I swear that every day people around me ask me the same questions…How do you manage it all? I am one of those bloggers who still has got a full time job and blogs almost every day. There is not a secret formula to this or any magic as it is simply about being organised. You also have to sit down before you start your blog or you want to change something about your blog and set your standards. Are you the type of person that wants to blog every day like me but maybe the quality is not 100 % but maybe a little less or do you want to blog twice a week and have incredible pictures and content. This is your personal choice however the more your blog the more traffic you drive to your site. That is one thing to remember. I am the first option and I swear you have to compromise a lot. Everything I say is only coming from my personal experience. So how do I do it?
1. Manage your Diary – this is a key to make it all happen. I start my work at 8:30 and I work on weekdays. I am usually in the office by 8. So where does the blogging fit in that? I have a strict diary and good time management. I note every event and every invite to my work diary so I know what events I need or can attend. Believe me there are numerous I have to turn down as I just possibly cannot make it there. If you put everything in your diary you can clearly see your plan for the next two weeks. I am very lucky that I can pop in to lot of press days in my lunch break or after work. I finish at 6 so as long as the event is at least until 7 I can make it.
2. Be ready – this can be very painful but I would encourage to carry your camera to as many places as possible. This will always help you to gather material for your blog. Is it a restaurant you want to blog about or do you want to ask your friends to take pictures of what you are wearing. You must be ready all the time.
3. Outfit posts – My blog is not just about outfits and I wish it was but I have no time to do it. I can do 3 to 4 outfits as during the week I wear more business attire. I always bring camera to work on dress down Fridays and ask one of my colleagues to take pictures of what I wear and then it is usually my friends or my boyfriend who takes pictures of my clothes over the weekend. I try to have minimum 2-3 a week. Again you have to plan. Write down what you are planning to post from Monday to Friday.
4. Plan and think ahead – People ask me how do I decide what I will blog about it…my answer is go with the flow with a certain level of control. So I always have at least 2 sets of outfits ready from the weekend. And then if you get invited to events or you are reviewing restaurant there is more material. You just need to keep everything recorded and plan it well. Keep the variety on the blog. I prefer not to publish two outfits posts in a row but mix it. If you do not have enough material you just have to do a different type of post. There are so many things to blog about – wish list, top ten tips, inspirational posts, weekly picks etc…
5. Write posts in advance – I write most of the posts over the weekend and If I do not have any time I at least edit the pictures and then write posts depending on the time during the week (that is either before work, after work – if I am not attending any event or on my lunch break).
6. Social Media – Most of my posts are prepared in advance however you know you have to cover social media as well. Every blogger should have at least one of these – facebook, twitter and instagram. When I wake up I just have to multitask. I am making my tea or coffee and already tweeting about my post which is set automatically to be published at midnight. I know this sounds crazy but you just have to squeeze in everything. There is no way I can be doing this at work so it has to happen before. However, again nothing is ever perfect and I must say I am always behind with other sites like chicisimo, Asos Fashion Finder or chictopia. This always has to be done when I really have time and energy to do it. Sometimes I do all of them on my lunch break and sometimes I leave it for the weekend and just do all my outfits at once.
7. Emails and Collaborations – There are days when I get even 20 emails regarding my blog and collaborations. This is the hard bit as you need to do research and make sure you want to work with this brand or not. Luckily we are in the world where we have access to our emails on our phones so you can look on the way to work or from work or just anytime. I must admit I do not have time to answer them all but I am trying my best.
8. Friends and Free Time – My poor friends. They know I am very busy however I am very lucky to have people that are very supportive. I try to see my friends as much as possible or take them to my fashion related events if there is a chance. I always try to plan my weekends around my boyfriend so we get to spend time together as well. The biggest problem I have at the moment is where to fit in proper workout so I am left with weekend mornings or shorter workouts during the week. That is the biggest challenge for me.
I hope this will make it clearer about how much effort it takes to run a blog alongside your job and hopefully you will find any of these tips useful.
