At WordCamp Toronto on Saturday, I did a presentation on how to effectively write multiple blogs. Given that I juggle five blogs these days, it seemed like a pretty obvious topic to talk about.
Whether you write one blog or five blogs, the most important consideration is being organized. It sounds like a straightforward concept but having a plan and then making it happen makes blogging a lot less stressful and a lot more fun than trying to do it on the fly.
There are a few organizational pillars that keep me on the straight and narrow:
1. Defining Priorities: When you’re writing multiple blogs, the reality is some need more attention than others. Blogs that are part of your job or a play a key role in your personal branding need constant nurturing, while blogs that are hobbies that can be written semi-regularly.
2. Creating an editorial calendar: Not that you have to be totally anal about when each blog needs a post but having a solid idea of an overall editorial calendar makes it easier to get organized and plan things in advance.
3. Capture ideas anywhere and everywhere: Clearly, one of the challenge in writing multiple blogs is coming up with enough material to support them editorially. This means that all those great and semi-great ideas that emerge need to be captured, otherwise they’ll disappear.
My idea tools include “new” ones such as Google Reader, Twitter, Packrati.us (a personal favorite that connects links within your tweets to your del.icio.us account), Evernote, Instapaper, Twitterfeed, Tweetbeep and Google Alerts, as well as “old” tools such as a Moleskin, newspaper clippings and a whiteboard.
4. Cross-pollinate: One way to get more people aware of your blog is simply promoting them in multiple places. People reading this blog, for example, might be interested in my Twitterrrati blog so I promote both of them on both blogs.
I’m also big on using desktop writing tools, although I do go back and forth between them and WordPress’ publishing tool, which still needs some improving. Some of the desktop tools that I’ve used include Ecto, Mac Journal and Blogo. It sounds heretical but I’d love to see a version of Microsoft Live Writer for Mac.
Another key part of my multi-blog approach is using a variety of blog posts based on the idea that variety is a good thing for me and my readers. Some blog posts are long thought pieces, some are quick four-paragraph rants, some are simply one or two sentences with a great photograph or graphic, while others are a Q&A.
Finally, I’m a big believer that ideas flourish when you’re out and about talking to other people about their ideas, interests, thoughts and business endeavors. As much as you can get many ideas from reading online, socializing is a great way stimulate the mind and idea generation.
Here’s my presentation via SlideShare:
