Is your blog’s “to-do list” getting the jobs done?
This is a guest post from Kumiko Suzuki of http://www.cashquests.com, exclusively for AdesBlog.
If you’re like me, you’ve never been a big fan of bloggers who claim that they keep a “To-Do List†for their blog. Seriously, how hard is it to run a blog? I’ve always imagined that these lists consisted of nothing more than:
- Write post
- Respond to comments
- Read other blogs for inspiration
- Go to step 1
Perhaps some of the lists are like this but I’ve recently discovered that while I don’t write it down, I definitely do have a “mental†list of tasks that I complete on a daily basis. These tasks don’t necessarily relate to the content produced on Cash Quests but definitely help the site remain visible and successful:
- Reply to your urgent e-mail. Sometimes potential advertisers request advertising on a whim and you need to make sure that you close the deal before they’ve cooled off.
- Check your trackbacks and Technorati links. You need to know who has been linking to you so that you can judge which content is the most successful and which content creates the best responses. It also helps you measure opinions towards your site. If you don’t do it daily, you may find yourself with a large list of sites to check by the end of the week!
- Manage your comments. If you’ve got them, read them and reply to ones that you wish to reply to. Don’t forget spam deletion! Any site that has spam sitting on it for more than 24 hours just looks unprofessional.
- Study your site’s traffic levels. If your traffic takes a large dip one day there may have been a server problem that needs immediate investigating. Similarly, a large spike may indicate that your site has gone viral and that’s something that you want to know!
- Reply to non-urgent e-mail. It may not be urgent, but it still deserves a reply.
While I have no doubt that you’re already following these steps, the more successful you are in prioritizing and managing your time away from the blog is a great indication of how successful you will be with the blog! Happy blogging!
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By Community Building Blog on Jul 20, 2007
I have a list of titles for future articles I want to write for my blog. Although I call it a ‘to-do’ list it is in no way representative of your suggestion that it simply contains basic sentiments such as ‘Write Post’ and ‘Respond to Comments’!
Incidentally, I am wary of using other blogs for inspiration.
- Martin Reed
By Phil on Jul 21, 2007
I think for most people, the blog to do list is used more to mark down ideas for articles. I use http://www.dailytodo.net to keep track of my ideas for articles. As far as the tasks you mention above, I agree, it would become habit after just a few days and a list really becomes unnecessary.
By xBrain on Jul 22, 2007
yes, agree with the kumiko point, i do sometimes miss all the what to do list at my http://xbrain.biz
By Daniel Vukadinovic on Jul 23, 2007
I also have a to-do list about what should I write on my blog in future but I change it almost every day so it doesn’t mean I’ll use the idea on the list.
By Robert Mandrake on Jul 27, 2007
I found your awesome blog via Blogexplosion!
Really great stuff here…
I bookmarked this.
Nice.
I would really appreciate your opinion or comment via posting a comment on my blog if you get a spare moment :)
By Ades on Jul 27, 2007
Thanks Robert, I will check out your blog too…