How to Be a Blogging Mom Who Keeps on Blogging

~ kat

The Lily Cafe officially reopened on January 1st of 2018 and, in the time since, I’ve seen many mom bloggers come and go, come and go. As a mom who blogs, but isn’t necessarily a mom blogger (except on certain days), I think about this a lot.

How is it that this mom of two toddlers can blog 5 days a week (the husband posts on the sixth day, so technically it’s not me)?

I can’t give any real advice to other moms, and dads or, really, anyone, on how to keep on blogging (everyone is unique and does things differently), but I can share what works for me. Maybe they can work for you, too.

  1. Plan and write down ideas. I’m a serious planner. Seriously. When I write, I plan the story step by step. Which can be bad because, when something unexpected happens, I’m completely thrown. But I digress. I plan and write down my ideas anywhere and everywhere. My coffee table literally has a gigantic piece of paper taped over it so it can be a place where my kids can doodle and the husband and I can jot things down. I also use a day planner where I can write down which post I want on which day and create a daily to-do list so I know what needs to be written and how long I have to write it.
  2. Use the schedule option. It’s been there for as long as I have been blogging, but I never utilized it until recently. I can only imagine what this blog might be now had I scheduled my posts back in 2015… Anyways, now I actually have posts scheduled as far from now as June. It’s so nice to know that even when the kids don’t nap there will still be something posting. And when you put plan and schedule together, it’s easier to write posts in advance and get them scheduled. I knew in November I wanted to revive my Cafe, so I spent December writing posts and scheduling them for January. And I kept going. Every month I add more scheduled posts and have breathing space for when the kids don’t give me time to blog or when we are out for the day or for when I just want to catch up and read other blogs.
  3. Consistent posting schedule. I plan, so I have always done this. Back then, when I posted was dependant on my grad school schedule. I did Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and Tuesday and Thursday groupings. This time, I decided to post 5 days a week, sometimes 6, since there’s so much I want to write about and share. Knowing when you want to post can help keep you on track and posting. It can also help hold you accountable since you know your readers are expecting something.
  4. Break it into chunks. I don’t like doing a lot of long posts. But sometimes I have a lot to say. So I break it up into pieces, one idea per post. Like my Surviving Toddlerhood series. The best part? This one idea literally gives me 7 posts!
  5. Delegate. My husband takes care of Saturdays. It’s his day. And it ensures The Lily Cafe has posts 6 days a week. If you know someone who wants to contribute or who might be interested, ask them if they would! One less thing to do; you just have to remind them about it. Of course, it helps if that person is reliable.
  6. Ask for help and Share. I know, moms, I know. Asking for help is so not our thing. But it really helps. This is why I have Be My Guest. I doubted whether I could do 5 unique posts a week, so what better way than to ask other bloggers if they want to be a featured guest? It involves some work (keeping in touch through the process, setting up the guest post, getting it finished and scheduled), but it’s one less day you have to rack your brain for an idea. Also, I’m always on the look out for great posts that I enjoy, resonate with me, or that I like so much I just have to share. One less post I have to do! And it bumps interaction with other bloggers.

Life is busy, things happen, and messes are inevitable. But I hope some of these ideas help.

Questions? Comments? What keeps you going?

27 thoughts on “How to Be a Blogging Mom Who Keeps on Blogging”

