging makes me happy and since I've simplified my process, it helps me to blog more often. I've utilized many resources from reputable experts and my blogging friends to see how they have achieved success. By mixing and matching what works for others, I've found a process that works well for me and I wanted to share it with y'all. Hopefully you'll learn something new that may help you as well!

My post topics: To be completely honest, I write when I'm inspired by a specific thought. This is what helps me to create an authentic post and (hopefully) write about something that others will find enjoyable. I have the Blogger app on my phone for when inspiration strikes randomly, but mainly this occurs during the time I schedule out of my day specifically for writing. For those moments that I'm lacking inspiration, I keep a running list of ideas. The contents of my list vary: some are well-thought out post concepts while others are just words that will help me come up with a more detailed post concept around that idea later on.

The actual post: I typically sit down and write my posts in their entirety. If I have to break it up, I try to stop at a point where I can easily pick up my thought process again at a later time. Hopefully I end up with a cohesive post! After I've completed a post, I'll work on a main image. This is something that I try to make eye catching and pinnable- often by using stock photography. Depending on the nature of the post, this could just mean editing my photos taken prior to writing the post. After the images are inserted, I utilize Blogger's post preview option and proof read my post as it appears on my homepage. I'll make the necessary edits at this time. I rarely write my posts on the day they are published, so I select the date I want it to go live and schedule in advance.

Promoting the post on social media: I just recently learned through one of Helene Sula's posts that you can find the permalink for a post within blogger before the post goes live! This has been a huge help for me in scheduling post promotion across social media. I now use Hootsuite to schedule post promotion in advance so that my post is being advertised on the day it goes up- all while I'm at work. Hopefully this is not annoying to my followers, because I really enjoy the fact that it's on autopilot now! I utilize Ahalogy to schedule my pins on Pinterest and try to stagger them out throughout the week that the post goes up. These automation tools have significantly reduced the time I spend promoting on social media and these particular tools can actually optimize the posting times so that my content is most likely to be seen by potential readers! I rarely promote my posts through Instagram, but that's just a personal preference.

Other post promotion: I will promote my posts in a few additional ways to make sure it's seen by the most people possible. One of my favorite ways to do this is through Facebook groups. I've met some of my best blogging friends through these groups and recommend them to anyone looking to find their people online. I've gushed about this before, so you can read more about my favorite groups here. I'm also a fan of link-ups when possible. This is a fun way to get new readers on your blog and to explore some new reading material as well!

I hope you've enjoyed the peak into my process of how I blog successfully and that you've found something useful to your own process! I recognize that I still have a ton to learn, but I'm excited to add onto this method as I learn more. I'd love to hear about your own process, or if you have any suggestions to improve mine!