Inside My Blogging Binder
So excited to have one of my all time favorite blog friends guest posting today. Courtney has been one of my constant sponsors since I started blogging; her ad is always parked on my blog. I love her fashion style, her writing style, and the fact that her cat is named Queen Bee. Today, she is taking us inside her blogging binder to share some tips and tricks to keep you organized.
I celebrated a blogiversary this past April. Usually when a blogger reaches that milestone, they do a post celebrating their hard work, their readers and reflect on the happier moments of the year. I didn’t do that. As I sat down to reflect on my year, all I could see were disorganized posts and my inconsistency. Now, I know there were some great moments as well, but I was convicted that because I was disorganized and my readers were paying the price. Back in April, I decided to get better.
Thus, my blogging binder was born. It keeps track of EVERYTHING. Posts, contacts, giveaways…Pretty much everything a blogger should be keeping track of. And I needed it, bad. You can read more about what made me decide to start a blog binder on my blog, The Everyday Elegance.
At first, I started researching different printables thinking I needed to buy a blog planner. While there are some great options, I’m a college student. I can’t afford to drop a lot money on little things like organization, especially when there are a number of free resources that can customize your own binder to what you blog about and what you need!
Designer Blogs was one of my favorite resources I found, providing a free, customizable blog planner that isn’t a yearly planner! That means you aren’t buying a new planner each year! In addition to that, I found a few other resources including a guest post list and a separate content planner.
One of my other favorite resources was the BBar, which includes both free and paid content. It’s kind of a one stop shop for bloggers in need of resources! The main one I’m going to mention is the free blog planning guide which is all about casting vision for your blog. After I filled it out, I’ve consistently been checking myself and my posts to make sure they align with my vision. If you’re new to blogging or trying to rebrand, I highly recommend this worksheet!
Then there’s the nitty gritty, keeping track of your expenses and income, along with traffic and social media. I like to keep that together with my blog to ensure that I’m aware of my spending limits when it comes to my blog and to make sure that I see steady growth in both my numbers of following and engagement. It’s important for bloggers who are trying to grow their audience or monetize to keep track of this on a monthly basis. I started doing this because I didn’t see how my followings were growing. Now I can see that they have steadily been growing month when I haven’t realized it! Talk about a simple source of encouragement!
Since starting my blog binder, I’ve noticed how much more organized I am. I’ve began a consistent posting schedule (that I’ve actually kept up with!), I can start on new post ideas and know exactly where I wrote them down, and keep all my financials in the binder, something I’ve been needing to keep better track of. It’s something I feel every blogger needs to have some type of a variation of, because running a blog is a lot harder than it looks.
How do you keep your blog organized? Do you use a blogging binder?
Courtney is a life and style blogger at The Everyday Elegance. She is excited to have the opportunity to share on LifewithRosie.com, and to have sweet Chelsie as a friend! Find her onTwitter (@EDElegance) and Instagram (@courtney.kincaid) to see the latest on fashion, décor and her kitten, Queen Bee.
