Sunday, June 3, 2012

Blogging is a Big Time Investment

On Friday I posted our excitement about our whole month of posts.  Tomorrow I will be posting about why I blog, but I wanted to interject with a little post about how much time it takes to blog this frequently.  By the end of this blog I am sure you will really be wanting to read tomorrow to see why I commit to this craziness.

I started this particular blog back in 2010 for various reasons, but I wasn’t really committed to posting to it frequently.  It actually sat with absolutely no posts for over a year.  Now that Joe and I are committed to keeping up this blog for many reasons (see more tomorrow), we have realized what a time commitment it is.

The other day I tracked the time it took me to write an average blog post. 

1.  It took me about 15 minutes to download and edit the images for this particular post.  Normally I download and edit in batches so I maximize this time.

2.  It took me about 30 minutes to type out the post and re-read it a few times while editing.  Some posts take longer, some shorter, depending on how much thinking I need to do.  For example, recipe posts are simple because I just need to type out the steps.  DIY posts take a little longer.  I just have to type out the steps, but I have to really make sure I don’t miss anything.  Posts like this one take much longer because there is a much deeper thought process going on.

3.  It took me about 5 minutes to actually post the blog, share on Facebook, share on Twitter, and Pin my pictures on Pinterest.

This adds up to almost an hour per post, but it doesn’t take into account the process of planning out what to post and when, or all the time it takes to actually take the pictures for the post.  A really good post could take 3 –4 hours of time from idea to post.

I do use a few tools to help me streamline my posting.  I use the Pixlr desktop app for simple editing of pictures.  I also use the Windows Live Writer to draft my blog posts and schedule them to be posted.  I especially love the Windows Live Writer because I don’t have to connected to the internet to work on drafting my posts.  I can work a little here and there and then post it to the online blog when it is finished.  I can also work ahead (which I consistently do) and just set the date and time that I want this post to appear online.  I try to stay a month ahead, so I don’t feel worried about going on vacation and not having anything to post.

I usually do most of my blogging during the hour that I am home before Joe gets home.  I also will blog while catching up on my trashy t.v shows on rainy days.  Finally, there are many days when Joe says “I need to veg”.  While he plays video games, I will blog.  I never ever sacrifice quality time with family and friends to blog, and I obviously spend tons of time cooking and crafting in order to have things to post on the blog…and to make our little house a home!

So I know you are thinking, “Why on earth does she invest that much time on a blog??”  Come back tomorrow to find out the answer. :0)

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