Prisaham, ze tuhle otazku mi nekdo polozi snad kazdy den…jak to vsechno vubec zvladam. Jsem jedna z mala blogerek tady v tom nase rybnicku v Britanii, ktera nedela blog na plny uvazek a porad pracuje od rana do vecera. Opravdu na to neexistuje zadny zazracny recept, ale chci s vami sdilet par tipu a napadu, jak vsechno, co musite denne stihnout, muzete skloubit dohromady. Nejdrive si musite urcit sva pravidla, jak chcete blog vest, ci zmenit, protoze kdyz mate vseho tolik je temer nemozne vydavat kazdy den neskutecne kvalitni posty a fotografie. Fakt ze mate malo casu se vzdy nekde projevi. Stanovte si, zda chce blogovat velmi casto a treba nemit 100 % kvalitu, ci chcete mit dva posty tydne, ktere budou prvotridni. Ja jsem prave ten pripad, ktery bloguje casto, ale mozna ne az tak kvalitne. A rozhodla jsem se protoze mi spousta velmi uspesnych blogerek reklo, ze je lepsi blogovat casto v trochu mensi kvalite. Vetsina z nich tvrdi, ze nejlepsi je blogovat kazdy den. Takze jak to vlastne vsechno zvladam?
1. Musite si poradne zorganizovat svuj diar a cas – Ja zacinam v praci v 8:30, ale vetsinou uz jsem v kancelari v 8. Takze vsechny akce na ktere jsem pozvana a vubec psani postu musim zvladnout mimo pracovni dobu. Obecne si myslim, ze planovani je velmi dulezite. Kazdou pozvanku, ktera mi prijde si pridam do diare, at vim jaky mam plan na dalsi dva tydny. Opravdu vam rikam, ze je spousta akci, ktere denne musim odmitnout, protoze proste nemuzu zvladnout oboji. Mam to stesti, ze je toho hodne, co zvladnu v rychlosti behem obedove prestavky a nebo po praci. Koncim v 6 a protoze zacinam driv, tak moji nadrizeni nemaji problem s tim, ze odchazim na minutu presne. Vetsinou se snazim akce omezit na tri tydne a je osobne na vas, kam pujdete a kam ne. U me rozhodovani zalezi na tolika faktorech jako napriklad mam tu znacku rada ci kde se akce kona. Po tolika hodinach prace se mi treba nechce az na druhou stranu Londyna apod.
2. Budte vzdy pripraveni – Obsah blogu je dulezity a proto sebou temer porad nosim fotak. Nikdy nevite, kam pujdte ci koho potkate. Mozna si ani neuvedomite, ze vam to ten den slusi a muze vas neplanovane vyfotit kamaradka. Nebo neplanovane navstivite peknou restauraci, o ktere muzete napsat. Nosit sebou tezky fotak je sice otrava, ale mnohokrat se mi to vyplatilo.
3. Outfit posty – Ja bohuzel nemam blog, kde presentuju jenom outfity. Proste to casove nemuzu zvladat a v tydnu nosim business obleceni, ktere neni nijak inspirativni. Takze mam vlastne moznost fotit pouze o vikendu a v patek, kdy muzu mit v praci normalni obleceni. Kazdy patek si predem domluvim nejakou kolegyni, ktera me vyfoti v obedove prestavce. Ano i to si planuju predem a o vikendu jsou to bud kamaradky nebo pritel. Snazim se mit alespon dva outfit posty, protoze blog by mel byt pestry. A zalezi take kolik dalsiho materialu mate pripraveno. Ja vetsinou vim, co vydam od Pondeli do Patku.
4. Rozpis a Plan – Lide se me casto ptaji, jak se rozhodnu o cem budu psat. Moje odpoved je, ze vlastne ono se to vzdy nejak o sebe postara. Ja jsem velmi aktivni clovek a porad neco delam, nekam chodim a neco podnikam. Takze vzdy se najde alespon jedna akce, jedna vecere, kino, divadlo a tyhle veci se daji krasne zpracovat. Jenom si musite rozvrhnout, co kdy vydate a vedet, ze mate dost materialu. Ja osobne mam rada pestrost, takze se snazim nevydavat dva outfit posty po sobe, pokud to neni nutne. A kdyz opravdu nevite co vydat je tolik napadu – od wish listu, pres tipy na cviceni, nakupy, zazitky z cest, inspiracni posty apod.
5. Pripravte si posty predem – Rekla bych, ze tohle je zakladni klic k uspechu. Ja pripravuju vetsinu postu o vikendu a kdyz to casove nestiham, tak si alespon pripravim fotografie a pak dopisuju text pred praci, po praci (pokud nemam akci) nebo v obedove prestavce. Vetsinou pisu vse v rychlosti a jak rikam, vzdy je to na ukor kvality. Stava se mi, ze zpetne vidim treba chyby, ci preklepy, ale kdo by mel tak nabity program jako ja, tak by to pochopil. Je to prece jenom o prioritach kazdeho cloveka.
