Tips for Managing Multiple Blogs

Most bloggers have the same problem – the itch to start another blog. The problem is that as a blog’s traffic grows, so does its workload. If you’re not careful, you’ll be managing a kind of blogging schizophrenia.

Running multiple blogs involves writing more, managing more discussions, updating more software, and fighting off more spam. It may also mean exploring more means of monetizing traffic, optimizing more pages for search engines, and setting up more social profiles. Is it worth it? Is it doable?

If you get organized, running multiple blogs can yield some powerful advantages. For example…

• You get to cross-promote them.
• You get to know more people.
• You can target multiple niches.
• You avoid annoying readers who don’t care about your second (or third) interest.
• You can expand your overall influence.

If you choose to go down this path, here are some tips for the journey…

Pace Yourself – Don’t Start Too Many Blogs At Once

You’ll be overwhelmed, especially if you’re a do-it-yourself bootstrapping entrepreneur. Trying to set up server space, code multiple templates, and install software for multiple sites can become totally overwhelming. You also lose out on the advantage of starting each successive blog with some helpful promotion from the previous one.

Know Your Limitations

Every blog we operate requires a certain amount of time that must be taken away from something else – family, sleep, exercise, more productive work, etc. Decide up front how many extra hours per week you can budget for a new endeavor and make sure you don’t steal time from things that should outrank this new priority.

Get Help – Blog As A Team

This may or may not be an ideal option for you, but consider finding other bloggers who probably share the same addiction for starting new endeavors and talk about possible partnerships. Obviously you have to be slow and intentional about this so that one person isn’t left with the majority of the workload, but team blogging can provide rich benefits to everybody involved, the most obvious of which is the synergy of a shared workload.

Organize Your Weekly Blogflow

You’ll probably want to release something important near the beginning of the week to take advantage of peak traffic schedules, but you probably can’t write all of your articles on Monday. Decide what blog gets the priority for these peak times and lay down a schedule that accommodates the madness. I advise using blocks of time for certain tasks. Respond to comments after lunch. Write articles first thing in the morning when your mind is fresh. Do mind-numbing plugin upgrades at night, etc.

Make Sure You’re Ready for A New Niche

There’s nothing wrong with taking time to research a niche and observe popular blogs in an arena before diving in headfirst. In fact, it’s highly advisable. Learn from teachers in the field so that you can write your first article, confident that there will be a strong second one, and so on.

Have An Exit Strategy from the Beginning

The internet is a graveyard of abandoned blogs, left to die slow deaths by overwhelmed bloggers. If a blog closes, it’s not the end of the world, but over time it can give the impression that you’re not one to stick it out. I’ve sold a couple of blogs when they outgrew my available management time. I’ve also given a couple away to capable bloggers who were starting out. I’ve even folded one or two into another when the niches were closely related. Try to find a means of leaving a blog legacy behind if at all possible.

Have you tried to manage multiple blogs before? What frustrations have you encountered and what would you do differently? Or what challenges do you anticipate in advance?