Let’s face it, blogging is a ton of work.
You've got to keep up with your social media profiles, create and organize tons of content (both in written and video form), and you’ve got to market like crazy just to stay relevant.
And this is on top of our other duties.
Some of you have children to take care of, day jobs to go to, relationships to maintain, and so on.
It’s definitely a crazy blogging world we live in, but there’s a way to tone down the craziness just a little bit.
Blogging, the 24/7 job
We all know how hectic a bloggers schedule is. Realistically there’s always something you can do for your blog. But with so much to tackle (potentially all at once), it’s hard to keep track of it all.
This makes organization a top priority for us.
You might be thinking that you’re already pretty organized (and maybe you are), but it’d be a mistake to think you can’t benefit from new ways to organize and simplify things.
The tools to make your life easier
So what should you do? Check out these great tools that’ll make your life 10x easier. They’re all free so what have you got to lose? At the very least you’ll have learned about some interesting ways to use these awesome tools, so why not give them a shot?
1. Evernote
Evernote is an extremely popular tool used by bloggers everywhere. And why not? When you think about how Evernote works, it’s really a no-brainer that it’s a blogger’s dream tool.
Probably the best part of Evernote is it lets you save ALL your ideas in one place – so headlines, blog post templates, copies of all your posts (including guest posts), can be saved in one easy to use location.
And just like your blogs, you can use tags to make idea hunting even easier. I keep a journal on my Evernote which I’m constantly updating with ideas for blog articles. I just make sure I tag it appropriately and I can come back to it whenever I need an writing ideas.
So if you feel like your current method of idea organization is lacking, make sure and give Evernote a try. It’s a fantastic (and free) solution.
2. Compfight images
Every blog post should have an image. They really add that extra “oomph” to your articles, elevating the authority of them.
Compfight is great because it makes finding free images quicker AND easier. Just add the plugin and you can find an image right from your WordPress editor page. It automatically links to the source, so everything is handled for you.
Give this plugin a try if you need a quick free photo to use every once in awhile.
3. WordPress SEO Yoast
When I was first learning about seo, SEO Yoast is what helped make it “click.”
It gives you an seo checklist to follow, so all you need to do is make sure you meet the criteria and then (like magic) you’ve done your seo. It’s really that simple. This makes it an invaluable tool for those of you who hate the idea of doing seo, just follow the simple instructions and you’re good to go.
(You still need to do your own keyword research though).
Give this plugin a shot if you want to automate your seo process and make it easier.
4. WordPress editorial calendar plugin
Keeping track of when we need to write and upload our posts is crucial for bloggers. That’s why tools like this one are so valuable to us, it helps keeps us consistent and on track.
Just plug in when you plan on doing the drafts and publishing them, then you’re good to go. Many professional bloggers will have months of posts planned in advance, we don’t all need to do this but it’s something to keep in mind when planning your own blog posts.
Having a calendar as a WordPress plugin is also beneficial because it makes you take your blog posts more seriously. They’re going to go live, and you better make sure they’re finished by then.
It’s kind of like an accountability booster since you don’t want to put out an unfinished product.
Check out this plugin if you feel like you could benefit from a little organization and motivation.
5. Tweet old post
Anything that automates something for you is a good thing. That’s what makes this plugin so useful, it helps ease the “Tweet” load you deal with everyday.
You can set what posts get shared, the interval time between tweets, and even use hashtags. This keeps people engaged with your Twitter account, even when you’re not tweeting yourself.
If simplifying your twitter process sounds good to you, don’t skip out on this plugin.
[shadowbox]BONUS TIP FROM MS. ILEANE: Be sure to check out Triberr to syndicate your blog post promotions learn more here.[/shadowbox]
6. LastPass
I'm sure most of us have multiple accounts we have to deal with online, wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to remember them all?
That's where LastPass comes in.
It does all of the remembering for you so you don't need to bust out the password paper you keep hidden, or search for your password file every time you need it.
It supports both Firefox and Google Chrome (among others), so most should be able to enjoy the benefits of not memorizing their passwords and usernames.
7. Strip the blog
“Strip the Blog” is a brand new tool made to make blog research super easy. All you need to do is go to the link and put in the name of any blog. After that you pick the length of time you want included in the results (up to two months) and click “strip it.”
Then the magic happens.
You’ll get a list of the top articles based on the amount of shares it gets (eventually it’ll include comments as well), with the most shared posts at the top and descending with the lesser shared ones.
The applications for successful guest blog pitches is huge. Just see what topics have been doing the best there and pitch a variation of those topics.
(You can take it one step further and read the comments of those posts for more ideas).
Don’t skip this one over if you want an easy way to research what topics are hot at other blogs.
Over to you
What tools make your blogging life easier? Can you recommend a few I might like? Please leave a comment and let me know because I’d love it if my life was a bit more easy as well 🙂
Recommended Reading:
