Dirtbag Writer

Making a Blog Posting Schedule and Sticking To It

Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Writer in On Writing

Do you check your google reader eagerly multiple times a day for new posts from your favorite bloggers or do you know when to expect their next post?  Do you ever start to worry about peeps if they haven’t posted in a while?

Personally I post things to my blog simply at whim, when I feel like I have something to say or when I have the time to get something together.  But all the reading I have done lately advises against the post-at-whim model and supports a strict posting schedule.

Chris Gullebeau, of The Art of Non-Conformity, strongly advocates that bloggers serious about the trade stick to a clear publishing schedule.  He feels that announcing the schedule on your site and sticking to it communicates to your readers that you are serious and that you won’t be giving up anytime soon.

Secretly I’ve been trying to adopt a blog posting schedule all year, but if you look back at my posts you will see that they are totally unpredictable.  Clearly I have failed at this task.

Truth is I suck at time management and can’t keep to a schedule if my life depended on it.  I just love the rush of putting things off to the last minute and thrive under pressure and times of utter chaos.  I love deadlines because they seem to be the only things that motivate me into action.

So I have decided to instill deadlines upon myself and announce my publishing schedule to the world.  I agree to commit to the schedule for at least… hmmmm – well how about I just start with 1 month and go from there.  So here it is:

MONDAY: On Writing – Random thoughts about the writing life, job leads, and publishing.

WEDNESDAY: On the Road – Travel musings about the places I’ve been and places I’m headed.

FRIDAY: On Living – My psychoses, ramblings, and the like.

OTHER DAYS:  This is just the minimum so I am not going to be limited to just these days.  Once I hit the road again I will aim to post more frequently.

And this is how I plan on doing it:

5 Ways To Make Yourself Stick to a Blog Publishing Schedule

1. Announce Your Schedule On Your Blog: See above.  Making your publishing schedule known to your readers steps up your personal commitment to the blog.
2. Outline Posts a Week Ahead of Time:  At the beginning of each week outline the topics for each of your scheduled posts, when you get really good at this you can even schedule your posts further into the future.
3. Keep a List of Potential Ideas:  On the spreadsheet I use to keep track of my scheduled posts, I also keep a list of all my random future post ideas so I hopefully never run out of post ideas.
4. Utilize Alternative Blog Post Material: Need a break from creating original content for your blog – find other bloggers to contribute guest posts, write a link roundup, or post a photo essay.
5. Use the Scheduled Post Function:  Just realized that you can schedule a post to be published in the future in WordPress.  So I can’t use the excuse that I’ve been in the woods for the last week since I can schedule the posts ahead of time.  Brilliant.

What are your thoughts about blog publishing schedules?  Do you think it is a great idea or super lame?  Do you stick to a publishing schedule?

Tags: Blogs, Organizing, Schedules, Tips