How Much “Blogging” is There Really in Blogging?

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Do you know how a blogger spends his/her time? If you are not a blogger, your perception most likely is that bloggers sit at their computer and write blog posts – or arrange the kitchen and take photos to document the recipe they are blogging about.Do you know how a blogger spends his/her time? If you are not a blogger, your perception most likely is that bloggers sit at their computer and write blog posts. But what are bloggers really doing all day long? what are the tasks of bloggers? #bloggingtips #startablog #bloggingforbeginners #bloggingtasks #bloggingsuccess #bloggingactivites

And even many newbie bloggers have that idea of what to expect from their new “job.”

When I talk to aspiring bloggers I sometimes hear their fear of “not being a writer” – I think I should hear far more often that people “are not a marketer” or “not an entertainer” or a “media company.”

Because that is all part of the job as a “blogger” in today’s world. And the blog post creation is by far not the task that most often decides over success or failure.


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But how much of what the public thinks about blogging is there really in blogging?

How much time does a blogger actually spend on what others perceive as the “blogging” work?

I am not giving you a number for how long it should take you to create one blog post. I think that would be utterly wrong.

Some bloggers take hours or even days to create ONE post, others write a quick update in a couple of minutes.

For me, it totally differs and totally depends on the topic. Sometimes I need hours, sometimes I can be far quicker. Sometimes looking for great images or even creating some images to go with the post, keeps me busy for ages, sometimes I can reuse some images I already have.

So, no there is not a timeframe you should stick to when creating a post – there is no right or wrong.

But…

The day of a blogger is not so much about “writing” anymore. There are bloggers who publish a post every couple of weeks. And they are not on holiday in between. They are still working on their blogging success.

Because there are multiple other tasks, that a blogger has to do that are only loosely or not at all connected to writing a blog post. And here are the recurring tasks that make blogging such a diverse and interesting job. This list is in no way meant to be complete – just to give you an idea of what blogging involves apart from writing or content creation.


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Let’s start with tasks related to content creation:

1. Topic research:

Bloggers are always on the lookout for topics to cover on their blog. If you have already written a couple of posts, you will at some point run out of ideas on your bucket list.

Browsing around your niche online, check what the competition covers, actively engaging with your audience are all part of your job as a blogger. The best ideas come from reading, talking and interacting – not from simply writing.

As a blogger it is not only ok to spend a bunch of time browsing through the internet and read blog posts – it is actually part of your job!

2. Keyword research

If you want a chance to attract traffic from Google search, keyword research is absolutely necessary.

Almost any niche is already very crowded, you need to research which keywords may still provide a gap in content.

Image Source: Serpstat

Plus, you want to make sure that you use the lingo that your audience uses in your posts. That is your best chance of catching their attention.

You can create awesome content that nobody will ever notice if you don’t do your keyword research homework. And keyword research can take a lot of effort and time!

3. Answering comments

If you have any comments on your blog, you should answer them. Answering comments time-consuming task, but it will help you to build a connection with your audience.

Do you know how a blogger spends his/her time? If you are not a blogger, your perception most likely is that bloggers sit at their computer and write blog posts - or arrange the kitchen and take photos to document the recipe they are blogging about. But that is by far not all that a blogger does. Here is what else blogging is all about #bloggingtips #blogging101 #bloggingforbeginners #startablogI sometimes wonder how some of the bloggers keep up with answering their comments, I often miss comments even if I want to answer all of them – sorry if I missed yours.

4. Create other content like emails, lead magnets, products

Yes, this is still content creation – but it has nothing much to do with writing blog posts. If you are running a blog as a business, you need much more content than blog posts!

Content you can sell. Content your audience will want to have so badly that they will pay you with their email address. Answers to questions. And so much more. You will become a graphics designer, a writer, an editor and still just be a blogger.

Community building

4. Blogger outreach

Whether you want to guest post or interview another blogger, there are multiple reasons why a personal network of bloggers will tremendously help you to grow your blog. That means you need to reach out to other bloggers.

