Juggling Multiple Blogs
From time to time I get asked how I manage multiple blogs. “I have trouble keeping up with one blog, how DO you do it?” is a common question. I will admit that I am currently in a phase of life where I do have more time than some to devote to blogging. There are however a few things I put in place that help me to keep multiple blogs under control (at least some of the time 
).
Be Clear WHY You Are Starting a New Blog
Two blogs are NOT twice the fun of one blog if your only reason for starting a new blog is the fact that you love blogging.
In fact, multiple blogs can suck they fun right out of blogging if you’re not careful.
Usually the “why” has to do with a new niche. Consider whether this is likely to be a “passing phase” before you go out and get all enthusiastic about starting a new blog.
Have a Clear Understanding of What Each Blog Is About
I started blogging with a personal blog and no idea what a niche blog even was. The beauty of personal blogs is that you can write on anything and everything. This was fine until I found that I was wanting to post multiple posts a day. Instead of subjecting my readers to a constant barrage of posts, I decided to start niche blogs in particular areas I was passionate about and give my readers a choice as to whether they wanted to read regular posts from me on these topics.
Each of my individual blogs has it’s own purpose and subject matter. I try not to overlap these blog topics too much.
I guess you could say that having multiple blogs is my way of organising my content. If I want to post about my garden, I’ll do so on my gardening blog. If I want to post something relevant to blogging, I’ll post it on my blog about blogging. If it doesn’t fit anywhere else, chances are it’s a perfect candidate for my personal blog.
Start One New Blog at a Time
The formation stages of a new blog are very exciting. Everything is fresh and new and you just want to spend lots of time with your new baby. This baby stage is also the stage that demands the most on your time.
Starting several new blogs at once is likely to leave you feeling overwhelmed and under appreciated. Instead, make sure you only have one blog in the “baby” stage at any one time.
This also gives you time to adjust to an extra blog and get a feel for whether you can keep up with the extra workload before even considering adding another one.
You Don’t Have to Post Every Day
I post to my personal blog pretty much every day (with the exception of Sundays which I consider “optional” when it comes to posting). Changing to a commitment of posting every day worked really well for my blogging and I believe has made a difference to my traffic levels as well as helping me keep a flow of post ideas coming.
BUT.
I don’t post to all of my blogs EVERY day. In fact, my other 3 blogs get posted on 2-4 times a week.
So most week’s I’m averaging around 13-15 posts. That might sound like a lot to some of you but daily posting to 4 blogs would take me up to 28 posts a week which is a LOT more than 13-15.
Have a Clear Idea of Your Priorities
One of the dangers of multiple blogs is that nothing ever gets done properly and you run the risk of all of the blogs falling in a heap.
To try and avoid this trap, I have a clear order of priority in my own mind in terms of my blogs.
Lightening Online (my personal blog) always takes first priority.
Lightening’s Blogworld takes second priority.
My other two blogs are much smaller and I post to them as I feel the urge (although I do try to maintain a 2 post minimum most weeks).
I do it this way so that no matter what happens, my main blog doesn’t suffer as a result of my addiction to blog collecting.
Conclusion
Having multiple blogs CAN be a lot of fun and is one way of ensuring you don’t overload your readers with too many posts. It is also a good way of organising your interests into more specific niche topics. That can be good for both search engine optimisation AND attracting readers with a common interest in what you’re blogging about.
If you’re a blogging addict like me, it can also be a fun way to experiment with different blogging platforms and/or various themes and layouts.
There are many reasons why multiple blogs can be the way to go for some bloggers.
That doesn’t mean they’re the way to go for ALL bloggers.
What about you? Do you write multiple blogs or are you in the “one blog is more than enough for me” camp? Do you have any handy hints for others on ways to cope with juggling multiple blogs?
Although you definitely have...
Great tips Lightening. I’m like you - multiple blog owner and I find it a great way to test content for a particular topic and to see if there is an audience for that topic. I have blogs I post to every week, and sometimes more than once a week and I have others I only post to as I get information or ideas for them. Guess it depends on how ‘audience driven’ we are, or if the blog is more for personal satisfaction. I have blogs for both sides of the camp!
sometimes I do confuse myself with all my blogs!
