Today, I’m sharing tips on running a successful blog.  When it comes to making money off a blog, making any kind of profit from it is enough to be called a success. However, if you want to continually succeed, you need more than gusto, personality, and a good grasp of the subject you write on. You need to be consistent and, to be consistent, you need to be organized.

Here are a few tips on running a successful blog:

Get your own space and your own time

Are you a mom and trying to make money? Are you trying to do it in the same home where you raise your kids?  Good luck with that. Blogging and online work have made it easier for moms to work from home. However, you need to know how to balance motherhood and your career. This means creating a schedule that you can stick to.  You must consistently set aside time each day, but also maintain some kind of flexibility.

Track your income

You might be making literal pennies when you start.  But, as you find more ways to monetize your blog, it’s important to track both your income and your expenses.  You’re going to have to file taxes on your income.  Furthermore, you can deduct any money invested.  So, you want those figures available as well. Small business accounting apps like Tide can help you track your expenses.  Business accounting apps make it easy to generate reports for the financial year.

Make sure your folders have a hierarchy

Your computer is likely to be full of files used for blogging. Some are going to be blog drafts, some are going to be visual files, others are going to be videos. Create a file hierarchy that lets you find the files you need at any time. For example, you may have different files for media types such as images and videos.  You may have sub-folders for different years as well.  If you decide to publish elsewhere or refresh and edit your post, you’ll be able to find it quickly.

Work with a content pipeline

What are the different stages of creating a blog post?  Your stages may be different, but first brainstorm your idea.  Second, find an angle and title for that idea.  Next, research the idea and create the post for your blog.  The post should include final edits before publishing.  To help you keep a healthy schedule, it’s a good idea to have different posts at various stages.  This step will ensure you have at least one idea in each of the stages.  It will also ensure that you’re not constantly starting work from scratch when you have to write a new blog post. You will have ideas that are already in the development stage, you just need to carry it to the finish line.

Be ready to take notes on the fly

As mentioned, you want to have a content pipeline where you’re constantly brainstorming and working on blog ideas. However, aside from researching your ideas and thinking about what to write next, you have to be ready to catch inspiration when it lands. Having a portable notepad like a Mote Mote on hand can make it super easy to scribble ideas out at any time. Otherwise, you will be surprised how many times you think of a great post, but then forget about it a few hours later.

Keep a calendar on your phone

Having a paper planner is great, but it’s a good idea to make use of Google Calendar as well. You can set deadlines and alerts, change them to different colors, and make sure that you’re always sticking to your schedule.  Using Google Calendar is not only good for creating an editorial calendar, but also for any personal appointments you might have.  It’s also good for sharing posts on social, participating in campaigns, and more. It’s essential to be timely.  Especially, if others, including your audience or partners, have expectations of you to be at a certain place or doing a certain thing at a specific time.

Have a digital to-do list

A physical notepad is great for writing down ideas and taking notes when you need to remember something for later. But when you sit down to do your blogging for the day, having a virtual to-do list app like Todoist is super helpful for ticking responsibilities off one by one and helping you prioritize what you should spend the day doing. This includes not only writing blog posts, but networking, finding more monetization opportunities, using social media, and so on.

Have a healthy routine

When you work from home, it’s tempting to stay up until some ungodly hour to get work done.  But, it’s not healthy.  Getting the proper rest is important.  Being rested will help you stay motivated for the day ahead. If you wake up too early or go to bed too late, you will become unproductive.

An organized and clutter-free space

Unless you’re blogging on the go like a true laptop warrior, you’re likely going to need a desk to sit at. You want to keep that desk organized.  However, there’s another good reason to de-clutter your desk: stress. There’s evidence to show that clutter actually makes us more stressed.  It steals our attention and gives us more stimuli than we need, which makes it harder to relax. It also causes dust to build up, which makes for an unpleasant workplace environment.

There will be bloggers out there who don’t organize their work life in the way laid about above, and you might agree with some of their methods instead. That’s totally fine, we all have our own way of doing things.  But, try a few of our ideas, and let me know if they help you in running a successful blog.