They will help with a launch, they will participate in interviews and content creation, they will review your books, they will answer your questions and just be there as shiny examples.

Fellow bloggers are not the competition, they are your colleagues and friends!

5. Coffee, Lunch, and Meetups

Blogging can be a lonely journey. Make sure you meet enough like-minded people with whom you can talk about problems and challenges. People who understand your fears and the happiness of even the smallest success.

Being a blogger can be hard. Because when someone asks you what you do for a living, have you ever noticed that glance of doubt you get when you say “I am a blogger?”Do you know how a blogger spends his/her time? If you are not a blogger, your perception most likely is far away from the reality of blogging. Here is what blogging is about. #bloggingtips #bloggingforbeginners #startablog #blogging101 #bloggingbusiness

6. Group activities

I often recommend that new bloggers should join some groups of like-minded people, for instance on Facebook or LinkedIn. These groups can partly substitute the coffee dates.

Talking to other bloggers, helping and getting help will make your start into the blogger life much easier. But taking an active part in groups also costs a considerable amount of time!

Social Media and Distribution

6. Build your audience

In most social networks you either pay hard money for an audience or you have to invest a fair amount of time to grow your audience manually. This will probably take up most of your time as a blogger until you figure out how to automate at leas some of these tasks.

You will learn best practices, try processes and features, measure results, tweak and optimize. And eventually, see some traffic coming to your blog – for free!

Maybe I should have highlighted this task in red or bold letters. This is what takes most of my blogging time…

7. Tool maintenance

While automation can save you a ton of time in your social media marketing, you still have to update, change and improve your automation setup. Rules change, features come and go, you learn new best practices,…

Automation is awesome, but it still needs some maintenance to keep running smoothly and bring the results you are looking for.

8. SEO optimization

A blogger has to become an SEO pro, or you won’t see much traffic from Google search. And optimization takes more than creating the post in the first place. You will check your rankings, click through rates, meta descriptions – and try to improve continually. You will create content specifically for SEO reasons – and you will get creative with earning links back to your website.

Step-by-step you will get familiar with more and more ranking factors and the impact they have on your blogging.

Tasks about your blog and setup:

9. Regular updates to Setup, Hosting, Apps, and Plugins

As a blogger, you usually are your own admin. You will have to learn a ton of stuff about hosting, setup, site speed, internet security, and more.

That includes updates to older posts but it also includes updates to your blog setup. Changes might be necessary, new versions of plugins and apps. A blogger will learn a ton of stuff about setup, hosting, site speed and so on -just to keep the blog running smoothly.

10. Sales Funnel And Email Lists

You are a blogger, and you do not have an email list? Bad idea! Start one now!

  • You have to get familiar with an email automation tool. Once your email list contains more than a handful of subscribers you do not want to handle your email marketing manually.
  • You have to create and send emails on a regular basis.
  • You may even want to set up some email automation that will send a welcome series to every new subscriber you earn.

 

Blogging in the modern world is a profession. It is a job - just such a new one that many people do not know what they have to expect from it. Writing and blog posts are only a small part of blogging. #bloggingtips #blogging101 #bloggingforbeginners #startablogThe above blogging tasks just quickly came to my mind when I thought about how I spend my time as a blogger. I am fairly sure there are multiple other tasks that I forgot to mention that bloggers regularly do and which don’t sound very much like blogging – but they still are part of the everyday routine of many bloggers.

Blogging in the modern world is a profession. It is a job – just such a new one that many people do not know what they have to expect from it.

Writing and blog posts are only a small part of blogging.

Are you intrigued? You should be. Because blogging is awesome!

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How much time time does a blogger actually spend on what others perceive as the “blogging” work? And what other tasks are involved in blogging? blogging tips, start a blog, blogging for beginners #bloggingtips #bloggingforbeginners #startablog

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