Tips To Help Bloggers Stay Organized
Here is an amazing article sent in by my good friend Mark Sierra. Mark has totally blown me away with how fast he has grown his blog. MAMD is an amazing blog and its one of my personal favorites. Mark, as a writer, has a very unique and professional writing style that I simply enjoy. I know you will too! Please give a warm welcome to Mark Sierra and be sure to hook him up with some rewarding comments for his time and effort. Don’t forget to subscribe to his feed. I enjoyed reading this article off line and I am very happy to have it posted here on GCDC!
Tips To Help Bloggers Stay Organized
By Mark Sierra
Every blogger has a strategy with which to create content. Whether or not it’s for one blog, two, or dozens, it all comes down to how are you going to keep track of what it is you want to write about. Personally, this is one of the biggest challenges I face because I’m one of those bloggers with many different outlets to write. So I’d like to share some tips with you that might help you get and stay organized, which will result in a more efficient blogging experience.
Pen and Paper
Yep, the old tried and true recording device known as pen and paper. I’ve recently started carrying with me a small pen and notebook in my pocket to record things just for blogging. Be it a new domain name I want to check out, topics for writing, blog maintenance list, whatever…it’s always within reach. I know it seems like a no-brainer, but honestly, it’s the simple things in life that can be often overlooked. This has brought a little control back into my life because I could never remember all the things that were going through my head. And when you add all the voices in my head — oh, let’s not go there. 
Online notebook
I prefer to type, so when I’m on the computer at home or at the office, I use Google’s Notebook add-on for Firefox. If I see something while I’m browsing that I want to write about or come up with a new topic entirely, I just click on the link to save it. I can then refer to it when I’m ready to get down to business. If you’re not familiar with Google Notebook, you should know that it’s very flexible in that you can create numerous sections to organize your topics. You can even use labels. You don’t need the add-on to make it work either, so if you just want to keep the notebook in your browser open all the time, you’re set.
Read It Later
Speaking of saving things to read later, a Firefox add-on I’ve recently started using is something called, appropriately enough, Read It Later. This little tool makes it easy to store pages you want to read later with the use of two buttons that sit in your browser’s toolbar. One button is for easily marking the page as such, the other is your list of things you’ve saved. Clicking on that button will allow you to “stumble” through your list. True, you could just bookmark them in your favorites, but this thing adds value by removing from your list the articles you’ve read when you mark them as read. You can also send them to other popular bookmarking services for long-term storage.
Scheduling
So much to write about, but having trouble putting it all into perspective? Consider using an online calendar. Laying out your topics on a calendar helps you see the big picture and spot times that are most convenient to make your posts. As time goes on, it can also serve as a pat on the back to see all the work you’ve accomplished. I use Google Calendar to do this (okay, I’m a fan of Google like Garry). If you’re familiar with this calendar, then you know that you can add many calendars (which are really labels, when you think about it) to one overall calendar. But if you favor another calendar, have at it. Assigning a color to each blog and seeing everything together helps me see if I’ve distributed my posts evenly and thus prevent a bottleneck. But even if you have just one blog this sort of planning can help relieve stress because having a plan is half the battle.
I hope you found these tips useful. If you have other suggestions or tools you use, please leave a comment telling us about it. I’d be most interested! I wish to thank Garry for allowing me this opportunity to share his blog from the other side. I invite you all to join me on MeAndMyDrum where I cover a variety of topics like the ones above and many others.
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Date/Time: 11-20-2007 04:56:37 Comment #6673
Great tips Mark,
I went and installed Google notebook
after your suggestion.
John
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 05:17:02 Comment #6674
Great post, Mark!
Like you, I keep a small notebook within reach all the time. In fact, I even take it to work with me. You never know when a great idea will present itself. I record ideas for future posts, notes for blogs I am reviewing, a list of keywords for my blog, and anything else that may come in helpful.
I haven’t looked at Google Notebook, so I’ll definitely check that out.
Keep up the excellent work, Mark! And Garry, I love this guest blogging! It’s wonderful to see so many different perspectives on blogging. Each guest blogger has had something wonderful and unique to offer to your blog! Combined with your own great work - WOW!
Have a great day!
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 07:45:26 Comment #6679
-Mark, Excellent tips, I guess I am going to have to try the Read It Later, the only other thing we do different is the Pen and Paper, I use a Digital Voice Recorder. But the Notebook and Calendar have been 2 of my favs for awhile now. Thanks for the great post!
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 07:49:33 Comment #6680
@John
Thanks - glad to have something new for you.
