How To Be More Efficient And Grow Your Food Blog
You want to grow your food blog and stay consistent but are overwhelmed with your daily to-do list. These 5 tips and a free Editorial Calendar template will teach you how to be more efficient so you can grow your food blog.
The key to a successful, flourishing food blog is by consistently posting fresh content. In order to be consistent, we need to be organized. Unfortunately, this is a huge task in itself as the food blogger’s to-do list is always so jam-packed!
This is a small example of one super busy day in a food bloggers’ life:
Test this new recipe for a third time
Submit my blog for that SEO audit
Design some new pins
Learn about Web Stories and other SEO updates
Write social media captions
It never ends! So it’s no wonder why some fall off the wagon and either stop posting entirely, abandon their social media channels, or are always scatterbrained. It’s easy to become overwhelmed or impatient and want to give up.
It doesn’t have to be this way!
How to get organized and be more efficient as a food blogger
Here are 5 tips you can start implementing TODAY so you can begin to organize your life, publish consistent blog content, and grow as a food blogger:
Batch work on specific days
Batching your work and dedicating certain days throughout the week to different departments in your business will help you get the work done faster and well ahead of schedule.
Make it clear what your priorities need to be. For example, if you’re lacking content, dedicate more time to testing, cooking, and writing new recipe posts. If your goal is to increase web traffic, place your marketing tasks and web updates first on the list.
Pull out your weekly calendar and write down what the focus will be on each day (ie: recipe testing, writing, marketing, SEO/web development day, etc.). Spend the entirety of the work day dedicated to that subject. This way, you have pieces of the puzzle ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Use a project management tool
You can use paper or printable to-do lists (like the one I’ve shown above) but digital tools are where it’s at. Project management tools keep all of your tasks in one place, make organization a breeze, and can be customized to fit your needs.
I highly recommend you sign up for the free version of Asana. Set up different project boards for every department in your business, whether it’s blog posts, marketing, web updates, or photography/videography. Their platform is very user friendly, easy to use, and customizable.
Set yourself up for success by assigning tasks to yourself, setting due dates, and organizing your tasks by department. I could go on and on about how much I love it, but it’s easier (and more fun) to make an account and start playing around.
Plan ahead
We all have stuff going on. Sitting down with a calendar and making note of important dates and holidays will not only help you work around these days but will give you the opportunity to actually schedule time off.
Keep the calendar in a place where you’ll see it every day or set multiple notifications days or weeks ahead of time. This way, those dates are always on your find and unforgettable. You’ll see this date come up in your yearly calendar, editorial calendar, or in Asana and know what you need to do to prepare for the time off or away.
Again, prioritization is key. Complete the larger, more complicated tasks first (limit yourself to 3 per day) in order to eliminate stress later on. This way, when approaching those important days, you either have nothing to do or only have smaller, stress-free tasks left on the to-do list.
Outsource
When all else fails, let someone else do it! Outsourcing the tasks that either take up time or you hate doing can sometimes be the smarter choice than worrying about it yourself. Here are just a few things you can hire someone to finish for you:
Social media management
Accounting
Keyword research
Videography
Graphic design
Web design and updates
Administration
Use an editorial calendar
Last but not least, use an editorial calendar for all of your new blog and content ideas. An editorial calendar will help you control your publications, keeps all of your ideas and new posts in one place, and keeps you consistent.
To help you get started, download a free editorial calendar from all over the web or through other tools, like Asana or Airtable. For an editorial calendar template designed exclusively for bloggers, check out The Ultimate Time Saving Kit for Food Bloggers! You’ll receive an easy-to-customize template, as well as 7 other time saving goodies.
These are just a few tactics that are popular not only with other bloggers but with business owners as well. Leave a comment below or connect with me on Instagram and let me know if you found success with any of these efficiency tips and tricks!
Looking for more tips and tricks to keep your content strategy as consistent and efficient as possible? The Ultimate Time Saving Kit for Food Bloggers is a digital kit made up of customizable templates, content ideas, and calendars to take you from scattered to streamlined. You get instant access to 8 time saving goodies for just $7!
