The Typical Work Day Of A Part Time Blogger

So you want to become a blogger and live the rich and famous life? Although I wish you luck in this endeavor, it takes a lot of time and dedication to reach the level of success you see from full-time bloggers.

There is a huge difference between a part-time blogger and a full-time blogger. Full-time bloggers typically spend at a minimum of 10 hours a day online, often working 6 to 7 days a week. Treat your blog like a business if you plan to become a full-time blogger. Look at every aspect of your blog: the revenue sources, traffic, subscriber list, and how to be an authority. Treating your blog like a company is the first step in becoming successful.

Important Information About Going Full-Time

If you are serious about becoming a full-time blogger then I’d strongly suggest you read through this blog post on How to Become a Professional Blogger. I have been blogging for many years as a part-time blogger and wouldn’t change it for anything. For the past 16 and half years (10/22/2016) I have worked in the information technology field and the last 4 years as the Team Lead for my department. I still have a passion for both my job and blogging. The side income from blogging is fantastic and allows me to buy stupid stuff I could do without.

For the first time in many years of blogging, I am going to share what I typically do during the week behind the scenes and where I am at when online. These subject to change at any day of the week. (WPOutcast Blog)

The Morning Routine

Who wants to do anything after waking up without having a cup of coffee or tea? After I get my caffeinated beverage, I always check my email and respond to anything important. Every morning I am eager to get to the blog and make sure it’s still working and hasn’t been hacked do to poor blog security measures.

What Derek is actually doing in the mornings:

• Check site traffic stats for the previous day using the JetPack Plugin and then taking a look at the Google Analytics stats.
• Publish 1 blog post for the day. I typically have at least 7 blog posts already pre-written and just manually review the post before publishing to edit any last-minute ideas for it. WPOutcast now has a paid editor that reviews each blog post including any that may come from our Contribute page.
• You guessed it, submit that one blog post to the social media outlets. Here is a blog post on What To Do After Publishing a blog post.
• Check the related posts under the newest blog post and edit at least 1 of them that morning to make sure it’s up to date and even add some internal links or an affiliate link.
• Visit the V7N Web Development and Internet Marketing forum for a half hour, which I am a super moderator on.
• Visit the ShoutmeLoud Forum and help a few bloggers out for a half hour.
• Start Research or start to write new blog posts to be completed throughout the week. (Consider hiring freelancers to take some pressure off yourself. They can complete simple tasks that take up time in your day-to-day schedule.)
• Get ready to leave for the full-time job.

After Working hours Blogging Stuff

Several days during the work week, I am online directly after work to complete some of the following tasks.

During this time, I actually spend a lot more time on the blog itself, as opposed to the forums I mentioned above. Typically, I am still wide awake and ready to get some ideas down.

• Search the internet for any new Genesis Framework themes and take a look at them to make sure I actually like them before writing an announcement/brief review blog post. Typically, I keep a spreadsheet of the themes I want to review. This way, when I set aside time to write during the week, I can get through 2 – 3 each session. The rest of my writing is completed during my free time on the weekend. Of course, all blog posts first go to my paid editor before being scheduled.
• Finish writing some tutorials I have stored in my brain, or at least get through the beginning of writing them, as some of them take time to write. When writing plugins or tutorials, I typically purchase the product and run it on my test blog to ensure it both does what is says it does and isn’t difficult for novice bloggers to use.
• Pick random blog posts already published and make sure the images are up to date or create a better one. Review the links in the blog post and edit the anchor text or add more internal linking to improve SEO.
• Reply to email from my editor answering questions, suggesting some tips, or content to read to help with the editing besides daily updates of what was worked on during working hours.
• Review Google Analytic stats from the previous day to see what is doing good and look for any SEO issues that need to be addressed as Google has changed the algorithm again with some new updates.
• Review detailed stats on my Monitor Links premium account and disavowal bad links. Monitor Links has a button that does this automatically.
• Visit the 2 forums I visit every morning before getting offline at a designated time. Yes, I set a time that I need to be off my laptop. This allows me to complete things around the apartment or watch TV. This is a healthy practice to have, as it is very easy to become obsessed with working and lose track of everything else.

What the… do you even sleep?

I do get a few hours of sleep every night during the week but I usually catch up on sleep when I have 2 days off of work at my full-time job. I am very passionate about blogging, and this is the one blog that I continually work on to ensure that it is running smoothly.

If I was to go full-time blogging, I know I would spend about 12 to 14 hours a day on the laptop between blogging and everything else that I mentioned earlier. Keep in mind, this isn’t everything I do for the blog on a daily basis. There are small tasks I left out as they don’t take up much of my time. Still, you know most of what I am doing behind the scenes.

Email Land

Don’t get me started on emails. I have my personal email, domain email, work email, and Gmail I go through. Just when I think I have caught up, poof a ton more emails. Pretty much all the affiliate programs that I have been a part of over the years I have enabled to email me when they have a new referral or commission. So, that’s extra emails besides the junk ones I have to keep discarding.

Do you have a routine for blogging? Do you just login with no set schedule and do stuff or do you have a plan created?

If you decide to move to full-time blogging, having a daily schedule is very important to staying organized and run your business like my boss does. The more people you hire for odds and ends on your blog, the important it is to have a schedule so as not to forget anything. I recommend investing money into using CoSchedule.

Don’t Even Give Up On Your Long Term Goals For Your Blog! I have had a lot of failures but I learned from them. Now I get to write and share what I am truly passionate about; themes and tutorials.

• Next To Read: MailChimp Makes It Easy To Start An RSS Campaign

If this blog post was helpful in any way or you want to ask me a question, submit a comment below and do share this blog post with your friends. Blogging is not an easy thing to do for even part-time bloggers.