@Tish
Great minds think alike, huh?
@David
Thank you, David. Oh yes, making recordings - another great idea. I used to try that on my PDA a while back, but never really took to it.
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 08:28:56 Comment #6681
I just use my notepad on my desktop to keep track of things. Excel spreadsheet to keep track of the things that i need to do and also my online earnings
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 08:50:48 Comment #6683
Useful tips! I always wanted tool like “Read It Later” but can’t find it.
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 08:57:55 Comment #6684
Excellent tips Mark!
I’m more ghetto in that if I’m at work, I just e-mail my home e-mail address with stuff. I then keep a to-do list in an Excel file I made.
The to-do list consists of post ideas, but it also includes things like “Fix Footer on KC”, “Add Related Posts to FP”, etc. That way on weekends when I do most of my writing (and scheduling ahead posts), I can prioritize and get stuff done. This has worked pretty well for me.
-Kyle
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 10:47:32 Comment #6687
I write everything down too. I find that if I don’t put an idea on paper, then it’s like the idea never happened. Great guest post buddy.
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 11:20:43 Comment #6690
That is an awesome plugin. The plugin even recognizes which bookmarking services that you use the most and sorts the options with that into consideration. Thanks so much for offering to share these great tips Mark. I know for a fact that they will help me!
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 16:00:23 Comment #6692
Way cool, Mark. I’m not quite that organized, but the pen and paper thing is something I’ve always done. In fact, I sit with a pen and notebook in front of me while on the puter. It’s easier for me just write something down right then and there, than try to bring up a program to type it into. LOL
Great post, hon
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 20:59:19 Comment #6695
I guess for bloggers to stay organized, it’s harder than it seems…
-Mike
Date/Time: 11-20-2007 23:57:56 Comment #6696
@Michael
That’ll work, too! I use a text editor for quick notes myself.
@Symbian
Well, I’m glad to have found something useful for you. Thanks for commenting.
@Kyle
Sounds like all great ideas, buddy. I’ve recently switched my domain keeper list over to Excel for better management.
@Baron
“…like the idea never happened.” Ain’t that the truth! The older I get, the more I have to right stuff down. This notepad I carry has really helped me .
@Garry
Yeah, it is a pretty cool one. You don’t see many of those these days — more of the same old stuff. But ever once in a while you get one that really hits home.
@Christine
Thanks! Hey, the pen and paper does not fail. Nice to have something that you don’t have to boot up to use.
Date/Time: 11-21-2007 00:49:05 Comment #6697
Christine,
I don’t know how you do it… but you can get more done in five minutes that I can in 5 hours!
Date/Time: 11-21-2007 01:28:09 Comment #6698
@Christine
I am hoping that you’re going to share you secret with us. I can use all the help I can get.
Date/Time: 11-21-2007 01:34:09 Comment #6699
Christine has a basement with about ten computers set up. She surfs the blogosphere for victims and kidnaps them and keeps them trapped down there… they bookmark, process, post… all day.. THE BPP plan..
an endless cycle… its a sad story really.
Save the victim bloggers from Christine’s BPP wrath of basement pain.
lol!!!!
Date/Time: 11-21-2007 01:37:04 Comment #6700
OMG! That’s her? I heard about that on the news this evening, but missed who they were talking about. Christine, please tell me you offer them a good dental plan at least.
Date/Time: 11-21-2007 01:39:43 Comment #6701
The dental plan is amazing! If they work too slow, she’ll pull their teeth out.
Date/Time: 11-21-2007 23:35:07 Comment #6719
OMG!!! You guys are aweful. LOLOLOL
I haven’t had to pull any teeth out; yet. No, here’s the secret. Fake it until their convinced, then play it off like there’s nothing to it.
It’s worked for me for more than 20 years. LOL
Date/Time: 11-24-2007 06:26:37 Comment #6760
One of my biggest failings in life is organisation! - I’m just not that good at it no matter how hard I try.
It partly comes from having so much to do, perhaps as well as trying to stay organised, you need to know your limits - for instance, I had to turn down some freelancing work for an online marketing company the other week because I just couldn’t fit it into my schedule.
I also make use of my Windows smartphone and jot down ideas for posts and even write some bits of them up using the Task List and then sync it back to Outlook, so I can then copy and paste into Wordpress.
Date/Time: 11-24-2007 11:33:35 Comment #6762
@Zath
Even though I mentioned the tools above to help stay organized, the amount of success they’ll give you depends on knowing your limits indeed.