Blog Organization

Blogging is simply a hobby for me, something that I like to do and provides a way for me to connect with other creative people.  Even still I want to produce good blog content that inspires others and contributes to the blog community.  I have no idea where blogging will take me in the future,  but either way I realize that every good blogger must be organized. 
Enter the blog notebook, most of you seasoned bloggers probably already have one and if not I’m sure you have a system in place to keep your blog running smoothly.  I purchased this binder over a month ago  from Target, initially to use for a home management binder but that hasn’t happened yet.


I decided to keep things simple and use just a few categories.

• Calendar
• Ideas
• Brainstorming
• Inspiration
• To Do

One thing that I have realized since blogging is that scheduling post ahead of time reduces the stress of sitting down each day to come up with something to write.  Not only is this method inefficient, it also (for me) produced blog content that was mediocre and definitely not my best.  When I look back over my post that had the most comments or views, they were the ones that I spent more time on because they were planned ahead of time.  I found this really great monthly blog calendar from Blogging BookShelf that is perfect for me.
Not only does this calendar have space for you to schedule your post, it also includes a space for weekly and monthly goals.  Look closely and you will see my goal for June is to reach 100 or more followers.  If you aren’t already following me, I would love for you to help me reach this goal.  There is also a place on the calendar for you to write notes or ideas.

Coming up with ideas for my blog and be a challenge sometimes, especially when I haven’t  completed a craft or home project.  I don’t know about you but sometimes I will get an Ah-ha moment and have an idea for a great post and then forget what my thought was.  Does this happen to you, too?  Hopefully this list section will help solve this problem, write it down and you wont forget.
Recently I finished the 31 days to a better blog challenge and one of my favorite pieces of advice was to use a “mind map" to flush out ideas.  Basically the idea is to take one of your old post (it could also be a new idea) and brainstorm ways to expand on the idea, kinda like this one for my recent curb appeal post.

The final category in my blog binder is dedicated to things I need “to do”.  Because my blog features my own home projects, a lot of my to do’s are projects I need to finish in order to blog about it.
One way that I hope to reach my goal of 100 followers this month is to utilize linky parties efficiently.  In the past I have linked to a party one week and forgot about it the next week.  Hopefully this wont happen with this blog link list I created in excel.

I have all the linky  parties categorized by the day of the week that the party happens.  So that I make sure not to link the same project more than once at a party I type the title of the post in the appropriate date column.  I decided not to include a paper copy of this in my binder because using an electronic copy allows me to simply click on the hyperlink to go directly to the party instead of typing the address in the web browser.  As linky parties are cancelled or I find new ones they can easily be added to the spreadsheet. 
If you have any questions about any part of my blog organization I’d love to answer them for you.

Linnking Up at these great parties!  Bee Sure to stop by and see all the creativeness out there!

Hope Studios
Giggles Glitz & Glam
Blue Cricket Design  Someday Crafts  Sew Much Ado  Seven Thirty Three  We are that Family  Elements & Interiors  Handy Man, Crafty Woman  Saturday Mornings  Ginger Snaps

Blue Cricket Design

Someday Crafts

Sew Much Ado

Seven Thirty Three

We are that Family

Elements & Interiors

Handy Man, Crafty Woman

Saturday Mornings

Ginger Snaps