How to organize your blogging life

Let's think about the following nightmare scenario:

Happy mother, with a high academic profile, with a busy happy family life, and a lot of social networking, and a lot of passion for writing, reading - as many domains as possible, and many blogs to manage on a daily basis. Please add to the list a new job and some extra business projects I need to continue at least for a couple of months. I also love to cook and to blog about my recipes. I need to attend conferences, improve two foreign languages and other 'must to' at least twice the day.

Sounds crazy, I know, but I use to sleep maximum 5 hours the day and I am perfectly healthy. However, when it comes to my small blogging empire, I suffer a lot for neglecting the regular contributions. As one day - and many years later -  I hope I will be professional enough to focus exclusively on managing my blogging portfolio, I need to prepare the official launch of my free life. But how?

The easiest way to plan is to dedicate at least one hour the day updating two of the blogs and another 30 minutes later the day to keep the track of the social media from the domains close to those blogs. It is important that I create thus a certain regularity of the posts, instead of the current pace when I use to dedicate a couple of days in a row to updating one or two of the blogs and not returning for the next 2 weeks. On the other hand, as blogging is the only activity without deadlines, it was healthier for a while to refrain from being too intensive, as I need to draw the separation line between 'freedom' and 'financial slavery'.

I will try to keep this program at least for two weeks from now and evaluate if it is feasible or not. I decided - 100% randomly - to dedicate the Mondays and Tuesdays to this blog, so hope to be back then!

Why I like being a blogger?

The only job that I always wanted to have was of a journalist. I not even wanted to be a writer, even though I always have been into books and literature. I was keen to be close to the reality and put it into my words and explain it to as many people as possible.

Luckily enough and with a lot of work, I was able to work as a journalist for almost 10 years. It was hardly a domain that I did not covered during those years, and although as a woman the life in the media is hard and supposes many personal sacrifices, I succeeded to improve my knowledge about world while meeting interesting people, travelling a lot and writing even more.

The only part that I did not like about media was the presence of too many people that were not driven by the passion for reality and words, but by the need to get rich and influencial and to listen to various orders. I left without regrets and I continued my career in PR and communications, writing books and academic articles. 

Passionate about everything new and fresh in terms of communications, I was more than happy to be one of the first using social media tools and various 2.0 instruments. Blogging was naturally among the first new passions that I regularly followed for many years already. In the last 7 years I closed few and opened even more blogs sharing my passions and the eagerness to share to the world my ideas and love for books and wonderful things. Even though I do not have too much time for such non-profit activities - especially when I need to make a living somehow - I try to contribute regularly to all my online media business. 

I hope that one day each blog will work as a source of profit, and small steps were made for reaching possible sponsors and signing various sponsorships. However, I prefer to stay late in the night looking for subjects to blog than to miss the chance of following my passions. Blogging gave my the chance to write what I want and consider important to write, without the need to request permission and explain my choice and my stance. 

I belive in the power of blogging as much as I believe that we can change the world also with the force of the words. For this, and for many other small wonders of my online world, I am once again thankful for living in the 21st century.

Writing challenges, from print to online

Are you a dedicated print journalist and you realized that you cannot continue without a consistent online presence?

Here are some useful tips about what you can do do enhance your performances and avoid the usual mistake made by those who did not realized clearly the differences between the two. 

If you wondered, it is not difficult and if you have the gift and passion of the writer, you will succeed. 

Downloadable links

Today, I realized that I don't have any idea at all about how to set up a PDF or, in general, a .doc for being downloaded on a website. First, I thought it is easy to find an appropriate link at the gadget section. It was not the case - at least for the blogger version I am using currently.

As usual, the last solution was to ask my reliable friend and partner Google.

From a website to another and from a question to another I arrived to www.docstoc.com. Here, you can create an account, upload your document and the following link can be posted on your blog for your readers. They have full access to your book or open document.

As my publishing - online and book writing activity - will impressively increase in the following days, weeks and months, I am looking forward for new tips and trustworthy websites.

Related articles

• How to download pages of a site from Google Cache (techattitude.com)
• PDF links for dummies (ask.metafilter.com)

About blogging, travel and good marketing

I enjoyed a lot this interview, with a successful blogger passionate about what he is writing about.

From my point of view, doing what you enjoy is the first step to success. Of course, you need lots of effort, passionate dedication and as much time as possible.

Just plant the seeds, take care of the tree and wait.

What annoys me today

Since discovered the elegant "Share" option, near the articles I am reading on Internet, I am terribly happy: I wasted so much time without sharing interesting texts, only because I was too lazy to log on blogger and copy-paste the link etc. With this marvelous button, it was a very direct road from my eyes to my readers. But, shortly after I got addicted enough to this application, I discovered that not all of the media tools are including the same options. For instance, the most missed link is "blogger". Hope to find till the end of the day something nicer to share.

A very good one to everyone!

Q and A

One of the advantages of obtaining a high traffic on your blog is to post information related to things on the run in the daily reality. But not only posting links or various other data already available on the net, but trying to succeed in bringing your own contribution with other information or with interesting comments.

For some cases, posting a rapid Q and A, outlining relevant aspects concerning a specific issue - I was thinking about this idea while trying to find attractive ways to update periodically a blog covering topics regarding the foreign affairs. You can offer to your readers original content for exaplaining a certain situation you are findind everywhere in the media. Nowadays, for continuing with the example from the area of international relations, everybody is discussing about the issue of the economic situation from Ireland. You, as an inspired writer, you are identifying a couple of questions following the lecture of the most important articles or opinions that will be answered on the basis of a proper documentation. Time is important and before deciding the blogging hobby you need to be well prepared for dedicating more than five minutes the day or the week for updating and promoting your blog. Of course, in the case that you want to offer a reliable and successful project.

Have a nice and inspiring week-end!

Related articles

• 5 Ways you Can Use Blog Comments to Obtain Organic Links (cash-bandit.com)

The right of posting

and the obligations - at least, in the American variant.

The first answer is to oppose such a move: it is against the freedom of expression. On the other side, the reality you might encounter on websites or forums is an increasing wave of hate, antisemitism and intolerance, giving the impression that we are living in the world untouched by the apparently evolutive process of civilisation. Most probably, people disputing or arguing on the net will not hesitate to kill each other, if face to face.

But, there are other tools to limit the intellectual pollution represented by dialogues written under the cover of anonimity, for example by instituting filter - programs blocking from publishing comments containing offensive words. And, creating, in parallel, educative programs aiming to help the return of humans to humanity - in schools, in the media, in the universities.

Useful tips

for getting the best out of blogging. Including from the financial point of view.

Food bloggers

met food PR. Not to change roles and try to convince each other of their unique truth, but to talk and exchange ideas. A matter of dialogue and transparency.