How to maintain a professional blog while working a full-time job

Jack of all trades, master of none. Growing up, this was our greatest fear – nobody wanted to be Jack. So we decided to play it safe and stick to the one thing we knew we were good at, and in the process of 'one-mind success', we subconsciously closed off other potential options. We may be round the clock workers, pooling in extra hours to ensure we get that fat paycheck at the end of the month. But, are we truly happy with just that to show for ourselves?

As humans, we intrinsically crave for more than what we're getting because we realise out true inbuilt potential. But managing two or more concrete jobs is no piece of cake, so we retreat with our tails between our legs and perch ourselves in front of our computers – efficiently computing the task assigned to us.

But today, we can pen down our passions while on the day job – by blogging. Be it through WordPress or Blogger, blogging gives you the perfect platform to carry out a Plan B and make it a part of your professional day to day life. All it takes is a couple of hundred words and some great penmanship!

But maintaining a full-time job as well as a professional blog isn't easy. More often than not, people start to lag on the latter and miss out on what can truly be one of the smartest investments they can make.

To help you sort out this dilemma, we present you with a few tips to maintain your blog while still working a full-time job.

Sort out your niche

It's very natural to treat your blog like a public journal and type out any and every wayward thought that crosses your head. But that's confusing and a hassle to follow and that's where you lose out on half your followers and waste eons of precious time. Before you launch your blog, it would be wise to peter down to one chosen niche on which you can continue to work on for the next couple of blog posts and one that is sure to get you a good readership and following.

Determine your target audience

The second most important thing to do is to figure out the target audience that suits your niche. You don't want to be putting up deep philosophical mumbo jumbo out to the world and have that one lone follower who also happens to be your best friend. Put out a couple of experimental content first, see the response you get and also which demographic gives you the best response. Start creating content based on these statistics and shell out your work for a wider reach!

Check your analytics

Sharing posts on Facebook and Twitter and getting a base number of likes and shares does not reflect your reach to a wider set of audience. WordPress gives you the option to check the percentage and number of views to your posts, individually. Based on this, you can tell which ones fare better than the other. According to these statistics, you will be able to judge what kind of content plays to your advantage.

Keep posting

Even if you think it isn't your best quality work and the words are still a bit jumbled, keep posting, because the minute you lag, your viewership will drop, as will your desire to keep shelling out more content. It's very easy to fall into a lethargic web and give up blogging as a 'hobby', but enough content has been put out in the corners of the internet about how you can monetise your blog and set up a flourishing business out of it. So don't stop writing. It's your very legacy.

Strategise

This is the final, and possibly most crucial, part of the entire process that distinguishes your blog from between being professional or simply being a past-time. Chalk out a plan at the beginning of every week, figure out how many posts you want to put out on a daily basis and how you can promote them instantly. Use social media to its maximum potential. Once you have your requisite following, approach investors and marketers, and form a symbiotic relationship with them. Tell them that you will grant them ad space in return for their investment and ordeal on a successful business relationship, one that does not encroach onto your daytime business in any right or form.

These are the five easy steps to help maintain an active blog primarily for a professional purpose, while keeping up with your daily full-time job. Some days may be harder than others, considering the unpredictability of work hours and shifts. But more importantly, this is a steady and fairly simple mantra to follow and excel at. So start writing, folks!

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