BBAW Friday Topic - Best practices

Today's topic asks that we share with you our best blogging practices, as well as any new trends or tools that make blogging easier, or more effective.


First, I'd like to just be straight with you.  By talking about my best practices, it makes me sound like I know something, or I'm some sort of expert, which I AM NOT.  I could sit here and tell you ten things I'm not doing to promote my blog that I should be doing, but I'm just not interested.  This is not a business, it is a fun thing.  Once I start treating it like a business, the fun is over for me.

So what are some habits or tips that I have found that work for me?

1.  Limit your time in blog-hopping.  All of us have lives and jobs.  To prevent my obsessive compulsive side from taking over, I allow myself to visit you all in the mornings, usually before 10:00am.  85% to 90% of all posts are published in the mornings, so I have a good chance of hitting most of you.  Unless I get a windfall of time for some strange reason, there is a good chance I will not get on Blogger in the afternoons or in the evenings.  That is family time.  If you post in the evenings, I may miss you.  I'm sorry about that but something's gotta give.

2.  Pre-schedule your posts, and plan them to publish in the morning.  I could be wrong, I've not done any scientific studies, but it seems that most traffic comes through in the morning. And like I said, I often personally miss anything published in the evening. 

Also, pre-publishing in general is the best way to manage my schedule.  I try to get out ahead of myself at least by two weeks, so if I have a busy day or two, I'm not compelled to stay up until the wee hours to get a post finished.  For my three-week vacation to Poland, all of my posts were done, so I could let my blog go on automatic pilot.  It's a beautiful thing.

3.  Just because you are a book blogger, don't feel like it has to be all books, all the time.  I love reading everyone's book reviews, but I do admit I also like hearing about movies, seeing pictures from vacations, and getting a peek at the person behind the blog.  For the last couple of years, I have found a groove I'm comfortable with.  Mondays are for movies (the official Monday Movie Meme temporarily on hold while the Bumbles enjoy their new baby), Wednesdays are set aside to feature my photos, and I blab (and often whine) about what is going on in my life, bookish and otherwise, on Sundays.  Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are reserved for books.  Everyone has a different rhythm, so experiment and see what works.

Trends and tools:  I erupted in laughter when I saw this prompt.  I'm not a trends and tools person.  I do have a Twitter account, where I generally lurk, to see what is going on, and occasionally I will butt into a conversation when I'm waiting to pick up my kids from school.  But I am wary of something that appears to be a time-sucker.  I recognize alot happens on Twitter, but it remains a secondary source of entertainment and promotion for me.

I use Facebook for my personal life, but rarely feature my blog posts.  Call it a separation of church and state, I don't know.  I figure if my friends really want to read what I have to say, they'll come on over to my blog, or they will get an e-mail feed.  (See, this is exactly what I was referring to when I walked about the ten things I could do but don't.)

Who knows, maybe with all of your posts and ideas today, I'll learn something!