Tag: work

How To Blog In Your Sleep

 

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  • Go to your WordPress dashboard
  • Draft a post
  • Schedule the post for 2am

Scheduling posts can be helpful for many reasons. Here are mine:

A World of Difference

The people who read your blogs literally come from different parts of the world. While the sun is shining where you are, the moon is glowing where they are. While you are bedding down, someone is getting up. While you are making coffee, someone else is pouring a goodnight scotch….we get the point. Scheduling posts to publish all hours of the night (OK, maybe not all hours) gives others an opportunity to see them early on who live in a different country. You may say, “They’ll see them anyway won’t they?” Not necessarily. It depends on how many blogs they already follow. We’ll all see it at some point, but there’s no guarantee. Keep your posts fresh by considering those who are not where you are.

Consistency

Consistency is difficult when you first start to blog. Even if you manage to go ahead full steam, at some point there’s going to be a burn-out. At the same time, you know that consistency is something that is needed to grow a blog and to keep it running. If you’re super busy, it helps if you create a schedule where you’ll have posts being published even on those days when you’re not at home. You can blog when you’re sleeping, when you’re driving, or when you’re flipping burgers! Plus, people will think your a superman or woman, which is somehow relevant.

Vacations / Breaks

If your addicted to updating your blog and you really don’t want to miss your regular posting days, schedule posts to go out during your breaks and vacation times. For instance, I enjoy writing / blogging, but it’s not the most important thing in my life. I, like many of you, actually have one outside of this blog. That said, I don’t blog on Saturdays. This doesn’t mean there’s nothing being published on Saturdays! If there’s something that needs to go out on Saturday, I schedule my Saturday posts so I don’t have to log in and focus on that during my break time.

Backfire – Of course, all things come with a fine print don’t they? If you’re really trying to break, stay away from the blog. The reason is because though you scheduled a post, you’re still likely to get feedback such as comments that will draw you back into the blogosphere. Though, if your really smart, you’ll just turn off your phone.

Goals

It may be good to schedule posts when you’re seeking to establish yourself as a blogger. When you first start a blog, you may have a goal that is different than when you have been blogging awhile. For instance, when I started The PBS Blog, my goal was to publish at least 3 posts a day. This was because I was, as a newbie, seeking to reach a certain goal. Right away I knew I wanted variety so my schedule went something like this:

  • Article
  • Poetry
  • Inspirational Quote

Every night I’ll draft my articles for the day (which ranged from Self-Publishing stuff to general life stuff), my poem, and an inspiring quote. My goal was that though I love writing, I didn’t want this to be a strict writing blog which means I wanted to attract readers beyond that niche. I have a life outside of writing and things to share outside of it too. Right away I wanted to showcase variety to build a readership that included a wide range of people. Yes, weird people need love too.

When you first start to blog, you may also have a certain goal that, after blogging for awhile, may indeed change. After blogging for about a year, I didn’t schedule posts in this way anymore but it did help me to:

a. Get into the habit of blogging

b. Reach my goals

I wanted to exceed the 300 follower mark in the beginning at a nice pace. By nice pace, I mean within the first 3 months so I was reaching for 100 new followers a month. It sounds like a lot now but it really wasn’t hard thanks to scheduling posts! After reaching your goal, you may not have to post so much because your foundation is under you. For me it was important to reach that follower mark to establish myself as a serious blogger and it was something I obligated myself to. I thought, as someone no one knows anything about, I have to get a good foundation under me. After this it was important to create new goals because obviously, I wasn’t trying to stop there. So I started to incorporate special themes into my blog (Like Movie Night Friday and Black History Fun Fact Friday) and participate in blog challenges (Like Writers Quote Wednesday and Writing 101). All in all, like starting anything new, it’s going to take work in the beginning but afterwards you’ll find your groove and settle into a more natural schedule.

Why Do Authors Need a Copyright?

Excellent need-to-know information from Colleen. I’ve noticed that lots of people have been the victims of stolen work lately. It may be wise for all Self-Publishers to include copyright cost in our book launch plans.

The Lotus

growth

“The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud — the obstacles of life and its suffering. … The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. … Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one. ” ― Goldie Hawn

Faith is Stronger Than Doubt

Why push myself? I do what I do not because I think I’m somehow better than anyone else. I do not immerse myself into work because I think I have it all. I know that even in what I know, I know nothing. I work hard not because I’m perfect. I’m loyal not to gain praise or approval. I do not publish Self-Pub tips and promote authors because I’m someone special. Do not speak with such integrity and confidence because I’ve made it. Most of what I post terrifies me. Who am I to advise? To instruct? To teach? Who am I? Little ole me with less than 1,000 subscribers, barely any reviews and even less social media followers? Who am I to speak as I speak and say the things that I say? I do what I do because faith is stronger than doubt, just as love is stronger than hate, courage more potent than fear, and light stronger than darkness. My faith pushes me to write without fear of judgement and to speak the truth even when my voice shakes.