6. Socialni Site – Vetsina mych postu je pripravena predem, ale kazdy bloger by mel mit alespon facebook, twitter ci instagram. Je dulezite mit presenci na techto platformach. A tady je to misto, kde urcite pokulhavam, protoze tady vetsinou delam vetsinu veci zaroven. Kazde rano kdyz vstanu a nebo taky ve vlaku se snazim sharovat nejnovejsi post a taky pridat alespon jednu fotografii na instagram. Bloger musi premyslet i o tom, co kdy kde prida. Pokud nekde jste a neco se vam libi, tak musite fotit, at mate kvalitni material na dalsi den ci tyden. Je toho spousta, co musi clovek denne udelat.
7. Emaily a spoluprace – Kazdy den mi chodi desitky emailu s nabidkami ke spolupraci, pozvanky, dotazy apod. Diky tomu, ze zijeme v moderni dobe stiham vetsinu cist, ale s odpovedi uz to neni tak valne. Jako vzdy kontroluji emaily, kde se da…v rade v kavarne, na toalete (ano i tam) ci v obedove prestavce. Musim hodne vybirat s kym budu spolupracovat a nekdy je treba poradny pruzkum trhu apod. To take zabira cas. Moc me mrzi, ze nemam cas vsem odpovedet, protoze to povazuju za slusnost, ale nekdy se to casove opravdu neda stihnout.
8. Pratele a volny cas – Chudaci moji pratele…to si obcas rikam. Nastesti mam kolem sebe super lidi, kteri me podporuji a vi, ze toho mam hodne. Se vsema se videt co nejvice to jde, obcas beru kamaradky na akce spojene s blogem, pokud mam tu moznost a pokazde si uvolnim alespon pul dne o vikendu pro sveho pritele, kdy delam veci mimo blog. Jinak bych se asi musela zblaznit. A mozna jsem i rada, ze jsem tento clanek dala dohromady, protoze alespon lidi vidi, ze to neni uplne jednoduche. LOL
No a nejvetsi problem mam s tim, kdy mam stihat cvicit. Vetsinou se snazim rano o vikendech a pokud nemam v tydnu zadne akce tak kratsi cviceni vecer po praci. Je to opravdovy orisek.
Ja doufam, ze tady najdete alespon par tipu a rad a hodne uspechu v blogovani preju vsem.
Love Glamazon xoxo
Love this informative blog post and I’m really impressed with your time management! Keep up the good work x
Thank u Hun x
Evi, teda, vidim, ze to beries zodpovedne :) Paci sa, ze Tvoj blog ma okrem fotografii vzdy aj zaujimave citanie :) Take to:Dnes mam na sebe cierne ..bla bla, mna moc neberie :)
Jani diky x
This is great. My full-time job is working three 12-hour shifts each week. You would think it would be easy to fit blogging in there, but it’s not. I’m still in the early stages of growing my blog, but I think prioritizing and time management need to be my focus right now. Thanks for the tips!
Good luck with everything x
Evi, ty jsi jalo turbo mys. Zvladas toho fakt hodne a mas super, ze stihas navstivit akce i o obedove prestavce. Tvoje tipy jsou super a clanky mi neprijdou nekvalitni. Ja posledni dobou publikuji mene nez bych chtela, ale chci to zmenit…
Ja se tak smeju…. Ze turbo mys! Haha
Ja to ale nijak spatne nemyslela. ;)
Ja taky ne
Skvělej článek, děkuju za typy jak vše zorganizovat. S blogováním začínám a dobrá rada se vždy hodí.:-)
Story ofmy life right now! Full time job – can’t shoot after work since it’s dark.
http://www.liquidgrain.co.uk
That’s the hard bit
Great tips, I having some trouble managing both my job and blogging at the moment.
Zeynab x
The Beautifully Disastrous
this is such a helpful and inspirational post! your so right about organisation and of course dedication comes in there too xx
Thank you for sharing these tips! Managing work, hobbies, friends, and family can get overwhelming, and it’s nice to see how you juggle everything so successfully!
These are very helpful tips, thanks for sharing! Yep our lives could become very busy but proper scheduling really helps to be more productive. A diary and google calendar are very important for every blogger, and I am not an exception. Again, great post!
http://www.stylesprinter.com
Wow Eva! You are one busy bee! I just bought a notebook so I will definitely be using it to keep up with my blog. And what blows my mind is how you write your posts in English, too! Thanks!
hi! Love your blog.your tips are veru helpful. Thanks . I am new in this wanderings blogs, still do not have a target audience. But I’d like to achieve and with this aid get there . thank you
Kiss
Patanisca