Jaymi @TheOCBookGirl

#AMonthofFaves : Routines and Habits of a Newbie Blogger. 8 Things That Worked and 6 That Didn’t #bloggingdosanddonts

WED. | Dec 12

#AMonthofFaves Routines, Habits and Changes. What Worked this Year and/or What Didn’t.

I’ve been doing this blogging thing since May and have been trying lots of new things in an effort to see what OrangeCountyReaders should be when it grows up. What’s the focus? What do I have time for? What are the best bloggers doing? Is there a value?

It’s been a learning experience and here’s a few things I’ve figured out!

What worked?

Bullet Journaling – Daily calendar, daily habits, gratitude, goals, blogger stats. All in one place. Visual. Analog. Physical.

Cross Promotion– Using Instagram stories to send visitors to the blog. Adding fun gifs and animations and “click the link in bio” and “find out more by visiting our blog” seems to work.

Links on Instagram – Linktree. Why isn’t everyone using it? You only get one chance to link in Instagram. Make it do more.

Hashtags – it’s not pretty but lots of bloggers use hashtags in the titles of their posts. It helps make your post searchable and findable.

DisplayPurposes.com – know which hashtags are relevant and which ones are overused. Easy copy/paste.

Community– Joining reader/blog challenges, actively participating with commenters and signing up for book swaps/exchanges = an introverts paradise!

Planning – Prewriting and scheduling posts. Being realistic about available time. Drafting posts once a week for what you have planned, even if it’s just a title and the blog signature.

Duh. Reading – Buddy Reads and reader challenges got me reading (and completing) and discussing more diverse books in new genres by new to me authors.

What didn’t work?

Too many posts – trying to do too many recurring posts. My goal is no more than three recurring posts per week. (It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? | Top Ten Tuesday | First Line Fridays.)

FOMO – Joining too many reader/blog/tag challenges. There’s only so much time in the day!

Neglected Pages / Platforms – Forgetting to update site pages (events calendar, etc). Neglecting to cross-promote blog posts on other social media. Sorry, Twitter and Facebook.

Where’s Waldo – Not using consistent tags and categories. Going back to find anything is impossible.

Quantity over Quality – Signing up for too many/wrong genre blog tours. Be patient and don’t agree to review books simply because you need content.

Post Envy – Seeing someone’s TTT post and deciding at 630 a.m. to write a complete post with pictures and links.

QOTD: What are some of your favorite do’s and don’ts for successful blogging?

For the month of December, I’m joining hosts  Girlxoxo, Traveling with T andEstella’s Revenge for their annual #AMonthofFaves blog event – a fun way to recap the year that was. They have every day of the event (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) planned out, and you can join in anytime. Click here for more details.

Follow OrangeCountyReaders on Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Support Us on Ko-Fi and Amazon. And please, feel free to leave a comment!

7 comments

  2. I didn’t realize your blog was so new! It takes a while to get in the groove and you’re really doing it the best way–trying different things to see what sticks or not.

    As for me, I aim for one post per week, which is kind of a wrap up of my week. It works for me–unless, of course, I join in a blogging event. Other than that, I try not to think about it too much.

    I love all these tips, though! I see some stuff I’m going to check out.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I’ve only been blogging for a month or so and I appreciate this post. I realized pretty quickly that I need to be more strategic in how I go about it; this post is helpful in developing that strategy.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Thanks for sharing your tips and for stopping by my blog to read. You’re well on your way to figuring things out! It takes time, and I’ve also found that trying too many things to grow fast, just bites your energy in the long run. Quality and finding your own voice is the slow but sure ticket to success. Happy blogging to you!!

    Liked by 1 person

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