  4. Hey, Kat! First off, thank you for sharing. I desperately want to blog more frequently, but I am constantly self-editing throughout the writing process. Do you or did you suffer from the same problem? If so, how have did you manage? Secondly, thank you for providing these tips. I was not aware of or failed to look into the schedule feature. Looks like I have some planning to do…LOL!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. The first time I blogged I was posting some of my stories and would edit literally right up until I was supposed to be publishing. After having my son it quickly led to my downfall. But it made me more aware of what I could do to heal myself out. I do edit as I write and before I schedule, but I always have content ready to go just in case one post is giving me trouble. For me, I found it helpful to kind of stockpile posts that I’ve decided are finished so I always have something. Sometimes I just have to decide a post is done and then never look at it again. I hope some of this can work for you! I’d really love to read more from you! And that schedule button is amazing! Instead of publishing, it’s easy to schedule it for a specific day and time. Best of luck!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Once again, this is great advice. Thank you! I’ve already started coming up with a list of ideas on what to write about. Making sure to include thoughts, direction, and idea. I’m starting to realize that planning is key. I love your idea of having stockpile posts.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Excellent advice…I started out as a hot mess doing everything all at once and am still trying to find my routine and my balance. These tips definitely help! One thing I’ll add is treading carefully with social media. I came out blazing trying to write fairly long blog posts 5-6 days a week while also trying to create daily unique content on MULTIPLE social media platforms…it was quickly overwhelming so I’ve accepted slower growth so I’m not sacrificing my blog. After all, my social media was only created to drive traffic to the blog!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s good advice, too! Social media scares me, but I’m coming to terms with the fact that it’s beneficial, and maybe even necessary, so I’m taking your advice to heart as I venture out. Slow and steady wins the race, right? And I’m glad this could help!

      Like

      Reply

  8. I love how realistic these tips are. I’ve gotten out of practice lately with all my writing, journaling included, and this is helping give me the boost I need to get back into the swing of things. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Glad it could help! With 2 kids, anything I do has to be realistic and as easy as possible, so I’m happy to share what works for me. I hope to read more from you soon!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. Fantastic advice. I follow most of these but find that life sometimes gets in the way so all I can do is a post and move on with the rest of the day. Can I pick your experienced brain for advice? I can imagine that you have a nice buffer of posts (so you aren’t scrambling around that day to get a post out), how do you get that buffer and maintain it when life gets hectic? I am a huge planner, but between my toddler, life, and my fatigue – it’s hard to maintain a buffer which allows me to do extra stuff during the week (like reading other blogs and commenting). Thanks for reading my long comment and for your advice. I needed to read it. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks for reading! I can imagine how exhausting daily life must be as my mom has a similar disorder. Life really can get in the way and, having experienced it the first time I blogged, I knew to prepare for it this time. I wrote almost all of January’s posts in December and then made myself write 3-5 posts a week, which I still do. Sometimes I schedule in time to write and make it non-negotiable and sometimes I just write whenever I feel inspired and have the time, but leave it as a draft so I can schedule it in to give myself a larger buffer, which is exactly what I’ve done for part of June. I also blog about different things so, if I think about it, I really have a week in between each type of post, which gives me more time to think of ideas and actually write them. Though, when I feel things getting hectic, I look to older posts that I can reuse and sometimes I just have guest posts. But I am also planning a break this summer so I can rebuild my dwindling buffer. I’m not sure if this helps, but I find it really just comes down to writing, writing anything and not just what’s planned. It can make great filler, especially since I don’t always abide by “write great content.” You never know what someone will respond to! Best of luck! I love your blog, so I hope you’re able to write for a long time!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. This definitely helps. Thank you so much for your advice. With the 3-day weekend ahead I am going to see if I can start rebuilding my buffer. Have a wonderful Friday!

        Liked by 1 person

  10. I’m seriously impressed that you’re still blogging 6 days a week. As you said, there are a lot of people you see come and go in the blogging world. It seems a lot burn out. Add on top of that kids and oh boy! I can’t imagine how busy you must be!

    Planning ahead and scheduling posts is the only way I’ve kept up. That and being honest with myself about when I need breaks. It’s okay to take some time off. I’ve found December, for me, is a great time to pull back and spend the time with family. I return in January with a fresh desire to keep going.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Haha, thanks! It helps that I essentially have 4 niche blogs in 1, so I don’t feel like I ever have to write 100 posts on one general topic. While I loved doing it the first time around, my attention span seems to have drastically shrunk, otherwise I probably would have vanished again by now! Though I do wish I had planned and scheduled back then. Probably would have been the smart thing to do. December does sound like a lovely time to take off, especially with the holidays. I’m thinking of doing that, too, and taking some time this summer.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  11. Pingback: Break Time and Top Posts – The Lily Cafe

Chat with me

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.