Work For It

When I was in elementary school I got straight F’s on my report cards. I failed pretty much every class. Ultimately I  failed the sixth grade, almost failed the seventh and was put into special education courses for some subjects in eighth grade. Needless to say I’m not a smart person. If I possess any intellect at all it is because I worked for it. I worked my way out of Special Education, graduated with Honors and by High School was taking all honors courses. I had never been good at math but it didn’t stop me from taking Advanced Algebra with Trigonometry. I was possibly worse in science than math but it didn’t stop me from taking advanced Chemistry. My point here is that everything that I have always done had been with a particular work ethic. I’d never been the kid who could automatically understand, no. If I was to understand anything I had to study it. So I became a nerd because I had to be. Not being a nerd would have resulted in continual failure. By the time I was a junior in High School I was also taking College Courses for College credit. This meant that most of my day was spent at school. I would go to High School in the daytime and then College at night. I graduated High School eleventh in my class and went on to begin the next part of my academic journey. When I look back I notice that I graduated Elementary, High School, and College at the top of my class and with honors.

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The moral of the story is not about the Educational System. Nor is it about me. Like I said, I am not a smart person. Everything I have required work to get. The moral of the story is that when it comes to achievement, of whatever kind, it’s not as mind boggling as some make it. Despite your perfectly outlined plans there really isn’t a silver bullet for how to do something well nor is it about doing something the way others tell you it should be done; it’s just about doing the work. Whether we are talking about Blogging, Self-Publishing or being of service in any capacity it is always about doing the work. As long as you are willing to work then you are willing to be successful. By successful I do not mean making a lot of money. By successful I mean accomplishing what you set out to accomplish. Someone who desires to lose weight and takes the steps to get it done and does it is a successful person. There is no special diet he or she can take part in that will help them. There is no special meal either. But there is that persons mind and its willingness to put forth the work necessary to get it done. Yes, Self-Publishing is a challenge in many ways but it is not as overwhelming as it can be. Every time you walk pass an Independent book store there is opportunity. Every time you open your blog and stare at the page there is promotional opportunity. Every time someone reaches out to you as an Author there is opportunity. Every time you walk pass a library there is opportunity. The question then is not whether or not people will buy your books, not whether a book store will house your series, not whether or not you have perfected marketing and promotional plans. All of these things has its part but they are not really the point. The point of it all is always whether or not you are willing to do the work. Are you willing to walk into that bookstore and ask them about housing your book? Are you willing to schedule a FREE book signing at the local library? Are you willing to take advantage of shameless FREE promotion on your own blog? I just use writing as an example but this can apply to every aspect of our lives. It all boils down to one question: are you willing to do the work? If you are not willing to work it doesn’t matter how many doors open, you will always be too lazy to walk through them.

Use What You Got

To enhance productivity…

shutterstock_87396893From the moment the sun drifts away into its secret chamber, until the moment it rises again, fresh from having used the night to rejuvenate the energy it now pours into our window sills, every day is new. And with newness comes an opportunity to start fresh. Opportunities to revise, reflect, and enhance. Opportunities to grow. What great possibilities await us for tomorrow? What possibilities are there today? Every day ain’t beautiful, but everyday can be productive. What I’ve come to learn is to take advantage of what I understand and use that toward improving on my day, my business, or even my personal endeavors. We spend so much time looking out, that we forget to look in. Often, when you hide something in plain sight, it becomes amazingly difficult to find, and I suppose the same is true for our individual lives. Many of you possess talents that you could use toward the enhancement of your writing or of your books. Take Book Trailers for instance. With the exception of some major movie production, I would never pay for a Book Trailer. Not because I do not think they are worth it. A book trailer can help push someone off the edge where the cover just did not work for them. But I will never pay for one because I make my own videos. I am familiar with computer software that could assist me in being creative in that aspect. In this way, I am using what I got to enhance productivity and that also saves me money. I can take this skill and apply it to so many different aspects of my life. From blogging to lessons, to book trailers to movies, whatever it is that requires this need.  For a moment, think about what you can do that will help improve your day by looking into what you already know how to do. Increase productivity by learning to tap into skills you already possess.  You’ll be surprised.

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(OK so, I just realized that this post was just one long drawn out definition of what it means to be creative. Interesting.).