I have multiple blogs, but only one that I post to regularly. I also have some other blogs that I contribute to. That is more than enough for me. Good luck to you as you attempt to keep your interest and that of readers. Andrew Boyd’s experience is salutory and great advice for other bloggers.
You are a goddess and a legend. Don’t think I could ever do it.
Peace, love and chocolate
Carole
I think another very good point could be to know when you’re in over your head and be ready to drop one blog to save them all.
As you point out if you have a couple of smaller blogs that you feel sucking your time away then your main site will suffer and unfortunately it can be a sinking ship situation. You just have to let Leo DiCaprio go and continue on making the best blog you can.
I’ve recently let a couple of Leo’s drown and whilst it’s sad I feel better for it and I’m able to focus on the main site.
Great post btw
Kathie - indeed. I think it’s quite common to have different blogs for different purposes if you have more than 1. I’m just heading down the path of blogs that are purely for financial reasons and I have to admit that I do like those that are for “fun” much more. It’s interesting the different ways people view and do things.
Colin - I guess that’s why I see starting 1 blog at a time as important - to test how interested you are in the particular niche and so on. I will admit that I have times when I wonder why I have so many. Sometimes though it’s just a matter of taking a break or taking the pressure off and my blogging mojo comes back. How many years I can continue on like this remains to be seen. I think longevity is a true test of a blog.
Lee - that’s a good point. And sometimes we blog about something for a season of our lives. Perhaps our interests or circumstances change and so specific niche blogs may or may not last forever. I haven’t been blogging long enough to get to that point yet. It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds. Poor old Leo though.
Excellent, really excellent post there
I am sort of starting a second blog in the fact that I am going to the behind the scenes stuff, like the blog template, marketing, bookmarking etc, and my partner in crime is going to do the actual content.
http://room-to-organize.com
Luckily I love the techi side of things and she loves the writing side.
Having just set up all the social stuff for the new one (I only did my own a couple of weeks ago) I have to agree 100% in particular with something that really struck a chord with me …..
Start One New Blog at a Time
If I were trying to even do 2 at once I think my head would explode.
Simon
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Thanks Simon.
Your new blog looks fabulous.
I had to put the “start 1 blog at a time” in there to remind myself.
It IS easy to get carried away at times and have so many ideas you just want to get them all started. It’s a surefire way to fail in my opinion (depending on your definition of success vs failure).
More than one blog? That’s just scary, I need all the help I can get with one. It’s like a 2nd mortgage or 2nd job (I could take one selling knifes door to door I suppose…)
I started blogging for a completely different reasons.
1. Most people do not know what a pharmacist does
2 Most have no idea about remote life
3. Pharmacy professional organisations ignore the needs of rural pharmacists
So instead of banging my head in the system I have decided to step outside
I see the blog type forum as the ideal way of delivery when I start a second closed blog - more a content management system so all the drug info I produce for the health service will be re-formatted into something for the other 100 or professionals I provide information to with emails and content online.
Robbo
ps: wordpress block content with the word pharmacy. Now I guess I am double blocked!
awwwwww
one blog is enough for me…..I seem to get writers block as it is…always going to say something then get tongue (finger) tied….love reading and checking out others…spend most time looking and not doing….cheers
Good advice indeed!! I have three blogs and they are getting to be a bit of a pain in the bum!! My main blog is the one that I focus on most, but usually to the detriment of the other two (one of which is on a different account because it is my anonymous blog!) and I do need to work at posting on them.
I like your idea of posting on the “lesser” blogs at least twice a week - that certainly does take the pressure off, I do wonder though, why it seems mandatory to post daily - as it stands I struggle to be interesting EVERY day on my main blog!
Michael - lol. It’s definitely not for everyone.
Robbo - there are indeed MANY different purposes for blogging and I think it’s only getting MORE diverse, particularly all the time google seems to favour blogs well in the search engines.
Mandi - I think it’s important to understand our own personality when it comes to blogging. Multiple Blogging is certainly not for everyone and that’s as fine as 1 blog or in fact no blogs. We’re all different.
Sam - I don’t think it is mandatory to post every day on any blog. Your blogging schedule is up to you. For me, I have found it easier since I began to post daily (approximately) on my personal blog. The ideas seem to flow a lot better now. That doesn’t mean it’s the way to go for every blog.